I know a law firm that will represent you anyway, very apropos anyway.
That is called the murder. We have two of the guys from Purging Sin
here with Jenny and I this morning on Matt Connorton Unleashed on Saturday, July
twentieth, twenty twenty four. Welcome guys, Hello, thanks for having us.
Man, hey, please introduce ourselves and now tell us who you are
and what you do in the band. Hi, this is Anthony Nacastro.
I am the lead singer and with them lead guitary player of the band.
I am Brian Barkstill. I am the backing vocals and bass player. And
who are we missing? So we are missing our new drummer, Ed Battles,
and our other guitar player, Sean Schaeffer, is not with us today.
Okay, okay, now neither of them have been murdered. I hope.
Oh no, okay, just making sure why you look think you're about
to say something about it, but I don't know. Your hand is on
the controller. Oh he's getting ready to just shut me down again. You
see this law firm, Yes, yes, but that's a yeah. But
as uh as evidenced in one of our our ads. Yeah, just call
one of those guys with the really catchy jingles or something. Yeah, that's
right, that's right now. Uh, Brian, were you were you here
with us? I remember, Anthony you were here? Were you here also,
Brian? Yes, I was here last time? Ye? Okay?
And is the lineup the same? I know it's been a few years,
so it's actually changed since the last time we're here, because I think the
last time we were on the show, we had our drummer, Zach King
with us. Okay, So yeah, the lineups changed a little bit since
the last time we were here. Okay, Okay. Melanie, Uh,
Liberty in the chat room says, I would love to know the inspiration for
this one. I think we're all curious. So that actually came as a
blend of multiple story movies and one being the h the assassination from John Lennon
from Mark David Chapman, and then the assassination attempt from Reagan and the things
the two the one thing that they both had in common were both assailants were
infatuated by the book Catcher in the Rye. So I took all three and
blended that into one song. So the first verse is all about John Lennon's
murder. The second verses about the assassination attempt, and it's an infatuation with
Jordie Foster, you know, you know, trying to prove our love to
you know, he was trying to prove his love to Jordie Foster. And
then the bridge section was about you know, the you know, the catcher
in the Rye, you know, and it may actually I referenced in the
bridge itself in the Rye. And then at the end, uh is their
institutionalized and they have the thoughts they got you know, they wanted fame,
is they wanted recognition, but if they got let out, who knows what
they'd be capable of again. So with that repent, I'd kill again.
And and it's a little it's a little bittersweet considering the fact in recent years
Reagan's attapted a sense assassin has actually been released from like what and like now
he's playing and now he's trying to start a record label, like playing acoustic
guitar. So it's just like, okay, I know, right, uh,
well yeah it's I I was gonna say, I remember a couple of
years ago, two or three years ago. I was listening to Howard Stern
one morning and they were talking about that and and playing some because uh yeah,
John Hinckley Junior, he's like, he's playing shows. He's got a
it was like a live performance that he did, him and an acoustic guitar,
and they played some of it, and uh and it wasn't very good,
uh for one thing. But uh, but it's it's weird. It's
such a weird world that we live in. And you know, here's John
Hinckley Junior, who attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan playing a show somewhere, and
uh, I I think he kind of got shut down. I think his
career, his music career has already been kind of shut down because obviously he's
a bit of a controversial figure. Having an attempted to assassins an understatement.
But yeah, and uh, you know, I don't know, like,
you know, I don't know how anyone in the music industry would want to,
you know, attach themselves to him. Yeah, I mean, I
mean, considering they've had some colorful, uh characters in the music industry before.
I mean, even the guitarist from the former guitarist of Cannibal corpse.
He was arrested for having human remains in his house, and it was just
like, so he's no longer with cannibal Corpse. Yeah yeah again, And
I guess anything's possible. I don't know how else to say something. I
mean, people complain about cancel culture, but there do have to be sublimits
in terms of what we'll tolerate, right right, Yeah, I think I
think I would draw the line at uh the music of a would be assassin.
Yeah sounds about right, yeah, yeah, but yeah, so yeah,
I wondered what the uh so that's what what the songs about it is?
And Anthony, you wrote the lyrics? Is is everything that you write
kind of dark like that or what? What? I don't think I have
much of a happy song, A little bit more doc than O those.
And it was fun when I actually wrote the I think the chorus first in
that song, I was actually the music, no, just trying out guitars
and I was just humming along and I made the chorus FIfF, and I'm
like, oh, I like that. So I've took a little video snapshot
of me and I'm just humming no no no no no no no no no
no no no did the motive for you, you know, so I gotta
so this this brings me to the story that I was I was gonna mention
now before we came in. So when we he originally pitched the song to
our original lineup, when our original guitar player, Matt Harris, god Rest
his soul was still alive, We're just like looking at each other, like,
wow, I do not like this song. But but then again,
we were like in between drummers at the time, and just like the song
just sounds just so disorganized so anything. But like once we actually got a
drummer back, like the song just like really came together. And then of
course it becomes the first single that we released off of our second album,
Vindicated. Yeah, and it became a much bigger hit than I ever thought
was ever possible. I know, Hey, I've been wrong before. And
it was actually kind of funny because like we after we had recorded it as
a single, before we had it completely mastered, we put out a demo
on our YouTube channel and some other some other stations in the area actually caught
wind of it like before, and they thought it was like us releasing a
new single. So we're like looking at each other like, oh no,
they're so they're playing the unmastered track on the radio, and it's just like,
wow, we uh probably should have thought that went through, But after
we had it put on the album, it became one of our more popular
songs over the past few years. So yeah, that's great. And to
have an organic catch on like that, you know, like radio stations playing
the unmastered version, I mean that's pretty cool. Actually, yeaeah it was.
It kind of it took us by surprise, honestly, Yeah, big,
big time surprise. Yeah, lets look at the album mastered now.
Yeah. Yeah, so this is why. It's just like if we if
we have anything new coming out, it's just like we'll release like snippets and
teasers and stuff like that. But yeah, if somebody's trying to get on
hold of our music, and it's like they're going to just immediately grab it
and run with it. So yeah, yeah, I was really by the
way you mentioned Matt Harris. I was really sad about that. It's been
a few years now, four years September. Yeah, he had never he
had never been on this show, but I knew Matt just from the sea.
Yeah, and I forget what band he was in when I first met
him. Blackout Frenzy was one of his bands. Yep, it might have
been. Might have been the Blackout Frenzy. I remember it was one of
his last ones, But I can't remember what the because I remember book yeah,
because I remember when I used to promote hid Unreal was the other one
that he was with? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, but I think
it was Blackout Frenzy he was with when I used to when I used to
book them. M m. And uh what one of the genuinely nicest people
I've ever without a doubt, you know, it's so and I got to
tell you, like, it just shows how much of an impact he had
on the local scene. Because as soon as the news resonated that he had
passed away, I was actually very amazed. Another show did a segment on
him, actually read his obituary on the air, said where his his wake
and funeral was going to be. And we just see, like so many
of the other local bands that he's either been with or he's friends with,
just that the crowd that he drew to his wake was amazing. It just
it really showed how much of an impact he had on this community and it
was just it was it was nice to see so many people come out and
pay their respects for him. It really was. We were very humbled and
you know, very floored honestly about the amount of support that you know,
came out and drove. So yeah, you knew a lot of people,
not just you know, within the music industry, but you know his work
work industry too. Yep. And he was just a very generally good hearted
person. Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah, yeah, it was. It
was tragic to you know, first to watch it from day one when he
got the diagnosis to the very and it was cancer, right, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, it started off as colon cancer but then just
mess aside to different organs and yeah, but it was one of those things
where he caught it extremely late and like he had all the signs, but
he never got checked for it. Oh okay, that was really kind of
what did him in Get checked everyone, if you're listening, get checked.
Yeah. And this is why the same thing, like every time I talk
to like somebody in the medical industry, this is why they're reducing the age
of like a first colonoscopy down to to forty five because now there are more
and more signs of like colon cancer that are popping up much earlier on and
they it's one of the most preventable that you can get, Like if you
catch it quick, it can be it can be cured. And he was
he was young, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, unbelievable. How
long was he in purging sin? Five years? Five years? Yeah?
Okay, okay, yeah, No, I was very I was very sad
to I can't believe it's been four years already that he's been gone. Wow.
Yeah, but uh, I mean, did you guys, what was
that like for you guys in terms of, you know, very often people
deal with grief creatively. Did did did Did any music come out of that?
There were two songs that came out of it, and one will be
played later on the show is a song called Hell and the Horizon. Oh
my god, what a great track. So so that was the last song
that he has ever recorded with us. Oh so, I had no idea.
Yeah. So so the second guitar solo in that song during after the
clean Bridge breakdown that we have, that's him playing guitar. But we also
wrote a song and put it on our second album, Vindicated, which is
called Shell of bones, So the riff was actually composed by him, but
he had not played on this track. So that was a song that we
wrote in as an homage film. Yes, oh I had no idea.
Wow. Yeah, it's a great, great song, great song. Yeah,
I look forward to sharing that with everybody. Now, So are you
guys, what have you been doing? Have you been playing a lot of
shows or have you been We've been very busy and it's I mean so obviously
like a lot of stuff has been kind of just it's been slowing down but
also picking up and summer now for us has actually gotten very busy. We
actually we actually just came off of a show at Tupelo Music Hall. We
opened for the the all female eighties metal band Vixen open for Vie. That's
cool. So we just got that one, and then of course the big
one that we have next Thursdays, we're returning to the Bank of New Hampshire
Pavilion to play on the hazy little stage before God Smack, Nothing More and
Flat Black. Okay, so that's that's really the big one. But Vixen
did they play Obviously they played Edge of a Broken Heart. That was the
closer, closer yet did they play how Much Love? We were watching the
most unfortunately. And it's funny because like the only original member of Vixen is
is Rocky Patrucci, the drummer. But and they just debuted their their new
lead singer, I can't remember what her name was, but very nice group
of girls and they put out a new album just with him last year.
I think yes. And funny thing is is, uh, they actually had
a lead singer, Lorraine Lewis, and they recorded that album with her.
I think there's this single was called Red. But it's it's funny because like
I had a situation with my Uh so, my aunt actually met Lorraine Lewis
a few months ago. She's actually recorded my aunt has recorded backing tracks on
a Lorraine Lewis track. So I was thinking to myself, I'm like,
so my aunt is talking up uh Lorraine Lewis about us, And I was
thinking, man, this would come full circle if like we got the show
we're opening for Vixen, but then Lorraine Lewis leaves Vixen months before we're supposed
to open for this, So it was like it was this close to becoming
full circle. Like yeah, the fact that like they were talking us up
and then the next thing, you know, we're playing with Vixen. So
that's pretty wild. Yeah, I think too, like her leaving it was
it was there's some kind of issue, right, I think legally or something
like. If I'm not mistaken, it was not. I think it was
like a creative thing. But I really can't remember what the reason was.
I saw something about it, but there was there was some sort of a
disagreement, as so often happens, Yeah, in the music industry. Yeah,
so the drummers, she's the only original member, correct, Yeah,
and they were all nice people. We got to hang out after the show
with them, they all out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we
have a couple of pictures on our Instagram of us, I mean, both
me and Anthony with our respective players. So I'm with the bass player,
he's with the lead singer. So it was it was a night. It
was a good night. We had we had fun. Now what is so
in a scenario like that though, So how do you, I mean,
what is your mindset? Because you have to know going into that, this
is you guys don't sound like Vixen, and and you know, and and
the typical I don't want to say typical, but you know, I mean
Vixen. If for anyone who doesn't know, for youngins who might be listening,
you know, they were you could call them hair metal. Some people
don't like that term, but yeah, you know from the eighties. You
know, they had a couple of big hits and but very much that sound,
and you guys are very much not that sound. So how do you
like going into that? Do you worry about that? Do you? It
depends on who we're playing with. I mean, I was amazed that we
actually got the show with Vixen. Obviously there's other like bands from the eighties
that are a little bit more attuned to our music. I mean Metal Church.
When we played with them last year, they were definitely a lot closer
to our sound. But I think it's also a matter of like, because
our sound is so unique, it's kind of hard for us to pair with
other similar types of artists. But as I said, they've they've been booking
some really great shows at Tupelo, And as soon as I caught win that
Vixen was coming, I was just like, you know what I'm gonna I
was gonna take a gamble on it. See if they needed it. I
was amazed they write they reached out and they said yes, and we just
hopped on it as quickly as we could. And then so what what happens
like is the crowd is there kind of a process of winning them over?
Is there sometimes is in these situations. I mean it didn't like they were
loving it from the first, you know, no, there were people there
was the first table in front of us, they like all head bang and
good now, I mean we one thing we started doing more more is that
how gets closer to us close enough you can start like you can start playing
like candema guitar, I pick admids stroke and go grab another one. Yeah,
And it's stuff like that. The interaction so you're not like, you
know, ten twenty feet away from them, you can you know get you
know, you know, there's no mosh pit in front of you. There's
still a lot of engagement and interaction right as well. And that the crowd
reaction was phenomenal. Who play like clean parts of a song they had the
cell phones up. Was when I was doing the hey hey hey is they
would chance on it back. Yeah. So I mean that that's really it's
still always comes like as a shock to me every time I do something on
you know, vocal wise, and they respond back to me, I'm like,
wow, I'm like but it command and at the same time, with
us being like an opening act for a lot of these guys, this our
job is to just get the crowd fired up, getting them ready, and
like, if we have the crowd excited and enjoying our music at the same
time, I know we've done our job and we're very lively on stage.
We're not statues by any stretches. No, right, right. Oh,
by the way, I missed comment or do you guys know Bruce from Legion
of Solace. I do not know. He's in Massachusetts, but does a
ton of a ton of work with musicians from all over New England and promotional
wise, and we had him on the show. A great guy and someone
you should definitely meet. But he he mentioned this, you know, we
were talking earlier about the murder song. He said, don't forget Manson wrote
a guns N' Roses song, which one was that I can't remember. Thought
he worked with the Beach Beach Boys. Manson, oh less Charles Manson,
Yeah, I thought he's with the Beach Boys. The Monkeys. I have
to look that up. I appreciate it. He worked with one of those
bands in the sixties. Yeah, I know he was inspired by Helter Skelter
by the Beatles, I know that. Yeah. I mean it's funny,
much much like any modern horror movie, like the best inspiration comes from the
worst of society. That was a quote I remember watching from a celebrity graveyard
channel that I follow, and yeah, they actually when I was watching that
same channel, I remember they highlighted the grave of head ed Gean, which
was the inspiration of like Sounds of the Lambs, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and
was actually the premises for Slayers Deadskin Mask. Oh okay, so because he
was the plainfield butcher, the guy who would tear off people skin and use
it for clothing or lampshades or furniture stuff like that. So that that's what
I mean. It's just like some of the most horrific things like in songs
and media come from like reality. So it's it's strange, but it really
is. Now, what was opening for you guys? Opened for Metal Church.
Yes, that was fun, awesome, much fun. So those guys,
I actually I met those guys back in twenty nineteen on board the inaugural
Megadeth Crews that I happened to just win a free cabin to. And it's
funny because uh stet Holland, who is formerly of the band Wasp, he's
now playing drums for Medal Church. He's from Onset, Massachusetts, so he's
a fellow mass native like me. So we started talking over over the past
few years. Really nice guy, and we've just stayed in context over the
years. And I heard they were coming to town and I was just like,
can we play with you guys? And we worked it out, we
got a hold of it. And then of course the new lead singer,
Mark Lopes, who was in Ross the Boss from Man of War, he
actually took over for Mike how after he passed away in twenty twenty one.
And it's funny because I talked to Mark all the time. He's once again
a fellow Massachusetts native. He actually went to high school with a friend of
my dad's, so and then we finally like actually met each other playing the
show together. And it's just like half the half the band is like based
out of Seattle, and half the band is based out of Boston. It's
just like it was such such a cool mix. But those guys they're just
they're they're hot tickets. They are they're great guys all around. That crowd
must have been really into what you oh oh yeah, yeah. That was
probably one of our more lively air crowds we've had, even though they had
they had the dining room table thing all across the stage and like, I
that was the thing We've heard from all the fans was like, oh,
it should have been standing room. We should have had much pisses. It
was quite funny. Bruce just put this in the chat room. Uh So.
The song Charles Manson wrote that Guns N' Roses recorded was called look at
Your Game. Oh, look at your Game Girl. It was on the
album The Spaghetti Incident. Oh okay, okay, And those of us who
are old enough may remember the album being pulled from the shelves as a fourteen
track album and being re released as a thirteen track album. This is why
social back Oh, this is why social backlash against the single. I don't
remember that. Thank you Bruce for sharing that. I actually don't remember that,
but I mean I do remember there being some sort of controversy around the
spaghetti incident, but I didn't remember that it was that. That's interesting.
That was a cover album, right begin Yeah, yeah, yeah, very
interesting. But certainly not the first time that there's been controversy around a Guns
n' Roses song and it and a song being pulled because I remember at one
point, what was uh one in a million on song? One in a
million? No, it was it was before that there might be no appetite
definitely wasn't on that. I think it's on lives and our lives might be,
but you use your el I'm sorry. One in a million. I
remember, uh, they they reissued that at one point because there's a couple
of words in there that you really can't say. But yeah, so not
the not the first time, but also Guns n' Roses one of those bands
that you know, made any kind of controversy kind of work for them.
Certainly the whole no no probility is bad publicity, right right, which does
have its limits. I mean it's not literally true, but but it is
true in a lot of I mean, even look at the album that was
released by Slayer back in twenty twenty one. It just like it coincided just
terribly. But perfectly with like the days and the events of it. But
it's just like, I mean, they advertise themselves as like an as like
an anti religion band anyway. But that really caused the controversy because it happened
to be released on nine to eleven was the album God Hates Us All.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yep, So obviously that really kind of
like that that's gonna leave some negative backlash, but yet funny enough, it's
like one of the most popular albums they've ever released. Yeah. Yeah,
well that was always a little the dynamics in that band too, a little
bit complicated creatively because Tom Area is actually a devout Catholic, yes, and
carry King is the one who's actually the Satanist Yeah, and very much an
atheist carry King, yeah, very much. Yeah. And I remember reading
an interview once. I was always kind of fascinated by this where you know,
somebody asked Tom Area about that, you know, and you know,
you got to sing these lyrics, but but you're a Christian and you know
he said something like, you know, and you know, I I agreed
with this point of view. It made sense to me. He just said,
well, look, I mean they're they're songs. You know, I'm
not necessarily these aren't necessarily my thoughts and ideas. You know, when you're
singing a song, you're kind of playing a character in a sense, right,
You're you know, like the murder song. You know you're not you're
not advocating for murder. You're putting yourself in the in the mind of the
headspace. And this is there's a difference between like and much like, much
like acting, there's a difference between what an actor plays and how the actor
actually acts in reality. Now you look at like any of like the black
metal bands you see out there, like Dark Funeral, they practice what they
preach, so they are they are the true Satanists, like the blood drinking
whatever. So is that true? Really? Yeah? Like that's what That's
what I mean. Same thing with what was the other one Behemoth, the
lead singer Nergal, same thing. He's a he's a div Satanist. And
there's a difference between actionsus advocated, right Yeah, yeah, of course.
But even some of these guys who call themselves Satanists, I mean there's I
mean, because Satanism isn't literally I don't think for most people, they don't
actually worship satan it's just you know, like there's leave and yeah Satanism,
So basically there is a difference between it, like the actual Satanism actually believes
in human sacrifice, drinking blood, all that kind of stuff, whereas like
the the Lavaine Satanisms and the Temple of Satan, they are basically just glorified
atheists using Satan as their kind of centerpiece of focus because it's supposed to be
about the worship of the self as opposed to like, you know, actual
practicing rituals that are combined within the faith. Yeah. Yeah, we had
Jenny probably remembers this. We had a running joke. This was a number
of years ago, but we had a running joke on the show, and
we don't we don't really talk about politics anymore on this iteration of the program.
But there was Brandon Finney who was a New Hampshire State rep. There
was some controversy around him because he had come out as a Satanist, and
he's a Republican, so he is expected to be a Christian, but he
had come out as a Satanist and a lot of people were mad at him,
and apparently he's not even really a Satanist. He was just kind of
trolling. But so we had a running joke on the show though for a
long time that we wanted to have him on the show to discuss this with
him and explore the subject. But he had some very specific demands and that
exactly he wouldn't come on unless exactly thirteen days before his appearance on the show,
we sacrificed a goat in the studio and then he demanded that we This
was when we were in our old studio on Elm Street on the third floor.
We had to then after sacrificing the goat, push the goat out the
window and onto Elm Street and then retrieve some of the blood at that point
and so forth. So he had this whole thing he wanted us to do,
or he used to come on the show. To this day, I
don't know, And I'm Facebook friends with him and we've talked and he's been
on the show, but I don't know if he to this day, if
he has any idea that that was a running joke on the program that is
really funny. I don't know if he even knows, and I've never asked
him if he knows, because in my twisted mind, him not knowing makes
it even funnier. Yes, it's just just to me. But anyway,
Yeah, we had a we had a running joke about that further went on
for a couple of years. You know, whenever his name would come up,
I guess I need to go, you know, opened up. I
mean, I moonlight as a butcher. Yes, well, I I just
uh, you know, I used to say too, I I because I
said, I remember saying on the air that I told Brandon. I said,
look, dude, we're not zoned for that, and you know that.
Yeah, we can't risk uh staining the carpets and things, getting on
equipment and whatnot. So he just I mean that's valuable. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, I mean, and there's a fine line for this kind of
stuff. It's just like, I mean, if it's if it's a ritualistic,
as long as it's not really harming anybody, then I don't it is
what it is. But like when you start causing like bodily harm and ending
life, it's just okay, you're drawing a very very quick line right there.
And that's really where like a lot of these these these people who practice
these rituals, it's just like Okay, human sacrifice, You're you're basically taking
the life of another It's that's well, of course, yeah, so or
harming animals or harming any any other thing I object to, of course,
but it's it's like, that's basically just like crossing the line and jumping off
a cliff. Oh of course, yeah, of course. How did we
get onto that? I don't even remember? Oh oh yeah, because we
were talking about themes of the song. Yeah. Yeah. But is Vixen
the most unusual show you guys have done as far as a match with other
bands or if you if you don't any any others that are really I mean,
Kicks was boy here. I think you guys opened for Kid. Yeah,
that was another one we did last year or two. Yeah, that
one I think was a little bit more of a an odtern match as far
as that goes, because I mean they are definitely a lot more glam metal
than than Vixen is. I mean, Vixen's a little bit more edgier than
Kicks is. But yeah, because it was funny, like Anthony had mentioned,
because this is the first time we ever played at the Vault in New
Bedford, and they're they're very famous for bringing in a lot of like the
eighties uh metal bands and stuff. And I was just like, because I
knew the Vault. I've been to multiple shows at the Vault. It's a
great venue. And uh, he mentioned who we were playing with, and
I'm actually the one who was like super influenced by the the glam metal scene
back in college and I loved Kicks when I was in college. So as
soon as he said that we were opening for Kicks, I just like immediately
start freaking out when I miss, like, Hey, Brian, we go
off with a show for this band called to do it, And I'm just
like, I didn't know anything. I really didn't know much about Kicks,
and I didn't know if it was a fan of Kicks. So he came
off like as like a matter of fact, I do like nonchalant, like
we offered to show for Kicks, want to do it? Yeah, that
one really got me excited. But but the thing is, it's just like,
and this is where I kind of wish like the headliners could be a
little bit more respectful to the local openers because we arrived on the scene,
like right at the sound check, but they just took right off and so
we we were on scene, we were interacting with everybody saying hey, And
the only time we ever got to interact with them was like a couple of
fans stuck around after the show. I went inside because I wanted to say
thank you for having us, and I was able to talk to Brian ForSight,
the guitar player, just and say thank you, and it was just
like who's this guy? So it was but I don't know, I mean
with Metal Church, they hung out with us. We were very so our
merchan tables side by side, so we were interacting. I share it was
open on Cooks. Yeah, he was having some hip troubles. I got
gom chair and stuff. He's at hip surgery. Yeah, because originally they
were supposed to play once again at at Tupelo this year, but because he
had to have that emergency surgery, they had to cancel all their dates this
year. Yeah. But yeah, so and we we've interacted with them,
We talked with them backstage, they hung with us. They were actually like
willing to just like sit and talk with us the whole time. So they
were they were what we we hope, like anybody we play with would be
just down to earth and just social, you know, I mean, you're
playing with bands that are trying to be in the shoes of the people that
are putting these shows together. So and this is what we love, is
like we love to learn about the industry. We want to learn how to
be better. And what a better way to learn from somebody than the people
who are actually in the industry. It's yeah, exactly exactly. I'm trying
to remember Kicks, like they had ad a few hits. That's the big
one, that was the big one, big power ballad, but obviously like
they had the long stripe and strip of songs from cold Blood to Girl Money.
Girl Money is the one. I was just thinking about it because that
one stands out to me because I remember the first time I heard it,
I thought it was a CDC YEP, and then obviously like the whole Don't
Blow, the whole Blow My Fuse album was like it was like the biggest
thing. But obviously Midnight Dynamite was another great album. I think those were
like the two best albums for those guys. But when they came out with
their final album, Rock Your Face Off, I think back in twenty thirteen,
twenty fourteen, something like that they had two singles off of that,
one which was love Me with Your Top Down and the other one that they
worked into their final set list, which was Wheels in Motion. Okay,
so that one was the one that kind of did. But when they played
the the setless live, a lot of the stuff came off of Midnight Dynamite
and Don't and blow My Fears. Yeah, those were that was really kind
of what helped you got to play the hits? Yeah? Did they did?
They close with uh, don't close their Eyes. They actually closed with
blow my fuse. Oh ok. Yeah. And it's funny because we had
no idea that they were actually gonna plan on hanging it up after uh,
after last year. So it was like second the last show, I think,
oh, something along that lature, because they did a they did their
final show in their home state of Maryland and uh and back in September twenty
twenty three, they they called it quits good. Oh wow. So they
were on a farewell tour basically basically didn't tell anyone. Yeah, they didn't
tell anyone. Wow. Oh good for them, I guess for not going
for the cash crab, right Molly, But I know, oh, I
know it was like Vince, I mean, I feel worse for John five.
I mean I just saw him on Valentine's Day this year and he's he's
amazing. But for me, it just baffles me that he's working with those
guys in like Motley Crue and like they've got everybody in Motley Crue is just
like so out there. I mean, Nikki six, he's he's a bright
dude, but like Vince and and Tommy, they are just wow, oh
my god, gosh. The last time I saw Motley Crue, this must
have been ten years ago. They were on the co headlining tour they did
with Kiss and during Don't Go Away, Matt. Now, everyone knows Vince
sounds terrible live, but you don't, you know, like with a lot
of bands, though you don't necessarily notice it when you're if you're actually seeing
them live, you don't realize until later when you go find the YouTube video.
Yep, because when you're live, you know you're in the moment,
everything's loud, and you just don't notice. But Vince during Don't Go Away
Mad, you know, the fast part at the end, he at one
point he hits a note that was so like, what is that that my
friend Dan WMNH listeners know him as Dan Randall of Dan Randall and the Randlets.
Dan and I actually looked at each other like what was that, Like
he just was so And then recently I saw a video of them from recently
playing. They opened a set with Primal Scream, which happens to be my
favorite Miley cru song. I was like, oh cool, I play it,
and as soon as Vince starts, it's like he's not even singing,
He's just kind of blurting out the words. Yeah. It was like it
sounded so bad. Yeah, because I think the last time I saw them,
they were doing a headlining tour with Hinder as their opener. Oh yeah,
this was at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion The Lips of an Angel
guy, Yeah, exactly and hit Wonder and but and I still remember like,
as soon as they go into doctor feel Good, I'm just listening to
him He's not even singing half the words. Yeah. But I mean that
was also a tough concert for me because some more on behind me as I
was sitting watching the show, headbanging too hard accidentally head butts me in the
back of the head and gives me a concussion really, so I'm literally like
I felt like somebody had driven like a railroad stake through my head. So
after after Doctor Field Good, me and my dad looked at each other because
like I was about ready to throw up because I had a migraine so bad,
and me and my dad looked at was like that we need to get
out of here, like I'm in a lot of pain. This show is
absolutely terrible and it's just making my headache worse at this point. Yeah.
So, but yeah, that was I have to say that would probably be
the one of the one of the worst, if not the absolute worst show
I've ever seen in my life. And I've been to hundreds of shows.
Yeah, I think that one has to take the cake. Is the worst
show I've ever been to? Yeah? Yeah, Wow. Now do you
guys have a fav for it? In terms of shows that you've played,
Is there one that uh maybe the Metal Church show. I don't know,
is the Metal Church is definitely high up there. But I think when we
played Yeah, Corn and Stained, I think is definitely the one that when
we played at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion back in twenty twenty one,
we opened for corn and stain on the on the hazy little stage. Oh
wow, and that one was wild. It was, I mean, so
it was it was very hot outside. Oh wait, no that oh it
was raining. I'm sorry, I'm confusing the other one from twenty nineteen.
But yeah, it was rainy. It was cold because this was in the
beginning of October because they had to ropon because John did They've just got COVID.
Oh okay, but yeah it was cold and rainy. We played great
the first set and then back before they have all the new stuff at the
Bank of Newmshire Pavilion. They had to change up because there was a lot
of noise complaints coming in, so the local artists would play a second set
after the main show. People were walking out. Yeah, and they didn't
walk out, they just stayed and they were on They were jumped up on
stage as we were playing. Yeah, security I had to start pulling people
like they pulled Scrill. They pulled security from the main stage to our stage
because we had people who were like rushing on our stage, like like jumping
off the stage and stuff like that. Like security actually had to pull them
off. It was very wild. It was probably one of the most lively
st crowds, if not the liveliest crowd we've ever played too. But it
was just so great. Oh wow, that was the energy we try to
strive for it at our shows. It was so perfect. Is there any
video of that? Do you have any We have the video from like more
of the front of the stage where like there's like the mosh pit going on.
There's like guys Shirtly's fifty degrees in raining out. These guys are shirt
Let's do like a mosh pit stuff. That's what. Yeah, in the
background, and you can see probably a little bit more Brian than me,
but I remember like looking back, if you guys, don't hit my amplifier.
Yeah no, And this is what I mean. It's just like it's
like I'm looking at him like this is great, but I think we should
probably get this guy off of here. It's funny because it's like it's a
pleasant excitement, but obviously history, history of reliability and huge Yeah, yeah,
no doubt, no doubt. Wow. Now, so what is the
songs that were playing today? We played the murder song and we're gonna We're
gonna close in a few minutes with the other one that I absolutely love But
are these on are these part of an album that? Yeah, I've been
second album Vindicated Vindicated. Okay, when did that come out? So we
released that back in July twenty ninth of twenty twenty two. Yeah, that
was we actually took advantage of the pandemic and we still got together. We
took it. We took the time when we weren't playing. We wrote the
album, we recorded it, and that was when we ended up releasing it.
So we stayed productive during that whole time. Okay. Yeah. Oh
by the way, Bruce from Legion of Sola says, I remember that show.
I was in your mash no I love it. He was there.
Yeah, yes, that's awesome. Yeah, that's very cool, very cool.
Are you working on new materials? We're debuting a brand new song from
the next album. Well, two new songs. Well, we've played.
We played one of the new songs that we had at porch Fest in Rochester
last year a two year ago. Okay, so we haven't like actually put
it on an album. But yeah, we have a brand new song that
we have never played live before that we are debuting next Thursday at the Bank
of New Hampshire Pavilion. So if you guys this Thursday right next, well,
I mean we're still in the current week, so I sailed caught next
Thursday one Sunday comes around, then I say this, so yeah, next
Thursday we'll be debuting. I don't forget the words. It's always an interesting
to take, Like the first time singing a song, I sing and play
at the same time. It's always a matter of like walking in chewing gum
at the same time, you know, playing and keeping track of everything all
together. And why does that ever happen live where you forget the words on
occasion? Yeah, yeah, as long as I mean. So my thing
at banfractice and it drives fine, No, it's actually drives my wife not
too fine. And so I do one ons when I can't remember what when,
Yeah, and I'll do an entire song. And if you can imagine
hearing you have six minute song with that wanas going through it, and that's
all right, that's how you're you're scattered. And with that, I mean,
I mean, this is why I always look at the drummer. I'm
like, I hope you got enough sticks so you can huck one at her.
Right. There's been a lot of projectiles. It's quite quite hilarious.
But I've never done a one on, not at a show. I've always
okay, if anything, I would just like repeat a vose or something I
can. I'm never doing this long enough. I can kind of catch myself.
I know when I've messed up, but uh, you know I've recovered
pretty quick. Yeah, say when playing guitoy it's like you learned to recover
pretty quick. And this is where like I try to stay focused on my
playing as far as and like, because like if I'm looking out next thing,
you know, I'm spacing out and I'm hitting the wrong note, I'm
like, oh wait a minute, I got to recenter myself. So this
is why every time I'm playing, I'm literally looking at my finger so I
don't get lost. Because lead singer and you'll never space out, trust me.
There's too many things going on time. You got a lot to keep
track of. Oh yeah, absolutely, you know it's we Also, the
one song would be one of our cover songs, actually one of the few
songs I can sing and actually play guitars soul at the same time. What
what what song? What do you uh? Pells? By Megadeth? Oh?
Nice? Well, I mean, I take the most of the lead
vocals on that one, so oh okay, but yeah, we're gonna try
to do that when we've done that one before live, but it's been a
while, so we'll be playing that one again live as well. But that's
it's funny because like I know, Anthony does a lot of like he does
all the original vocals and stuff like that. But obviously, like if we're
playing multiple shows in a row, there's gonna be a lot of like vocal
exhaustion. Yeah, I've been able to step up to the plate. It
helps. It gives my throat a little bit of a break when you're playing
sixty minutes ninety minutes the Yeah, you know, we don't sing laid back
just like at all. Yeah, I would. I would say as far
as as our as our repertoire goes, Like I know Anthony sings all of
the originals, I would say I probably sing like maybe ninety five percent of
the covers. Okay, just it just it helps give him a break,
and because I know how the stuff goes. Yeah, fun it last.
Yeah, And I mean, obviously me a little biased because it has one
of the most iconic based openings ever recorded. Yes, and I get to
start the song with that one, so oh that's really cool. And it's
timeless, you know, of course the song is just timeless. What should
people know? We're gonna we're gonna play this other track in a moment when
we when we wrap up, the time goes quickly. But what should people
know about? Where to find you guys online? How to keep up with
everything that you're doing, and and and plug that show that you've got coming
up again to all right, so you can find us online. We we
have our own website, Perging Sin dot com. Uh are. Both of
our albums are available on all streaming services YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify,
Follow us on Facebook, we have a we have an Instagram. We're trying
to grow at Purging Underscore Sin, and we will be in Our next show
is going to be at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion on the Hazy Little
Stage, which is the side stage as you walk through the front entrance before
God Smack, Nothing More and Flat Black. We go on at six pm.
Excellent. Yeah, that's that's a big deal. Congratulations on that.
That's very cool. We'll also on Bands in Town and Viva Nation that also
gives a list of upcoming shows in sequential order in locations. Okay, okay,
excellent, and before we play this, Hell on the Horizon. And
by the way, like I said, I love this song, but just
just quickly give us the backstory for people who are just joining us, give
us a backstory one more time on this. So I saw it, started
writing it prior to Brian entering in the band. I knew the original title
was from Triumph to Tragedy. It was about someone trying to come from another
country to America to get a better life. And I kind of twist things
up. They see the Statue of Liberty and their boats things for whatever reason,
and they round. Yeah, so like you're getting so closed. But
then you know Hell's on the horizon, you just don't know it yet.
Yeah, And unfortunately became like symbolic for Matt Harrisk that Hell was on the
horizon. We just didn't know we had cancer either. Yeah, And that
was the first song Brian ever contributed. You know. I showed him that
the little bridge section and he's like, well, I made this can I
fitted in and we ended up fitting it and he sorted you know, that
was like the first four A into him, you know, contributing to Purge
and Sin. Yes, so it's so it's the first song I was actually
featured on is and so the the clean part of the Little Basin Elude.
It was something I was just messing around with. I thought it was kind
of neat, and uh, we were able to work it in and then
obviously too, as we mentioned previously in the show, it's the last song
that Matt Harris actually ever recorded with us before he passed away. The It's
funny because like I was trying to suggest a little bit more of a shorter
kind of title for the whole thing. I was just like, because we're
going along with the theme, I was just like, well, why don't
we just say something like Hell's Hell's on the horizon or something like that.
And then that eventually became the title of the song. So, and it
actually was a little bit more of a catcher thing. We actually recorded that
song as a single with a friend of mine from college who runs his own
independent studio I don't know if it still exists, Audio Pond Studios in Francis
Down and he recorded it for us as a favor, and that was kind
of like the first single to actually come off of Vindicated before the murder became
the other single that we released. Oh okay, okay, very good.
So we're gonna play this and Anthony and Brian thank you guys so much.
We love absolutely wonderful to have you here. I love what you're doing,
love the sound, and like I said, I absolutely love this song.
If you are listening live on Saturday morning, sick around. We've got Tom
Russo coming up next in the third hour, but we'll finish off this hour
with this. This is Hell on the Horizon Purgings Zen