Giovanni Lombardo Radice

Giovanni Lombardo Radice (AKA John Morghen) is probably best remembered for his work in early 80's horror movies such as City Of The Living Dead, House On The Edge Of the Park and many more. Giovanni carved out a unique niche for himself, playing a variety of characters in those movies that (coincidentally??) always met an especially gruesome demise, indeed fans still talk about some of those death scenes to this very day, I've even seen T-Shirts depicting the events!!! Giovanni has also worked extensively within theatre and TV/Film, spanning most genres, he was kind enough to grant an interview recently to discuss all aspects of his career.

1. You have gone on record countless times in regard to your distaste for horror films. What is it about the genre that repels you so much? Do you think your fans are disappointed to hear you have no affection for the genre?

Yes I think they are, but accustomed to it by now. Your question is a good one, because it gives me an occasion to me more precise about this. In my young days I was an avid reader of Edgar Allan Poe and I still find him a great author, to the point that I will include his most famous poem “The Raven” in a selection of readings I want to film. I always was and still am a fan of thrillers, ghost stories and detective stories (both books and movies). I adore Hitchcock. So I have my share of “the dark side”. What I really can’t come to appreciate is the blood, the gore, the splatter. At times it frightens me and quite always it disgusts me. I don’t like watching a dead rabbit in a butcher shop…How could I like Daniela Doria puking her insides in Gates of Hell?

2.I am a big horror fan myself, having said that I am aware that an actor/actress never gets to really show how well they can act in a typical horror movie, would you agree with this? And if I was to ask you which of your movies (in general) displays your abilities best, which would you go for and why?

Well, it depends on what horror. If it‘s just “run-scream-roll your eyes” there’s not much you can do. Or if characters are “paper” ones like Mike Logan in “Cannibal Ferox”. But if a character is well written and plausible there’s not much difference in between a horror and any other movie. At times you must ask yourself very extreme questions, such as: “How would I react if I saw a decomposing baby?” But it can be a good exercise. Not so different from asking yourself: “How would I react to the ghost of a friend I killed?” a question you must answer if having the leading role in Shakespeare’s “Scottish Thing” (sorry I am superstitious at times…). Thus said, as for the horrors I would go for Charles Bukowski in Cannibal Apocalypse, a wonderful character, and for Ricky in House on The Edge, which wasn’t a real horror, but just a very violent thriller. As for other stuff I made I quite proud of my King Herod Agrippa in the Saint Paul Episode of the TV series The Bible, a villain with a cynical sense of humour or my blind old father in House Of Flesh Mannequins, a very recent movie, only partially a horror and not in my scenes.

3. Let’s go back to the start of your career, can you tell us what it was like doing theatre work at the beginning. If you can tell us how you went about establishing yourself, how hard things were and if you have any advice for aspiring actors in a similar position today.

In the first place I wanted to be a dancer, not an actor. Then I injured my back and decided to switch (after taking a degree in physiotherapy, which was a very smart thing to do…great job for “down” moments). Anyway I was in the show business against the will of my family and thus penniless. It was hard, yes, but I was a hard piece, not easily scared about life. I was very poor and did all kind of jobs to sustain myself, but, step by step, I got to work quite regularly. Writing TV scenarios (which I did for many years) helped a lot financially. It was something I could do alongside and I wrote a lot of stuff in theatre dressing rooms or movie vans. And translating as well, something I like and gets royalties. My suggestion is always to have more than one arrow to your bow. If you are just an actor the perspective of sitting on your ass and wait with just bread and water will be frequently haunting you. I have always been open and ready to life and career ups and downs. When I was informed that I had been selected for The Omen I was working as a waiter….

4. How did your first movie role come about and what were your thoughts upon reading that first script?

My first movie came very casually and in a really Hollywood way (A Star Is Born). An agent saw me by chance, said I had a great face, asked if I knew English and if I was interested in movies. I answered that I was trilingual with both English and French and that I was in such bad need of money that I would have walked on my hands with a red nose on. The lady happened to be, at that time, Ruggero Deodato’s mother in law and he was casting for House on the Edge of the Park…. My thoughts on the script were positive, it wasn’t Dostoevsky, but the story was solid and my character very interesting.

I had a lot in common with Ricky at that time…

5.I only managed to see Cannibal Apocalypse very recently, whilst not a great movie, there certainly are some good ideas in there and it’s not a textbook horror, there is a lot more going on psychologically in this one, would you agree with this, and what is your own opinion on the film?

Yes, I do agree. When I read the script I thought it was entirely preposterous with cannibalism being contagious… But later on, watching it back for interviews and DVD commentaries, I realized there was something metaphorical about that and even prophetic. The AIDS tragedy was knocking at the door and the idea of War being the crib of any violence is not a wrong one. And I just loved my character and for an actor that counts 90%.

6.I think the general public think that shooting a lot of those films was a blast, packed with fun times, and whilst I’m sure you must have some fond memories of that time in your career can you realistically tell us what a typical shoot was like, how long it lasted, what a typical day would be like etc?

It was fun, I must say, at least for me. Movies changed and probably saved my life. I immediately understood that fitness was the name of the game, with all that running/shooting/running, so I transformed from a lazy stage person more than inclined on drinking and drugs into a Waking at Five movie actor. All for the best I shall say. Shooting was very hard at times. There was a lot of physical action (with me refusing stunts as much as possible) and a good hard working day of twelve hours or more. The call was early in the morning, so considering the time to get on set and the fact that I need a lot of time to get ready in the morning, the alarm was getting off around five. Make up, which could be very long in case of special effects (letting alone the 6 hours zombie one), rehearsing the lines whilst the set was prepared (no rehearsal time in Italian productions!) and then shoot, shoot, shoot and waiting of course, which is the longest part of an actor’s life. If I hadn’t a van I was always selecting a spot to lie down first thing in the morning. I can nap wherever and with whatever going on around me and it is a great luck. I also liked to chat with the crew and was always astonished at their capability of eating crates of food at lunch time ad then resume working. If I work I can’t eat more than a few bites of cheese and fruits, at times just tea and honey. Work was over around 6 or 7pm, back home (or hotel) and ready for another day. When you shoot a movie you are like in a washing machine program and it’s very hard to do anything else.

7. Was there ever any drama off camera on any of those shoots? I’m sure there must have been at least a few incidences of actors getting pissed off or refusing to do something even walking off set?

When I was shooting a Spy Story for Italian TV (Progetto Atlantide) in the Morocco desert, French star Daniel Gelin throw a phone on director Gianni Serra, a very talented man but opinionated to the point of arguing with camels over their positions (and being savagely bitten in response). Antonella Interlenghi went into a hysteric fit when worms had to be put on her face in Gates of Hell. Yes, disagreements and accidents do happen, but less than what is legendary. It’s hard work for everybody and professionals know it. That’s why one of my few “scenes” was against a young French actress who was delaying takes because of personal problems whilst ten soldiers in Middle Age armours and myself were waiting to open a door in a back stage as narrow as a sardine jar (The Heart And The Sword was the mini series).

8. As far as your horror movies go, my personal favourites are City of The Living Dead and the Church; I love the atmosphere of both films. Do you have any affection for either of these or would you class them in the same category as Cannibal Ferox etc?

No other movie can be put in the same category as Cannibal Ferox, the category being APOS (Awful Piece of Shit). My favourites are Cannibal Apocalypse and House on the Edge, but that’s because I am more logical and not so fascinated by monsters and fantasy. But I do agree with you, both movies have a great visual potential.

9. Cannibal Ferox I could never get into -an especially grotty movie. I think Cannibal Holocaust, although a far nastier movie actually works better because there is a better story and at least there is some kind of statement in there. It’s common knowledge that you despise Cannibal Ferox but if I could just ask you what the feeling was like on set. Did you realise at any point that this was going to turn out as it did?  Some of the other actors from this film are a little harder to track down; can you comment on any of the casts feelings towards the film either now or at the time?

I am a bit tired of expressing my feelings about Cannibal Ferox, by now I think they are quite clear. As for Cannibal Holocaust I’ll be watching it for the first time in a few days, when attending with Ruggero Deodato the London screening of the new DVD version. I knew from the beginning what Cannibal Ferox was. It was written in the screenplay in capitals. My position was harder because the engine of the violence was Mike Logan and mine were some of the most vicious scenes. Lorraine disliked Lenzi and the movie as much as I did, whilst Zora was more easygoing and Danilo Mattei even attracted by the macho staff.

10. Just going back to House on the Edge of the park briefly, according to the Internet movie database there is a sequel to this film in the works and you are down for it, is this true? Can you elaborate on plot etc if possible?

It’s true and we’re all praying for financing to be completed. Deodato and I wrote a treatment that Andre Jones elaborated into a wonderful script. Until a date for shooting is secured, I can’t say more than what Andrew Jones put on the official production site. Ricky is free after thirty years and still haunted by memories of Alex and what happened in the house. Soon out of jail he meets with a young criminal who resembles Alex and with his sadistic girl-friend….

11. Can you tell us anything at all about David Hess, what he was like to work with etc, he always struck me as being too good at playing that type of role, what was he like off camera?

David off camera is exactly the opposite of his psycho roles. He is a bit crazy, but in the better sense. He is full of life (bigger than life I would say), talkative, genuine, childish at times, generous. I like David a lot and being in another movie with him would be a dream.

12. You have done quite a bit of TV work at this stage and have a few mini-series/series under your belt. Is this something you enjoy/prefer?

As for TV and miniseries I did a lot of period stuff. I do not have a”modern” face and I wear costumes well and there’s something “stagy” about historical plots that appeal to my theatre training. I think I was quite good as King Herod Agrippa in the Saint Paul episode of The Bible I already mentioned. Shooting in Morocco was hard because of the heat and the incredibly heavy costumes. Fellow actors were fainting all around…but I resisted and had great fun. Director Roger Young was excellent and paid me a great compliment saying that I was like an instrument a director could play at his ease.

13. I think these days the best ideas are actually within TV series. Most movies that come out now are not “new” at all, the bulk of them being remakes, prequels or sequels. Is this an area that you would like to return to?

Look, I like to work and to have good acting material. If this happens with movies, series, miniseries, TV plays, stage or radio it really doesn’t matter to me (money a part). I never was in a long running series and that would frighten me but it’s a fascinating idea at the same time. Living so long with a character, developing him…being him for a long time. Maybe a bore, maybe a thrill.

14. Are you still doing theatre work? If so can you elaborate on some of the work you have done recently?

Yes, I am quite active with theatre even if, as an actor, I tend not to accept too long commitments because I want to be free for the movies. I translate continuously, my most recent achievements being Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra”, Dale Wasserman “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and Priestley’s “An Inspector Calls”. As an actor I revived my role of Reverend Marius in Athol Fugard’s “Road to Mecca” and I was a black trannie in “Off” by Michael Kearns. I directed Neil Simon “The Dinner Party” and shared the role of André with another actor who was engaged with TV at the same time.

14. Is it possible for an actor to carve out a career for themselves solely doing theatre work?

Absolutely. Theatre “regulars” have very good careers at time, being free for TV or movies only in summer (not a hot moment for theatre, at least in Italy). I know hundreds of extremely good actors who have been on the screen only occasionally. In the 90s I worked very little for screen or TV because I had my own company and was on stage for the great part of the year.

15. More recently you have scored a couple of roles in more mainstream movies, you had a brief role in Gangs of New York and the Remake of The Omen, can you tell us a little about both?

In Gangs of New York “brief role” doesn’t come close to it. It was an extra job (but paid as an actor’s) that I accepted against my agent will, because the cash was welcome and because I was curious of the set and rightly so. I never saw anything like that in my life and probably never will in the future. The role in The Omen was a little one, but essential to the plot and director John Moore treated me like visiting Royalty. I was in Prague for the first time and stunned by the beauty of it. A good experience that helped me a lot in “heating up” my name in USA and UK, the countries I am more interested in.

16. I was at a Horror Film Festival last year here in Ireland, Ken Foree (of Dawn Of The Dead fame) was here promoting a new Zombie movie Zone Of The Dead, which was fairly poor, a disappointed fan asked afterwards why he accepts such roles and he replied “we call movies like that, “Mortgage Payments””, if I could ask respectfully is that how you feel about some of the movies you have done?

No Mortgage, because my rich grandfather disinherited me because I had decided to be “a clown”, but he was kind enough to write a letter (found after his death) in which he asked my relatives to buy me a home. But with the horrors I paid years and years of psychotherapy and I could afford a lot of bad paid stage work. We all work for money to some extent and it’s not a shame, whatever work, a part from heavy drugs dealing and killing.

17. Would you consider any project once the conditions were right? I’ll fire a hypothetical scenario to you – Umberto Lenzi’s son wants to shoot Cannibal Ferox 2, the money is right and it means heading to the Jungle for a month, would you go for it??

I would say thanks, but no thanks. But if I hadn’t been working for a year and my son needed a car….Who knows?

Many thanks to Giovanni for his time for answering these questions, please be sure to visit his official site http://www.giovannilombardoradice.com/ where there is a comprehensive filmography, merch, photos and much more.

Ghostie

God Is An Astronaut

I recently checked in with God Is An Astronaut's Niels Kinsella - currently on the road in support of Age Of the Fih Sun and seemingly going from strength to strength, their success is remarkable considering they have always done their own thing and their way.............

Ghostie: You have experienced a couple of line up changes recently, Jamie Dean is in on Piano/Synth and Lloyd Hanney (Drums) has left recently, can you tell us something of the reasons for both?

Niels:

Jamie joined the band last year, initially we recruited him to play piano on some tracks on a live radio session. We got on very well together and he is a really talented musician so we asked him to become a full time member of the band. We were always looking to expand the live sound and perform more of the piano based tracks we couldn't as a 3 piece.

Lloyd left the band in March due to long term work commitments. Lloyd, Torsten and I have been playing music for a very long time, since the early 90s and unfortunately priorities can change over that length of time, we wish him the very best. Michael Fenton is now taking care of the drumming duties and we had some of the best reactions ever to the live shows we played on our European tour in May . We are all excited about the new lineup, it's basically an injection of youth and raw energy.

G:As far as the Piano/Synth goes will Jamie be involved in the writing for the next record?

N:Yes, we have already started working on some piano based songs with Jamie.

G: Speaking of the next record how is that progressing? Can you comment on sound or direction?

N:It is still very early stages but it will be a slight departure from the last releases, we want to try some new ideas. It will be more of an experimental record, we don't want to use normal guitar, drum sounds etc... or make them recognizable to the listener, it will be a heavily processed record.

G: God is An Astronaut seems to be eternally on the road, your hard work has clearly paid off, some of your recent tour photos have been stunning, it mustn’t be easy though, how do you find life on the road and what advice do you have for a young band wanting to get out there and tour beyond their locality?

N:We haven't toured as much as most of the bands in our genre. I think we have paced ourselves quite nicely. For us its been about quality over quantity. We really put in 100% effort into the live shows which have been getting better from each year to the next.

As for advice for young bands, take your time, there is no point undertaking huge tours when there is no demand. Touring is only a part of the overall strategy, you need to work on all areas whether it be press, internet, music videos etc... It's all about flying your flag as high as you can so the public can get to hear your music and decide whether they like it or not.

G: What have been your most memorable/least memorable touring experiences to date?

There is so many amazing experiences, recently we played for the first time in the Ukraine in an open air theatre to 2000 fans, that was something else. They even had 2 train carriages reserved for GIAA fans who travelled from the capital Kiev. There is never really a dull moment but some of the drives can be quite long, it's not uncommon to be stuck in the van/tour bus up to 14 hours at a time on your day off

G :Going for the overall package here, if you could hand pick the bill who would your ideal touring partners be?

N: That's a hard one. We actually prefer to play shows without a support or other bands but playing with NIN would be awesome.

G: If we can divert back to Age of the Fifth Sun for a minute, most of the reviews I read for that record were lukewarm, do you pay attention to critique at all, what is your opinion of the record and more importantly how was fan reaction to it?

Thats always the case, we don't pay much attention to the critics. The current album "Age of the Fifth Sun" faired pretty well with the critics, even a good review in Uncut. I think the more popular you get the more the public hate you at the same time. The fan reaction has been great overall, is fast becoming our biggest selling album and for us I think it is our best overall work to date. We will be remastering and remixing all the past albums and EP to bring it up to the same audio quality to celebrate our 10 year anniversary next year.

G: I get the impression a lot of critics don’t know how to categorise God Is an Astronaut. I see the word(s) Post- Rock applied liberally but I don’t think your music quite fits that description.  Can you tell us about your influences initially and now, and how you would describe your music?

N: Well anything instrumental that uses guitar, bass and drums is automatically categorized as post-rock. When we started GIAA back in 2002 we weren't really familiar with the term or the bands associated with it.

We came from an electronic background, our first album "The End of the Beginning" is pretty much an electronic record. As for our influences, I think it's more the different styles of music we played in various bands since the early 90's that make up the sound you hear today which ranged from heavy metal, rock, electronic/dance and ambient music.

I guess we would describe GIAA as space rock.

G: You have quite the back catalogue at this stage, how do you find picking the set lists these days, it must be impossible to please everyone?

N: Not really, we pick the songs that work best live. Our live show is quite a bit heavier than what you hear on record. Some of the fans are quite taken back when they get a full on rock show and not a quite ambient affair. We always try to represent all the albums in the live set.

G: I’ve asked a few bands this recently – What are your thoughts on playing one of your albums in it’s entirety at a show? It seems to be really popular these days and it can prove to be a real treat for fans, especially those that may have missed out on earlier tours, I’m sure All Is Violent … would go down well for example.

N: We thought about that but didn't really warm to the idea and besides an album is typically under an hour which would make for a rather short show.

G: I read somewhere recently that God Is An Astronaut had reached album sales of 100,000. Is this true? That is quite the feat considering you have achieved this on your own!

N: Yes, we have passed combined sales of over 100,000 between CD, Vinyl and legal downloads and as you said that is no mean feat being an independent band that never had mainstream promotion of any kind. It has grown very organically primarily by word of mouth through the internet and live shows.

G: God Is An Astronaut have pretty much done everything off their own back, how did you go about getting the word out about the band around the time of the first record (The Beginning Of The End)?

N: The first record was a very low key release, we had no expectations and it was originally our farewell album from the music business. We just wanted to release something we were proud of with no compromise.

The album picked up some radio airplay here in Ireland albeit in the early hours of the morning and the 2 video singles "The End of the Beginning" and "From Dust to the Beyond" made it on to MTV2 Europe.

With our second album "All is Violent, All is Bright" we sent out 100's of copies to radio stations, press and internet webzines. By the end of 2005 unknown to us at the time the album was heavily blogged and became an underground success mainly through file sharing in various music forums.

G: If I can ask respectfully, are you finding that your album sales are increasing in line with your increasing fan base or have they levelled out? If I can just push this a little further what is your stance on free downloading of your material? I’d imagine it’s not cool to see your stuff up for free as soon as the album comes out?

N: Everything is still growing from year to year. The audiences at the shows are definitely getting bigger and the record sales are still increasing. There is no real sign of a slow down or leveling out just yet which is great. As for illegal downloading its become the norm and has changed the music industry forever. We don't mind if people download our music for free as long as somewhere down the road they buy a t-shirt or come to one of our shows to give something back.

There is no doubt that it has become very difficult to make a living through music and most bands don't really get by and have to take on a day job, it's definitely not the glamour train it was in the 80's and 90's. Saying that it has definitely helped bring attention and new creativity to music and there is no longer a fat A+R man telling people what's in and what's cool.

G: Just on the topic of downloading and finding other avenues to generate revenue, I’ve noticed a lot of acts are now offering VIP tickets (Meet + Greet, Autograph, Photo Opportunities’) and it’s not just the likes of Kiss Bon Jovi etc I see it filtering right down to smaller acts. It’s understandable that they are trying to generate extra revenue but I think it’s a bit shitty to charge for an autograph or a photo, what are your thoughts on this?

N: Yes charging for an autograph or photo opportunity is pretty fucking low. We are always happy to sign autographs and take photos with the fans as we do after every show with no charges :)

G: Typically who writes the bulk of the material for God Is an Astronaut? And what is your approach to writing? Most bands I have talked to jam their material out but I’m guessing your approach is a little different.

N: Myself and Torsten have been the main composers throughout. Unlike most bands who work out their songs in a rehearsal hall, we are very much a studio band and like to develop the finished song in the studio and if necessary back engineer it to work live, this stems from our dance/electronic background were it was commonplace to write, record and produce your own records.

All of our songs start with a melody idea, whether it's a piece written on a guitar or piano and are completed usually over a period of a few months. We have had additional writers in the last few albums but we always remain the driving force behind all the compositions.

G: Which of your records are you most proud of? Is there anything you would change about any of them?

N:We are very proud of them all. As I mentioned earlier we are remixing and remastering the entire back catalogue to give the music the sound quality we couldn't a few years ago. We are really excited about this and the results so far have been super.

G: I was just looking at your Facebook page there, there are literally hundreds of requests from people all over the world looking to see the band, have you any plans to tour further afield in the near future?

N: Yes there is always tour plans in the works. We are looking to tour in Southeast Asia and we will be back to the US in August. Hopefully in the next few years we should have covered most of the globe.

Thanks again to Niels for his time. Please be sure to visit GIAA's website for tour details + merch

www.godisanastronaut.com

www.myspace.com/godisanastronaut

Obituary - Part 2

Ghostie:I ask this next question with the greatest of respect, as there seemed to be no official announcement, has Frank left Obituary permanently?? Can you comment further on this if this is the case?

John Tardy Yes, Frank is gone. We have not said much about it and I am not going to say much about it because it is between us.  You can always ask Frank about it??? We are happy and lucky to have our long time friend Terry Butler with us.

Ghostie:I watched the Big four DVD there the other night and have to say I was really impressed. Has the thought ever crossed your mind to try organise a Death Metal Big 4 tour??  Deicide, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse & Obituary, would you agree on that line-up?? You have to at least admit that would be a cool package DVD wise for fans.

Ghostie: This is something I have been working on and will continue to try to set up.

Ghostie One thing I have enjoyed regarding recent Obituary albums , is you have stuck to a very natural sound on your last few records. You seem to have resisted the urge to go for a more modern, overly processed sound. I personally think a lot of death metal acts these days suffer from a lack of Identity or character. The records are too well produced, too clinical. I’d rather listen to Autopsy etc any day over some of these albums. Why is it do you think, that younger death metal bands go for this clinical sound? Surely that’s the opposite of what death metal is supposed to be?

John Tardy: If you only knew.  When I say we have a caveman approach to things our recording are almost as simple as it gets.  We do very little  to our recording. Very little. I have nothing against what other bands do or don’t do, that is what having your own band/sound is all about.  But when you see us live we sound very much like we do on our albums and I think that is a good thing.

Ghostie: I’ve always wanted to ask why your lyrics have remained unpublished. Why have you chosen to keep them from your fans?

John Tardy: Not really sure.  It started with Slowly We Rot not having very many lyrics to write.  Over the years I have written more and more but just don’t see it as an important thing for Obituary. It is not much to look that deep into to or think too much about…just what we do.

Ghostie: You made a vinyl version of Xecutioners return available, have you any plans to release any of the other albums in your catalogue on this format? I have to say this type of music definitely has to be heard on vinyl to be fully appreciated!

John Tardy: We will.  If anything we spend so much money on having artwork painted you can at least appreciate it without needing a magnifying glass...Ha Ha.

Please check out http://www.obituary.cc/ for tourdates updates etc. John actively maintains the site so it's well worth a routine visit

Ghostie

Obituary

I recently caught up with Obituary's John Tardy to see what the guys have in store for 2011. The band have carved out a rigorous work ethic on the touring and recording fronts since their comeback with 2005's Frozen In Time album. John was kind enough to talk about everything from illegal downloading to Frank's recent departure.

Ghostie: What have Obituary got in store for us in 2011 on the touring and recording fronts? Can we expect a new album this year, and if so can you tell us anything about musical direction and how the album's taking shape in general?

John Tardy: We are actually supposed to be writing right now, but decided to head back to Europe to play more shows.  We have started writing but are just not in a hurry.  We will probably be done with the new album this year, but not likely to be release until sometime next year. Not sure. We really do not have enough done to comment on which direction it is going and we do not really try for anything in particular...just seems to come out as we go...

Ghostie: How does recording an album differ for you guys these days, compared to when you were doing the first few records? I’d imagine around the time of “The End Complete” and “World Demise” as you became more popular there was some label pressure, was this the case?

John Tardy: Never any label pressure! We always just do what we want to do.  But, recording has changed a lot of us.  We now record all our music ourselves in our own studio.  It is so awesome and I am not sure how we would do it without that option!

Ghostie :Speaking of World Demise, that really was a very different record for Obituary. Now, the purists will say their favourite albums are Slowly and Cause, but World Demise is my personal favourite. Could you ever see Obituary experimenting like that again and what are your personal thoughts on that album?

John Tardy: Not really sure.  Like I said, we really never go into any album think to much about it.  We have more of a caveman approach and just go it.  Although I will agree that World Demise is a great album.

Ghostie :There was a big gap between Back from the Dead to Frozen in time, were you involved in making music in the intervening years in any capacity? What made you guys decide to come back in 2005? 

John Tardy: That started off as a planned break but just wound up last much longer.  We just had nothing coming our way, a label that did nothing and we all just got busy doing other things.  It was always just a matter of time before we got things going again.

Ghostie: If I could ask you your honest opinion on something John, piracy has always been a problem, but when you released Frozen In Time in 2005 the amount of (illegal) downloading must have come to you as a bit of a shock? What’s your stance on illegal downloading of music? Some bands have gone on record to say that they don’t mind as long as people are listening to their music, but I’m sure that doesn’t pay the bills!  There are a generation of bands now that are happy to throw their material up for download for free, do you think this is a positive move or do you think it’s only fuelling the problem? 

John Tardy: It really has changed a lot for us. Bands just do not sell records anymore which means they have to do a lot more touring and try to sell a lot more merch to pay bills.  It is a big problem and I am not sure what can be done about it.  Record labels disappear everyday and band have to do more and more by themselves. It is amazing how much it affects things and I could go on for a long time about this, but the bottom line is you should support the bands you enjoy if you want to see them stay around.

Ghostie: Playing classic albums at shows seems to be quite common place these days, and proves to be a real treat for the fans, especially those who were too young to see bands at the time of said classic albums release. I’ve seen Slayer doing “Seasons in the Abyss” in its entirety most recently and it went down a storm. Would Obituary ever consider doing something like this? Obviously you have to possess an album in your catalogue that is considered a classic, but I think in your case you’ve arguably got several!!

John Tardy: Thank you.
We think about it and I will never say never.  Every show we try to play something off every CD and I think that is better but...who knows!