NUCLEAR ASSAULT
GLENN EVANS
Nuclear Assault celebrates thirty years as a band in 2015 with a new album coming and a tour, The Final Assault tour. Today I have spoken with Nuclear Assault's drummer Glenn Evans.
First of all, Tell me everything there is to know about your upcoming album. Are you finished with the album and when will it be released?
The upcoming album is in the writing and pre-production stage -
Due to the incredible amount of bootlegging and file sharing,
it's nearly impossible to make any money off a new album (not that its a priority anymore). Therefore, it will be released on VINYL ONLY in the beginning. Try to to download that. After a while it will go to CD & iTunes ...
In fact, the way the music business is headed, i think a lot of bands will be following suit. I recorded & mixed "Overload" , my third solo album after 23 years in El Paso, Texas in five days this past January. Took six months to turn around for release on vinyl on my own record label. The cost? too much to give away... Hence, the picture disc release.
Danny is heavily into writing for Nuke again. After all, it was the Dan Lilker / John Connelly writing team that set things in motion back in '85. I often refer to them as the "Lennon / McCartney of thrash.
Your last three full-length albums wasn't recieved as well as your pre-1990 material. Are they weaker or are some fans just too nostalgic?
Pre- 1990 material was fresh and we were full of piss & vinegar. After the 80's ride, I remember recording "Out of Order" and that exactly what it was. Too many drugs, too much alcohol, band members not showing up for recording sessions, and so on. The band was becoming splintered for a few reasons. I was the one in charge of trying to keep it together, but that wasn't so easy at the time. The day "Out of Order" was released , the Iraq war broke out. So in retrospect, I feel that I did my best with what I had to work with... which was just myself and the engineer. If you look at the credits, I'm playing a lot of instruments and produced it. I even had to grab the girl from the front desk of the hotel to do backup vocals because there was nobody else to do them. John was off doing his solo project "crash & burn" or whatever it was called and would show up sporadically to lay down vocals, and Danny and I were left holding the sessions together creating even more friction within what was left the band.
In the end, the album was released and sold about 200,000 copies... Dan split the band to pursue his solo career, and that was about how it happened. Anthony split after Dan, so John & I hired Dave DiPietro, (former bandmate from TT Quick) as the new lead guitarist. He previously did a European tour with us supporting "Out Of Order" (Originally titled "Sign In Blood") when John decided he didn't want to play guitar anymore... that was when Anthony was still lead guitarist.. That evolved into more problems. Dave brought in a bass player that in my opinion sucked and couldn't pull his weight. I nearly knocked him out after a show in Europe somewhere because I couldn't stand his bass playing or him. He was the weak link and I told him that and was ready for battle, as usual...
We recorded "Something Wicked" with the new lineup on IRS Records, but by the end of a world tour, I pulled the plug completely. It was no longer Nuclear Assault.
Your first full-length Game Over was released back in 1986, what do you think about that album in retrospect?
Game Over was a breath of fresh air, and we did our best with the 5 days we were given to record it. In the middle of mixing the album, I drove the school bus to Pennsylvania from Ithaca, NY to do a show and when we returned - we finished the mix. The mix suffered and the production was terrible... Lesson well learned.
In retrospect, It was all a learning and growing process. We did have a blast recording though, and it shows in the performances.
It has been almost a decade between albums, what took you so long?
Personally, I was busy creating and patenting a new audio / video technology for all bands to use in the cyber future. Dan's been doing his last shows with Brutal Truth, and John's been raising a family. We still played shows every year for the past 10 years at least, but not a whole lot. Maybe a few dozen shows a year. Only big shows at our picking, and usually in foreign countries. John's a history teacher, so we work around his school schedule. I'm retired, so it don't matter to me one bit if we tour or not. But it is fun, if you make it fun and not a job, which is what it became by 1995.
Nuclear Assault - Anthony Bramante, Glenn Evans, Dan Lilker & John Connelly
Nuclear Assault was always a band that was socially aware. Why didn't you sing about swords and axes like everyone else? :)
Because we think that it's been played out so much already, and there's no longevity in the lyrics.
Besides, as John once told me "I have to sing the songs, so I prefer it to be a positive message and not lyrics that have no meaning whatsoever."
The bands popularity peaked with Survive and Handle With Care, How was those days when your band was all over MTV and in magazines. Was there a lot of red carpets and limousines? Or was your fame more subtle?
There were some nice perks. Walking into a hotel room with a basket of fruit & champagne sitting there with a welcome note - getting treated with respect - naked women in my hotel rooms riding in real tour buses instead of me DRIVING a school bus all the time...
Personally, I loved the women and they were everywhere. I took full advantage of it. As far as the fame, we were still Danny, John, Anthony, & Glenn stuck together like glue day in and day out. Fame is an illusion. We were a band. And I love women...
The Final Assault of Europe Tour is booked for next summer. What can you tell us about the tour?
The "Final Assault" tour was an idea of mine after recording "Overload" in January. I knew what was missing and was determined to find it. The missing link was the right drum room. You can't expect a great drum sound out of someone's basement. You need the atmosphere, the room, the microphones, the right engineer & producer.
After I recorded "Overload" I did an interview with some magazine. Then it occurred to me that I wanted a final nuke record to eliminate any doubts people have about the bands ability to still create a great album and still tour along side the best bands out there... Especially after the disappointing "Third World Genocide" that was previously recorded in someone's basement in 2005. Even though we continued to do shows for 13 years after that, there was an underlying dissatisfaction that we needed to correct. The idea of a "Final Album" or "Final Assault" as it's been dubbed set the wheels in motion.
Overload was released, sold 800 copies the first day (in comparison, Ace Frehley's new album sold 14,000 the first week) so I was rather proud of that accomplishment. After contacting Danny and pitching the idea, he was finally on the same page as me. The original idea was to make a new record that I would produce, and do a few final shows. The few final shows turned into a full blown "Final Assault World Tour" beginning in 2015.
It's amazing what the power of thought and an idea will do...
Has this thrash revival made any impact on a band like Nuclear Assault? With tons of new thrash metal bands popping up everywhere and most of them are fans of Nuclear Assault in one way or another.
Thrash is always going to be around. Just like disco.... Seriously, we're not as concerned about the thrash movement, we are more concerned about putting out a great album and performing our best on the "Final Assault" album & tour with some of our best friends and band friends. I had my influences growing up, just like kids now have their influences.. It's an honor to think that someone actually wants to create music the same style as you did, but in reality we are all bombarded by influences every single day. My only rule is to use "Positive" influences. As I'm older now, I no longer have to prove myself. That means I personally have time to help other bands & musicians just starting out, which is a lot more gratifying now.
Classic Nuke
You formed Sidipus Records in 2011, why? Was it unprofitable to be signed to I.R.S. and In-Effect? Wasn't you also a part of Arena Records?
I formed Sidipus Records because I needed a label to distribute records and CDs on. The major label days are over, unless you want to call Nuclear Blast a major label. Let's put it this way... after handling the musicians and the music business for over 40 years, I feel that my way is better for me and those I help because I am in complete control and have made all the mistakes already. I'm not re-inventing the wheel, just controlling it.
When I think of the millions of dollars that have been put into "Record Company Executive's Pockets" off four guys called Nuclear Assault, (and HUNDREDS of other bands) it's a slap in the face and it's never going to happen again. The cyber world of music has taken over, and has left these jack-off record executives without a job. Karma... Guess what, we still CREATE music & TOUR and they're collecting unemployment. Fuck-em...
Was the band met with any negativity after a song like "Hang the pope"?
Not really, everyone knew it was just a joke song. If anyone is offended by it, don't listen to it. In my opinion he's just a human, nobody special, no special powers. He shits everyday just like the rest of us, so what makes him so special?
The song "Butt Fuck" was dedicated to Vince Neil, did he make any statement about that song in any way?
Vince Neil probably couldn't care less at this point. I've never seen anything or heard anything from him. And believe me, I'm the first person that gets contacted for any legal matters ...
CIA - Attitude
What ever happened to CIA? I kind of enjoyed that band...
CIA was another experiment. I'd been writing songs since I was young, but never really knew how to write them. After watching Danny & John write and arrange songs, I kicked my own writing skills up a notch along with my guitar playing. Eventually doing a few demos, some songs were chosen for the Nuke records. I still continued to write & record, but again, I wanted things done my own way. I used whatever talent I had as far as securing a record deal, recording & releasing two CIA albums, which are basically both solo albums. Out of RESPECT, I invited Danny, John, Anthony, and Dave to play on them and they did a few leads and backup vocals, but the majority of the material and playing is all me. I called it CIA because we were signed to IRS Records. At the time it worked, but in the end it backfired. I recorded and produced Brutal Truth's first demo in my home studio, which inevitablly wound up shooting myself in the foot because "Monkey See Monkey Do" kicked in - Danny did his solo project, john did his solo project, the end of nuke as we knew it was coming... Danny left to pursue Brutal Truth after the "Out of Order" album & world tour.
Harter Attack - Human Hell
Your produced Harter Attack's album Human Hell back in 1989. Are you friends with those guys? And how was it to work with them?
Harter Attack are friends of mine. Rich Harter and I played in a few bands together before Nuke, and I continued helping Rich out with his band after I joined Nuclear Assault. We even did a video. My first ever that I directed & edited using 8mm film equipment. It was fun, and good practice - even though I had no clue how to edit or anything...
I formed a record label called "Arena Records" way before Nuke was around. (Named after Beth Arena, a girl I was seeing at the time).
Harter Attack was the first single on the label called "Salt in the Wound" which I recorded & produced. It was my very first record. A 45 RPM record no less... I proudly hung it on my wall above my IBM computer.
So after I joined Nuke, Harter was without a band. I helped him put a new band together, and signed them to Arena Records.
I had been working with Miles Copeland from IRS Records on a deal that would give me major distribution and put Arena Records releases in the record stores. Previously it was a demo label where I would help bands out by putting their demos out. I had a mailing list of over 10,000 people acquired by just down right hard work (I got the demo distribution and mailing list idea from reading Richard Branson's Biography) and it was great exposure for these unknown bands. (Many which are pretty famous today). That was right at the time Nuke took off. At that time, I had over 100 bands on the demo label giving them exposure to the world as i knew it.
There was no money to be made, in fact I put out all the money myself, but my feelings were to pay it forward. Help other struggling bands out if I could. Nobody helped me out one bit. In fact, I was constantly told that I wouldn't make it in the music business and to "Get a Day Job."
Harter Attack was the first band signed to Arena / IRS Records with MCA & Universal distribution that put my buddy Rich in record stores next to CIA & Nuke. We recorded the album in a week in Connecticut and I produced & engineered it. Acting as the bands manager, I also brought them on the "Hard, Harter, Hardest" US tour back the 90's sometime with CIA opening (I played guitar & handled lead vocals, George Chahalis (Harter's Drummer) on drums, Anthony on lead, and Danny on Bass. It was CIA, then Harter Attack, Then Nuke. That was a memorable but rough tour for me personally. I had to play guitar & front a band, then play drums for 2 hours. Very economical too - we all fit on one bus. Those were fun times and we laughed so hard at times that it overshadowed all the hard work put into it to make the tour a success.
The Nukes
What's the highlight of your career?
Signing to IRS Records, watching the album climb the billboard charts with a bullet, & seeing "Brainwashed" on MTV for the first time in a hotel room after a show somewhere in Texas.
What's your plans for the near future?
Recording the "Final Assault" album and touring the world with Nuke. Also getting ready to record a new solo album in El Paso, Texas where I recorded "Overload." My solo albums will continue because it's what I like to do best, as well as producing and doing Music Videos. I'm also in the middle of writing a book that will be released in 2015 - 2016.
Have you got any funny story to tell, if anything weird has happened while touring or so?
There are tons of stories in the book, but here's a few that stick out in my mind...
I fell down a flight of cast iron stairs and broke my right wrist in 3 places and was knocked unconscious with my head gushing blood - just 30 minutes before a headline show in Japan.
I played the show, but suffered the next month with a wrist that looked like a football. That was a tragic time.
A scary time is when we went through the border of Canada - Danny hid his gigantic marijuana pipe in the seat, which fell through to the back seat floor. The border patrol searched everything and anything they could find - even my little mirror i used to shave with in the shower, they tested it for cocaine. I can't believe they missed what was right smack in front of their faces... Now you know why we rarely tour Canada - it's a personal thing with me.
Funny? Some unknown female passed out in my hotel room - I put here on a cot and wheeled here down the hall into the elevator - hit the lobby button & closed the door....
Any last words for our readers?
Don't take life too seriously - Set a goal and achieve it - Pay it forward & have fun doing it!!!
AVOID ALCOHOL, PILLS AND DRUGS - THEY DESTROY !!! Take care of yourself - take care of your body - be kind to people - avoid TOXIC PEOPLE AT ALL COSTS!!! oh, and follow your dreams - and remember that there will always be CHALLENGES in life.
I'll give you one example of a challenge I had with Nuke. In the early days 86 or so, i drove this school bus around the country and Nuke would play anywhere, anytime, for free even - just to play... Well, on one voyage, the brakes decided to go while we were driving across the top of the George Washington Bridge. I was driving, and it was a horrible cold blustery rainy day.
What would you do???? Well, I'm no mechanic, but i knew that we lost all brake fluid. How would you have handled the situation on the way to a gig??? Fortunately, I had extra cans of assorted stuff in a milk crate behind the drivers seat.
I got a pair of pliers and a can of brake fluid and headed out into the freezing rain. The rest of the guys sat in there seats terrified. I simply got under the bus, found which brake line went - crimped it with the pliers, filled up the brake fluid compartment, then bled the brakes to get the air out of the lines. We then had temporary breaks, we were off the top of the bridge safely and made it to the gig.... It was just another challenge out of thousands along the way...
There are tons of things I'd like to tell people from past experience, but these are the key points. Chin Up!!!
See you on the "Final Assault"
Glenn Evans
/Ruthless
(04-11-2014)
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