MIKE CHLASCIAK: HALFORD Is 'One Of The Most Professional Musicians I Have Ever Played With'

Blogs N' Roses recently conducted an interview with guitarist "Metal" Mike Chlasciak (SEBASTIAN BACH, HALFORD, PAINMUSEUM). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

Blogs N' Roses: So how is it collaborating with Sebastian? Do you find writing material with him easy?

Mike: No, but that doesn't necessarily mean I don't like doing it. But it's not an easy process. The way I am coming at it, as a guitar player, I am used to writing a song, or at least a big chunk of it, then presenting it to a singer saying, "Here's your song. Don't mess with it. Don't even sing over it." It has worked with me with Rob [Halford] and other people I have wrote with. Sebastian is extremely hands-on in every aspect of every note and every riff. He thinks of a million things at the same time, so it is difficult to get from Point A to Point B when you are in the moment. But when you look back, a little bit later, you say, "Well, I guess he was right." With Sebastian, it is more writing on the spot. I wouldn't write a whole song from Point A to Point B and say, "Here is your song, sing on it." But that's cool too because I can also see the good in that to work outside of the box I am used to. But I don't want my answer to be a negative thing because it is absolutely not. It is just a different way of working for me, which I found different than what I am used to. So it is a little challenging, but I think it's good. It works out like that.

Blogs N' Roses: We just saw Rob fronting JUDAS PRIEST at the Metal Masters and were wondering, how is working with Rob? Is it very different than working with Sebastian?

Mike: In many ways it is a lot different. Sebastian's career is coming into a place that is more structured, where there is a team around Sebastian that helps him get from Point A to Point B to Point C to Point D. But I worked with Rob, all that team was in place. So it was a lot easier, you know. I think Rob is one of the most professional musicians I have ever played with. There is a reason he is known as the Metal God. He really is. Rob is a fair person. A good business person that treats people very fair.

Blogs N' Roses: You have a band called PAINMUSEUM. What are the current plans for that? It is obviously on hiatus while you are touring with Sebastian.

Mike: Well see, that is the difficult part. With PAINMUSEUM, I wanted to make a good and honest heavy metal record. And I did that. Then I toured with TESTAMENT. Then Sebastian called me. I have found you really can't do anything well if you do it in short bursts of time. I can't go with my band and do a two week tour on the East Coast because, in reality, it doesn't mean anything. It doesn't lead anywhere. So when I put together a plan, it must be something that I fully concentrate on heavily. Otherwise it will just be a side project for fun. I have a whole other album written in the demo stages. I just need to really record it properly. But I don't want to do that unless I am ready to commit to that project. But I am having a good time playing guitar with Sebastian. What started as, do a couple of shows, go to Europe, we have been playing a lot since 2005. He's got these great tours with GN'R [GUNS N' ROSES] and now POISON. We happen to play these big places and everyone is having a good time. So I am here, rocking. The bottom line is, what did I get into music for? To have fun, play guitar, those two are the most...

Blogs N' Roses: And the women.

Mike: And the women, which comes in the fun department. It is a sub-category of fun. But as long as I am having fun playing guitar and I am living what I wanted to do. There's a little bit of a difference when you do your own thing vs when you are someone's guitar player. But in the end, I had a good time playing guitar, made some friends, I am happy.

Read the entire interview from Blogs N' Roses.