We caught up for a phone interview
with Testament singer Chuck Billy during the on going American Carnage
North American Tour with http://www.loudtrax.com/Artist/slayer - and http://www.loudtrax.com/Artist/megadeth - .
http://www.loudtrax.com - I saw you guys playing http://www.heavymtl.com -
on the 24th of July. Now I have seen you live in different scenarios�
as an opening act, headlining, and now the festival setting. What type of show do you prefer personally for Testament?
Chuck Billy When
you headline you get to make sure everything is correct. Monitor,
sound, and everything. But when you�re in a festival situation, you
kind of just have to be at the mercy of what it is. You don�t get
sound checks, and don�t really have a chance to check your stuff. You
kind of just get up there and just play and hope for the best.
Fortunately for the Montreal show I think everything went pretty smooth.
LoudTrax.com You�ve
played many festivals in Europe and North America. What do you find is
the biggest difference from festivals in both continents?
Chuck Billy Well
Europe has been known for the festivals for 20, 30 years or more. The
closest thing in America would have would be Ozzfest. I think the big
difference is the culture. You could be 14 years old and look old
enough to order beer at the bar in Europe! You can�t do that in
America. In America everyone is �sue� happy and everyone wants to sue
someone for something. So I don�t think you can get away with having a
festival like that in Europe over in America or Canada.
It�s just the culture, the way people are raised and being exposed to alcohol and even drugs and marijuana at a younger age.
LoudTrax.com In Jan 2011, you are part of the http://www.70000tons.com - cruise ship tour with several other bands. That�s just crazy. Has Testament performed on a cruise ship before?
Chuck Billy We
never played a cruise ship! But when we heard about it, it sounded
like it was going to be a lot of fun. There�s a lot of bands! As we
accepted a lot more of our friends bands accepted like Death Angel,
Exodus and so on. Many bands will be there so it sounds like it�s
going to be a big party.
LoudTrax.com Do you get to do a full set?
Chuck Billy Yes I think we get to do a full set, hopefully for at least an hour if not longer.
LoudTrax.com Is http://www.loudtrax.com/Artist/alexskolnicktrio - part of that tour?