Rob: Place of Skulls has been around for a while now and you have been in a couple of other bands, namely Pentagram and Death Row. How long have you been playing hard rock and what are some of your musical influences?
Victor: My dad used to jam a little with a couple of country bands in the late 60`s through the mid 80`s. So there was always guitars around. I can remember first picking up a guitar around the age of nine. But I didn`t take it that seriously until I started high school. I`d say I`ve been playing hard rock for about 28 years. I was given my first guitar by Kelly McMahan, a good friend of my Dad`s and a great country/rhythm & blues and steel player. A 1951 Gibson ES-125. Still got it. I guess I was 9 or 10 years old. He told me he`d give it to me if I`d learn to play it. Of course I said I would. He left our house and was later shot & killed that same night. A short time later I learned Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash. My first song. I went on to learn quite a few classic country and 70`s "outlaw" country songs by people like Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, & Kris Kristofferson. But when I began discovering bands like Steppenwolf, the Alice Cooper band, early ZZ Top, & Sabbath...those were definitely some of my early influences and caused me to realize the type of music I really wanted to play.
Rob: Now that Wino is in the band, how has that affected your songwriting, and how do you feel about working with a guitarist who is on equal levels skill wise with you?
Victor: It hasn`t really affected my songwriting at all. I still write the way I write and grow with it. But it`s been cool working with Wino again. He`s technically one of the best players around anywhere. It`s hard to know how good he really is just from hearing his recordings. In a live setting, it definitely shines more. But when you sit with him and work on material and jam, you realize how much he knows about guitar and what a natural he is. But I`ve known that for years. He`s a blessed musician.
Rob: I get the feeling that you are a religious person...what are your beliefs? Do you believe in God?
Victor: I`m not a religious person at all. In fact, I can`t stand religion. It`s nothing but man-made rules, traditions, & rituals. A controlling spirit that people adhere to...to define themselves as belonging to some specific group. My personal beliefs have been documented pretty well I think. I`ve certainly been slammed plenty for them. By more than a few of the so-called "tolerant, live and let live, let`s all be free to be ourselves, retro hippie freedom fighters". Although not to my face, hmmm. But since you ask. Yes, I believe in God and that he came to earth about 2000 years ago in the form of a man, Yahshua. More commonly known as Jesus Christ. The name change came about because certain religions felt the need to deceive by changing specific names and dates in historical scripture and establish false days & holidays of worship. But that`s a whole other story. When his time & sacrifice were finished here shortly after crucifixion, he returned to the third heaven...waiting for his next appointed time to return. When this will all pass and there`ll be a peaceful new earth. Besides being my personal belief, it makes for some good doomy material with a positive outcome.
Rob: Dennis from Oversoul has recently been added to the line-up. How did that come about and how does Dennis fit in to the whole equation? I spoke to Ron Holzner earlier this year and he explained a little about the songwriting process in POS and how a bass player was fundamentally important in the songwriting for you.
Victor: Tim called to tell me about a post on our guest book one day. It was from Dennis asking about how to audition for the band. I sent him an email to get in touch. So we worked everything out for Dennis to come to Knoxville one weekend and jam for a couple of days. It went great. Later Dennis told me it was actually his wife that had made the post and she was really behind him to do it. I think that`s cool that she`s willing to sacrifice like that. Relocating and all can be pretty stressful. I`ve put my wife through it a thousand times. But yeah, what Ron said is true...the bass position is important to us. We want more from the bass than just following the guitar riff or progression. The bass is it`s own instrument and I like to hear it going off when the time`s right like the 60`s and 70`s guys used to do. Dennis has a good grasp on that kinda thing. He`s also got some killer song ideas that I`m lookin forward to working with.
Rob: How was it playing in Pentagram? What are some of the more memorable experiences from that time in your life?
Victor: Well...I spent about 15 years in a band that recorded 3 albums and played a handful more gigs. Doesn`t seem like much accomplished in the time span to me. But I`m proud to have been part of a band that was able to leave some sort of legacy for our genre. It sounds negative but my most memorable experiences is the almost constant dissension within. Seems there was always some kinda shit goin on. Arguments, personnel changes, drug abuse, break-ups, you name it. But we believed in the music so much back then, and had such great musical chemistry together, we were willing to put up with it all. But in `96 I`d had enough.
Rob: How was it writing songs with Bobby Liebling? He plays guitar as well right?
Victor: Yeah, Bobby plays guitar a little but we never actually wrote many songs together. We only had like 2 real co-writes. I wrote the music and he wrote the lyrics to "All Your Sins". He wrote the lyrics to "The Ghoul", which Joe Hasselvander wrote most of the music for and I came up with the ending progression. He`s credited for co-writing "Burning Savior" but he only wrote like 2 or 3 sentences for that. I don`t really consider that much of a co-write for a 9 minute song. But we always had a good chemistry and our material had a good fit together.
Rob: What are some of the future plans for Place of Skulls? Do you guys plan on touring out west now that the line-up is complete to promote the new album out this fall on Southern Lord?
Victor: Our plans are to play a couple of local shows within the next 6 or 8 weeks to get warmed up. Then some D.C./Baltimore shows for the cd release. For touring, we`d like to do a couple of weeks in the northeast & Canada, then about 3 weeks in Europe, then back to the States for a west coast tour and hitting the Midwest & some southern dates on the way home. That`s what we`re looking at but nothing is confirmed for any of it yet.
Rob: Where exactly did you grow up? I assume it was east coast DC area...how was the music scene growing up? How did you meet wino and Pentagram guys...maybe a story from the past.
Victor: I grew up here in Tennessee. I had a little high school band called Wizzard. But I quickly realized I wasn`t gonna be able to accomplish much here. There was no scene at all. Lee Abney was about the only person I knew who understood and "got" the whole heavy doom kinda thing. My parents were ask by the principle to not send me back to high school during my junior year. Shortly after I made plans to move to the DC area. I guess I was about 16 or 17 then. During the planning, I was putting the groundwork together for Death Row. My older sister was dating Joe Hasselvander and we`d met on a previous trip up there. We clicked right away with our ideas and direction and he was totally into the Death Row concept. Once Lee and I made the move, we began our search for a singer. The pickins were pretty slim for what we wanted and Bobby`s name kept coming up. Once we had the full line-up and a few weeks rehearsal, we were ready to gig. Joe said he knew of a band in Maryland called The Obsessed that would be perfect to do some shows with. Joe called them up and we drove up to Maryland one day to hang out and talk about doing this double-bill thing. That`s when I first met Wino. See, back then there wasn`t really anybody doing 2 or 3 bands a night in clubs. It was usually some shitty cover band playing 3 or 4 sets. But we personally knew this guy who ran this place called The Happy Pickle in Quantico, VA. We somehow convinced him to do this triple-bill show with an opener, Death Row, & The Obsessed. So I think we kinda started that whole format in clubs, at least around D.C. Anyway, it went over pretty good for that time period.
Rob: Do you have any side projects or does all your time go into primarily POS?
Victor: Primarily it`s "Skulls but I`ve got a couple of things going on. I`m working with Omid from Outlaw Records on a deal to release some demos I recorded between `89 & `93 on vinyl and cd. I`ve had them all re-mastered. Don`t have a release date for that yet but I would assume by next spring. I`ve also got a side recording project I`m putting together to do a full album of classic country cover songs. Stuff that really takes me back to my childhood. Mainly by artist like the ones I mentioned before. That`s in the very early planning stages right now but I`ve already got a few studio musicians interested.
Rob: What are some of your interests outside of music?
Victor: I`m usually messing around with my bike...ya know, either working on it or riding it. It`s a `76 Harley chopper. Well, the motor`s a `76 with a `75 transmission in a `69 frame. All chopped and stretched. Built it while living out in L.A. back around `90. I had a couple of other bikes before that, Sportsters and such, but this one is way more personal than those. Just came back from Sturgis a few weeks ago. Rode there and back about 3500 miles. I wasn`t that impressed with the rally though. Mostly a bunch of R.U.B.`s. That`s Rich Urban Bikers for who don`t know. I don`t know man. The mainstream types ruin everything. I saw more bikes being towed on trailers than I saw being ridden on the way there and back. I did get to see Blue Oyster Cult again though. Man, Buck Dharma rules.
I`m ridin over and camping for a night or two at the Cherokee Indian reservation in North Carolina next weekend. It`s a little more hard core and Mark Farner`s playing. Should be pretty cool. I`ve really gotten more and more into bikes in the past 14 or 15 years.
I also do a little website stuff for a few people when I get the chance. Thinking about expanding on that more one of these days.
Rob: Anything you would like to say to the community at
stonerrock.com?
Victor: Yeah, let me start some shit here. When are we gonna really accept one another and appreciate the common bond we all share with our love for this music? Get off my back about my beliefs, will ya? Those who`ve never been on my back...thank you. Ya know, when I was coming up through the years, there wasn`t a fraction of the heavy stuff that you have now. To find something cool and heavy, you really had to dig deep. And when you did find something new, it was just the coolest thing ever. Man, this is our thing! If it ever gets to be mainstream, the heart and soul of it will eventually be over. It`s disappointing for me to hear about people freakin out about somebody`s beliefs and completely turning their backs on their music. Not just me either. Wino and I were talking the other day and he said he`s starting to get some flack about his political views in some of the Hidden Hand stuff. Man, if he and I can play the same songs together with our different beliefs and opinions, surely some of you people can listen with open minds.
As he said in one of his interviews recently, we don`t agree 100% on some stuff. But it`s like we can agree to disagree and respect that. Although a few of his remarks were in error. For instance, he said I was very much into "Biblical truth". I don`t consider that correct. I`m very much into scriptural truth. The bible that most are familiar with today has been gradually manipulated and changed through it`s translation process. Either a natural translation process where things can get lost or through deception. I think Scriptural truth should be measured by the original Hebrew wording. What the mainstream considers "biblical truth" is a Latin translation. Which has also traditionalized the concept of December 25th being the birth of Yahshua...that`s basically an out and out false teaching which I don`t adhere to at all. As well as Easter and several other holidays derived from Pagan worship. He also mentions the statement from one of the early Popes, �this myth of Christianity has served us well.� Of course, look at the source. Even the term "Christian" has evolved from deceptive beliefs. I prefer to refer to myself as a Believer in the Messiah, just "believer" for short. I in know way take "Christianity" at face value and profess it as my belief with blind faith. I don`t consider it some sort of safe haven out of fear or insecurity. I`m basically searching for my spiritual well being in the whole scheme of things. But in my heart, the god I personally believe in happens to be the only one that genuinely speaks to me as truth. I`m not trying to force it or anything else on anyone. Everybody decides for themselves what speaks to them as truth.
I heard some guy saying he never even heard "Nailed" because he heard it had "Christian" lyrics. Give me a break! Besides, that record`s lyrics are really just me searching spiritually and questioning my own mortality. There`s nothing on there that I would consider preachy at all. A couple of the songs are about women. Ya know, I kinda look at it this way, I quit smoking weed right out of high school but I can still listen to bands singing about gettin high without freakin out. I didn`t stop diggin "Sweet Leaf" back in `the 70`s once I quit smokin pot. I just started doing heavier drugs and drinking more, heh heh. I`d just like to see people in agreement with themselves to some extent, ya know what I mean? What about acceptance and tolerance and about being individuals and all that? Sometimes it`s like the line in this old Steppenwolf song called "The Ostrich". "Your free to speak your mind my friend, as long as you agree with me".
That reminds me...a friend of mine told me about a post on your forum a while back. Some guy with the alias "switchblade", I think it was. He had read an interview I did on Stoner Rock Chick and Deanna ask me what I thought about black metal. I told her it just wasn`t my thing. To me they always sound like they`re trying too hard to be evil and usually have a singing style I don`t prefer. So this guy gets on the forum sayin he was sick of me slamming good singers and that I couldn`t sing worth a fuck and so forth. Who cares, right? But I wasn`t slamming anybody, I was ask if I liked something in particular and answered accordingly. Was I supposed to say, "yeah, I love black metal`, so those people and their fans will like me? He even went on to say something like I should tell Phil Anselmo that I don`t like his singing so he could beat the Jesus out of me or some shit. Where does that come from? No matter what people believe, there`s always gonna be some idiot from every faction.
Rob: Here is the section of questions that we give to all our interview-ee`s at the end...they are silly and meant to be fun...if you weren`t a rocker, what would you most like to be?
Victor: Either happily content or "Dead". Right now I`m neither.
Rob: what was your worst gig and why? What was your best gig and why?
Victor: There`s been lots of both. Most recent worst was last year in New Jersey on the Caravan Of Skulls Tour. About 6 people showed up and a big thanks to them. Us and Spirit Caravan both played full sets anyway. After leaving the gig to look for a motel on the way to New York, we hit a deer on the Jersey Turnpike. Did about $1600 damage to the van. That was a helluva capper to the night. I think we all unrealistically considered bagging the rest of the tour and going home.
I guess one of our best gigs was probably a couple of years ago at the Doomsday 2001 show in Towson, Maryland. We played a really good set and the crowd response was fantastic. Afterwards, we were paid our guarantee with no hassles and had a great day with the merchandise and hanging out as well.
Rob: top three movies, books and albums of all time?
Victor:
Movies:
the Straight story - a film by John Waters
Easy Rider
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Books:
`Too Long In The Sun` by Richard Rives
`Venus On The Half Shell` by Philip Jose Farmer (I rarely if ever read science fiction. But I was turned on to this right after it was published in 1975. Read it 3 times since then. A great fantasy escape.)
Harley Davidson Service Manual 1970 to Early `78
Albums:
Steppenwolf - 7
Alice Cooper - Love It To Death
Black Sabbath - Volume 4
Rob: how often do you surf the net and what do you mostly do while online?
Victor: I hit the net just about everyday for some type of information and checking emails. Not usually long periods of time just surfing.
Rob: what is your favorite city and venue to play, and why?
Victor: Anywhere with appreciative fans, a decent room, and a good P.A. and sound man.
Rob: what is the most rock `n` roll thing you`ve ever done?
Victor: In Germany on the Cathedral/Sabbath tour in `94. We were all in this bar and the owner was really cool. Turning us all on to pretty much all we could drink. I went into the bathroom and Rob from Godspeed, now in Solace, was in the stall. I have no idea why, but I commenced to kicking and smashing down the entire stall which broke the toilet completely away from the wall and flooded it out. I don`t remember if Rob was still on it or not. I later found out it cost about $1500 to repair. Same tour I busted a beer bottle and sliced both my arms up pretty good...bleedin all over the place. Got some nice scars from that. I could probably think of a few more things if I tried.
Rob: What`s the most rock `n` roll thing you`ve seen someone else do?
Victor: Wino take a shit on a chair in the middle of the night. In someone`s living room we were crashing at.
Rob: what`s your worst "bad trip" story?
Victor: Liquid LSD 25 in 1985. The only bad trip I ever had. This stuff was so potent, anything my mind thought of would visually materialize right before my eyes. I looked at my hand at one point and all the skin completely melted away leaving just a skeleton hand. I was in the back seat of a little Ford Fiesta and the whole thing turned into the sides of a casket with my mom and dad looking on as I was being buried. I mean it was like this was really happening. Freaked completely out!
Rob: What�s the most painful thing you have ever witnessed at a rock show?
Victor: I don`t remember what year it was exactly. But Nazareth was making the rounds on a club tour in the mid-eighties and were playing at The Bayou in D.C. I`d seen them several times before in arenas and always thought they were heavy and just a really good band. It was really kinda sad cause there were only like 30 people there. Not even enough for the club to open the balcony. But the saddest thing came when they were doing there last song. All of a sudden a chair comes flying into view from the balcony and totally clocks Dan McCafferty, one of my all time favorite singers, right in the head. No one ever caught the asshole that threw it. He must have bolted out a fire exit or something. I just felt really bad for the band and having to witness that.
Rob: how old were you when you first realize you wanted to rock?
Victor: About 12.
Rob: what`s the most embarrassing job you ever had?
Victor: I once had a job washing dishes in a restaurant. One of my duties was to occasionally check the men`s bathroom for cleanliness and supplies. If there were any cigarette butts in the urinal, I had to pick `em out.
Rob: what`s your favorite ice cream flavor?
Victor: Hmmm, way too many. But I like the basics most of the time. Vanilla and chocolate.
Rob: if you could date any rock star dead or alive in the world, who would it be? Movie star?
Victor: Tori Amos for her darkness and Elizabeth Hurley.
Rob: what would be the ultimate dream gig of all time line-up be, with your band opening? Limit to three bands please (including your own...) and where?
Victor: I think a fun, killer gig would be opening for 1977 era AC/DC with 1972 era Alice Cooper headlining. Where? In the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. It`s just the right size arena for good sound everywhere and small enough for a good view from just about every seat. Plus I used to have a fantasy growing up to leave and come back to play a big show in my hometown. Just to kinda say, up yours to the doubters I grew up with. |
