Starting in 1990, it is great that long running band such as Force Fed is still active. You’ve had a history of many different line-ups with the unfortunate passing of an original member. What drives you to keep the flame lit?
(Matt/Bass) Well, we certainly haven't kept it lit all this time. We had reunited several times in the past couple of decades; sometimes for a few shows and sometimes for a couple of years. At the beginning of this year we all decided to do another reunion show, but something about this time was different - maybe all the stars and planets aligned, maybe it's just that we're all in a place in our lives where we really want to do this again and do it right. This time, we didn't have to do anything to keep the flame lit - it seemed to flare up on its own, brighter than ever. (Scott) I think when I left to join deadhorse we were on the verge of something... getting a record deal, killing each other, imploding, something... We were getting all these offers to open for touring acts, so I felt like we were getting close. We only played Austin and Killeen, we hadn’t even played San Antonio or Dallas or Houston. We were very green and didn’t know how to take the next step. Anyhow, I left deadhorse in 96 and tried to get the original Force Fed lineup back together, but Lance bailed for whatever reasons, Matt was playing in Rubberhead or DMA...so I got my cousin Jason Feeney to play bass, and Leroy Pitman to play guitar and that was another version of Force Fed.. then we stopped around 2000 and got back together around 2004 still without Lance, and we played until I formed P.N.D. with Ronny, Greg and Kurt. Then we got back together again in 2012 with Lance, and played 3 shows...Then I approached Lance about playing the Austin RED7 show and it being our final show. He agreed. But something happened about 4 or 5 rehearsals in and we decided to keep playing and write a new album. (Matt) One of the things that helps is that we all feel like these songs sound as good now as they did years ago, and people seem to respond to them better than ever. Another thing is that we have a lot of material that we really want to record and put out there. All that makes it so that we almost feel compelled to keep this going.
I read that your name is derived from the Prong album Force Fed. I also saw that you received blessing using that name from Tommy Victor and company. How did you come in contact with them?
(Scott) Yes, that's true. I started seeing Prong
at the Backroom in 1990 during their Beg to differ tours. I went back and found
their Primitive Origins and Force Fed albums and just loved the rawness, speed,
gang vocals, short songs, short solos etc. We got to meet Prong in 1994 at the
Austin Coliseum on their Cleansing tour when they were opening for
White Zombie. We all got to go hang out backstage while White Zombie was on
stage. Then we all went to the Backroom and hung out and had drinks for several
more hours. We opened for Prong in 2004 i think. Over the years, Tommy Victor
and I have become pretty good friends. We talk all the time, when he comes to
town we usually go have dinner or drinks, He's always been super supportive of
us and is just really an all around good guy, a great guitarist, songwriter...
I love the guy and am happy he's still writing albums and touring with Prong
and Danzig .
Your music is
definitely an amalgamation of many extreme styles (thrash, hardcore and punk).
You said in the early nineties people were somewhat confused about your mix of
styles. These days that is no big deal, but back then the shows were definitely
more separated regarding genres. Can you elaborate more on those experiences
you had early on?
(Matt) In '93 and '94, when we were playing out a lot in Austin , all the bands in our scene were either
Testament/Sepultura clones, shitty Orange
County
The main credit for our sound and musical direction really
needs to go to Scott, who was and is our chief songwriter. It would have been
easy for us to write Testament songs and sound like everyone else, and we
probably would have had a better reception at first, but Scott was adamant
about not doing that. It took a little longer for people to get us - people
generally don't like things that they don't quite understand - but once they
got it, people really responded. I think we all like the fact that we can't be
pigeonholed like other bands - we pretty much sound like us, and that's
it.
(Scott) I think Matt nailed a lot of it on the head. The
punk crowd thought we sounded too metal and the metal crowd thought we sounded
too punk. I personally drew a lot of inspiration and influence from East coast
bands, especially early Prong, S.O.D. and Carnivore. I also started getting
into more grindcore and death metal like Carcass and Coroner. Lance and I both
loved the Venice
Over the years you
have played shows with some real heavy weights in the music scene (Motorhead,
Prong, Crowbar, Carcass, Napalm Death, Obituary, etc). What was your most
memorable show? I’m sure you have some interesting stories.
(Matt)Back around '97 we opened for Obituary at a club in Houston . After our set we
were hanging out by our van drinking beer while Obituary was on stage playing
their set. Suddenly, in the middle of a song, the side doors of the club burst
open and the bass player, still playing the song through a wireless, comes
running out with a roadie right behind him. He turned around and faced the wall
(still playing), and suddenly hands the bass back to the roadie (mind you, he
still has the strap on, so the roadie has to kinda reach around in front of him
to grab it), who proceeds to start pounding on the strings like crazy to keep
the song going. Then, while the roadie is playing, the bass player whips it out
and takes a piss on the side of the building! He finishes up, shakes and puts
it away, then grabs the bass, jumps back into playing the song without skipping
a beat, and they both run back into the club. Needless to say, he got a
standing ovation from all of us. Quite possibly the most entertaining part of
the night.
(Scott) For me and Lance it was definitely opening
for Motorhead at Sneakers for their 1916 tour. It was just Motorhead and us!
Lance was shooting pool with Lemmy while we were waiting on more PA to arrive
from San Antonio .
Motorhead’s tour manager brings Lemmy a bottle of Jack Daniels. He opens it and
draws a slug of it. Then takes a shot. While he’s shooting, Lance picks up the
bottle and draws back a long slug. Their tour manager comes over to me and says
"does Lemmy know him? Cause he never lets anyone drink out of his bottle!”
I say, well he knows him now. That single show changed everything for us.
People were coming up to us and asking us what it was like to tour with
Motorhead. They had no idea who we were. I'm telling people we're from Austin , we've been
playing for three years!!! After that show we started getting weekend slots and
started getting to open for all those touring bands you mentioned.
You stated that a new
album is in the works. Can you give more details of when it will be released
and what the listeners can expect?
(Matt) Right now we're in the process of deciding on the
songs, arranging, thinking about the overall concept for the album, etc. If
things go as planned, it will sound like us, only better. We've got a lot of
material to work with (including a few covers that we do better than the
originals), and we are all expecting this to be the best recording that we've
ever done. We are hoping for a release before the end of the year.
(Scott) I think you'll hear a lot of our early influences,
like Sabbath, some of the slower trippy stuff. At this point we have about 8 or
9 originals were trying to button up. I think it'll blow some peoples minds
when they hear it. And yes, hopefully it'll be done this year.
Do you ever have any
difficulty balancing Force Fed with your other musical endeavors?
Force Fed is the only music that I’m doing right now, so
it’s no problem for me. Practice time does make it hard for me to keep up with
the new “My Little Pony” episodes, so there’s that…
(Scott) Not really. PND is on hiatus since DRI is always
playing. Deadhorse is pretty relaxed. Greg, Argo, and Allen all
have separate bands away from deadhorse too.
Thanks for the
interview. Please take the final word.
It's been 25 years and Austin
still can't kill us! We're like the cockroaches of metal, consistently rising
from the nuclear fallout of the dead music capital of the world. Oh, and feel
free to use "Cockroaches of Metal" for the name of your new
band.
(Scott) What Matt said. Thank you for taking the time to
interview us.
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