Just headbang with Attackhead

Mixing traditional metal with a little modern twist. Southern California's Attackhead refused to be pinned down to one genre of music. Being into death, black and thrash metal. This band is heavy enough to keep my head banging all night

Hey Mark how's it going so far?
Paul, everything is going great at the moment. Thanks for taking the time to do this interview.

How long the band been around and how would you describe attackhead's music?
We formed in 2002 and I would describe our music as old school thrash. We are very much in the vein of Slayer, Testament, Megadeth with some Maiden style riffs thrown in.

Can you tell us about the label the band got signed to Twisted Hillbilly.
Absolutely. Twisted Hillbilly Records is located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The label has around a dozen bands on it now and has just built a new recording studio in Tennessee with all the latest and greatest equipment. You can check out www.twistedhillbillyrecords.com for more info on the label.

The label is also a zine right.
Yes they are. It is a printed magazine called Twisted Hillbilly Magazine and they have a lot of interviews with national acts as well as local talent. Oh and don't forget the awesome Hillbetty photo shoots!

How the band ended up on the Twisted Hillbilly roster.
Well the owner of the magazine and label, we call him Hillbilly Moe, heard our music from our "Voices In The Dark" CD and dug the tunes. He wrote a brief review on the music and we started talking. We both agreed that Attackhead would be a good fit with Twisted Hillbilly Records and the rest is history.

I recieved one of your CDs in the mail and I got to say it's not death or thrash but it's heavy enough to attract both thrash or death metal heads.
That is always a good mix of people to attract. Our sound is more reminiscent of old school thrash than today's thrash metal. I think you will find the new CD we are recording with Twisted Hillbilly will be much more brutal. It is the same songs except for one but the original CD was the best that I could afford not the best it could be. A lot of corners were cut and sacrifices made in the name of a small budget but the new CD will not have those problems.

When the band first got together what were you looking for as far as musicians and personality when you started Attackhead.
Mostly people who were committed and not flaky. We have been through our fair share of members just like every other band but I think we finally got a good mix now. Obviously ability is important and if you don't get along with each other you might as well find someone new now as you will not be able to stand them once you spend more time with them.

Name some of the band influences at the time of the bands formation.
Our influences are Testament, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Anthrax, BLS, Judas Priest, Tony Mc Alpine, just to name a few.

Describe the Southern California metal and how much the scene been helpful and supportive of the band?
Well the So Cal scene is pretty diverse. We don't do the pay to play thing but there are plenty of clubs that you can play at that don't charge the band an arm and a leg to be in their club. Lately we have been doing mostly military shows and that has been a lot of fun. I would not say the scene in So Cal is helpful at all. It is pretty much dog eat dog just like everything else in the music business.

Name some of the bands to watch out for that's coming out of the San Bernadino area.
I can't really help you there. We do a lot of shows by ourselves and haven't really been pared with anyone worth bragging about.

Is it hard to get shows or open up for an national act these days.
It is difficult to open for a national act. It seems like it is more about who you know than anything else. It helps to get good radio airplay and publicity so you are not a total unknown but it is still a challenge. We really don't have a problem getting shows when we want them. We have been around long enough to know where to look when we want to play a certain area.

What been the feedback so far on your music so far?
We have had a lot of very positive reviews and feedback from all over the world. I think the new CD will create even more positive reviews and we are really looking forward to it release hopefully this Summer.

Is the planning on doing shows outside of california in the near future?
We have done several shows outside California already, mostly in Las Vegas. We have a show coming up on April 30th at the Marine base in Yuma, AZ and will be looking at possibly getting over to Texas in the near future. I think we may even do a show in Tennessee in April when we are there to record our CD.

When the band putting out new material?
We will be in Tennessee from April 13th to April 19th to record our new CD. I believe the title will be "Voices In The Dark - Redux" so people know it is the same material but redone. It will have all new artwork and will be distributed worldwide in major stores this summer. We have a 3 year deal with Twisted Hillbilly and already have enough material for an all new CD but we are going to wait until early next year to record that CD. We want the new "Voices" CD to get enough saturation with the public before we put out another disc.

Thanks for your taking the time to do the interview anything you like to say to the Attackheadbangers out there?
Thank you all for your support. We really do appreciate it. If you get a chance go to www.attackhead.com to check out videos, photos, upcoming shows and other cool stuff or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/attackhead. We also have a Twitter page at www.twitter.com/attackhead

Stay Metal