This is an excerpt with an intervew with Larry LaLonde. No date is listed in the 'zine, but it was around the release of Primus' "PORK SODA".
Marco Barbieri (interviewer) - (His previous question to Larry was
concerning his former band Blind Illusion) Going even further back - what do you
think of Mike Torrao using the Possessed name?
Larry - Ha, ha...it's totally his name. He can do whatever he wants.
It doesn't bother me. When I got into that band it was pretty well-known that
it was Mike's band and it was his thing.
Marco - When you joined weren't they called Blizzard?
Larry -
No, that was a band I was in before (Possessed) with the drummer from Blind
Illusion and Jeff (Becerra). It was a different band. Possessed had been around
for a while. When Blizzard broke up Jeff started doing the Possessed thing and
I got in through him. Torrao at first didn't want me in the band since I was
only 15. The original singer in Possessed committed suicide. It wasn't a
serious band at that point. It was just a garage band and when Jeff got in it
became serious. When I joined they already had a record deal.
Marco - Didn't you play on that demo?
Larry - No, that was done before me.
Marco - But your name is listed on "METAL MASSACRE VI"?
Larry - Yeah, that was one of the beautiful things. I was in the band and
the next thing I knew my name was on there which I thought was kind of stupid
since I wasn't on it. It was another guitar player named Brian Montana. I was
pretty bummed that they put my name and not his. He was the guy that was on
there.
Marco - You didn't get a personal kick out of it, especially since you
were fifteen?
Larry - No, because I knew I wasn't on it.
Marco - So you have no problems with him using the name? You don't
think he's ruining it?
Larry - No, as far as I'm concerned it's his thing.
Marco - You're completely out of that scene too?
Larry - Yeah, I
was never a Satanic kind of guy.
Marco - That was all a gimmick, right?
Larry - Oh, yeah totally.
We had fun with it. When I first got into the band I never even tripped off
the whole Satanic thing. Jeff was my friend and we were playing crazy music and
then it started sinking in what the whole thing was about and that's what turned
me off to it.
Marco - Was Jeff and Mike into that?
Larry - Umm...I don't think so. They didn't know anything about it. I
always thought the band would have been cooler if we would have just been
regular guys.
Marco - It started to regress into that in the end. What do you think
of that music now?
Larry - I haven't really even heard it in a long time. I should listen
to it.
Marco - I don't know if you're even aware but it seems that Possessed
have had a tremendous influence on people who are now playing death metal. How
does that make you feel?
Larry - It's pretty cool. When I was in the band there was maybe four
death metal bands. Nobody knew it would have gotten as big as it did. Now it
seems played out though.
Marco - Do you get people coming up to you and asking about Possessed?
Larry - Sometimes but not a lot.
Marco - What are your feelings about Jeff's accident?
Larry - As
far as I know he was in a crazy part of town and some guys were robbing him and
they blasted him in the chest. I've only seen him once since and he's a pretty
crazy guy.
Marco - He was crazy before or now?
Larry - Yeah, it didn't slow him down any. He's in a wheelchair now
and he's still a high spirited kind of guy.
Marco - Do you know what Mike Sus is doing?
Larry: I haven't talked to him in a while.
Marco - What caused the break up in the end?
Larry - I quit because I wasn't into it and after that I think they
realized they weren't into it. It was a way out.
Marco - I had heard that being so young, the business and touring got
you down and it wasn't fun anymore.
Larry - That might be it to some extent but I left because I didn't
want to do it anymore.
(thus ends Marco's questions about Possessed)