LETHAL Members Discuss Reunion, Future Plans

Metalzone.gr recently conducted an interview with LETHAL members Dave McElfresh (guitars/violins),Eric Cook (guitars),and Jerry Hartman (drums). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Metalzone: It s been a long time since your last album. So, what have you been doing during the last years, after "Poison Seed"?

Dave: Oh, things like riding dirt bikes, hunting, raising my kids, and also writing some different music outside of LETHAL.

Jerry: We have been spending our time building families, marriages and kids for most of us, we all, have also gone on to further our educations in some way, or spent time with family business. We have full time jobs, and continue to play music together.

Eric: Everyone needed some time to pursue other things. For instance, I went back to school and earned several degrees in computer science. In some ways it was hard to see bands like DISTURBED, etc. because it seemed that we took a break just before metal started becoming more popular again. I can say that everyone in the band has gained depth and wisdom in life and after all that is what music is about. Letting other people feel the emotions that you are feeling. This is how someone on the other side of the world can be so close to you on a personal level.

Metalzone: There has been a long period of silence for the band. Why is that?

Jerry: I think we needed a break, the metal music scene in the U.S. was getting stale. Although our silence was evident, we have remained together.

Dave: Well, it was just getting to be that time in life, where several of the guys were in school and a few of us had children, and basically we need to get a few things in order personally.

Eric: I guess you can strike it up to personal growth.

Metalzone: People seem to be very impressed after your recent gigs in Germany. After watching a couple of videos on YouTube, I can tell why. Is this a result of regular rehearsals throughout the years?

Jerry: Yes, throughout the years we did rehearse, some new material was started years ago, and then in early 2006 when we confirmed for Keep it True festival, we started rehearsals a couple times a week, writing new material.

Dave: Haha! Actually we used to rehearse five times a week, but we have been rehearsing maybe once or twice for a little over a year now. Not much at all.

Eric: The band did not practice as a unit until we found out that people in Europe still believed in the music. So we had to put things together rather quickly. As a band that has been together as long as we have, the show had some mistakes. The open air fest should be much better. I need to say that even though we are very critical of ourselves, the fans at the KIT show were great. If we had known that they were that dedicated to the music we would have played there years ago. We are as a big fan of the people that came to see us as they are our music. Hands down one of the most enjoyable shows we have ever played, and this was because of the fans.

Metalzone: Tell us your thoughts about these shows, the fans and your performance.

Jerry: I must say the fans are great! It gives us all positive energy to see how many the fans like our music! We would like to play music full-time!!

Dave: The shows were very fun. The fans are totally into it and we appreciate it. Frankly we could not have asked for a better first time in Europe.

Eric: The shows were great because of the fans. Our performance will continue to improve.

Metalzone: You are currently looking for a record deal. Are there any proposals you might be interested in, so far?

Jerry: We are not talking to any labels at this time. We are concentrating on our new material so we may have new material out in early 2008.

Dave: Nothing so far, but hopefully after the new recording is done, we may find a good situation with a label and distribution.

Eric: No one has contacted us about a deal. But in this day and age we are able to record and distribute our music on our own. That is not to say that we do not want a deal if a label were to offer. It is just not a do-or-die ordeal that it used to be in the early '90s.

Metalzone: Are you working on new material?

Eric: We are trying to put together an EP, maybe 5 to 8 songs so that when we play the open-air fest people will get some new material. The great thing about this new release is that some of the material are songs we played back during "Programmed". It will be great to mix the older songs with some new music and get some feedback from the fans.

Metalzone: When are we going to hear some new stuff?

Eric: When we can get the EP finished. We are currently making demos to get prepared for the studio.

Jerry: We hope to have something completed by spring or early summer '08

Metalzone: From "Programmed" to "Your favorite God" and "Poison Seed", there's a big change concerning your music and the vocals style as it went in a more heavy direction. What will the musical direction be this time?

Eric: The direction that our music takes is just a reflection of what we are feeling. Music is emotion, so if you meet someone for the first time and they are happy, that is how you will remember them. What happens when you meet them again and they are angry? Has that person changed? Or perhaps you are getting to know them better. People grow and learn, or at least they should. Some friends of ours heard one of our rehearsals and said that it sounded like vintage LETHAL. I don't know, maybe it was how I was feeling when I wrote that particular song.

Dave: It will probably be viewed as a bit "retro" as far as the vocals go and more "dual" guitar harmonies etc. More like the early LETHAL material. But we hope to incorporate plenty of textures to make it interesting as well.

Jerry: It's hard for me to say, we write songs that we like to hear and play. I do not think we set a direction when we write.

Metalzone: Are there any side projects, or involvement with other bands?

Eric: Dave has done some side projects with friends of his. The rest of us have not been involved with any sort of established bands.

Dave: I have played in a few other projects in my local area including THE SCREAMING KINGS, playing bass for BANDERAS, and I play some fiddle with a honkeytonk/country band called STRAW BOSS.

Metalzone: There was a statement a few years ago from Tom Mallicoat that he was looking for musicians to form a new band and of course collaborate in writing, recording and touring. How did that come up?

Eric: I think Tom wanted to make music just as we all do. Since LETHAL was not doing anything at the time, he needed some sort of outlet.

Read the entire interview at Metalzone.gr.

LETHAL's "Immune" video:

LETHAL performing "Immune" live at Keep It True festival April 2007: