ROB DUKES: SLAYER's 'KERRY KING Once Said I'm The Best Thing That Ever Happened To EXODUS'

DeadRhetoric.com recently conducted an interview with EXODUS and GENERATION KILL vocalist Rob Dukes. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

DeadRhetoric.com: You've been in EXODUS for nearly ten years now. Have you given much thought as to how these years have gone by?

Dukes: I'm actually writing a book right now. I'm actually writing book about my whole life, but what led up to that is only a couple of chapters and the rest is what I've been doing the last ten years. It's been surreal. I was a regular guy, working a job, and this opportunity came across my path and I took it and I was there, right place, right time, and I guess with enough talent to get me in the door. It's been surreal. I'm totally grateful for it and I don't take it for granted. You know how you read about those people who meet soap-opera stars who think they're the people they're playing in the soap opera, I hate those people. I hate people who think the guy onstage is who I am. I don't read reviews, I don't listen to critics. Once in a while, I'll read the comments on web sites, but I always know that these are people who have no clue what they're talking about. I don't read reviews because if you're not a musician, I don't give a fuck what you have to say. You're either a failed musician and now you're a writer, or you're just a dick. How am I supposed to know what your thoughts are? You might be doing a review on a metal album and you might not even like metal. Kerry King [SLAYER] once said I'm the best thing that ever happened to EXODUS. That's all I need to hear.

DeadRhetoric.com: I enjoy how Gary [Holt, guitar] always says that people think it was his stroke of genius that he found you, or the things you say onstage are prompted by him. He always goes back to "I can't control the guy. He says what he wants to say."

Dukes: I would make them cringe. Listen, I never repeat the same thing. I make it up as I go along. I'm like a standup comedian; I'll engage with the crowd. If I'm in San Francisco and I want them to be crazy, I'll say "Hollywood is crazier than you guys." Next thing I know, people are stage-diving off the fucking amps. It's inciting the punk rock side of me. It's therapeutic. People want to be entertained. I never really have a "speech." I went out with a couple of bands and halfway through the tour, I know exactly what they're going to say every night of the tour, and I'm like "What the fuck?" I never wanted to be like that. Sometimes I say stuff and I'm wrong. Sometimes I say the wrong thing. Sometimes it just comes out of my head and I mean to say something, but it doesn't come across that way because the inside banter in my head is different than the crowd can understand. Sometimes I do cross lines and I've been better lately. But, I don't think people want to see multiple shows of the tour and see the same thing every night.

Read the entire interview at DeadRhetoric.com.

Professionally filmed video footage of EXODUS' August 2 performance at the Resurrection Fest in Viveiro, Spain can be seen at this location. A couple of the clips are available below.