SOLACE Interview Page 2
By Erik Fong

SW: Your album production sounds very Melvins-ish, more specifically like their album "Houdini." Was that on purpose?
TS: Wow. I've never heard that before. I've always heard the Sabbath comparisons. I was in a band called Godspeed back in the mid/late 90s with the Melvins, and even before we were on that label with them - Gluey Porch Treatments and those albums - the Melvins were a very big influence on [bassist] Rob's and my playing. They're just an awesome band, and that's pretty wild that you actually said that. No one's ever said that to us before. They are without a doubt the coolest band. They break all genres and they do exactly what they want to do. There was a period for a while where they were just flat-out the heaviest band ever.

SW: What was the one catalytic event in your life that made you want to play guitar?
TS: Two things. When I was in second grade, my uncle lived with us in the attic. He had a record collection, and I was going through it one day, looking at the covers. I pulled a few records out and played them, because the covers looked cool - no other reason. He had an album by this band called "Black Sabbath." It was Paranoid. I heard this, "Thump... thump... thump... thump... WAAAAH!!!" It was "Iron Man." It blew me away. Before that, I'd only listened to music that my mom listened to, like Elvis and shit. Then in junior high, a buddy of mine had this album called "Woodstock." He's like, "You gotta hear this. There's this dude named Jimi Hendrix, and he plays the Star Spangled Banner." I was 13 or 14. I heard that, and I said, "Dude. I want to learn to play guitar." It flipped me out beyond belief.

SW: True or false: Atlantic is the shittiest major label ever.
TS: I'm going to have to say false. Only because my time on Atlantic allowed us to open for Black Sabbath and buy a lot of expensive gear. They didn't treat us bad, man. I wish we could've done things a little differently when we were on that label. We were just a bunch of drunk knuckleheads from Jersey. But we toured with Black Sabbath, man. Then we got to tour with Dio. The album we made was okay, I'd love to have the chance to do an album now, knowing what I know. Obviously we were the red-headed stepchild, but I understand the need for tax write-offs and shit. [laughs] But we got some great gear and great experience.

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