» Blog Archive Interview with Scott Hedrick of Skeletonwitch -
Deuce Hard Music, News


When Skeletonwitch passed through Long Island on Cannibal Corpse’s Evisceration Plague tour, I was able to spend some time with guitarist Scott Hedrick. We talked all things Skeletonwitch from their touring adventures to album recording and the importance of the fans of Heavy Metal. Our discussion was as follows:
Deuce: So you guys drove in from the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival last night, how’d it go?
Scott: It was a good show, we’re all hungover and between the guys traveling with us we got 7 stitches. Job For a Cowboy and Amon Amarth were the most drunk. It was cool to see old friends in Municipal Waste and The Red Chord.
Deuce: Do you guys enjoy playing festivals and how do they compare to regular shows?
Scott: Festivals are stressful because there’s short sets and lots of gear around. We literally load up the stage right before we play and barely have time to soundcheck. We get about 30 minutes, but our times have been extended as we go on, we used to play mid-afternoon and have less time.
Deuce: So how does it feel to have this new fame?
Scott: It’s fun. We’ve always wanted this and it’s hard to get here and it’s good to see people buying our cds and t-shirts. We’re still fans ourselves and our hard work has paid off.
Deuce: Speaking of hard work, I’ve seen some rumors that you guys have a potential bid for Ozzfest, can you shed any light on that?
Scott: It’s still unknown as of yet but we’d love to do it and I can’t confirm anything right now. (Note, Ozzfest has since been announced and Skeletonwitch is on the bill)
Deuce: Aside from that, what would be your dream tour?
Scott: We’d love to go out with any of the legends like Maiden, Metallica or Judas Priest. We’re also huge fans of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate as well as Immortal.
Deuce: So how would you get on a tour like that?
Scott: Well, there have been times where we’ll call band managers ourselves and submitted our own bids but now it’s generally done through our managers at the label. Sometimes we get approached though. It’s how we got on the Danzig tour a few years ago. I met someone from KNAC and I sent him our cd to promote and play on his radio show. He also works for Danzig and about a year later, we got a call from his manager to come on tour with him. Sometimes though bands are hampered by the endorsers and other industry bull shit like bands getting a push for no reason. I have more respect for bands that get themselves pushed, they deserve it more. We used to do our own tours out of a pick-up truck and would camp for the night if the weather was nice enough. Sometimes we still sleep in the van.
Deuce: Any good road stories?
Scott: Sure, from the Danzig tour. It was like the second day of the tour and we were in our dressing room – which was new for us at the time – after the show and our door suddenly gets kicked in and standing there is Danzig. He was ranting and raving about all the noise we were making… and was totally kidding. He really liked “Beyond the Permafrost” and added us as a 5th band to the bill. He told us “You can steal my fans, party and get the girls but don’t fuck up and keep and make sure you keep a tight ship.” We also met Bill Ward from Black Sabbath. He is the coolest guy. He said he loved the old school days with Sabbath when they did everything in a van and if it all ended tomorrow; it was the best experience ever.
That keeps us motivated. Our first show was in someone’s yard on a homemade stage. We’re from a college town; we never thought we’d be world renowned. We definitely don’t take it for granted, we got lucky.
Deuce: That’s one hell of an experience. Knowing all that, how do you keep your sanity when you’re on tour?
Scott: Well, we’re not sane to start. Part of you has to already be nuts to do this in the first place. You just have to laugh and never have a bad day and not get mad. It’s a life experience – you go into debt and live with it for all it is, bad times make the good ones better. Especially when you know you have to eat some shit to get ahead.
Deuce: With that being said, how’s the hospitality at the venues?
Scott: It’s better now. We used to only get 2 free beers and that was it. Now, there’s usually food and drink, we get about a case of beer and water but we can live on PB&J or tortillas and cheese. It’s like when we recorded “Beyond the Permafrost.” We stayed on a campsite when we were recording in Richmond, VA. Nate made the mistake of eating a piece of turkey floating in the water from melted ice at the bottom of the cooler. The next day, he was tracking guitars and puking his brains out.
Deuce: Can you recall your worst tour memory?
Scott: Well it’s not down and out but in a way it’s kind of funny. I had this girlfriend at the time and I was having a shit day and we were playing in Cleveland. I was outside the venue and everyone told me that I looked bummed. The girl had just made me feel real lousy, she broke up with me. As luck would have it, moments after that happened, this bird shit on me. Now, I look back on it and laugh.
Deuce: Ok, excuse the pun but that really is shitty. How about this tour, I know it’s only been about 5 days but how’s it going?
Scott: Well 1349 are a bunch of really cool guys and I’m glad they finally made it over (Note: 1349 was delayed by visa issues and an erupting Icelandic volcano). They came in late last night and came by the Festival to just hang out. As for Cannibal Corpse, they are the coolest to hang out with. They do a lot that other bands don’t, for examples they’ll match merch prices where as some bands dictate everything. Corpse said d whatever, backdrops, effects, etc., but don’t let it start cutting into set-up or breakdown times. I had met Alex [Webster – bassist of Cannibal Corpse] last summer when they were on the Mayhem fest. Alex introduced himself and I hung out with him and George [“Corpsegrinder” Fisher – vocals]. Today, our merch guy spilled a drink on himself and Alex gave him a brand new Corpse hoodie right from their supply. Also, on the first night of the tour, Alex recognized me right away and made it a point to come chat.
Deuce: How do you guys handle tour management?
Scott: Well we just sort of have a business sense. The thing is, we don’t have a tour manager so I act as our tour manager. So there are times where I have to back up the band when the venue tries to screw us or something. We all have roles like that aside from just being in the band. I handle the social networking sites like MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/skeletonwitch), Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Skeletonwitch), and Twitter (http://twitter.com/Skeletonwitch).
Deuce: About being a fan, how important are they?
Scott: They’re important because they make the scene and the show. We have to appreciate them. There’s no blowing them off because we had a bad day, if someone is waiting to meet us we rally the rest of the band and go sign whatever they want and take pictures. We still get nervous though when the big guys like Corpse are watching us do our set.
Deuce: How about the “New Wave of Thrash” scene?
Scott: We don’t really see ourselves as part of it but we take that as a compliment. We tend to use different elements in our music than straight thrash; we’ve taken thrash and modernized it. The revival bands just sound like the 80’s style and nothing else, we take a little from everywhere. We have no plans to change our style; we please ourselves and do what we want to do. We’re not going to make any drastic changes like the big four of thrash in the mid 90’s, we’ll try including some more Black metal or Death metal or whatever but you won’t catch us recording any ambience songs. Nate will tell you his favorite band is his own; you have to love the band you’re in.
Deuce: Have you guys played Europe yet?
Scott: Yes, we did a triple co-headlining tour with Goatwhore and Toxic Holocaust. We rotated places each night but all had equal set times. It was our second European tour; our first was with Cephalic Carnage and Hate Eternal. That was the first time we were on a tour bus, and we shared it with the other 2 bands. There were enough bunks to go around.
Deuce: Did you see a difference in the European crowd vs. the U.S. crowd?
Scott: There’s not a huge difference but the Europeans tend to be more spectators if they don’t know the band, they watch and learn where U.S. fans dive right in and start thrashing. I even still do that from time to time. Down in Raleigh, NC I handed the stuff in my pockets to one of my band mates and dove right into the pit. I still like to have some fun when I’m not playing on stage.

Deuce: Do you guys play pranks on tour for fun?
Scott: We do some, mostly just goof off. But last tour, we were at a gas station and I left a box of crackers on the dash and went into the shop. When I came out, Nate and Chad had taken the box, put it behind the wheel of the van and when I came out ran it over and yelled “CRUSHED BEYOND DUST!!!” That became our thing for the rest of the tour; we’d bust up someone else’s stuff, yell that but then replace the item. We never did anything valuable; it was all in good fun.

–Deuce \m/

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