The Exalted Piledriver Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Things are rawkin' along for Ol'Piley, with gigs here and there, mostly in Canada. We released a live album last year, Night Of The Unpolished Turd, that serves up a stinky aural snapshot of what we've been up to pretty well... that is, rawkin' our faces off to small small ever shrinking crowds, ha ha!
We'll be heading out west for the first time ever, headlining the Torment In Fire Metal Festival in Calgary in April, and we are quite lookin' forward to carving up Cowtown, indeed!! A show here in Montreal in late March... 
As far as things in production for release this year, the being thing that's FINALLY seeing the light of day is the Ol'Piley CARTOON!! It's gonna be amazing, kind of a cross between South Park, Simpsons, Ren&Stimpy, with Roger RamJet and Superjail also providing inspiration, following Piley's twisted adventures in animated mayhem!! We are well into it now, and the first one should be ready by mid-March! We'll create a website specifically for it, too! I've listened to the audio soundtrack about a million and five times now while the animation is getting done, and it still cracks me up to tears, so, I can't wait!!!! It's gonna blow your minds, ha ha!!

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the newer material and how it differs from previous releases?

Well.. I would say that writing-wise it's generally in the same camp.. but with better recording equipment!! With Metal Manifesto, there are even a few songs that were originally written in the mid-late 80's, so they provide a logical extension. The new stuff is still very Pile-centric, but with a couple of decades of improved musicianship and production in the mix. I find that it's truly a logical progression in the evolution of Pile.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the newer music explores?

Let's see.. let's go song by song of the Metal Manifesto;
-Blood Bath- Your typically romantic look inside the mind of a sociopathic bind-torture-kill serial murderer.
-I'm The One'- Is a textural update of what I've been up to since I last beseeched everyone to 'Stay Ugly', a message of misguided hope infused in bitter cynicism, my Phoenix-like return from the ashes.
-Metal Manifesto- The Metal Anthem du-jour, basically spilling my guts on how I live my life, headbangin' till the day I die die die die die!!!! 
-Last Day Of The Weak- Make your stand and conquer the enemy. Standard lyrical fare of metal of olde.. timeless and tuneful in the old-school vein.
-Volatile- Basically you Exalted Piledriver Operating Manual.. how to deal with a pinheaded metalhead who thinks you look delicious when he's angry.
-When I Saw Your Face- A bilious ballad depicting a hostile makeover.
-Battle Axe- Written in 1986 in support of all the men and women who are overseas doing the hard dark shit on our behalf that we're too chickenshit to do, whether we want it or not, all along they're the ones sacrificing, so, it's a bit of a pep-talk, a payment of rawkin' respect for our troops.
-God, You're Stupid II- Religion, schmeligion. That is all.
-Unsuck My Cock- A sicko soap opera about love gone bad, and about shirts and socks that need to be returned to their rightful owner.
-The Things I Give- I'm often asked 'can I have that' or 'give me a' or 'you should send me the' or 'I want the' or 'I want you to" or 'you should give us'... well... here's the list of what I'm prepared to actually give.
-Road Pigs- Sex sex sex... wimmen, girls, broads.. rock and roll backstage areas.. rock and roll tour buses.. rock and roll motel matresses.. syphilis n' spooge. Even back in 1985 when this was written, all the hot stuff was in place and being multiplied and heaped upon... to the tipping point of disgust and revulsion, as if that could happen.
So, there ya go... that's what I've been on about of late.

4. The band took a long hiatus, what was going on for the last 20 years and what made you decide to reform the band?

4. Well to be fair.. since there never was a real band outside the studio, or hell, even within it.. let's just say it took me 20yrs to finally FORM the band, ha ha ha!! Even then, it took several years to weed out the dickheads and land on a solid lineup. After I finally got onto the interwebs and saw that there was actually an audience out there, I thought it could only be a 2way street of respect if I finally brought it out live and onstage to repay my respect to the dirty-minded denizens of the global Metal Inquisition, for them to finally taste/touch/smell my Exalted Arse for realz. So I did. I generally don't regret doing it, neether.

5. What are your opinions on the bands you have influenced with your older material?

I think it would be nice if they said so. I mean.. I get contacted by HUGE music, tv and movie STARS who go on and on about how much I influenced them, their sound, their look, their attitude etc... yet.. I've NEVER once seen them mention it in public. There are a scant few with the honesty to say so, Marduk being a standout example. Nope.. the majority continue to take my cues and run with them un-credited. Now, you should know that I don't REALLY care personally, I'm not your typical 'rock star' type of person.. I tend to stay away from the public.. but.. I'm no suicidal Jerk Cobain either, so, when I've had enough rockNroll shenanigans, I don't pull out the heroin and buckshot.. I just crawl back under my well-hidden rock and while-away like a Normal Person In The Real World With Real Friends And A Real Life until the begging gets too loud and I have to make an appearance again, ha ha... it's just that it would be nice once in a while to have one of these HUGE NAMES give a nod my way for helping mold them to find their millions even though I still need to work 40hrs a week to pay my bills. Just a nod of acknowledgement would be nice, if not actual help or a leg up with contacts/management/distro/label etc.. Sure, it's 'nice' to know that I've been an influence on several artists, sometimes even a major influence, but.. as I'm truly an artist and definitely not a businessman, it would be nice to actually get some professional assistance to help me come out in the financial black for once in my life. "Dude, your song changed my life" feels good, often really good.. but not as good as having a roof overhead and electricty in the lightbulbs, and new productions being mounted thanks to income generated by music that's been handled, distributed and renumerated properly. I'm really fucking good at creating the stuff.. I'm just really really shitty at managing it. So, yeah, I wouldn't be hurt much if a biiiig fucking million selling rawkgawd tossed me a lil' blurb of a bone to help me get managed properly.. but.. I won't beg, I won't ask. If they were truly respectful and a friend, they'd do it. But they don't. So, here I am sweating at work installing microwave antennas instead of in your town sweating onstage belting out my latest album... thanks to my fatheaded pride and selfish closed-mouthed rockstars who don't see the need to publically mention my influence. Bah.. fuck 'em. Hell, if they DID do it, I'd have to be Pile waaaay more often than Gord, and, really.. Gord's got a much better standard of living, ha ha haa!!!!

6. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Without a doubt, the standout shows were in Europe! The Headbanger's Open Air and Keep It True festivals in Germany, and the Up The Hammers festival in Athens are the three that come instantly to mind. Another great Eurofest was Kuten4Ever Fest in Hamburg, Germany. No question, hands down, the biggest shows we've done. Then there's Metal Kingdom in Queens NY where I got my spikes caught in the Halloween Decorations. The Moose Lodge in Boston where we got kicked out of state by cops before even hitting the stage and making it back to Montreal in time for 'last call' brewskies. Then there's Cochrane Ontario, where we recorded a live album in front of 2 paying customers, because that's just the way it is. QuebecCity Metal Fest's are always a good stop for the Piley's pretty much every year. How would I describe our show? Bizarre.. sweaty.. gross.. amusing.. pounding.. sure, I'm an old fat man now, and don't move around at all like I could back inna day... but.. I focus on singing very well, and the band is sooooo fucking tight in a loose rawkin' way, that you'd be hard pressed to tell the temporal difference. We get up, we put out, and we put out at 150% till there are no more songs or I've keeled over for lack of oxygen, whichever comes first. We know people prefer the old stuff, so that's what we serve up. Sure, there's a bunch of new stuff in there, artfully wedged inbetween all the Piley class-sicks!

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer music by fans of metal?

 Reaction has been consistent: Wow! You still got it!!! You still sound like YOU!!! And the material kicks ass!!! Who knew you would still kick ass!!!!! There are even 2 or 2.53932 fans out there that like the new stuff MORE than the old stuff, what friggin' arseholes!! Imagine that!! Reviews have been fairly good, averaging 7/10ish. But, the biggest comment is that I still sound like me. That's a good thing, right? There's no question that we'll never, ever sound like Metal Inquisition again, nor Stay Ugly for that matter.. there's a few DECADES of musical and technical advancements in between.. but.. the Pile-force is still there in the musical DNA. Even if things have gotten more technical and polished in the sound of metal over the years, Piley still has a way of imparting his seminal stink onto a rawkin' rose.

8. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

While people would LOVE me to get more 'brutal', I will continue to just write what I write, not applying any shaping or filtering or guiding towards any particular sound or style.. I just write and riff, and what comes out comes out as it does. I just try to document it without too too many mistakes. Since I don't have a proper label or management or any type of business sense, who the fuck knows when or even IF another Pile-slab will spurt forth.. cross your fingers... I know I am!! I've got a load of songs in various stages of composition.. just need a 'proper' plan of action and distribution. We've been trying to sell the Night Of The Polished Turd live album by ourselves, but, it's slow going at best, with our little sickfuckrecords.com website and a scant few willing distros. Sadly, the heyday of Pile is past.. the size of my audience is in that gray middle zone.. not big enough to warrant touring, but not small enough to be ignored.. a tough spot, indeed.

9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

 Piledriver was influenced by the harder acts of the 70's and early 80's.. from Blue Cheer/MC5/Iggy.. thru Alice Cooper, Kiss.. thru Venom and Slayer's first efforts and many nasty points inbetween.. we wanted to be like Alice Cooper's SickFuckoPsychoBastard cousin, whom he doesn't talk to, 'cuz he's afraid of him. We wanted to be the most shocking over the top example of highintensityspeedyclangy metal.. and for about 7 seconds, we were!! Then, things got waaaay crazy, and now in the 2010's we're barely a step above Donald fucking Duck plunking an electric banjo in the 'intensity' comparisons, ha ha! But! Yes.. for a few seconds, we were the 'heavy shit'. Of course, we took a bit of the edge off with my particular bent of humour, but, I've always been a goof, so, it's only natural it would creep into the music.. which again, helped round the edges, keeping us from developing the heady aggression and salacious sickness that some other bands went on to foster, while carving a niche for ourselves at the same time.

 10. Does Satanism or Occultism play any role in the newer music?
No, none, nada. The funny thing about all this Satan-stuff, and specifically the song Sex With Satan.. it was a morality play, literally denouncing the act of getting in-flagrante with Ol'Beelzebub, not encouraging it.. the crux of the biscuit is; dine on Devil-dick and you're excommunicated from the church. That, 'Flowers of Evil' and 'the Incubus', to my fast failing memory are the only few songs we did that dabbled in this type of 'satanic' silliness.. Since I am a firm atheist with the belief that God doesn't exist, it stands to reason that neither does the Devil. In my mind, the only evil that exists is homo sapiens ourselves, truly the scum of the earth. That's it. We are the bad shit. 'No rock so bellicose, no other animal so morose, no life form quite so gross as homo sapiens, scum of the earth'. Gee.. that sounds like a lyric.. oh, yeah.. it is. Mine, from the ill-fated Sofa-Q project... Nahh.. there ain' no nefarious dude trying to scalp us from God.. we're SO good at ruining ourselves we don't need any fictitious external/eternal help at all from any vapourous mental inventions.. we'll autograph our own epitaph with great ease on our own. It was the fashion at the time (along with wearing an onion on your belt) to be all devil-worshippy n' stuff.. so we included one or two to appease the wants and whims of the audience, not from any deep held beliefs. On Metal Manifesto there's 'God You're Stupid II' which clearly demonstrates my position on religion.. it's bullshit, and people are scaredy-sheep to follow such obvious mass mind-control and outright servitude under a gilded few, of whom a certain number enjoy crawling into young bums for fun and secret-sauce depositry. So. No. Enough of that silliness, I say.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
 Well, when I'm not a crazed and salacious example of heavy-metalized leather-laden excess, I'm a bit of a gearheaded nerd, so, the tools of the recording arts get a lot of my attention.. large diaphragm mics of ancient origin, tube compressors, optical compressors, solid-state compressors and small gas powered compressors.. noise floor, THD, and headroom specs... algorithms featuring digital masked frequency bit truncations.. you know, audio-nerd-stuffs. I'm also a gearhead when it comes to cars that make loud noises, spew fire and smoke, and ruin much vulcanized rubber on a regular basis. I like looking at women. I like touching women. Sometimes I even like conversing with these women if they've let me look and touch, or if they have some audio equipment info for me, heh heh. My rampant nerdishness is further manifested in my obsession with Photoshopping incongruous elements into humourous pastiches of pixellated buffoonery. Then there are the innumberable hours I expend on appreciating and fetishizing Frank Zappa and his music. And, yes, I do enjoy a good meal.. or three. That's me.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
. I'd like to wrap up with; 
Civilization has proven to be a massive mistake, or at best an enormous lie: all humans must die. Cheers!!!!