INTO ETERNITY Vocalist: 'I've Always Wanted To Be A Frontman For A Metal Band'

February 26, 2007

Andre Mihsin of ChartAttack.com recently conducted an interview with INTO ETERNITY frontman Stu Block. An excerpt from the chat follows:

ChartAttack.com: Playing in a band and going on the road seems like the high life. What happens on the road that makes guys want to quit?

Stu Block: A lot of people don't really understand the realities of playing at this level that you do not make a lot of money. It's more of a lifestyle than a career choice at this point. It could definitely become a career. There are definitely doors that are opening for us and doors that hopefully will open that can make us quit our day jobs and make some cash that actually pay bills. Right now when we go on tour, we're doing OK. We don't come back broke, we're coming back with a few bucks in our pockets. We get to pay some of our bills. But we still need to have our day jobs.

When your band starts taking off and you get to a level where you got to tour, tour, tour, it makes or breaks a person. People either can't handle the road or they can't handle the financial responsibility of the road and they can't handle being away from loved ones. There are so many reasons why people decide they don't want to do it anymore. I think this band is filtering those people out. I'm in it for the long haul. I live metal. I've always wanted to be a frontman for a metal band. Hanging around musicians and knowing the realities of it, I knew what I was getting myself into, so you got to just stick it out. I get to see the world. I get to travel with cool people. I'm making so many good friends. A lot of people don't understand that aspect of it. So I think that's why a band that does tour a lot, they start losing members and they've always got to replace this guy and this guy. It happens.

My brother's in 3 INCHES OF BLOOD. They're my good friends. They've been through their fair share and they're on Roadrunner Records. It really is a test if you really want to do it.

ChartAttack.com: You guys played direct support for MEGADETH during a Gigantour off date. Tell us about that show.

Stu Block: It was an amazing show. The one drawback was that I was suffering from the flu at that point. The last eight days of Gigantour I was basically shivering in bed, popping pills to numb my body up, and just go on stage and do it. But adrenaline is something else. It can make you do some amazing things, so I pulled it off. Being direct support for MEGADETH was awesome and I remember that show specifically. Dave Mustaine saw that I wasn't doing too well in the catering room and he actually sat down next to me and told me to come see him in his dressing room after I was done. So I actually got to hang out with him and talk with him for about an hour, and he was giving me praise for what I was doing. And of course, I was speechless. I had a great conversation with him. He was giving me some tips on how to stay healthy on tour, some home remedies and things that have helped him. Dave was a really good guy to our band, that's for sure, because he really expressed an interest. He would stop us in the hallway and talk to us occasionally. We would have half-hour conversations with him and he'd walk away and we'd be like, "Oh my god, that was fucking Dave."

ChartAttack.com: That's really cool because Dave Mustaine has a bit of a reputation for being difficult.

Stu Block: Yeah. He was running a lot of the show and that can stress someone out. I think he was dealing with all of these bigger problems that when it came to something small, he probably felt it should have been taken care of. That's when he makes it known that he's unhappy, and I don't blame him. Yeah, there were a couple of incidents, but sometimes in those instances people deserved it because they should think a little more. I mean, he's dealing with everything. He was trying to keep everyone happy, even down to the carrots. You'd see him in catering inspecting the food. He had his fingers in every aspect of the tour and it was pretty impressive.

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