SOD:
The Stormtroopers of Death Interview With
Billy Milano
Interviewed for Metal Rules!! by
David Lee and Jinny
Jerome
In most quarters it is definitely not to your advantage
to act like a
moron unless, of course, that is what you do best. No collection
of
individuals has ever surpassed the heights (depths?) of moronic behavior
as the collective known as the STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH or SOD if you also
suffer from attention deficit disorder as well as retardation.
SOD,
fearing that the current crop of retarded rap-rockers may take on the
mantel created and reserved for SOD have revived the old act and issued
a
new manual, if you will, for retardation and have called it "BIGGER
THAN
THE DEVIL."
"BIGGER THAN THE DEVIL" boasts such thought candy as "The
Crackhead
Song," "The Song That Don't Go Fast," "King At The
King / Evil Is In" and
"Frankenstein and His Horse."
Please, don't think that this bunch doesn't know the line between stupid
and clever because they can obviously package it all up and get scads of
like minded idiots to sing along to every track on this as well as their
first "masterpiece" of fifteen years ago, "SPEAK ENGLISH
OR DIE."
The most intriguing aspect of SOD is that despite every contrivance
their cross of heavy metal and hardcore punk is by far the best attempt
at the meld. A listener could easily be forgiven if he began
to take
the whole thing seriously, that is, until the group announces the next
number and the joke is revived to its full gut busting splendor.
With
years of experience handling the controversy over lyrics and public
statements on various issues the group's only real enemy would seem to
be
indifference. In the ongoing battle to fight this indifference
frontman
Billy Milano phoned us up and relayed his thoughts on why SOD is still
both relevant and irreverent. By the end of our conversation it
was
obvious the joke was on me for Milano is no dummy at all, far from it.
Still, you and I should do all we can to forget that the man is actually
a well spoken and accomplished businessman so as to let the music
have
its full effect. In-excelsior-retardo!
Metal Rules!!
I've had the record for about an hour, which is just
long
enough to have listened to it about twice.
BILLY MILANO
OK.
Metal Rules!!
It picks up pretty much where you left off 14 years ago, to my ears.
BM
Without a doubt, it is certainly a continuation.
Metal Rules!!
Right, obviously the intention?
BM
We have no desire to be anything but SOD.
Metal Rules!!
Did anybody ever talk about that, did anyone outside of the
band say "Well here's your chance to cash in on the...."
BM
Well, you know, the funny thing is, we had been, once we had
initially started talking about doing this we actually got together and
jammed and there were a few people who knew what was best for us and it
had nothing to do with what we wanted to do. They knew what was
best for
us, and you know, we quickly shot it down and did our own thing.
You
know, I think that we basically had the intention of doing what we
wanted
to do from the beginning. We're very purist in nature, and I think
that
works best for us.
Metal Rules!!
I know that every time I talk to somebody about the band SOD,
everybody gives the same response, "Oh it's a novelty act"
Do you see it
as a novelty act?
BM
I'm indifferent to it, I'm in it. The fact of the matter is
this is
the only novelty act I know that could blow 99% of the bands that take
themselves so seriously away, you know, and that's the fact.
We're not
GWAR, we're like the most anti-novelty band going. We certainly
have an
air of lightheartedness to it and we definitely come across as
entertainers and not as politicians like most bands do. The fact
of the
matter is we don't sell ourselves short, we're still musicians and we're
still professional performers and we're not going to take a back seat to
anybody. To me GWAR is a novelty, GENITORTURERS, they're a novelty,
bands
that go up there and sell image, like these black metal bands and death
metal bands who go up there and sell swords and painted faces, that's a
novelty. You know, SOD, I don't see as a novelty if there is a novelty
it's just SOD to me. I mean if we were a novelty why wouldn't we
cash in
on it? Whatever. Fourteen years later, I think the whole
argument is
kinda moot.
Metal Rules!!
Well, now that you're back doing the SOD thing it seems to me that
you'd be having more fun than you've had in a while.
BM
Well I work for a living, how's working fun? Even though I'm in
the
music industry, I'd jump at the opportunity to be the class clown.
Metal Rules!!
Well how do you find time to do this actually, you're doing
management, right? So how do you find time to do SOD, or has that become
under your influence of management, as well?
BM
Well, without a doubt it's under my guise, and it's controlled
completely by the band, and I'm not going to let the issues conflict
with
each other. I am managing, however, and it's a big job, and I'm
part of
a studio owner, and that's another big job. We find the time
because I'm
the boss and it's good to be the boss. I make the time.
Certainly I'm
not going to take the whole day off to do interviews, and I'm not going
to put my whole year aside to tour, that's not what it's about for me.
I
don't think that's what it's about for SOD at this point. I think
we're
really just, the time is allowed because we have the ability to make the
time.
Metal Rules!!
Most of the material for this record came together from this
incarnation of the band?
BM
With the exception of two songs, right.
Metal Rules!!
Then how did that material come together; you guys got together the
four of you and just jammed it out? Or was it ideas you had from other
places.
BM
The fact is they never really physically got together and jammed as a
group. When they wrote the original record they wrote it through
the
mail because ANTHRAX was upstate for six or eight months and they wrote
it with Danny Lilker through the mail. And then we had one day
jamming,
we did "Bigger Than the Devil" the next day. Interestingly
enough on this
album ANTHRAX was touring, BRUTAL TRUTH was touring and, I think, when
they got home two or three days in a row they got together and jammed
just to see if they could write the music. They had never really
got
together and tried to write the music. In the last fourteen years they have never got together and jammed on new material for no reason.
Once
they did it they felt more than confident that they were able to take it
to another level, and I think that is where it all initiated, that's
where it all come about. Within six weeks we had the whole record
written, and we recorded it in three.
Metal Rules!!
Did you feel there was maybe too much time and too much thought put
into it, whereas the first was just snap, snap, done?
BM
Well no, because actually the first one took longer to write.
The
only reason we recorded it faster was that we had a budget of three
days,
that's all we had. That's all it was. That was then and this is
now.
Look at it this way, three days versus three weeks, we figure
fourteen
years we give or take a day there's seven in a week now for inflation!
But without a doubt, the record was still very spontaneous, you can hear
that it's not contrived.
Metal Rules!!
The thing that I like about it, like the first one and like all the
MOD records is that they're just fun and they're not preachy.
BM
Without a doubt, there's definitely morals to the story, but I'm not
there to be your conscience, I'm there to spill my guts and people who
use their music as a platform to preach a ridiculous ideal and
continually bombard you with it, that certainly is something that I
don't
want to have anything to do with.
Metal Rules!!
It's interesting that you mentioned all the death metal bands and
stuff.
BM
By the way, Lars from Rancid just joined me. He's producing the
new
AGNOSTIC FRONT.
Metal Rules!!
Is AGNOSTIC all the original guys?
BM
The original line-up, they're in the studio right now
Metal Rules!!
I saw you the last time you were in Detroit with SOD, and you
didn't
have a full set, you had to stretch out some songs and add some covers,
obviously now you have more than twenty-two minutes of material you
can
do a full SOD set. Is that the plan?
BM
Certainly, we're going to be doing things that are just spontaneous
and fun. SOD has always been a band that's like more of a spoken
presentation than a musical presentation. I think the music just
exemplifies our presentation of our moronic episodes!
We've signed to the biggest death metal label
in the whole world and we make fun of death metal. The best part was we
don't have to look beyond their own (Nuclear Blast) catalogue to make fun of people, we
can just do it within our own company, and that's a beautiful thing! Saves a trip to the store. (laughs)
Metal Rules!!
So you could take the baby bands out on tour and have somebody to
abuse...
BM
Well I don't know about tour wise, but this two week tour that
I'm
doing in Europe, we're taking two of their bands. One is a band called
MESHUGGAH which is an insane progressive metal band and they're
definitely not death metal and the other band is STAHLHAMMER which is
like JUDAS PRIEST and it's the craziest shit you ever heard.
Metal Rules!!
MESHUGGAH I know, STAHLHAMMER I don't.
BM
STAHLHAMMER is a big German band; we're doing it for political
reasons, honestly. I don't' consider myself to be a big STAHLHAMMER
fan,
I'm sorry. You know we took a week to figure out how to spell
STAHLHAMMER.
Metal Rules!!
So if it was RAMMSTEIN you guys would have took them on?
BM
I actually toured with, we did a co headlining show with RAMMSTEIN in
Europe. It was great.
Metal Rules!!
Did you get to come out and sodomize anybody?
BM
We stayed back stage because those guys are fucked up, they're so
fucking cheesy. I was in a hotel with them screaming in
their face and
I was yelling their name every five minutes drunk and they wouldn't say
anything.
Metal Rules!!
Weird man, weird. The pyro aspect is cool, if you like shit burning.
BM
I'm indifferent I know their whole gig and I know they're really
popular and good for them.
Metal Rules!!
I hear you. Well I want to ask you about the STEP KINGS, I know you
manage them.
BM
Actually I'm not working with them any more, I had to get rid of some
of the people I was working with because I'm just so busy now with what
I
do especially now I'm part owner of a studio and I'm running the studio
with these people, and now I'm doing SOD, it's getting ridiculous.
Metal Rules!!
Have you got a staff of assistants?
BM
I have one person working with me, and one's enough, you know?
Metal Rules!!
You only gotta sign one check, or do you pay them with cash?
BM
Actually I pay them with tattoo work!
Metal Rules!!
So what else do people need to know about SOD, that's any different
from the first time they came around? Being as its probably two
generations later?
BM
Well the whole thing is, you don't need to know nothing, just
that
life's tough and we're tougher. That's the way it is. Life's a
joke and
enjoy life, that's what SOD is about. SOD is about taking a piss
on
everything and people who don't get the joke and get offended by it
deserve to be (pissed on).
Metal Rules!!
Speaking of offended, why did you put "Aren't You Hungry"
on this
record after having it on the first MOD record?
BM
Actually no it wasn't, "Aren't You Hungry" on the first MOD
record was
a different version of the song. This is the original version.
Half I
used, half ANTHRAX used for "Imitation of Life" and what I
personally
chose to put it on a record was for one reason only. It was a link to
the
80's and, number 2, it was the first song we wrote after
"Speak English
Or Die" and at that point we knew more about each other as people
and it
represented us as people, meaning our particular attributes when it
comes
to the composite of the band. I thought that if we put it on this
record,
if we recorded it first and put it up against the new material it would
be a really good barometer to where we stand musically from the 80's to
the 90's and to the year 2000 and it matches up pretty well. It's
a good
link to the past. It's going to end an era for us as far as the
wishes
of a younger band aspiring to do a second record which we never did and
its a really good indicator of how our music fits into the 90's, as
opposed to the music we were writing in the 80's. I think it,
almost,
fits into the record seamlessly.
Metal Rules!!
Actually a lot of bands will talk about how they've grown and shit
like that, but it seems like you kinda had it right the first time so
why
fuck with it much?
BM
Exactly, all we wanted to do was continue where we started so this
record is a lot smarter mentally. I know Scott and I are both well
read
people, we're educated, we're intelligent we're not afraid of debate or
conflict. We're fourteen years wiser, our experience in life
reflects
in what we do, though without a doubt it still has the same moron factor
on the new record as it did on the first record. That's something we
considered, should we, could we come out and be what everyone thinks we
are, this huge heavy monster of a band, come out and play things like
MACHINEHEAD or PANTERA and be totally abusive? Or should we just say
fuck
everybody and just do what we do? That is the conclusion we came
to. We
wanted to make a record for the four guys that are in the band, and
anyone else we didn't care about, and that's the truth.
Metal Rules!!
So there's no one else left to impress?
BM
I don't have to impress anybody, all I have to do is be happy and that's all I care about.
Metal Rules!!
Anything we missed?
BM
You can put the address for my studio website. It's www.bigbluemeenie.com.
Metal Rules!!
One last question, with the advent of all this rap metal
shit
that's
going around, to me, I just draw the line straight back to what Anthrax
did....
BM
Yeah, they are to blame!
Metal Rules!!
So they're to blame, do they take responsibility for that?
BM
I don't know, didn't Aerosmith do it?
Metal Rules!!
Oh with Run DMC?
BM
I think so
Metal Rules!!
Well there it is! Good luck with this record and we will
see you
when you roll through town with the rest of SOD.
