TYPE O NEGATIVE Keyboardist Doesn't See Band Lasting Another Ten Years

Blasting-Zone.com recently conducted an in-depth interview with TYPE O NEGATIVE keyboardist Josh Silver. Several excerpts follow:

Blasting-Zone.com: What ultimately prompted the group to not re-sign with Roadrunner Records?

Josh: "Well, it's pretty simple. They made us an offer we could easily refuse. It wasn't that we weren't interested. It seemed more like…groups like NICKELBACK and SLIPKNOT are where they wanna be. They don't wanna deal with anything that's on a grassroots level at this point. I think it's more about where they envision themselves as a label rather than our choice. They envision themselves in a bigger world, which is funny now that the industry is collapsing. We had better offers from other places and frankly, it's probably helpful for us to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. This is business, man…. people don't have a knack for returning favors. It's all about the giant dollar, so… We didn't get very much support for 'Life Is Killing Me'. That was pretty clear. They just put it out and their attitude was, 'Well, these guys have a cult following, so why spend twenty cents marketing it or pushing it when they're gonna sell what they sell? Let's not worry about it…' That's the posture that they took and it was very apparent. SPV has at least made the album present and has done what they are capable of doing in America, which is probably smaller than what Roadrunner is capable of, but they've done a better job of visibility than Roadrunner did, so I'm not gonna argue."

Blasting-Zone.com: In hindsight, do you consider "Bloody Kisses" to be the group's finest musical moment?

Josh: "Not musically, no. …It was a good record. It was a palatable record. It's not my favorite record by far, but that doesn't matter. I don't judge commercial success and musical success…in the same way. It may have been our finest commercial moment, but it's probably not our finest musical moment. …For the time it was interesting, but we don't like to repeat the same thing over and over. We really try to move on with each record and create a new sound while retaining the identity of the band."

Blasting-Zone.com: At this point in your career, do you feel it's fair that the group is considered by many to be a gothic or doom band?

Josh: "I don't know how gothic we ever really were, to tell you the truth…besides Peter's tooth implants, which are what I think made us the most gothic. I mean…what the hell is gothic anymore? I'm not even sure. Is it pipe organs or harpsichords? Is it putting on black eyeliner? I've always just considered us rock or a rock and metal mix. I've never had a particular label for us, ya know? I guess it was the 'Bloody Kisses' era and the vampire spoof stuff… 'Black No. 1' was like a spoof. We had an interesting thing happen and part of the reason why it was commercially successful was because the goth kids thought we were really cool because we were doing 'Black No. 1' and it was about being gothic and the people who weren't gothic thought it was cool because we were spoofing people who were gothic. So we got two audiences out of it and I think that made it a more widely accepted piece of work. I think it was a big contributor to its success."

Blasting-Zone.com: Where do you see yourself in ten years? Do you think you'll still be onstage playing "Black No. 1"?

Josh: "Ten years? Are you serious? I'll be fifty four. There's no fuckin' way. C'mon, man… TYPE O isn't gonna survive for twenty seven years. I don't even think LED ZEPPELIN did (laughs). I'm sure you'll still be able to buy 'Bloody Kisses' in ten years, but probably not much more. Ten years? Dude… certainly a portion of us will be dead by then…literally. I certainly don't see ten more years. That's not realistic. (But) if you would have asked me ten years ago if I would still be doing this, I would said no, too. I hope not. Let's just put it that way (laughs). Even I'm going to want to change after that length of time. I love the music…don't get me wrong. I love being in the studio, I love making records and I even love doing shows, but I hate the traveling. All of that shit sucks."

Blasting-Zone.com: I would imagine the travel aspect of touring is actually quite the grind…

Josh: "It is. To sit on a bus with twelve guys who haven't bathed in five days is… I know I shouldn't complain. I could be in fuckin' Iraq and I think of them, too, so… I'm like. 'Shut up, asshole. You could be droppin' out of a plane with a parachute…' It could be a lot worse (laughs),so I try to keep a perspective on that, too."

Blasting-Zone.com: When Peter was dealing with some of his recent personal issues (cocaine addiction, incarceration) were you ever concerned the band might come to an end?

Josh: "I don't really worry about it, ya know? It could always happen. We don't live average lifestyles, we're not particularly responsible people, we don't have good judgment and we do very stupid and self-destructive things to ourselves, so of course it could end at any moment. That's just something we kinda live with. I don't really spend a load of time worrying about it, ya know? I just try to make better judgments. Hopefully I won't be the guy that croaks. You know the kind of lifestyle people lead out here, so… It isn't a healthy one and I don't recommend it for children under twenty seven or even children older than twenty seven. It is what it is, ya know?"

Read the entire interview at Blasting-Zone.com.