THE INTERVIEW

 

Staci/HRM:  I’d like to take just a minute to welcome you to Hip Rock magazine and thank you for giving us and your fans the time to get to know what make you all 3 Quarters Dead. Let’s start off with this:  what’s the craziest thing that a fan has ever done for you guys?

 

3QD:  Having your name or band logo tattooed into someone's skin is always an honor. I know quite a few people with our logo or our song lyrics tattooed on them. One guy I know of did it after seeing us only one time. We must have made one Hell of an impression on him.   We had these mannequin heads on stage one time. Jason found them at a yard sale and we gave one to a fan after the show. He took it home and airbrushed it up with our logo and made it up all freaky and stuff. It had a mechanism on it that made it spin, kind of like “The Exorcist”. (laughs)  It was very cool that he put that much time into it for us. We have some great fans.

 

Staci/HRM:  What band made you want to get into music?  Was there a certain style or genre you loved in your teens? 

 

3QD:  I used to watch Saturday Night Live a lot when I was little. They had Faith No More as a musical guest one night. When they performed “Epic” I was blown away. I listened to all kinds of music before but I had never heard anything like it.  Then Mike Patton actually crawled into the wind fans that were in the background and I was hooked. It was insane! (to me at that age it was). Then I was introduced to KISS by my 3 best friends and away my musical career went.  Ozzy Osbourne also played a key role. I remember “Bark at the Moon” being played on “Entertainment Tonight” when the credits were rolling. I loved horror movies and the werewolf in the video was amazing to me. I remember thinking Ozzy was a girl because he had long hair. (laughs) I was introduced to the Metal world at a VERY young age. I'm thankful for that.

 

Staci/HRM:  Who is your hero? .

 

3QD:  I've idolized Gene Simmons my entire life. He's always been really focused on what he wanted and has never let anything like relationships, drugs, alcohol, or criticism drag him down. I'd also say Dave Mustaine for never giving up and beating almost impossible odds. I think Dave and Ozzy are Metal's two greatest survivors.

 

Staci/HRM:  I know that you all travel a lot so what would you say is the one thing you could tell your fans that show how you make the road your home? 

 

3QD:  Always make it fun. There is a lot of downtime between arriving at shows and the time you hit the stage.  A lot of “Hurry up and wait”.  Entertain and take care of each other.

 

Staci/HRM:  Right now who do you think is the sexiest musician in the industry? 

 

3QD:  LIZZY HALE!!!  HANDS DOWN!!!  MERCY!!!

 

Staci/HRM:  The fans want to know more about you so what is your favorite color, food, movie and most importantly what is it that you feel makes you human? 

 

3QD:  Red,  Spicy grilled catfish, (I'm excluding horror for this one. I'm a HUGE horror fan and there is no way I can pick a favorite.) My favorite non-horror movie is “O Brother Where Art Thou”.  Honestly, there is NOTHING like being backstage when the band intro is rolling and you can hear the crowd screaming. That is what makes my life and makes it all worth it. Whether it's 20 people or 10,000. And we've played for both.

 

Staci/HRM:  If music hadn’t worked out for you where do you think you would be today? Did you have any other dreams or ambitions other than music?

 

3QD:  Before I started playing I wanted to be a VET. When I found out the schooling time and the price on it I said to hell with that.   I actually still help my father do construction work when we are not playing. We all have different jobs other than the band. Got to have something to do when you're not throwing down every night. (laughs)

 

Staci/HRM:  When you have free time what artist do you like to listen to? 

 

3QD: I just bought the new Black Sabbath album which is KILLER. Megadeth, Mudvayne, Anthrax, In Flames. Sam likes some new bands like Periphery, and Jason listens to a little more hardcore than I do. Bands like The Acacia Strain, Chelsea Grin. He's a big Deftones fan as well.

 

Staci/HRM:  Is there anything special you would like to say to your fans? 

 

3QD:  Nothing but how valuable to us they are. They are the reason we're up there doing what we do.  We have nothing but love and respect for all of them.

 

Staci/HRM:  You’ve performed with a lot of huge names. Who are a few you’d still love to share the stage with that you haven’t yet?  

 

3QD:  I'd probably kill to play with Megadeth or a reunited Faith No More. Matt and Sam would love to throw down with In Flames I’m sure. We'd love to play with Korn, Mudvayne, TOOL.  Hopefully one day!!!

 

Staci/HRM:  You have 3 killer albums out and our CEO gets freaky with your music, he loves it so much. He called you the answer to Staind’s “Break the Cycle” album.  Does anyone else vocally applaud you that much? 

 

3QD:  I hear all the time “WHY AREN'T YOU GUYS SIGNED TO A MAJOR DEAL” THERE IS NO REASON WHY YOU SHOULDN'T BE”! (laughs) All I can say is “All in due time”. We're doing everything possible to get our music out there and “do this”.  We've got a lot of acclaim from many sources like A&R from Sony, Universal etc.  We've had a lot of praise from FM and internet radio hosts as of late. We're getting there for sure.

 

Staci/HRM:  Do you have another album in the works? Also, what’s the tour schedule looking like for the rest of the month?

 

3QD:  We will be writing a new album starting in 2014. Hopefully to record in Fall 2014.  Right now we are planning to do a lot of out of state(NC) shows until the end of the year. We're going from New York to Florida the rest of 2013.

 

Staci/HRM:  Is it hard having so many different personalities in the band? How has that made you the band that you are today?

 

3QD:  People say that we are a “genre bending band”. I couldn't agree more. Each one of us have such diverse musical interests that when it comes together it makes for something really unique I think. No song sounds the same as the other. They all have their own power and can stand alone.   A lot of people don't know what to expect from us which is a good thing. It's always interesting.

 

Staci/HRM:  Well, you certainly have a winning formula. What was it like working with those hot producers? Is there anyone you liked over the other? 

 

3QD:  Beau Hill was really easy going and professional and most of all, he made it fun. And it was such a great experience to work with a legendary rock producer.  I guess all around Jamie King is still our favorite engineer to go to. He's always on his game and delivers our sound the way we want it. I truly think he is the only person to have captured our “true” sound on “The Cycle of Dust”.

 

Staci/HRM:  Where can people go for more about you guys?

 

3QD:  We just launched  our official website www.3quartersdead.com   All our music, videos, merch, news, and mailing list are on that site.  Also visit facebook.com/3quartersdead, www.reverbnation.com/3qd, and on You Tube at 3quartersdead1  We are not hard to find at all.

 

Staci/HRM:  Is there anything else you would like to add? 

We will be heading to Tampa Florida in a few weeks to play on the “Bubba the Lovesponge show”. We were recently “liked” by Bubba on his band review so he invites all his “liked” bands to play live on his show. We'll have the dates on our website www.3quartersdead.com soon.  This should be an interesting experience being that Bubba used to be Howard Sterns co-host. (laughs)  We're stoked!!!

 

 

Staci/HRM:  Here’s a fun way to end this interview. So, most people look at musicians and actors as if they are gods- if you had to pick an Egyptian  Greek, Norse or other god in mythology who would you be and why?

 

3QD:  I would want to be ANUBIS!!  Because he has that freaky Doberman head. And I’d get to lead people through the underworld.

 

Staci/HRM:   Thank you very much for your time!  I wish you the very best! And whatever you’re doing to make Daniel jump around, keep doing that (laughs)  

 

3QD:  (laughs)  Thank you very much for having us Stacie. I hope Hip Rock wins the Super Bowl commercial contest. I know I've voted every day.  ROCK ON!!!

 

Staci/HRM:  Well we certainly appreciate it. If we do and it leads to us doing a huge tour I bet you know who Daniel’s going to hit up for the rock part. (smiles)

 

Interview by Staci  Core 

See them in Hip Rock Magazine here - http://www.hiprockmagazine.com/#!3-quarters-dead/c1urn