DAVE'S INTERVIEW, August 9, 1997
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  Out of all the concerts I have been to, Misfits has to be without a
doubt the best live show my eyes have witnessed.  If you are in front,
the energy you will feel is unreal, and if you sit more in the back,
their stage presence is guaranteed to entertain you.  Their fast paced
songs with an old B rated horror film theme to them, since 1977, has
changed and influenced a lot of today's music.
   Since their reunion in 1995 I have seen them every time they came to
Chicago.  I also went to Wisconsin to see them headline Metalmania '96.
On Aug. 8, 1997 they did a show at the Aragon Ballroom opening for
Megadeth.  Due to a lack of advertising and a lack of money, I was not
able to get tickets and the show sold out.  My friend and I decided to go
tot heshow and see if we could get some tickets through scalpers.
   Heading to the city with only $30 to spend on tickets, we assumed we
would be heading back home by eight o'clock.  At two thirty p.m., we were
staking out the building trying to find a way to sneak in.  The security
guards were real jerks to us, so my friend and I (along with about 5
other Misfits fans) sat outside the parking lot.  Just as we were about
to leave, Dr. Chud (the Misfits drummer) came walking out of the tour bus
and over to us to sign autographs.  I told him about our situatio about
not getting tickets.  After almost an hour of talking and cracking jokes,
a roadie came up to him and told him he need a bunch of drum equipment.
Dr. Chud made me an offer that if I drive him to a music shop he will let
me along with my friend in for free.  Well without a doubt I took him up
on his offer.  On the way there I talked him into doing a quick interview.
Here's how it went.

(In my car heading to Guitar Center)

Dave: How did you get into the Misfits?
Chud: It just happened.  We all grew up together in Lodi, NJ.  Me and Doyle
      went to high school together.  We would hang out, party, dye our hair
      together.  I would have played drums for them in '82 but they already
      had a drummer.

Dave: Now that you have a new album out (American Psycho) and did several
      tours with Michale Graves, do you guys still get slack from people
      about not being the Msifits without Glenn Danzig?
Chud: Never.  That has never been a real problem of ours.  It averages out
      to one guy a show like that.  Everyone seems to love Michale.

Dave: How do you compare the Misfits to your past bands?
Chud: (laughs) Taht's a good question.  I don't really think any of my past
      bands were like the Misfits.  Except for Sacred Trash.  Yeah, when I
      joined the Misfits I wrote a bunch of songs for the band, but due to
      the lawsuit (Misfits vs. Glenn Danzig) we weren't able to use any of
      them.  I wanted to get something out so I put together Sacred Trash
      which I played drums, guitar, and did a little singing.  It was
      something to pass the time during the lawsuit.  When we got our
      Misfits name back, I started writing new songs.  So I would say  Sacred
      Trash was like the Misfist but not any of the other bands.  As a matter
      of fact, guess what one guy said about Sacred Trash.  He said it
      sounded like a good Samhain.

Dave: (laugh) There is a lot of bad Samhain out there.
Chud: Yeah there is.

Dave: The old Misfits were more of a punk band.  The new lineup seems to lean
      more towards a metal sound.  What is your feeling on that?
Chud: I don't see it like that.  The Misfits were never a total punk band.
      Static Age was more of a slow album.  Walk Among Us was more punk and
      had that 50's sound to it.  Earth A.D. was straight out a thrash album.
      The American Psycho album has all three and then some.  Yeah, there are
      some metal sounding songs.  That's because Jerry (bass) and Doyle
      (guitar) are metal gods.  So the stuff they write are going to have
      the metal sound.  Like the Kryst The Conqueror (Jerry Only and Doyle's
      old band).  That was a heavy metal album.  Here we have four different
      guys putting what they got into the band, which gives you a variety of
      different sounds instead of one guy doing all the writing.  That's why
      this new album sounds better than the old ones.  At least I think it
      does.  If it was going to be just a heavy metal band I wouldn't be in
      it.  I don't even like heavy metal.

Dave: You don't?
Chud: Well, if you consider stuff like Led Zeppelin metal, than yeah.

Dave: But no Iron Maiden or Judas Priest?
Chud: Nope.  I hate hair bands.

Dave: What are you influences?
Chud: I've been playing drums for twenty years, so there are twenty years of
      influences.

Dave: When will be the next time you guys are coming to Chicago?
Chud: We'll be here again sometime in October.  As a matter of fact our
      Halloween show will either be here or California.

(Driving by Wrigley Field)

Dave: Hey Chud, do you like baseball?
Chud: Yeah.

Dave: Wrigley Field is right here.
Chud: No shit!  There's a game going on right now.  I always wanted to go
      there.

Dave: Are you a Cubs fan?
Chud: Yeah.

Dave: I knew you were cool!  Did you ever meet Glenn Danzig?
Chud: (laugh) He lived down the road from me.

Dave: What was he like in his younger years.
Chud: I never really talked to him.

Dave: Did you ever meet Dave Vanian (lead singer for the Damned).
Chud: No.  Jerry knew him real well.  He offered Dave to be the new lead
      singer but he turned it down due to troubles he was having.  Plus he
      lived in England so he would have to relocate.  I'm glad he didn't
      join.

Dave: Why?
Chud: I just didn't think he would fit in.  I wanted Michale Graves from the
      start.

Dave: Did you ever meet Eerie Von? (Samhain and Danzig bass player)
Chud: We went to high school together.

Dave: What was he like?  He seemed kind of like a jerk in the Danzig home
      video.
Chud: No he's not.  He's real, real, real laid back.  A big blues guy.  He
      even formed a blues band called The Bighouse for a while, and that was
      real deep blues.

Dave: I have heard of a lot of old fighting stories with the old Misfits.  Do
      you still have that problem?
Chud: Yeah, we get into a lot of fights.  In Denver security was trying to
      rough me up.  The whole band jumped in, and we laid them all out.  More
      security guards ran out and we all got maced.  Ireland is real bad as
      well.  They love to fight.  they're not called the fighting Irish for
      nothing.  This one girl stood in front of the bus and just wouldn't
      leave.  We are like what do you want from us?  Finally we got off the
      bus to move her out of the way.  A bunch of guys ran out and a huge
      brawl broke out.  We should have just ran her over.

Dave: Are the clubs in England real violent?
Chud: (laughs) No.  Fuck England.  They're all a bunch of p(meoow)ies.

Dave: What was with Michale Graves fight at the Vic last year?
Chud: Some guy was trying to tear Michale's shirt off.  He tried to pull
      back and the guy spit right in Michale's face!  He doesn't like to be
      spit on.

Dave: Well, no one does.  You said you went to school with Doyle.  Was he a
      badass in high school?
Chud: He was a natural power house.  I don't think he knows how powerful he
      is.  We all work out every day, and I'm still in awe at what he can do.

Dave: Jerry is a big guy too.
Chud: Yeah, they both are.  The funny thing is Doyle is bigger, and Jerry
      works out more than him.

Dave: I heard one time in '81 that Doyle got hit in the head with a beer
      bottle.  He walked off stage and beat the shit out of him and a bunch
      of his friends.
Chud: I never heard about that.  He did bash his guitar over someone's head.

Dave: Yeah in San Francisco.  I heard about that.  So when will Animal Room
      (a film that the Misfits are in) open in the U.S.?
Chud: Who knows?  I have no idea what's going on with that.  I think they
      need to sell it to someone here first.  We'll be doing songs for a
      bunch of other films.  We'll be doing a song for Scream 2, and we'll
      be doing one for the next Crow film.

Dave: How do you think Rob Zombie will do in writing the next Crow film?
Chud: I think he'll do fine.

Dave: How are you guys getting along with Megadeth?
Chud: Dave Mustaine is cool.  We took him to see Spawn last night.

Dave: What did you think of that movie?
Chud: I gave it a C.  I thought it was pretty dumb.

Dave: When will you have a new album out?
Chud: We wrote 8 new songs fo far.  After the tour in October, we will be
      heading back into the studio for a new album.

Dave: Well, we maded it (as I pull over).  I hope my driving didn't scare
      you.
Chud: No but you are a bad driver.

   Actually my driving is not that bad.  It was just the pressure of getting
Dr. Chud to and from Guitar Center by a certain time.  I got to meet Rocky
(Misfits manager / Jerry and Doyle's brother).  He didn't want to let us in
because they were 15 people over on the guest list and out of backstage
passes.  The agreement was we could stay in the Misfits' dressing room until
the doors opened and then we would just wakl into the arena.  We had no
problem with that.  We hung out in the Misfits dressing room making peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches and pigging out on Doritos.  We got to hear the
sound check.  We could also hear Megadeth hanging out in the room next to
ours.  My friend wanted to go over and say hi but one of the first things
Dr. Chud said was "Don't bother Megadeth."
   It was really cool all the Misfits members came in one by one.  Dr. Chud
popped his head in every five or ten minutes to amke sure everything was all
right.  Doyle came in.  For all of you guys that don't know, tihs guy is
huge and has a mean glare to him.  He was real quiet but nice.  He shook our
hands and talked for a few seconds before he went back downstairs.  I saw
Michale Graves for a second.  The guy I wanted to meet really bad was Jerry
Only.  He was the guy who was in the band from the start, and since we both
play bass I had to meet him.  After almost an hour of hanging out, some
older looking guy runs in and yells "what's up!"  We all stared at him like
"who are you?"  "I'm Jerry!" he says.  I flew out of my seat and almost did
the Wayne's World (We're not worthy!  We're not worthy!)  My musical hero,
the guy I always wanted to meet and I didn't recognize him.  He looked so
different without his stage makeup and gear on.  This guy had so much energy,
it was unreal.  He just ran in and gave us all a big hug.  We all talked for
a few minutes before he had to into the trailer and get ready for the show.
After a while this one guy runs in and talks about how he was in a band
called SDD and claimed he toured with the Misfits in 1983.  He talked about
the shows.  He would say, "Yeah, I remember those days.  On the right side
and the left side of the stage stood these two monsters. (Talking about
Jerry and Doyle).  And then there's this scrawny little twirp in the middle.
(Talking about Glenn Danzig).  Man, that guy complained about everything."
The funny thing is it seemed like none of the band members rememeber him.
   Finally Dr. Chud told us it was time for us to head out to the arena.  As
we were walking out, I asked him if there was any way we could get backstage
after the show.  He told us to meet him by the backstage door and if people
on the guest list don't show up, we can get backstage.  The Misfits show
was great!  My only complaint is, they only played for an hour.  They started
out playing their instruments backstage.  They were doing the song
Abominable Dr. Phibes.  First Dr. Chud came out.  Then came Michale Graves
with his face painted like a skull.  He wore a straightjacket.  Then came
Jerry and Doyle and that ended the Dr. Phibes song and started American
Psycho.  They did half their new songs and half old songs.  I was standing
in the balcony and could still feel the energy.  Michale and Jerry jumped
out in the audience a number of times.  The ended with We Are 138.  After
that, we ran to the backstage door to see if we could get in.  Dr. Chud ran
out and said "sorry guys" (as he opened the barricade to let two young
females in).  We were replaced.  That was cool though.  We got in for free,
met my heroes, and got an interview with Dr. Chud.  Anyway, I'd pick two
young females over me as well.
   Megadeth put on a good show as well.  He announced that the show was being
recorded for a live album.  There was one thing I didn't understand.  At the
end of the show Dave Mustaine was totally ripping on this guy giving him the
middle finger.  He ripped on this guy for about a total of two minutes.  Now
that seems odd.  The Aragon Ballroom is packed with people all screaming
"Megadeth!  Megadeth!  We love you Dave!  We love you Dave!"  With all of
that, why would he spend all that attention on one guy who decided he doesn't
like him?  At the end of the show, we hung out in the parking lot.  Megadeth
who during the show claimed they love Chicago and that "Megadeth and Chicago
are this close!" they sure hurried up and hid on the bus and cruised out of
the parking ot.  The whole Misfits band however, came out, signed autographs
and took pictures.   They stayed out there until everyone got a chance to
meet the band.  When I told Jerry how cool he is to his fans and most
celebrities aren't like that, he mentioned something like "Not being on the
road for thirteen years, and at times it looked like it wasn't ever going to
happen again.  It was the fans that really helped in keeping this thing
going."  I don't know if those were his exact words, (I was too warped up in
the fact that I was hanging out with the Misfits) but I'm sure it's pretty
close.  Anyways, their story was one of the most interesting stories I have
ever heard about a music group and I'm looking forward to seeing them come
back in October.
   Since this interview I found out that the Misfits' Halloween show will be
in LA with the Cramps opening.  The Misfits will be back in Chicago during
the month of October.  After their tour, they will either wokr their next
album or go back on the road for another tour in January.  For more on the
Misfits check out Misfits Central at: http://misfits.plan-9.com