staynegative@oocities.com.
Standing on stage sipping red wine from a delicate glass goblet, Type O Negative's lead singer Peter Steele looks like a hardcore biker version of Fabio. But this long-haired, chisel-chested rocker has never hawked a butter substitute to pay the rent.
Steele and crew - Kenny Hickey (guitar), Josh Silver (keyboards) and Johnny Kelly (drums) - are stretching out and getting comfortable on stage running through "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend" from their latest record, October Rust (Roadrunner).
Last summer the band took their finely crafted mix of goth, metal and pop on the road as one of the bands on Ozzfest. Since then, this most haunting of quartets have left very little time to recreate in their New York hometown. They have zigzagged many times across the States with some of the Ozzfest bands. Most recently, they completed a stretch of club dates from October 21 to November 2, with opening bands Coal Chamber and Electric Hellfire Club. Fans hungry for new material will have top wait until '98, but until then, a remix by famed producer Rick Rubin of their hit single from their bBloody Kisses alubm, "Summer Breeze" could be heard on the new sountrack album for "I know what you did last summer."
The Brooklyn-based quartet - renowned for their endearingly morbid epic "Black No. 1" - successfully integrate speed-metal punk, 60's catchy melodies with booming riffs and dark goth. On their '91 debut, Slow, Deep and Hard, Steele & Co. set the tone of their depressing yet darkly witty tone with its bubbling organ, Beatlesque vocal harmonies and harsh sound effects on classics like "Unsuccessfully coping with the natural beauty of infidelity (I know youre f*cking someone else)."
For their third album, October Rust, highlighted by "Love you to death," "Be my druidess" and "Green man," the band has brewed up a wicked batch of bitches brew concocted with dark muddy riffage and gorgeous, soaring vocals. It's a balancing act between the beauty and the beast of life.
Back on stage the band is swinging Neil Young's classic "Cinnamon Girl" like a heavy brick bat (as song whose remix by Nine Inch Nails Charlie Clouser was a recent mainstay on modern rock radio.) THe slower tempo gives the song a chance to breathe and gives off a sinister feeling.
After finishing up a powerful set, the band scatters for the showers.
Steele, hits the cafeteria. Sitting at a table with his entourage, Steele prepares to devour dinner.
Circus: What are they feeding you?
Steele: Cow ovaries in gravy with corn. [He pokes at one of many little white potato surrounded by beef and covered in gravy.] Who's this interview for?
For Circus.
Wow, if my manager would have told me, I would have worn deodorant.
How long has it been between your last album Bloody Kisses and October Rust?
Unfortunately, it was three years which I feel is way too much time between albums. My goal is not to spend three years between albums this time. But due to the record company, who I'm making very rich, they like us to tour until we're old and toothless. I'm old but I'm not toothless, so they only have me half beat.
I heard you write a lot on the road?
What I do to write albums is play Beatles albums at half-speed backwards and steal the riffs. [He snaps his fingers.] Like a charm it works. I'm going to take these with me [He unscrews the tops off the salt and pepper shakers that were sitting in front of him.] You never know when you're going to need these. [He holds both of them up to his nipples.] You have to be prepared for anything and everything.
Metal music seems to be enjoying a resurgence with a lot of different bands taking the music in different directions. Is metal changing?
In a world where everybody is afraid to simply be their social security number, which I am not, I am proud of the nine digits I was supplied with. Everyone wants to be individuals so they have to combine heavy metal with reggae or punk or funk or junk or whatever they feel like. So there is no true metal now. Except for Manowar, of course. What are you laughing at? [He shoots a stare at the blonde girl giggling on his left.] Back to your question, yes, metal is changing.
Does this tour mean a lot to you and the band? I know in interviews you cite the Beatles and Black Sabbath as the two masters you serve.
I think Black Sabbath are probably the founding fathers of goth music, punk and metal. Anybody who thinks otherwise can eat the corn out of my sh*t. [He shovels in another forkful of yellow kernels toward his mouth.] Notice how I don't like my food touching each other.
Is this an anal retentive side of you that few see?
I hate that f*cking term, anal retentive! [He slams his meaty fist onto the corner of the table shattering its glass cover into several large shards and a floor full of shiny, jagged slivers.]
Now I know what not to say to you.
Shhh! [He looks down the table as the girls' tense, shocked faces relax into large smiles laughing loudly.]
So you're not anal retentive?
I didn't realize... it was real glass. What kind of person puts real glass on a table? I did the same thing at my grandmother's house last Thanksgiving. 'You put too much butter in the mashed potatoes, you b*tch!' [He slams his fist down again, but this time stopping short.] I'm sorry now, I'm being sexist. I called her an elderly female dog.
I take it your family is close?
We're close.
A lot of holidays marred by violence?
We like to fight over the turkey. I guess we're off the tour now. That's OK, I can use more time at home. Where were we?
I was about to ask you why you're a food separatist.
A lot of people call me a fascist. This is the reason. The food is separate. It can't touch each other.
A lot of the bands were standing on the side of the stage watching the other bands play. What are some of the bands you've been checking out on this tour [Ozzfest '97]?
Pantera is not only a good band, but great people to hang with. I can't say enough good things about them. They've been really good to us. The only problem with Phil [Anselmo, the band's lead singer] is that he tells the truth. And for that he shall suffer forever. But I'm right behind him.
[Steele finishes wrangling the last few bites of corn onto his fork and looks up.] I was gonna give you a table dance, but...
I don't have any dollar bills.
That's OK, I was expecting 100's.
So what did you do before you started touring around the country busting up cafeterias?
I use to work for the Parks Department in Brooklyn. $40,000 a year.
Did you enjoy your time with the Parks Department?
I loved it. Outside all th etime, however I was passed over for a promotion because I'm a white male. THat's made me a little bit irritable. I don't mind taking orders from people who score better than me on the civil service exam, but when someone's giving me orders because they're female, handicapped or they have more of a tan than I do, then it gets my testostorone level up. I have a little pride.
So what were your duties with the Parks Department?
Everyday was different. I drove garbage trucks and dump trucks and steamrollers. Pretty much anything that had to be done in the park - I was the guy. Including picking up human feces and anything that can come squirting or spewing out of the human body. All for $15 an hour. My motto was, 'Slobs equals jobs.' Do what you want, because you're giving me a job.
E-mail me:
staynegative@oocities.com.
