HATEBREED Frontman: 'People Ask Me If I'm Going To Be Like LEMMY And Still Do It When I'm 60'

A new audio interview with HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta conducted by Vassil Varbanov of Bulgaria's Tangra Mega Rock is available for download at this location (MP3, 4 MB). A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Tangra Mega Rock: Your longtime guitarist Sean Martin decided to leave the band which was a shock to all the fans. Could you please comment and tell us more about his departure?

Jamey: Well, from our end we kind of saw it coming to the extent we knew he wanted to do other things and we knew we had a really busy schedule coming up. But for all the reasons behind it you'd really have to talk to him about because it is unfair to truly say why we think he left. But we were cool with it. We don't want to force someone do something he doesn't want to do anymore and we also have a very busy schedule this year and next year — we're very excited about the next album. We were able to get Wayne, our original guitar player, back in the band and it is a very seamless transition. We're actually cool with Sean. We hung out a few days ago. He was with us for ten years, put out three albums with us and we are grateful for his work and the commitment he put in the band. We're moving on.

Tangra Mega Rock: A lot of people are curious about Wayne's decision to leave HATEBREED 10 years ago and how did you come to the idea to get him back now?

Jamey: Like everyone — life changes and your priorities change. Back in the day he didn't have the ability to do all the touring with us. We were touring like crazy but we didn't make any money so it was hard for anyone to be in the band because it was like no money, no glory, nowhere to sleep, no food. So it was very hard. And when he left in order to get a regular job we were supportive and we said, "Look, this isn't a lifestyle that is for everybody." We later gave him a behind-the-scenes job in the band, so he's been with us for a while. It was logical for him to step up once Sean left. He is basically a part of the behind-the-scenes crew anyway…

Tangra Mega Rock: So you have a new CD coming out may 15. It is a selection of cover songs. Can you tell us a few words about this release?

Jamey: We wanted to have it out last October but with all the touring and casuals it was very hard to finish the record back then. But when we came back and everybody sat in the room together after four months of rest, Sean had left and we got Wayne to finish the songs like SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and SLAYER, BAD BRAINS, BLACK FLAG… And now we're able to get it out in May which is cool because we are doing this tour all over the world — South America, Europe, all these places and we wanted to tour on something new. And we want to bring some of these cover songs into our live set. And by the end of the summer we will have a brand new studio album. It is cool to release two CDs this year.

Tangra Mega Rock: What about ICEPICK? The first record was awesome and then there were talks about a second album…

Jamey: It is not really a band that can tour because everyone lives far away from each other. But it was a fun studio project and we did a couple of shows. In the underground the album did very well. I put it on my label and it sold like 25,000 copies. It is just word of mouth and Internet — no video, no tour, no radio, no real promotion. So I was happy with the way everything turned out. And I like the record. For the new one I have a lot of the music done, but it has so many guest appearances that I need to get and put them on each song correctly. On the last record it was mainly in one song. Now it is going to be on every song.

Tangra Mega Rock: What about JASTA? What's up with that?

Jamey: I was supposed to finish this record by the end of this year. It is actually pretty much done. I think it is cool. I have a lot of ideas, a lot of songs… But I think I'll have to wait for the HATEBREED record to come out first, because it is ridiculous. The solo album is a compilation of these sort of beneficial shows I do with my band. If someone told me to go and play in their basement I would do it.

Tangra Mega Rock: You used to host "Headbangers Ball" but you don't anymore. could you please share some interesting moments with us from that time?

Jamey: I actually wrote a book about it and it is going to come out next year. It is all journals and diaries about getting to interview IRON MAIDEN and METALLICA, Slash, you know, Tony Iommi, and Lemmy, and Dio. It was a crazy ride — flying all over the world, doing shows, interviewing a band in the morning, then flying and having to perform on stage with my band in the evening. The book chronicles everything about this and I believe it would be a very interesting read for metal fans and hardcore fans out there.

Tangra Mega Rock: Over the years, did you imagine you'd go so far with HATEBREED? when you started the band, what did you imagine the band's future will be back then? And where do you see HATEBREED in the future now?

Jamey: People ask me if I'm going to be like Lemmy and still do it when I'm 60. I am 30 and I wouldn't mind. I enjoy it and when I started the band I just wanted to play shows and meet people and travel and we're still doing it with the same intentions. And the real beauty of the whole thing is that we really made our own terms and we made our own way and we have been able to keep our sound and out message that people love so much and they respect us even more because we never attempted to change our message in order to become bigger a band. We got bigger and bigger by doing what we love and what was meaningful to us. And that goes a long way for people. It is like an institution now and we want it to keep on going despite the lineup changes and label changes. We're the one band that people can know what they get when they buy the record.

Read the entire interview from Tangra Mega Rock.