Chuck
Schuldiner
The pain of a genius
by Patricia Renda
A few months ago, we received a
memo from Nuclear Blast saying that, for everybody’s amazement, Chuck
Schuldiner, the leader of the world’s most important death metal band,
was about to begin a series of treatments against a brain tumor,
discovered right after the end of the recordings of Control Denied’s CD
- his other band apart from Death. During August, after wishing his
best and his full recover, we were lucky to be one of the twenty magazines
around the world to receive the Control Denied CD, entitled “The
Fragile Art of Existence”, enclosed with a proposal to interview
Chuck himself. We surely couldn’t let this opportunity to talk to him
slip through our fingers. After all, we wanted to know how things are and
wish him the best of luck personally. Here’s what happened during this
cheerful interview.
METAL RULES!!
How are things?
Chuck
Everything’s all right now, considering what I’ve been going
through. I’ve had 6 weeks of treatment with radiotherapy in New York and
now I’m going back to Florida, where I’m staying for a month or so,
which is great. The doctors are satisfied up to now, I’m putting some
weight on and I should go through another check up to see if the radiation
is working and how. I’m in good spirits, I’m feeling fine and just
waiting for the future, looking forward to the CD’s release.
METAL RULES!!
It’s good to hear that because everybody here is worried about
you...
Chuck
Me too (laughs). All the support I’m getting from fans and mags have
been great. It’s been really amazing and it helps me a lot, ‘cause
this is definitely hard to go through.
METAL RULES!!
Everybody here was shocked when we received the news through the
Record memo. We always tend to think that this kind of thing never happens
to us or to the people we love. How did you feel at first and how are you
feeling now?
Chuck
You’re right, we never think these things can happen. I was shocked
because I found this out really close to my birthday, and it sucks. It’s
terrible, I thought I had hurt a muscle in my neck, not a brain tumor. I
could never have imagined that. I went to several doctors and when I
finally knew the truth, it was like a nightmare. But that’s something we
have to deal with immediately, go ahead, try not to be depressed, know
that we have a full life ahead and it’s very important. You start
staring at your life in a complete different way, you have to concentrate
on yourself and not depend only on the doctors to see any improvement. I
try not to think too much about it, ‘cause, as I said, I have to wait
and see the results of the radiotherapy. The doctors have been very
positive and it comforts me. All I can do is rest, do what I have to do
and wait for the future. We have this CD coming, I’ve already started to
write new songs for the next album, you know, I’m doing my best to lead
a normal life. It’s hard, but it’s something I just have to do.
METAL RULES!!
Has your way of facing the world and life changed somehow?
Chuck
You bet. We put a different perspective on things, we start seeing things
from a different point of view. Many times we just live our lives, let it
go through us very quickly and when for some reason, such a thing happens
and throws it all away, things get different. People get closer, in a
strange way, and we end up seeing other people’s sides. Many people came
to talk to me, some of them I hadn’t spoken for years, friends I thought
I had lost sight of, people I don’t even know wrote me giving support.
These things have been really amazing, some of the letters that arrived
really touched me. If there’s anything good in this whole situation is
this approach, people getting closer, making me think better, enjoy life
better. As I said, we are so used to life that, somehow, we just sit and
wait things to happen. We just live our lives, we don’t enjoy it. When
something like that happens, you start thinking about everything: the
things you say, your future...
METAL RULES!!
How’s the Record Company coping with it?
Chuck
Since the day we signed the contract Nuclear Blast has been fantastic,
really unbelievable. They have given me a lot of support, they have been
very understanding, in short, they are all I could expect from a record
company. I thought this way before and now even more, because of all these
things that are happening to me. I called them, said I couldn’t
guarantee a tour right now and they understood perfectly.
|
“I don’t like to make predictable
albums.”
Chuck Schuldiner |
METAL RULES!!
Meanwhile, what’s happening with the bands?
Chuck
Control Denied is the main thing on my career now. Death is a separate
thing, it’s on hold for some time. Control Denied ‘s CD is coming in
the end of September and I’m very proud of it. We all are, including the
company. The CD will be released and we’ll start giving interviews. We
can’t go on tour right now and the band knows that. Like I said, if we
don’t go on tour for this CD I hope to do one for the two CDs, as I’m
writing songs for the next.
METAL RULES!!
So you’ve already started writing! But are these songs for Control
Denied or Death?
Chuck
Control Denied.
METAL RULES!!
I’ve already listened to it’s album. I’d like to know the
differences between the songs and lyrics of this album and the Death
albums.
Chuck
Musically speaking, the main difference were the vocals, as the song
itself is an extension of what I was doing with Death. The guitars, drum
and bass are very similar to Death, but the vocals are very different.
Actually, these vocals are all I ever wanted to do in Death but couldn’t.
I’ve had this dream of recording like that for years, and it seems like
a dream come true. Tim is an amazing singer and this is the main
difference. I think people will be surprised at the violence and strength
of the album. Many people are expecting something like Iron Maiden, but,
despite being one of my favorite bands, I didn’t want to make an iron
Maiden-like album. I wanted to make an unpredictable album, just like I
did in Death, I guess. I don’t like to make predictable albums.
|
“Iron Maiden is one of my favorite bands”
Chuck Schuldiner |
METAL RULES!!
We’ve heard that Nevermore’s lead singer, Warrel Dane, would sing
in this album. What happened?
Chuck
In 1996, I met Warrel and we talked about working together, but when we
started he was very busy with Nevermore and I wanted to make Control
Denied a full-time band. I thought this would be very difficult to happen
while Warrel was dedicated full-time to his band. I didn’t want Control
Denied to be only a project, I wanted it to be a band, so I ended up
choosing Tim as the lead singer. Then Steve came, and I had already worked
with him some time ago, and that made Control a real thing. Having Tim as
an official member of the band made things easier, it put us closer, and
we didn’t have to have a singer from another part of the US, who would
come once in a while. It would be hard for Warrel to do all these things
at the same time, and in the way we wanted.
METAL RULES!!
The title of this album, “The Fragile Art of Existence”,
was chosen for a long time?
Chuck
Yes. It was chosen before I knew I was sick. In fact, I’ve had it in
mind since 1995, which is really weird, kind of treacherous, because now
it seems very real.
METAL RULES!!
You said you want to go on tour for this album but, if it’s not
possible, you’ll go on tour for the 2 albums...
Chuck
Right. There’s the right moment to go on tour and if it becomes too late
for “The Fragile...” I’ll have had enough material for
the next CD, go on studio, record it and tour for the 2 albums. All these
things that are happening really suck, but people will be able to have the
CD and listen to it, and as soon as possible we’ll record another album
and we could go on tour for the 2 albums, what actually would be great.
METAL RULES!!
You’re considered the father of death metal. Do you consider
yourself so important to death metal as Mustaine and Hetfield are for the
thrash metal?
Chuck
I don’t think I should take the credits for this death metal stuff. I’m
just a guy from a band, and I think Death is a metal band. If you consider
the name and the singing style, yeah, we are into it. It’s very good to
receive the laurels of it, no matter what they are about, but all I hope
is to have done something good for metal. I’m a heavy metal fan and if I
could do something to help, as a fan, that would be good. I hope that
these new things cause great impact and go further, especially here in
America. We really need some help around here! I hope this CD helps metal
in America, because it’s huge in Europe and we are doing badly here, I
mean, the metal scene. We’ve done a great tour with HammerFall and we
shocked people. It was a real metal tour, no bullshit, no fake metal or
hip hop/metal. It was just two real metal bands and it was really good, so
I think there’s still hope.
METAL RULES!!
Do you have any message for the Brazilian fans?
Chuck
I just wanted to thank everybody for the support I’m getting due to my
sickness and for my music. I hope everybody likes the new album, coming in
September.
METAL RULES!!
How can people get in touch with you?
Chuck
They can write letters or send e-mails to Nuclear Blast, and they’ll
hand it to me.
METAL RULES!!
Well, we from wish you the best, that everything works out fine for
you and we hope that you can come to Brazil next year for a tour!
Chuck
Thank you very much, and I’d love to play in Brazil.
©1999 Metal Rules!!