JOHN TARDY: There Are 'More Young Kids' And 'More Girls' Than Ever Coming To OBITUARY Shows

In a new interview with Australia's "Everblack" podcast, OBITUARY frontman John Tardy spoke about how he and his bandmates have managed to expand their fanbase in recent years. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Dude, there has been more young kids and more girls than I can ever remember at an OBITUARY show. I mean, it was a long-running joke of just nothing but guys at heavy metal shows. But now all those guys are married and they've got kids, and all those kids are showing up. But also just the influx of girls that have been showing up, it's just been awesome. Our shows have had a great array of people showing up, and it's been awesome. I mean, you can't just show up to the same old people every time and think that your fanbase is going to grow without younger kids showing up. So, it's really cool to see these young kids and just to see them and their 'Slowly We Rot' stuff and they know the old music. Some dads have been doing a good job. [Laughs]"

Tardy went on to say that having younger fans getting into the music is "so vital just for the whole scene. It needs that to survive," he explained. "So it's really good to see. And we've been real fortunate. We've just been really lucky with the new record. It's done really well. It's opened a lot of cool doors for us. We're getting a lot of big tours. The AMON AMARTH and CANNIBAL CORPSE tour [of North America for 2024] just got announced. But we've been just getting lots of good offers, lots of good spots on festivals and things like that. And it's just a good feeling. It really lets you have fun with what you're doing, for sure."

OBITUARY's latest studio album, "Dying Of Everything", came out in January via Relapse Records.

Last year, Decibel Books released "Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary", the fully authorized biography of OBITUARY. The book was written by David E. Gehlke, author of "Damn The Machine: The Story Of Noise Records" and "No Celebration: The Official Story Of Paradise Lost".

Earlier this year, OBITUARY drummer Donald Tardy told Kerrang! magazine that the extended hiatus he and his bandmates went on in 1997 was a positive experience.

"Hindsight is 20/20," he said. "At the time we didn't know if that break was going to be one year, two years, six years or whatever it was. But, looking back, it was fantastic for us to step away and recharge, to get away from the music industry and that scene at the age that we were. And we were gone for long enough that we were hungry again when we got back onstage. It's weird to look back at how long ago that was. Our 'second career' has lasted longer than a lot of bands' entire existences."