Detritus
Mini-Issue #370.5 - June 30, 2006
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*** CAST OF CHARACTERS ***
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Patrick Brower, Editor
patrickbrower@ comcast.net Sean P. Gahgan, Editor
lof@earthlink. net Tim Wadzinski, Owner
tsw512@yahoo. com Steve Shumake, Co-owner
vongoober@vongoober .com http://www.vongoobe r.com/ *
*** LET IT BE KNOWN ***
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-My apologies to Neal, as this interview was supposed to run last
Friday but I had no time last week and barely got the main issue out
on Friday... Enjoy. (And go buy all of Enertia's albums!) - Tim
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*** SPECIAL REPORT ***
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by Neal Woodall (
MysticX9@gmail. com)
-Interview w/ Enertia
June 6, 2006
My first exposure to Enertia was indeed an eventful one: after nearly
being killed driving through Hurricane Ivan to attend the ProgPower
USA V Pre-Party (what some people won't do to get their live metal
fix!), I witnessed a talented band delivering an explosive set of
high-energy metal, making the perilous journey well worth the risk. As
Enertia prepares to record a disc of brand new material, bassist Joe
Paciolla took time out on the scariest day of the year (06-06-06) to
answer some questions about the band's history and current plans...
DETRITUS: Hey Joe, how's your "Day Of Evil" going? (laughs)
JOE PACIOLLA: (laughs) It's been one of those days!
D: Well, let me start by asking you about your background. Enertia has
been around 10 years but for those not familiar with the band can you
give us a brief summary of Enertia's history?
JP: Well, let's see -- actually February of '96 was when we became a
band. So far we've put four CDs out and played up to date close to 700
shows in 16 states and we still have fun doing what we do -- it's hard
to sum up 10 years!
D: (laughs) Yeah, I imagine it is!
JP: Music is just something we are all very passionate about and we do
it just for the love of it more so than anything else.
D: FORCE came out in 2004 and I understand you have a brand new CD
coming out later this year?
JP: I'm hoping that it will be done by the end of the year. We have
about 11 songs right now, and we've been playing three of them out
live. We're going to home demo the stuff first to iron the bugs out,
then we'll either end up putting the CD out ourselves once again or we
might even do the same thing we did the last time -- shop three songs
and see what happens. But being on a label isn't ultra important to us
at this stage in life, it's more just getting the music out.
D: Do you have a name for it yet?
JP: No, no name, just some song titles. There are some song titles on
the Web site.
D: Yeah, I saw one of them called "An Old Fashioned Beating" -- that's
a cool title! (laughs)
JP: Yeah, that one is going to be about all the different people who
have, ahh, screwed us over the last 10 years (laughs) -- in the band
and even like, my mom had her purse stolen last fall and they ended up
catching the kids who did it so it's sort of dedicated to them!
(laughs)
D: Right, that's what they need! (laughs)
JP: Exactly!
D: How does the new material sound in comparison to your other discs?
Would you say it's about in the same vein or are you exploring some
new things?
JP: I always say this every time: our new material is a little bit
more diverse than the last time. I think we have some songs that are
-- dare I say it -- radio-friendly, but at the same time I think we've
come up with some of our heaviest, meanest stuff too. Even when I say
that though, we're fans of bands that have death metal vocals but I
don't think you're ever going to hear any on an Enertia record.
D: Neil Kernon produced FORCE, right?
JP: Yes.
D: He has worked with a long list of artists like Judas Priest, Dokken
and Queensryche. How did he become involved with Enertia and is he
going to be producing the new album?
JP: We're all just big fans of the work that he did and Neil just
kinda of showed up on one message board that I used to post on once in
a while, "Perpetual Motion." And also I was a DJ on "Seismic Radio"
and Neil started going in there and I met him. He heard one of our
songs and expressed interest in hearing more of our stuff so I sent
him the demo, sent him the CDs and he dug them, then we started
talking about working together. The best way to sum that up is, we had
done our first three CDs at a studio in Albany and we were very happy
with the studio there but we just figured we wanted to try something
new, and it was cool to work at a big league level just once to see
what somebody else could come up with with our music as opposed to
just doing it ourselves with a guy who owned a studio locally.
D: Is Neil based out in Texas? FORCE was recorded at Sonic Ranch
Studios near El Paso.
JP: He lives in Chicago but he preferred working in that studio in
Texas.
D: Just a real good studio?
JP: Yes, Nevermore had recorded there first four records there,
Flotsam And Jetsam recorded DRIFT there -- I mean there is a ton of
bands who have been to Sonic Ranch.
D: Cool, yeah -- it's a good sounding CD.
JP: Thank you.
D: I was going to ask you about the two different covers for FORCE --
did you design the covers? I know Mattias Noren actually did them...
JP: Yes, he did. We were signed to Mausoleum Records in Europe and
when we were looking to pick out a cover Alfie [from the label] sent
us stuff from several artists -- and I mean he sent us things that
looked like they belonged on a Manowar CD, like skulls and dragons...
D: Fantasy stuff?
JP: Yeah, that's cool but it's just not us... I was a big fan of
Mattias' work because I like a lot of the bands he has done. So
Mattias had some spare artwork that we saw and we looked at six
different covers that he had, and we really liked the one that we
picked but we had a different design in mind that we wanted. So I e-
mailed Mattias and I said "Hey, we're going to use the CD cover that
you did in Europe but we have our own idea for what we want for the
record here." So we gave him an idea and he came up with the CD cover
for here and it came out amazing.
D: Is he going to be doing the new one?
JP: I would like to hire him, and the same thing with Neil -- although
financially I don't know if we'll be able to swing it -- but I think
you'll see Mattias do our artwork again because we're very happy with
the cover.
D: I noticed you've been putting more emphasis on your MySpace page.
Are you going to update your Web site or are you going to primarily
use MySpace for news?
JP: MySpace is going to be used for news but I don't think we're ever
going to just ditch our Web site; I'm always afraid that someday that
Tom guy [from MySpace] is going to say "Rupert Murdoch has decided to
start charging!" (laughs), or "We're going to eliminate all the
bands..."
D: Yeah, I was wondering what you thought about that, if MySpace is
like a passing fad or do you think it will stay around?
JP: I know there are over 80 million people on it, so it's very
popular. I love it because I'm just a music fanatic myself and I
always find cool new bands to check out, and I think it's a great way
for people that dig your music to communicate right with you. I love
that...
D: Yeah, it's kind of streamlined, so you don't have to go through 10
or 12 pages full of stuff -- everything is on that first page so you
can get an overview...
JP: Exactly, and I think what I plan on doing is, I'm going to update
our Web site at some point -- I do all that myself -- and I'm just
going to make it almost like a database of sorts, so if somebody sees
our MySpace page and they want to read a bit more about the records,
like where they were recorded and all that stuff they can just click
on the individual pages. MySpace has been an amazing tool because it
has turned a lot of people on to our music who have never heard us,
and I have a great time on it just meeting the new people. And it
seems like every time we play a gig now there are people who say "Oh,
I heard you guys on MySpace," so it's a handy tool.
D: I see you have a show coming up Friday in Rochester, then five more
scheduled. Are you planning a lot of shows for this summer?
JP: Well, there's going to be more upstate Metalfest shows and that's
something I started. This year I have six bands playing and I said,
"If you guys are interested the one thing I ask is you have to host a
Metalfest in your area," so there are going to be at least five more
of those shows, and to be quite honest I could book us every single
weekend if I really wanted to but we find that... (pauses) That's what
we use to do in the early days. We use to play out constantly -- I
mean if I had a nickel for every show where we'd drive 300 miles and
play to four people (laughs), I could pay for our next CD to be
recorded! Nowadays we choose the shows we think are going to be the
best for us, and Syracuse has been a great market for us, we do a lot
out that way, Syracuse and Rochester. So I'd say we'll probably be
playing out 10 more times before the end of the year, about twice a
month...
D: I saw you actually, at the Pre-Party for ProgPower USA V.
JP: Oh did you? Are you going this year?
D: Yeah, I'll be there this year. Are you guys planning on being
there?
JP: I go. I actually just got a Gold Badge again this year -- I had
one before and I just had some things come up in 2003 where I couldn't
go but I'll be attending every one from now on. Freak Kitchen is one
of my favorite bands. Anyway, it's cool to know that you saw us, I
would have liked to have met you.
D: Maybe this year we can hang out for a little bit.
JP: Cool, that sounds good.
D: Well, you've mixed your influences really well on your albums. I
hear stuff like Armored Saint, Fates Warning, Pantera and Fight among
other things. Are you guys pretty much on the same page when it comes
to what you like to listen to?
JP: I would say that for the most part, the main influences -- like
Pantera is definitely a big influence on all of us -- the main
influences are definitely all the same but we all stray. I probably am
the biggest music fanatic out of all the guys.
D: Yeah, I noticed you have quite a prodigious CD collection, like
2,500 CDs?
JP: Yeah, it's ridiculous!
D: I've got quite a few too but I don't know if I have that many!
(laughs)
JP: Actually, I just bought a house and it's going to be nice to have
a place to put them! (laughs) But, you know, my drummer [Jeff Daley]
likes jazz and my singer [Scott Featherstone] , I don't think he
really... (pauses) He listens to some stuff but I think he probably
listens to the most modern music out of all of us, because he'll
always come in and say, "Oh you gotta hear this band," like Taproot or
something, but he still definitely likes all the metal stuff too, and
he also listens to a lot of talk radio. [Guitarist] Roman [Singleton]
tends to listen to... (pauses) I think Pantera and Nevermore are two
big ones that he spins a lot.
D: I know you were on several tributes, for Dio, Pantera, AC/DC and
Metallica. Do you have any plans to do any more of those?
JP: (laughs) We had a really bad experience with the Metallica one, so
I don't think I could convince the guys to do one again.
D: What happened on there?
JP: Ahh, well, we were extremely happy with the way that we recorded
everything. We were hired to be the backing band on all the tracks on
the album except for one, "Jump In The Fire" -- a band from Brazil did
that one -- and we put a great deal of time into the learning of songs
and when we sent the master tapes down we were just really psyched, we
thought we had done a great job with the songs. Then the label owner
had a tribute album for Poison bomb, and so when that record bombed he
didn't want to do anything with this one so it sat on a shelf for over
a year. I called him several times and he finally said "Oh, I'm going
to put it out," and when he did he just mixed it himself, and he
wasn't very familiar with Metallica and to me, he killed it. (laughs)
I don't really have any hard feelings towards him, I just really wish
we could have been more involved with it. I understand it would've
cost money but it's heartbreaking to me to hear how much effort we put
into that and then to hear the final product just sort of makes me
sick to my stomach. (laughs)
D: What about plans for a live DVD or some kind of video?
JP: I really want to do one, and there's a production company up here
that I would hire to do it, but I just have to say that we decided we
have to make getting the next CD recorded more of a priority than
spending $1,000 filming. But I've really got the guys convinced that
it would be nice to have a professional document of one of our shows,
for when we call it a day we can look back. So at some point in life
there will be a live DVD.
D: I noticed you have FORCE and [1997's] MOMENTUM on iTunes, but why
not [1999's] FLASHPOINT and [1996's] LAW OF THREE?
JP: Because both FLASHPOINT and LAW OF THREE have been out-of-print
for several years and I have stuff on iTunes through CD Baby... I'm
interested to find out if I can put a CD-R up there -- because I've
seen other bands selling CD-Rs through CD Baby -- because I'd really
like to have all our music available on-line like that. I think it's a
great way to get the music out there and I laugh because we do
actually sell songs through that. We're not making a ton of money
through it -- I've probably made $10 total (laughs) -- but there's
like 20 different music download services, 20+ through CD Baby that
you can use, and one of them I think we get paid four cents every time
somebody downloads a song. It was funny because I happened to see one
of our songs was downloaded 60 times but it was only $2! (laughs)
D: Oh man! (laughs)
JP: Yeah, $2.40, it was funny. Someday -- and again if money grew on
trees it would be available now -- I'd really like to have FLASHPOINT
and LAW OF THREE on a two-on-one disc.
D: I wanted to ask you about song writing. Is that a collaborative
effort between you or is there one guy who writes most of the music?
JP: It's totally collaborated. Sometimes Roman will come in with an
idea or a riff and we just bang 'em out in the band room, but
everybody has a lot of input as far as where the songs end up, and we
spend a great deal of time writing actually. It's funny, some songs
will take us, like, maybe two months before we're really happy with
them, before we'll even consider them to be songs! (laughs)
D: What's your feeling about the current metal scene?
JP: It seems like things are a lot busier than they were when we first
started -- I wish there was as much going on then as there is now. I
hear a ton of bands and actually I've been hearing a lot of bands I
really like, so I would say things seem better than they were,
probably in the last five or six years. When we first started out
things seemed to be picking up in Europe, probably in the late '90s,
and it still wasn't really happening hear so much but now you've got
like, the "New Wave Of American Heavy Metal" with all those bands. I
really dig Lamb Of God -- I've been a fan of theirs since 2001 -- so I
would say that things are on the rise and it's good to see that people
still do go to shows and even in this day and age when a lot of music
can be downloaded for free I still sell more CDs than I would expect
to.
D: Yeah, it's hard to gauge the scene sometimes. You see like "Metal
Month" on VH1 and VH1 Classic -- I don't know if you kept up with any
of that?
JP: Oh yeah, absolutely -- I came home and I watched Pantera's "Behind
The Music" the night it was on. I keep right up with all that stuff. I
watched the Heart show and I saw some of the "Heavy: The Story Of
Metal" and a couple weeks ago I watched "Metal: A Headbanger's
Journey," too. I got it the weekend that it came out.
D: I got that too, it was good...
JP: Yeah, I really enjoyed it -- I have to say, I didn't know what I
was expecting when I popped it in and I thought the guy did a great
job.
D: Yeah, all that and a whole month of it on VH1 would suggest that
there's still a huge audience for it, so that's encouraging. I hope it
continues, I hope we start seeing some stuff on the charts...
JP: Exactly, even though (laughs) Vivian Campbell detests the fact
that people come up and talk to him about HOLY DIVER. Def Leppard did
really well the YEAH! album -- it was in the Top 20 recently.
D: That's always good to see. I think it opens the doors for other
bands when a band that's at least associated with hard rock or metal
gets up there.
JP: Oh yeah, and even seeing bands on these smaller labels, a band
like Lacuna Coil or Shadows Fall, have an album hit in the Top 30, on
a label like Century Media, is an amazing thing.
D: What inspires you musically and lyrically?
JP: For the most part, musically we're inspired by whatever we happen
to be listening to at the time and lyrics are generally based on
events in our life, from day to day living or witnessing something in
our travels or on the news that draws out emotions -- good or bad --
that we feel.
D: What appeals to you about hard rock and metal music?
JP: Music was a big part of my family life growing up and I think I
was initially drawn in -- and still am -- by the amazing riffs of some
of the songs I first heard by Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Sweet, Kiss and
Foghat. I then discovered AC/DC, Scorpions, Motorhead, UFO and my
favorite band for many years, Judas Priest. There was a raw aggressive
feel to heavy music I never experienced by listening to anything else.
Once I attended my first concerts as a very impressionable youth, the
energy I felt the bands conveying to the audience hooked me for life.
I enjoy a lot of different styles of music, but I will always want to
listen to hard rock and metal music over any other genre.
D: Is there anything you would like to add in closing?
JP: It was a pleasure talking to you Neal! Thanks to you and the
entire Detritus crew for all your support over the years. Look for CD
#5 to show up in early 2007 and watch for us playing all over New York
state and beyond in the coming months...
-Thanks to Joe Paciolla and Steve Shumake for the interview.
Relevant links:
Enertia
http://www.myspace. com/realenertia http://www.animated -insanity. com/enertia. html Enertia albums on iTunes
MOMENTUM
http://phobos. apple.com/ WebObjects/ MZStore.woa/ wa/viewAlbum? playListId=13681591 9
FORCE
http://phobos. apple.com/ WebObjects/ MZStore.woa/ wa/viewAlbum? playListId=82519127
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*** OUT ***
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