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Interview: METAL MIKE CHLASCIAK, MAY 25TH, 2007

Metal Mike 2007.05.25

Jimmy Duff: Mike, what's up Bro? It's fuckin' 3:25 in the morning ... We've been paid a surprise visit by Metal Mike, and fuck it, we're gonna bang out an interview and see what's doin' in the world of Metal Mike.

"Metal Mike" Chlasciak: Lemme tell you this one my friend, you are the only fuckin' place that could do this interview right now at 3:30 in the morning, havin' a great time, so I am very happy to be here, let's talk about all man.

JD: No publicists involved here, we're just hangin' out, and gettin' banged up. We're havin' a good time.

JD: So Mike, what are you doing right now? Right now you're off the road, you've been very busy touring with Sebastian Bach, and with your own band PainmuseuM. What does the summer hold for Metal Mike?

MM: Well, that's right man, we just came back from Mexico, with my own band PainmuseuM, that we just toured with Obituary, Sadus and Sepultura, at the Mexican SOS festival ... And, as you know, Bobby, the regular Painmusuem and Halford drummer broke his hand, so I asked my good friend Paul Bostaph from Testament, who played with Exodus, and Slayer, of all fuckin' bands man ... to play drums with us. And every time I looked behind me I saw Paul Bostaph and I almost shit my pants. I'm going, that's the guy from Slayer behind me, man. I'm like, how fuckin' lucky am I, you know? So we came back from Mexico, and I'm going out with Sebastian Bach as his guitar player as we're going to join Guns and Roses on the Australian tour, and do our own shows in Japan, Italy, Norway and Spain.

JD: What is the deal with Sebastian Bach now - Are you recording on his new record?

MM: Hell yes its done, but Hey Jimmy, let's talk about your hot bartenders at Duff's Brooklyn ... Can you name your bartenders please for me?

JD: Uh... we have one with black hair and one with brown hair

MM: ? And the black hair is Laurieanne, and the light hair is? ...

JD: Tracy

MM: Tracy. Well lemme tell you man, These are the hottest fucking girls that I've seen in a long time ... And believe you me, hear me now, believe me later ...I've seen girls in Japan, Portugal, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Mexico, and you got the hottest lookin' fuckin' girls in the whole state, and believe you me, you are, Duff's Brooklyn New York, fully endorsed by Metal Mike to bring the fuckin' hottest girls and drinkin' the coldest brew. How's that for a fuckin' tag right now, man? Dude, you guys rock, and I love coming here.

JD: What's next for PainmusueM?

MM: We're gonna go back to Mexico, probably August, no later than September... To do some touring, really, supporting Sadus, and we're gonna fuckin' tear it up . I'll do some guitar clinics, seminars while I'm down there as well ... When we come back, I'm gonna join up with Sebastian, and do the rest of his world tour. So the year is looking really busy, and, you know me man, I'm just fuckin' looking forward to it. I'm going to squeeze in some recording for PainmuseuM and another thing I'm gonna announce, but it's been tough and amazing ... it's hard to record when you are touring your ass off ... I love it.

JD: What's the status with Bobby J?- When is he expected to recover 100% from his injury?

MM: I call Bobby "The magician of heavy metal" ... It's like the motherfucker is a magician who pulls out his hat to play anything, anytime, anywhere, you know ? And the fuckin' funny thing is, when we had the PainmusueM show in Mexico, that's why I called Paul Bostaph "Paul - you are the only guy I know that can fill Bobby's shoes ."

JD: You showed up tonight with a gift for me, a t -shirt that you commandeered from the garage of none other than Rob Halford, which is fuckin' hilarious. What's the latest with the Halford band?

MM: Rob Halford is doing the Priest reunion, and everyone in the band wishes him nothin' but the best of luck, you know?

(Interview is briefly interrupted by some bullshit going on at the bar, unrelated to the interview)

JD: We had a little drama there, a little late night bullshit that happens sometimes ...

JD: OK Mike - The newest Halford album - A lot of people are complaining that the new material, the new remastered stuff is available only online. There's no hard copies, there's no artwork. I consider myself part of the legion that likes to have the artwork, the liner notes etc. The bottom line is, is the next Halford record going to be online only, or is it going to something we can get in hand?

MM: Hello Tanya ....I think the next set of Halford releases, we actually signed a European deal with Frontiers records

JD: Frontier records?

MM: Frontiers records, out of Italy. And you know I share my views with you the with the whole download thing. Getting fans the stuff on their digital MP3 players was the fastest way to get some great shit into the fans hands. But, Metal is not about downloading to an iPod, man. Its cool to have releases available on iPod, but not as an only damn outlet. I have stuff on iPod as a convenience, but I do get CD's. It's about releasing the record, it's about printing the mutherfucker out, holding that shit in your hands. So we all spoke with John from Rob's management and it's like, John, we have to do this for the real fans. And at that it was very clear that this was part of the process, part of the plan from management's standpoint as well. Thankfully, John has secured a very, very, excellent deal for us through Frontiers records, Italy ... through Fusion 3 records through Canada and the rest of the deals are gonna come through, so you will actually get to hear the best, the latest, the remaining tracks of Halford records on CD now.

JD: That's good news. I was under the impression that the latest release was done over the net because Rob had signed some sort contract that prohibited him from releasing regular records.

MM: Honestly, I don't know Jimmy ... But, I don't think its the case.

MM: What we did now with Rob and his management is make the best music available for the rest of the world when Rob is ready to release it. And we're cool, me and Bobby have been busy with PainmusueM and touring the world with Sebastian Bach supporting Guns and Roses. The other guys are busy doing big things . Roy Z, who produced the last Priest and Bruce Dickinson albums, is in Brazil working. And we're all really grateful, and we're all making a great living doing what we love, and having a great time. We said to Rob, Metal God, when you are ready, we'll be there for you. And that's my heart, when the Metal God is ready, we will join the Metal God to tour the world. I owe my career to the man.

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