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Warning S.F. Press You are in :
Warning
S.F. Press Releases / Interview with Lords Of Metal E-Zine Issue 21  Most of the new bands from that region were influenced by bands like Motorhead, Saxon, Iron Maiden, in other words: The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. Was this also the case with Warning, or did you guys have other influences also? TC: Those bands are certainly a big influence to our music, as well as local talent like Metallica, Exodus, Etc. JT: I certainly had other influences…Scorpions, Baron Rojo, Sweet Savage, Accept, Trust, as well as American bands like Riot, Savatage, ETC. At the time the band was founded there was already another Warning in business, the band from France, who at that time already had released some albums. Did you ever know about their existence? TC: Not until one question ago. JT: Not at first…Ron Quintana was the first one to tell me about them…I tried renaming the band Iron Assault. That failed…As well as tossing other names into the hopper but nothing else really stuck so it remained Warning. In those days I guess it was pretty exciting to live in the Bay Area (or the entire US West Coast for that matter). It was a time that some now legendary bands first came to live. I mean, bands like Metallica, Slayer, Metal Church, Possessed, Megadeth, Death Angel, Hirax, Exodus to name but a few delivered some of their best work ever, and you were living right on top of it. Did you ever have a clue that you were witnessing the making of Metal history. TC: I think the answer is, without a question, yes. It would have been impossible to be anywhere near that scene, feeling the overwhelming energy, and not realize that it was going to be very infectious on a worldwide scale. JT: Absolutely YES! I had more than a clue…I knew exactly what was transpiring before my very eyes night after night…Show after show…Sometimes more than one show in one night…Being fortunate enough to be there is a true gift in my opinion.  Warning never became a household name, and gaining a cult status didn’t happen either (at least not here in Holland), in spite of being around for more than four years. What was it like to have a band of your own in those years, of which you knew it had lots of potential, but wasn’t really going anywhere. TC: The important thing is to be able to judge our success by the fact that we were a part of the World's biggest heavy metal movement, and that is a lot more than a lot of people can honestly claim. JT: It was great to do all of those shows with all of those legendary bands but the honest truth is there was never any focus( with the early Warning )as far as the media side of the organization was concerned. It was all about writing material and getting better at what you did on the fretboard instead of on the world stage. The only offering the band had was the 1985 3 song demo that was released on a very small scale and really wasn’t marketed at all. You played clubs like The Old Waldorf, Mabuhay Gardens, The Stone, and the Rock On Broadway, in San Francisco. Here in Holland people like myself (fanatical headbangers) all had this dream to visit those places once, for it seemed the place to be at that time. How do you look back at those days? Was it really so legendary as we still think over here, or was it just a normal fact of life for you guys? TC: Those days were the holy grail for any young metal fan. No one involved will tell you otherwise. It was a normal fact of life, and legendary at the same time. JT: I guess it would be both…A normal fact of life and legendary at the same time…The whole Broadway scene was started off as a Punk movement…The Mab for sure. It slowly let metal bands into the 3 clubs and the flood gates were let open…As I said before you could walk across the street from the Mab and see a show at the Stone…leave there and see one at the Rock on Broadway all in one night. In the four years of Warning's existence you played a lot, wrote a lot of tracks, but the only thing you ever recorded was the three-track demo in 1985. I guess therefore that no label ever seriously was interested in the band? JT: We never really shopped ourselves or had any representation at that time… The only label that was slightly interested in us was Shrapnel Records but that never happened.  In 1986 Warning was disbanded. What was the reason to do so? JT: I had really had enough of the band to be quite honest… I was the only original member left and the tunes and the new members were not at all what I wanted anymore. Shortly after that I joined a band named Ulysses Siren. I was with them until late 88. A few years later you joined Laaz Rockit. How did you end up with those guys? JT: I was introduced to Laaz by a mutual friend of ours named Walter Morgan. I went and had a tryout and a call back and the rest was history. I was with them until early 1991. Laaz Rockit kicked the bucket somewhere in 1992, what have you been doing since then? Still doing stuff in the music biz or did you went on doing something completely different? JT: After that I formed another band with Tom Hunting and Bobby Gustafson called I4NI…I did that as well as a band called Repulsa. I joined AngelWitch again in 1996 and did that until 1999 then joined the band Slough Feg for about a year then reformed WarningSF. The only thing I did that was completely different was become an Electrician in the process…It comes in very handy on the road. ZZZZZZZZAPP! Whatever happened to the other members of Warning? JT: The last I heard of Tany Fillari was that he had got married and moved away to the back woods of Northern California. Terry Hamilton just sold his home and moved away as well and Rob drives a truck and delivers bread. The other assorted members are either dead or in jail as far as I know. We're in the year 2002 now, and out of the blue Warning's back in action. The first logical question that pops to mind of course is why the band now is called Warning SF? TC: Apparently there is another Warning floating around out there somewhere, and we want people to know where we are coming from as well. JT: Yeah there is another band in the U.K. called Warning and we didn’t want to run into any legal problems down the road with the French Warning either so hence WarningSF. Now you don't resurrect a band for nothing. If my information is correct it all started when some record collector wanted to put your old demo on vinyl for other metal record collector. What's the complete story? JT: I guess it really started when I was still with Laaz Rockit… I had all of these old tunes and I was going to re-record them and have guest lead guitarist play on them…I had asked Aaron Jellum, Phil Kettner, Lee Altus, Craig Locero, etc. but it never materialized. I got an e-mail from some guy named Rob Preston one day saying “Jon Torres’ presence is needed”. I answered the e-mail and he wrote back saying that he was a vinyl presser with Doomed Planet Records and wanted to put out the 3 song demo on vinyl as an EP. We talked about it and he asked if I had any other songs that were done on a quality tape. All I had were some old practice tapes that were CRAP! At that point I decided to re-record the old tunes and make a full album even if I had to do it myself. Not to long after that I started trying out people for the project. It took a lot longer than I thought but it finally came together. You decided to re-record some old Warning tunes, so in 2000 the band was reformed. You got assistance from Brian Poole, another original member. The line up was completed by recruiting Aaron Jellum (former guitar player with Laaz Rockit ) Will Carroll and Torre Carstensen. How did you get these guys to play in the revamped Warning? JT: Brian is always ready for recording and writing tunes… That was easy… It took a while to get Will… A really strange incarnation of Laaz Rockit had done a benefit for an old friend of ours who had passed away and Will played the drums with no rehearsal at all and pulled it off without a hitch so I got his number and called him up and he agreed to track on the record. Aaron came through like a champ… I called him out of the blue and told him I had a new record coming out and would he like to shread on it. He agreed and shreaded indeed! Torre was a gift indeed. I had asked Dave White from Heathen and Russ Anderson from Forbidden to sing on the record…Two heavy hitters indeed but their schedules didn’t workout with what we had going on so I got Torre’s number from Jim S. of Mordred and he came through in a big way. Instead of this record being ordinary it extraordinary. Get the record and see for yourself. TC: There are still a fair amount of musicians that got their start in the local scene, who will always have a love for old school heavy metal. The reformed WarningSF is a testament to that fact.  I can imagine that you've tried to get other original band members interested in this project. Or am I way of track here and you didn't even bother? TC: Enough of the original members were kept in order to keep the integrity of the band, but we think that the fans will agree that the new talent is a welcome addition, once they hear the album. JT: Welcome is an understatement…I tried one old member out and I wish I hadn’t bothered. With the new line-up you re-recorded seven old tunes. Now these songs were originally written between 1979 and 1985. Did you alter them in any way, or is this the real deal as it was intended when you wrote it? JT: Musically the songs remain true to form, but with the addition of Torre , the vocal tracks were basically left as a blank when I gave him the songs to be written after the fact. The singing styles are quite different, and although the old music is very important to us, we felt that he deserved room to showcase his talent as and lyrical style. We also wanted to start forming a different WarningSF sound. All in all it took the band like two years to record these seven songs. Isn't that a bit long? TC: The recording itself didn't take very long at all. It was finding the right players to complete the puzzle. JT: As I stated in an earlier question it took the longest time to get everyone together. The music itself was done in about six months. If Torre would have been there right after the music was done it would have been finished much sooner. It was also internally funded. If I understand correctly the interest from record labels only came after you were done recording. What did you originally have in mind for these re-recordings? TC: They were done first and foremost to satisfy the band's desire to track some crushing tunes, and not really with any expectations, but I can certainly say that we are pleased with the result, and we're very happy that other people have taken notice as well. JT: For the most part that is true…I had some offers before the vocals were even on the tracks, but when the offers did start coming in they were good. The end result is what really mattered in this case. Eventually the word spread that you guys had recorded some pretty special stuff, and several labels showed interest. After I guess weighing all the pros and cons you signed a three album deal with Mausoleum Records from Belgium. Obvious question of course is: why this particular label? TC/JT: The fact of the matter is that they offered us the most appealing deal, and they also seemed like they were on the same page as us, which anyone who has been in the business knows, is hard to find. The fact that you've signed a three album deal leads me to conclude that you've got some more music for us up your sleeve, but are we talking again old shit here, or have you started on writing new stuff as well? TC: We consider the First Warning release to be heading exactly in the direction that we want it to be going. Of course our music will always have a little old-school flavor to it, but that's where we came from, and it's an important past that we don't want to ignore. JT: Old Shit? There may be some old tunes thrown in but I’m not so attached to them that I will keep them around for sentimental reasons. I feel that there is more than enough talent within the organization at present for us to stand alone. Your first album entitled 'Aftermath' will be released pretty soon. And I must say, it's a fucking killer. I mean, all the necessary ingredients for a killer Bay Area Thrash album are there. Variation, brutality, speed, blistering guitar solo's, a dark atmosphere, great drumming, it just leaves nothing to be desired. I guess it just felt great to record this album. TC: Thank you very much, first of all. And I think that I can speak for the others in saying that we are very satisfied with the way that things turned out. It's something we've wanted for a long time. Besides the old songs in a modern version you also added the three old demo tracks to the album, in their original state. All of 'm are great tunes, but suffer from that typical mid-eighties demo sound. Why didn't you re-record them as well? I would just love to hear them with a 2002 sound. TC: Since there are a few of our old fans out there in the world, we thought it would be a nice treat to include some of the old demo material, and it also gives any potential fans a little glimpse into our past. JT: Your absolutely right…I thought about re-recording those old tunes from 85, and maybe we will. It is obvious that anyone who's still in love with this Bay Area sound should get hold of this album. So how are the reactions so far? Do my colleague journalist share my enthusiasm, or are there also critics who consider this to be old-fashioned and non-relevant whatsoever? TC: We have just begun to hear the results, considering that the record was just recently released, but the reactions seem to be very positive, and you have to remember that the world is full of old school metal fans, and the recording came out better than even we expected, so the important question is weather or not it is relative to us. And the answer is yes. After that, we can only hope that people can share our enthusiasm for what we feel is a killer album. JT: I would say that your journalist colleagues share your enthusiasm wholeheartedly so far. Everyone that has written in has had nothing but good things to say about the record. It’s too early to say but we hope that this rock will keep rollin. In the end of course it's the Metal consumer who decides what's hot and what's not. Did you already have had some feedback from the ordinary Metal fans? TC: The response from the metal fans has been great so far - THANK ALL OF YOU FOR THAT!!!! Let’s keep it alive. JT: We’ve had some really positive response on our website www.WarningSF.com. And the labels site www.mausoleum-records.com. Have a look for yourself and see what you think. Keep Metal Alive!  In my opinion the Metal world needs bands like yours, and it seems that lots of people agree with me. A band like Testament still keeps the banners high, Exodus, Hirax and Death Angel are touring again, there is talk about a Nasty Savage reunion, and now Warning SF comes with this deadly new album. It seems that Bay Area Thrash is on the brink of a new glorious era. A development that will surely please you I guess. TC/JT: We certainly share your opinion that these bands should still be going strong, and it also shows that some of us have been working hard to keep it going, even in the absence of what was a huge local metal following. Here in Holland there's still a healthy Metal scene, with lots of mainstream magazines, underground magazines, clubs willing to book Metal bands and so on and so forth. How's the situation in the USA in that respect? TC: There will always be die-hard fans, but as a scene, sometimes it feels like a dying art form. You guys are lucky that it is still a strong force over there. JT: There are parts of the US that will always have a fan base for metal no matter what the trend, but it’s nothing like it used to be here. In my opinion you are now legendary…Festivals like Dynamo, Wacken, Bang your Head (to name a few). Europe Rules! You are planning to tour extensively after each release. Are there any details known already, and if so, are there plans to come over to Europe? TC: We may be paying you a visit as early as February of next year, but I'll have to leave it at that until I get the details myself. JT: We’ll be there even if we have to swim across the pond. On our rubber Duckies! Since the heydays of Bay Area Thrash Metal a lot of other styles have emerged within the Metal spectrum. Black, Death, Nu, Grunge, Cross-over, Industrial, Gothic, whatever it all is called. Did you in any way keep up with all these new developments? And if so, does it in any way influence you in the way you write and play Metal? TC: They are all very valid expressions of the same cause, and I wouldn't say that our influences are even limited to heavy metal, so yes I'm sure that all the new incarnations influence us in some way. JT: To a certain extent I pay attention to all of the styles you’ve mentioned but I wouldn’t say that it influences the way that I write for WarningSF. All of the media influences that bombard your brain every day here in the jungle are bound to seep in, in one form or another I suppose. Which bands from, let's say, the past ten years do you consider to be really worthwhile? TC: Anybody that does what they want to, and still continues to do so. JT: The last ten? I like Iced Earth, Soilwerk, Alice in Chains, shit I could go on with band names forever…Those are but a few. If you were to recommend some real classic Metal albums to someone who's not familiar with cool 80's stuff, but shows real interest, which albums would they be? TC: Tank - This Means War Diamond Head - The Beginning Silver Mountain - Shakin' Brains Exodus - Bonded By Blood Holocaust - The Nightcomers JT: Iron Maiden-Iron Maiden Motorhead- Ace of Spades Accept- Restless and Wild AngelWitch-Pandemonium(1st album) Testament- The Legacy Just to name a few classics. Warning SF plays authentic Bay Area Thrash. This kind of music kinda started with bands like Metallica and Megadeth. These bands have made it big, especially Metallica, but both now play a totally different kind of Rock. Lots of old fans consider them to be sell-outs (to put it mildly). What are your feelings about bands like this who have wandered of so much from their original path. I mean, you're also not eighteen anymore, but still manage to kick ass! TC: The fact of the matter is that Metallica is almost single handedly responsible for creating the bay area metal movement, so nothing they will ever choose to do creatively will ever change my opinion of them. Everyone can decide for themselves weather or not to listen to any band's latest release - but every true metal fan owes a debt of gratitude to those bands. JT: What “successful” bands have decided to do for themselves is really their own business. Everyone has to decide what is right for their own particular situation, opinions or not. I don’t really like what either of the bands you’ve mentioned has done recently, but that does not nullify their past achievements by any means. Listen to whatever moves you. Opinions mean nothing. Final question: What does Metal mean to you? TC: It means that life is worth living. JT: Pleasure, Pain, Life, Death, Strength, Sensuality, Thunder, Lightning, High, Low,…The full spectrum if you let it in.  Direct Link |