ARMORED SAINT To Film Live DVD In England

Diana DeVille of KNAC.COM recently conducted an interview with ARMORED SAINT members Gonzo (drums) and Phil Sandoval (guitar). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

KNAC.COM: Very cool. So talk a little bit about the routing. Was it a matter of warming up on your home turf and then off to Europe, because that is the festival season and that's when everything is happening?

Gonzo: "Yeah. Well, we haven't played together as a band for a lot of years. Some people say 'It's just like riding a bike' and stuff like that. There's actually getting physically prepared to put out the energy. So Phil and I have been rehearsing on our own. Getting used to the songs and pumping up the energy so that when we do rehearse as a band we'll be pretty cohesive."

KNAC.COM: Do you have a name for the tour yet? Are you even naming the tour?

Gonzo: "No, no name. It's just getting together to jam for the fans. To be quite honest, I don't know what it's gonna be like, but it is getting exciting. It's getting closer and I know what the band's been like. At this moment the potential is there. We won't know until we get in there and bang it out. It's definitely gonna be high energy and it's gonna be metal."

KNAC.COM: Very cool. So you're rockin’ Europe and the U.K. You’ve got some dates in the U.K.

Gonzo: "Yeah. I believe Joey [Vera, bass] has talked to Brian Slagel at Metal Blade [Records] about doing our first live production DVD. [It will be] recorded in the U.K. So we're excited about that. The pressure is on. We gotta be tight. [laughs]"

KNAC.COM: That's a cool place to do it too, because I know DIO just did one at The Astoria in London. Good place to do a live DVD. So it's the March of the Saint... kind of a theme you came up with, right?

Gonzo: "Well, it's not a theme. It's just a little thing I came up with on the website. If you want to check it out, go to ArmoredSaint.com and there's just a cool little picture of the helmet and a title on the bottom. It says 'the second coming' of ARMORED SAINT. The reason I came up with it is that the history of this band... you know, we had some songs that we wrote with David Prichard. We've used all that. Currently ARMORED SAINT doesn't have new music. I think there is a new chapter turning. That phase of our career is past. So we're looking forward to a new page. Hence the second coming of ARMORED SAINT."

KNAC.COM: Do you guys regularly practice the songs so that you're always familiar with them?

Gonzo: "Well, we're not a band that's on the road constantly. We're not doing too much stuff on a consistent basis. So a lot of stuff and time falls in between. So we have to sort of relearn the songs. Since we created it in the studio it's a part of you. Certain triggers kick in and the memory banks kick in. All of a sudden you're right back in it. So, I guess it is like riding a bike."

KNAC.COM: So Phil, you probably play guitar to keep up with it? And Gonzo plays the drums just to keep your chops up?

Phil: "We have other projects and stuff. Like YO DIDDLEY. Guys in ARMORED SAINT have other projects. That's how you keep your chops up. So when ARMORED SAINT actually happens to get together, we're prepared."

KNAC.COM: Are there particular places you're looking forward to on the tour? You mentioned Italy, where you haven't been to be before.

Gonzo: "Never been to Ireland. Never been to Scotland. One time, if I may tell a little story. [laughs] We were in Berlin, Germany playing a show and we met this person who happened to be a bit of a vampire. She had really sharp teeth and we kinda tripped out on them. They looked real. She told us about how she became a vampire. At two in the morning after the gig, you're drinking some beers. It kind of intrigues you. Apparently a vampire in Scotland had bitten her."

Read the entire interview at KNAC.COM.