PRONG's TOMMY VICTOR: 'Social Media Has Corrupted People In A Very Strange Way'

In a new interview with Metal Kaoz, PRONG guitarist/vocalist Tommy Victor spoke about the role of social media in misinformation propagation and the polarization of political ideologies in the U.S., with the two halves of the country operating with two completely different sets of facts (or non-facts). He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's so easy to go, 'Oh, yeah, I agree with that.' 'Oh, yeah, I agree with that.'

"I go on social media to have fun now, where I've been posting stuff that it's just pretty much goofball stuff, really.

"I get annoyed with guys, especially in the music business. There's guys that are publicists, that that's what their jobs are, and they're, like, giving their political opinions on things," Tommy continued. "It's, like, first of all, quite frankly, we don't care about what you say, and then it's really not your place. And then, isn't that interfering with your job too? Shouldn't you maintain an even playing field with things?

"When I grew up, it was sort of like that," Victor explained. "I grew up in New York City. It's always been a culturally diverse place, and there wasn't really that much tension as it is now. It was sort of, like, 'Yeah, yeah, okay, whatever.' People would laugh more at whatever. Now it's gotten, like, every little thing you gotta worry about all the time.

"I think the social media, the Internet, smartphones has corrupted people in a very strange way," Tommy added. "And it's gonna change too. Something else is gonna come. We're gonna go, 'Oh, you remember when we were on our phones all the time, and we were voicing our political opinions about everything.' And then, 'Ha ha, remember how stupid we were back then?' It's gonna get like that, where we're gonna look back and go, 'This was the dumbest time ever.'"

Tommy also talked about the development of advanced artificial intelligence (A.I.) systems and addressed some people's belief that the technology is improving so quickly there is a risk humans will lose control.

"I'm probably out of touch with the impact and the foresight of where that's going," he admitted. "And you're probably more aware than I am. I know there's people that have been presenting fears of that we're gonna destroy ourselves pretty quickly. I don't think that's gonna happen.

"Well, you know what's so great about the modern technology that we have been blessed with, and we have to remind ourselves that we can't take these things for granted, is GPS, for instance," Tommy continued. "It's, like, I remember when we'd have to map out everything, like, 'Oh, I'm gonna go on this trip.' And you would have to get a big map and go, 'How are we gonna get there?' And then write it down, and then you'd have to have, like, your wife or everything that's like, 'No, you're making the wrong turn.' Now we don't worry about that. And then we have cars now that will stop and won't hit into the [other] car. Front-ending is becoming a thing of the past with cars. I mean, there's things that are cool."

Circling back to how social media has given a stage for many people to share their opinions, beliefs and voice lots of complaints, Tommy said: "No one cares about each other's opinions that much. They really don't. We don't. No one really gives a shit about anybody else, period, that much. That's where my nihilism comes in, where essentially it gets down to that. It's, like, yeah, we pretend... But essentially, we're concerned with our inner sanctum loved ones, our wife and our kids and maybe people on my block here. But other than that, it's like we really... We'd like to think that we have this broader vision. Some people do. I guess they do. I don't know. I guess I'm just a selfish prick, really."

PRONG's new, self-titled album will be released on November 6 via Napalm Records.

Formed in 1986 by Victor, PRONG issued two independently released efforts (the "Primitive Origins" EP in 1987 and the "Force Fed" album in 1988) before signing to Epic Records in 1989.

From the '80s club basements of New York City to the MTV "Headbangers Ball" era with '90s classics "Beg To Differ", "Prove You Wrong", "Cleansing" and "Rude Awakening", to their official return in the late aughts and today, PRONG is widely considered to be one of the earliest bands to blend thrash, groove, and industrial metal into a unique, attitude-driven style.