UNEARTH Frontman Discusses OZZFEST, Battling Addictions, War In Iraq

Jeffrey Easton of The Metal Exiles recently conducted an interview with UNEARTH frontman Trevor Phipps. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

The Metal Exiles: How did your second Ozzfest go?

Trevor: It was great to be in a non-rotating slot this summer as opposed to waking up early to play. It was a lot easier on the voice and we had more energy to play. Besides there were more people there to see us play.

The Metal Exiles: How did this one go for you guys as far as garnering new fans and promoting the new record?

Trevor: It was great considering we played in front of a vastly different crowd this time. In 2004, SLIPKNOT headlined that stage so there were a lot of kids there and this time around BLACK LABEL headlined so there were a lot of older fans there for them. That saw us winning over older fans, which was great, because we are used to playing for the younger fans. I know the kids buy more records but to play for the older people who are fans of music 'till they die is very different.

The Metal Exiles: Let's talk about your new album, "In The Eyes Of Fire". Your debut for Metal Blade, "The Oncoming Storm", was a very political record where as the new one is not. Explain where you were coming from when you sat down to write this record.

Trevor: I am getting a bit older, I am going through some things in my personal life and I just had to vent to get this shit off of my chest. There are still some political songs on the record so I can keep spreading the message to those that are interested but I needed to get some things out. Now is the time to do it and hopefully people can take something from it and use it in their own lives because we are all human beings and we all go through our own shit.

The Metal Exiles: What were you venting on this record if you care to say.

Trevor: A handful of things, just go through the track list. Look at "This Glorious Nightmare"; that is about battling addiction like drugs, alcohol or gambling. People have crutches in life and how amazing it feels, just take these things out of your life and you will see how much you need them.

The Metal Exiles: Are you battling any addictions?

Trevor: I am like anybody else, I like my whisky and beer once and awhile, I drink coffee numerous times a day but I do try and eat healthy and exercise. I have my demons but then again everybody does.

The Metal Exiles: What is your current opinion about the government while we are on the subject.

Trevor: I am not a fan of a lot of the choices they have made, like the war in Iraq. The war is against terror, not against Iraq. Hussein was not a good leader by far, but there are many other ruthless leaders out there. This was the wrong war to start and the wrong war to fight; that is my opinion and know it is the opinion of many other people. What this is doing is having people look at America in a bad light so if there is a country with weapons that could destroy us, it is going to take a lot more convincing to get help to fight them. We acted like renegades by doing a pre-strike against Iraq without the permission of the UN and that is not what we are about. At the same time I am just a singer in a band and not a politician but I do have my opinions and I think more people should as well. That is what the song "March Of The Mutes" is about. It is the fact that not enough people have an opinion and there are so many opinions that are not being backed up enough to make any difference. If you go back to the late '60s/early '70s, enough people stood up against the Vietnam war but now there are so many things and people are so divided. If we do have an opinion we are so split up that the voices are muted.

The Metal Exiles: Considering the way people are nowadays why do you think they do not have an opinion? With info so accessible on the Internet for people to learn, why do you think they are so quiet?

Trevor: People do not want to believe that these things are going on around them; they are only concentrating on their on lives. That is not how it is going to be if people continue to act like that and they will shoot themselves in the foot because they were not paying attention. One thing is global warming, that is going to destroy our environment slowly but surely and it is going to happen in our lifetime. People are not paying enough attention to it but when they are finally forced to it will probably be too late.

Read the entire interview at www.metal-exiles.com.