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Sam: To start off with,
I'm glad you guys have reformed 'cause I was sick of nu-metal
bands ripping off your riffs all the time.
Tommy Victor: "Oh, thanks...somebody knows,
I mean there's like a .002% of people that know that shit, but
for the most part, it's like...some people know."
Sam: So yeah, how did you end up reforming?
TV: "I just had a bunch of songs that I
wrote, and originally I was going to do it under a different
name, but everybody around me was saying 'oh just do Prong'.
So since there was no interest in the other monikers, I wanted
to do another record and I was able to do it, you know, people
were interested in putting it out, you know, I got some offers
so..I was able to. You have to stay active and stay productive,
it's like I can still do it I guess, it's a good idea maybe."
Sam: Sounds like it so far
TV: "It's just a matter of 'keep puttin'
records out'. I sort of got that idea from Glen from Danzig,
you know, he just says 'keep puttin records out man'. He's
been really supportive and a couple of other friends of mine
...there's been other people that try to destroy my career
and there's other people that try to help me out. I've been
focusing on the positive people in my life and it took awhile,
but, they been really cool."
Sam: You have any plans for a big summer
tour? Any Ozzfest bids or anything?
TV: "I don't think we can afford to pay
the money to get on Ozzfest"
Sam: Yeah, 2nd stage, I heard it's like
$20-$30,000 to get on there...
TV: "It's more than that"
Sam: Really?, wow
TV: "It's usually around $75,000 to get on
that tour"
Sam: Holy crap
TV: "And that's not including tour support,
for, I mean, they don't pay you..."
Sam: So you're still stuck paying for the
bus and everything?
TV: "Yeah"
Sam: wow, that's alot of money
TV: "Yeah so, there's usually about 3 shows
a week or something...I mean I'd love to be on the thing, I mean
it would be awesome, but we're just trying to do anything we
can right now. We're trying to pull together some bands and...
I don't really want to say, but there's several opportunities
that are coming around and hopefully we can do it. There's a
couple of the metalfests we've been asked to be on, and we're
trying to make it happen. We have a new website,
www.prongmusic.com and
anyone who's interested can go on there and check out what
we have. We have shows, a show in FL with Body Count and
Testament, (Sun 'n Steel festival) and then we're going up
to Minnesota with them too, so that's what we have scheduled
right now."
Sam: Are there any bands out right now
that you've been listening to?
TV: "Yeah, there's tons, but recently
I went back to listening to old stuff, like I'm into Iggy
and T Rex and real old stuff you know? Alot of the stuff
that's coming out now I do like alot even though it's not
something that, generally, we do. I mean..In Flames I was into,
that's not really that new, there's a slew of new bands that
are out, that are progressive metal that are cool. As I Lay
Dying...I could go on the other end and say I like The Used
for that matter. So, it depends on the execution of it, The
Used is one of my recent favorites for the last years, and
that's getting old already so...Hypocrisy is cool...it's
hard for me to go out and buy records right now too so..and
I haven't been online that much so I'm trying to nab stuff
anytime I'm on DSL. There's so much out there that it's really
hard to nab some of the stuff, I just can't afford goin' out
and spending $100 on cds."
Sam: I found a whole bunch of stoner rock
bands online
TV: "Yeah, I did the High On Fire for
awhile, I think they're really great. St. Vitus I was really
into years ago, so they remind me a little bit of that.
Sam: Wino's got a new project out, it's
pretty good
TV: "What is it called?"
Sam: The Hidden Hand
TV: "Oh, right, right. Yeah, we were on
tour with The Obsessed a couple times years ago. I thought
they were misunderstood, I mean it was total stoner rock, it
was like crystal meth rock or something so, everyone hated
it when we were out with them. And he has alot of credibility
so, he seems to keep going which is cool."
Sam: You guys have been around a long
time and have pretty much stayed thru all of the trends...
TV: "Yeah, you know, there's periods
where the trends come and it's reflected into what you did in
the past, that's what I mean about the whole credibility issue
it's kind of a difficult conversation because every once in
awhile things meet and match and then that disappears. So,
it's sort of 'what are you going to do next?' is what I'm
always...it's usually in my mind. Try to stay ahead of the
game a little bit, like 3 years ago there was like this mad
rush of who was going to tune lower on the guitars. Eventually
you get into that mode, and now there's alot of bands refering
back to like Maiden and stuff so..I wouldn't do that."
Sam: You guys think of putting out any 7"'s
or anything.
TV: "I don't know who has a record player
anymore, I have one but the needle is screwed up, and all my
records got stolen so..."
Sam: That sucks...
TV: "Yeah, I don't think a 7" is at hand,
I mean, it's a 'who's gonna pay for it?' kinda vibe. In dance
music vinyl is still important...I was interested in it a
couple of years ago, that was part of the whole thing I was
going to do after the initial Prong demise. I was hooking up
with this dance label that wanted to branch out into other
things but it never materialized. I don't know if I'm glad...
if it would've happened it would've been cool, and then move
on, but you know, I have no faith in industrial or electronic
music right now. When I hear a demo of a band, or somebody
gives me stuff that's heavily sampled I'm not interested any
more."
Sam: What do you guys have planned after
this album?
TV: "I'm going to continue to write music,
and write songs. That's pretty much...for whatever reason it's
good to contine just writing stuff. As long as I have ideas,
i'll just keep doing it, get another couple of Prong records
in the catalog. Yeah, the productivity is real important,
you know, where for a long time I didn't stress that. I think
things got really overworked, I mean with this record we made
sure that was less apparent, where it was just laying it down
rather than getting into heavy production techniques. I was on
a major label for 10 years and everything was scrutinized and
rejected and by the time the writing process went by, it was
like a year. The song selection and album cover selection
would add another 6 months to it, sequencing...that's something
that eventually I realized, I really didn't want to do. It
has to be more spontanious and quicker. But I could do that now,
I have a feeling of being independent and not having those burdens
anymore, so hopefully, you know another Prong record could be
written in the next 4 or 5 months and recorded and released
early again next year."
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