SEVEN WITCHES Singer Regrets Not Auditioning For ANTHRAX

Chad Bowar of About Heavy Metal recently conducted an interview with SEVEN WITCHES/ex-HADES frontman Alan Tecchio. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

About Heavy Metal: Did the large number of lineup changes in the past give you any pause in joining [SEVEN WITCHES]?

Alan: "Not really because again, the solo CD songwriting and recording went so well that I was not really hung up on the fact that Jack [Frost, SEVEN WITCHES guitarist/founder] had been through a number of different band members in WITCHES. I know he gets a bad rap that he's hard to work with or whatever, but I can tell you that he is not like that at all. He's no doubt the best vocal producer I've ever worked with. Jack also gets a bad rap that he pays his band members a lot of money and therefore they speak highly of him as I just did, but unfortunately that is not the case either. He splits whatever money we make equally which honestly is not fair because he shoulders most of the responsibility and does most of the work."

About Heavy Metal: Were you concerned that your lyrical style might not match what SEVEN WITCHES had done in the past?

Alan: "I was concerned for Jack's sake since his existing fans were used to a more traditional metal lyrical style. But once he expressed confidence in my ideas, I was cool with it. Moreover, our European label Regain was originally not into my vocals, lyrics, etc. and it meant more than I can say that Jack had my back with them. He defended my influence on 'Amped' instead of kow-towing to the label and making me redo my parts and words. That took balls and fortunately Regain is now totally behind the CD. It took some time for the CD to grow on them. I have to say that it was a relief to hear that our U.S. label Candlelight was into it from the start."

About Heavy Metal: What advice would you give somebody who wants to have a successful career in music?

Alan: "Be honest with yourself and do it for the love of doing it. Don't try to hop on a trend or play music with the intention of being admired. For any type of art to have real value it has to be heartfelt, in my opinion. That quality is what appeals to real fans. If you fake it, they will see through you anyway so what's the point of doing that? Also, no matter what you create there will be people who love it and people who hate it so you might as well be truthful. You also have to work very hard to try and reach as many listeners as possible. In today's market which is flooded with bands, that is harder than ever to do. I think a lot of the listening public is overwhelmed with musical choices these days. Try to be inventive and creative and make music that you won't regret ten or twenty years down the road."

About Heavy Metal: What were the biggest mistakes you made or the most important lessons you learned in regard to the music industry?

Alan: "My biggest mistake was probably passing on the chance to audition for ANTHRAX after Joey [Belladonna] was out of the band. One of the most important lessons I've learned is what I answered in the previous question: Create from the heart and just put your honest feelings out there. I never wavered from that and though I never became very famous or successful in the grand scheme of things, I have no regrets when I look back. (Okay, maybe I regret not taking that ANTHRAX audition!) But as far as my own music goes, I stand behind all of it today just as much as I did when it was put to tape."

Read the entire interview at HeavyMetal.About.com.