JASON NEWSTED Interview Page 2
By Erik Fong

SW: You've mentioned in previous interviews that you're interested in playing some Sabbath tunes with Ozzy. Have you presented your dream set list to him yet?
JN: I'm pretty new to the camp as far as being able to say certain things. You don't necessarily say the words - like "I want to play this song" or "I want to play that song" - to Ozzy. First you work it out with Mike and Zakk, then you rock the song when Ozzy's in the room. Then he hears it and he says, "f**k! That sounds good!" or something like that, and he'll think a little bit more about playing it.

SW: Do you remember the first time you ever heard Voivod?
JN: Yeah, I do. It would have been on the Metal Massacre compilation in 1983 or 1984, whenever that particular one came out. Their sound was so abrasive, yet very identifiable, and they've always maintained that, which is super cool. Their approach was always something that made me a bit jealous - but the sound that became their trademark was created from necessity. They were raised 200 miles above Montreal, somewhere in the ice. Piggy's got an amplifier and a guitar, he's the only one who knows how to play, and nobody wants to sing. Somehow they form this band to stay out of trouble, and end up recording the bass, guitar and vocals all through the guitar amp because that's what they had. They always seemed to have things that other bands didn't at early stages. They had cool art because they had a gifted artist. They had a concept, or two or three or five - cool, brainy stuff that was above and beyond other bands. The lyrics wove a different kind of picture. Back in the day, we [Flotsam and Jetsam] were quite envious of the things that they had. We didn't know that they were as hard-pressed as they were. We just knew that they had really incredible, out-of-this-world music.

SW: In the music that you write and perform, what's the most important element that you try to convey?
JN: Stability. In order to get your foot tapping, for you to be able to sink your teeth into a song, it needs to have some kind of stability that makes you groove and draws your primal instincts to it. That's what I've tried to develop over time, and I think it really started coming into play when I met Bob Rock. He taught me about frequencies, and how I could get big boomy bass and still have clarity. Once I started learning that, I really wanted to create that concrete foundation.

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