PRONG Mainman On New Album: 'We Basically Got Together And Just Rocked It Out'

Metal Mark of SkullsNBones.com recently conducted an interview with PRONG mainman Tommy Victor. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

SkullsNBones.com: The new PRONG album, "Carved Into Stone", is coming out on April 24. After all the hard work you put into the record, how excited are you to finally get it into people's hands?

Tommy: I'm super-excited, man! I'm just glad that it came out the way it did! Hopefully it gets great exposure and people hear it and like it. I really think all PRONG fans will enjoy this record.

SkullsNBones.com: The press release says that the album is quintessentially PRONG. What does that mean in your mind?

Tommy: I think it reflects all of the previous PRONG releases in the right way. It's not that it's a retro record, but it reflects some of the early hardcore/thrash moments, how it's recorded, everything played, no electronics, no samples, almost done like "Beg To Differ" was done. We basically got together and just rocked it out. What we played is what you hear and that's what PRONG is all about.

SkullsNBones.com: Steve Evetts produced the new record and you previously said that you've never worked this hard in the studio before. You've put out a number of albums in your career, so why was this time different?

Tommy: Well, I produced the last few albums and I didn't want that this time. Steve was so active in getting certain arrangements together, the vocal patterns, guitar solos, the sounds, the mixes, everything man. He was completely active in all aspects of the record and I really needed that. He was very demanding, yet open to our suggestions, and that's why he was the perfect choice to produce the album. He pushed me as far as I could go, vocally and musically, but the end result is exactly what I wanted. So yeah, it was a definitely a hard process, but he got the best out of the band and I, for sure.

SkullsNBones.com: Was it hard for you to kind of step back and let someone take over the production since you've been doing it for so long?

Tommy: It wasn't as hard as you would think. I made the decision early that I didn't want it all on my shoulders, so to have someone else do it was great. I wanted someone who has done it for years and knows what he's doing and Steve was the perfect choice. I put a lot of faith in him and it worked out for sure. Of course, there are times where you are like, "What's going on? What's he doing?" Shit like that. But he knew exactly what he was doing the whole time. When you record, you only hear bits and pieces at a time, and I would want to hear the whole thing, and then I had to stop and realize he has it under control. You sort of lose touch some times in the studio when you are working so hard, so I had to catch myself a few times and take a breath and realize it wasn't all on me this time ya know. We just had to put all of our faith in him in the end and it worked out great in our minds.

Read the entire interview from SkullsNBones.com.