Old school metal-heads Hatebreed from Connecticut are not only one of the longest operating hardcore bands on the scene, with a 16 year career to date, but also one of the nicest bunch of guys you could ever hope to meet. Shazam had the pleasure of speaking with lead singer and 1994 mainstay Jamey Jasta to chat about new music and how he keeps the wheels oiled on his insane vocal style.
December 2010 saw you complete a UK headline tour, how was it?
It was really great the fans in the UK really get it…with it being a headline tour there is a little more pressure in that you have to be ready physically to do a 90 minute set, you need more sleep to be prepared and things like that; Frank and Chris will have a drink before the show – but I tend not to, that’s the one thing that can wreck your voice.
You sound a little hoarse are you losing your voice?
It normally sounds a little hoarse while I’m on tour, but actually I’m ok. Last time we were on a break I went to an ENT specialist back home and they told me whatever I’m doing I’m doing it right, I had a camera put in my voice box and everything and it turns out I’m fine. A lot of professional song coaches have told me I probably have polyps on my vocal chords and tell their students to never sing like I do but turns out I’m absolutely fine doing what I do.
Do you have a favourite UK city to play?
Leeds has been great on this tour because there was no barricade in the venue, which had a capacity of about 300 so it was a really intimate gig. We can’t do that back in the states anymore as we play bigger venues but I really enjoyed it over here. It reminded me of the old days when we played smaller shows.
What is the best and worst thing about touring?
The best thing is the fans, you get to see all the people who know your lyrics really mean something.
The worst is like, whatever bad can happen on tour it, happens to us; buses breaking down, snow storms, cancelled shows or gear breaking…you know how it is.
Are you going to play any festivals in 2011?
Yeah we will take some time off to do some writing to start with and we have boring stuff to do like sorting out the North American label stuff and normally we do 3 videos per album so we may do 1 more video for the last record too.
Do you have any new material ready for a new album?
There kinda is but I dunno what is going to happen with all that yet.
Who are you listening to at the minute?
I really like the new ‘Phobia’ record that is out on Relapse Records, I also really like ‘Black gives way to Blue’ the latest ‘Alice in Chains’ album. The new Weezer record is pretty cool oh and I went on itunes and just bought the new Waka Flocka Flame album, I really like the way he markets himself and has made a business out of what he does.
If you could have one song from history and claim it as your own work what would you go for?
Iron Man or Back In Black because at any sporting event anywhere these get played all the time.
Is that decision based on royalties?
Well in that case, add Welcome To The Jungle on there too!
Check out the latest Hatebreed news at their website here.
Hazel Savage Interviews Hatebreed
