Interview
Tales of a Crestview Kid
A Memoir of a Teenage, Horror Loving, Heavy Metal Lesbian – A talk with author Tammy Germani
Imagine if you will the quintessential rust belt town, immersed neck deep in poverty. A city that industry has forgotten and that emptiness is written across the faces of the generations of lifelong residents. New Castle Pennsylvania is that town, a town that has a “rubber band effect” on all those who have made it beyond its borders. A town that is riddled with vacant buildings and government funded housing.
However as you venture deeper into the neighborhoods and the side streets you will discover a vibrant mix of inhabitants. Those inhabitants, the taxpayers, the families, the freaks, the junkies, and the plain weirdos are what give New Castle, Pennsylvania its infamous reputation. It is from these streets that many a tails have been woven. Some of these tales are true, some have landed people on the wrong side of the law, and some of the tales remain unspoken in mixed company.
One of those home grown “inhabitants” turned California transplant is Tammy Germani. She has recently released a book titled “Tales of a Crestview Kid”. This book weaves a series of coming-of-age memoirs from New Castle, which is perfectly summarized by the book’s subtitle “A Memoir of a Teenage, Horror Loving, Heavy Metal Lesbian.”
I got to sit down with Tammy on the back porch of her mother’s house in the Croton neighborhood of New Castle. We reminisced about the days of our youth and growing up in New Castle. We also talked about her life experiences along with her giving some insight about the book.
First off, congratulations! I saw the book was up to #19 on Amazon in the LGBTQ+ biographies and in the 11,000s overall.
Yeah! That’s great. I had no idea that it was that many. I’m doing my best to stay off social media. I just sit and revel in it. I went and had a couple drinks as part of my celebration last night. Now it’s going to take me an entire month to recover because I’m old, and that’s how it works now.
Growing up in New Castle, how does that small town mindset translate to the big bad city of Los Angeles?
It’s definitely one of a kind, and that is why I wrote the book. I tell stories while I tour doing all this stuff in the music industry. We will have our down time after a shift and after driving all these rock stars around. I will start telling stories, and the people around me are looking at me and saying, “Where the hell are you from?” Then they are like, “You have some weird stories.” I guess so; I guess weirdness just follows me everywhere.
I try to explain that New Castle is like Kentucky meets the Bronx. Even in the way we speak, our slang, dialect, and the accent is a cross between a New York wiseguy and some trailer park trash. When I left in 1995, it was like Saturday Night Fever meets Twin Peaks, but now it’s more Duck Dynasty meets Jersey Shore. It went from two cool worlds colliding to two uncool worlds colliding.
Being in these large metro areas, is there something about New Castle that you wish these places had?
Oh Yes! Pizza Joes! Augustine’s too. I miss the actual Augustine’s [not the frozen] and DeRosa’s Bakery. Their fresh bread was the best. So, yeah, there are things like that, but there is really not much like that around here anymore. You know, that feeling of “I really can’t wait to get home for this.” There is none of that anymore. The book is written from the 70s through the 90s, and there was so much in those times, but now it is literally a rustbelt. There is nothing left and nothing to do. Our drug problem is off the chain. I don’t blame people for being drug addicts. What else are you gonna do around here?
In that same vein, were there any stories that you left out or were forced to self-edit?
Oooh yeah. There were a lot of things that I was like, “I know I’m gonna get my ass kicked.”
All the names have been changed?
Oh yes, all the names have been changed. There are only two names that remained unchanged in the book aside from my family, because I couldn’t really change those. There were a lot of things that I thought about and said, “Mmmm that’s probably not a good idea to write about that.”
So, yes, there were some things I had to cut out, ‘cause this place is not afraid of handing out ass-whippins.
Speaking of ass whippin’ Crestview, where most of your book is based has changed its name to Oak Leaf Gardens and this week just like 20 plus years ago there was an ‘event’ there. Apparently, there was a man and a woman fighting for whatever reason. She was on a couch, and he flipped over the couch and caused her to break several vertebrae and is currently paralyzed. So new name, same game.
Sheeze. You can change the name of that place all you want. It’s built on an Indian burial ground or something. Get a bunch of broke people together and somethin’ gonna happen.
What has been the most overwhelming or surprising response you have gotten about the book?
I’ve been getting a lot of “It’s really good” responses, and I’ve been waiting for the “meh” or someone to say something shitty. I mean, I graduated from Vo-Tech and my grammar is not the best, but I had it all proofread and edited. Writing is not my wheelhouse. Playing drums, punk rock and heavy metal bands is what I do.
I started to write a tell-all about the rock stars I work for, but I felt I needed to write about where I’m from to lead up to this. I just can’t hit the ground runnin’ and talking shit. Once I started writing about where I grew up and Crestview, I realized this was much more entertaining than who the prima donna of this band is and who is having a meltdown over here. I have those types of stories for days about some of the biggest names in rock-n-roll. I have had to sign so many NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreements).
Well, that was one of my questions. What made you want to release these stories out of your head and into the wild?
I initially wanted to do a tell-all book about these rock stars and throw everybody under the bus. I’ve been doing this gig for 20 years, and I didn’t care. I’m over it. And thought it might be hurtful to some people, and I don’t want to be like that. Although some of them kinda deserve it. But I didn’t want to be a home wrecker and do something terrible. Plus, I thought Crestview was way more entertaining. Once you read it, I think you will get a kick out of it.
You briefly mentioned your employment in the music industry. Tell us about being all over and working as a PA, a runner, a driver, etc.
I was just working Punk Rock Bowling with Rancid. I was there one day, and my brother called and said, “Mom is in the hospital,” so I hopped on a plane and came home.
I started out booking punk rock shows in LA. Local bar shows, like the Garage, El Cid, and Bar Delux. All the punk rock kids were stagehands, and that’s how I ended up pushing gear. I hated unloading and loading trucks, setting up, and pushing gear. Hated it! I was like, “What’s this runner thing? You just go spend other people’s money? I’m in! Where do I sign up?” So I ended up doing that for a long time and began working music festivals and artist transportation. I used to have a thing called Pit Fire Productions. It was me and my friend Jasper. She is the head of transportation for a lot of music festivals, like Bonnaroo, Life Is Beautiful, Coachella, Stagecoach, and all these big festivals. She said, “Just come work with me, be a driver.” So, I closed down doing the punk rock show in LA and have been doing that, driving around a lot and listening to them talk-shit. It’s funny, those rock-n-rollers will tell it all to each other, but I’m right there thinking, “I can hear you.” Everything, I hear it all. I hear about you cheating on your wife, and I don’t know if this girl is of age.
I’m like, “You don’t know me. Shut up.” Aside from that, most of the people I work for are great. I only have a few bad stories. Most of them have been really cool. There is much more positive than negative. More often, it’s not even the artist, it’s their people. It’s that rigger guy, or the stage manager dude, or whatever. It’s never really the band.
Back to the book, which you self-published. What was the biggest fear about taking that step aside from being afraid nobody would read it?
Back in LA I went to a bookstore I used to work at, and I asked if I could do a signing there. They were like “eerrrr self-published… I don’t know.” But it looks like they are gonna do it and I’m waiting to hear back from The New Castle Public Library. Also have one in Boardman, Ohio along with one in Parma, Ohio which is in the Cleveland area. I’m working on some things for the West Coast too.
I think I got sidetracked. What was my fear? I kept getting rejected by publishers, because nobody wanted a memoir. It is kind of narcissistic to write about yourself. I kinda feel like an ass writing about myself, but that’s what I know the best. I was getting bummed out from the publishers and just decided to put it out myself. I’m still able to have a publisher take it over if it comes to that. I just have to suspend everything with Amazon. Now it is something tangible, something to hold in your hand. At first I kinda got big headed and I wanted a publisher, but with all my bands we put out our own stuff. I never had a problem doing that before; I don’t know why I thought that way now.
Is there a part 2 in you?
Oh yeah. For sure. That is definitely going to happen once I leave here and head back to LA. But it’s going to be fun, because I can’t remember anything. I mean I was drunk or on drugs. I was in a complete blackout for all the 90s.
That is actually one of the things I wanted ask you. How is it that your write? I mean are you like “Oh I remember this” and start jotting down notes?
Yes, I will be with friends and remember things, but they are just as wet-brained as me. I’ll start telling them this or that happened and they are like “No it didn’t” and I have to tell them “Yes it did!”
So, yes I have some ideas. I lived in a punk rock house on a couch. I had a dirt bike and backpack and I slept on the couch. I’ve been evicted, lived in my car. The whole LA starter package, it totally happened. I fell into the going out all the time. It’s one of those “If you could tell your younger self” things. It’s like “wise up”. I was sooo drunk all of the time. What a bummer.
Looking back what the one “I should have never done that” thing?
Oh, there is so many. I can’t even. I don’t have enough fingers to count. Some people are like “No Regrets!” I’m like bullshit, there is nobody who has no regrets, and if you don’t you’re a dick.
What next for you?
I’m going out on tour with a band Phum Viphurit from Thailand at the end of August. I’m kinda like their den-mom. I’m like “I made sandwiched, get in the car, get in the van, get your stuff”. I tell them “Go do sound-check, I’ll get the luggage and take care of dinner”.
He’s is kinda like Jack Johnson. Not exactly my style, but Phum and the whole band are great. I was out with them a couple years ago and doing it again through the US and Canada.
At this point a large moth/butterfly flies across the porch we are sitting on.
What the hell was that? It’s some big moth of some sort.
Mothra or Mothman?!?
Yea, we got Mothra live
Have you ever been to the Mothman Festival?
Oh yeah, Plesantville?
Yep,
I went to the psychic fair here yesterday. It was at Hill View Manor. I love all that stuff. I have an insane occult book collection. It’s more or less for reference. Oh, you had a dream about werewolves, let’s see what that means, I have a wall of books that can give many interpretations.
That’s the other thing about this area, Lawrence County; there is a high level of activity. I don’t know if you want to call it paranormal or maybe because it’s old here. I wrote about some of them in the book, some just really weird experiences. That kind of cross over kind of ghostly kind of thing.
I didn’t realize Mary Black was a New Castle thing until I said it outside of New Castle. I’ve been in Pittsburgh and people have no idea what I’m talking about.
Really? I know people in California knew what it was, but didn’t know where it originated from. I’m like “Originators.”
That and The Green Man.
I wrote about The Green Man in the book too. As kids we would hear the legends of that. My friend Jeff would say “If you don’t have cigarettes for him he will tear your arms off. He has super monkey strength”. We were terrified of this whole Green Man thing. My mom heard us and was like “What? No. Not even like that.” The poor guy got burnt and we are going to stare at him. It was kinda messed up, but he’s a legend.
Then there was Zombie Land. This was out by what we called the Heavy Metal Graveyard. It had these big iron spiked gates like it was a King Diamond album cover. We used to go drink out there all the time. There was supposedly all this Satanic, occult stuff happening out there. We would all go out there and get scared. Nothing really happened.
I used to work for a construction company in the early 90s. There was an old mechanic guy who worked there. He had to be 60 years old if not older. One day he asks me if I ever heard about the UFO that flew down the streets of Ellwood City or Wampum. He went on to tell this story about how the police chased a UFO through town and that then never were able to catch up to it. He also said that everyone who was close to it, their mouth tasted like pennies.
Oh I never heard that, that sounds like a good one. We were working Bonnaroo one year and our friend Gary; his van got hit by lighting. All the gauges and the speedometer went all crazy; he said “I can’t get this metal taste out of my mouth.” So we would make fun telling him he got abducted by a UFO. We would ask him if lost any time. Did you have a black out? Do you remember driving here?
I went out to Kecksburg Pennsylvania a couple of times. Kecksburg has a UFO event that definitely happened. It’s about an hour or so drive from here. They has a recreation of it right there on the main street. In Kecksburg everything is the same address, the fire department, the VFW, the landmark, everything. The UFO is shaped like a bell and it has these weird hieroglyphics around the edge of it. Apparently it crashed there in 1965 and the Army was there quicker than lighting and loaded it onto a truck and got it out of there. There was all this weird talk about it being part of Die Glocke, the Nazi time travel project.
So when you go there to see the UFO stuff and gift shop, they are like “go here and ring this buzzer.” It’s in the VFW. So we go and ring the bell and say “We are here for the UFO stuff.” They are like “uuuhh ok, I’ll buzz you in.” We walk in and it’s a bar and there is nothing, just an American flag and a bunch of drunk dudes. They are like “oh yea, it’s over there.” It’s a closet. You open the closet and realize somebody didn’t have a laminator back in the day. It is all these newspaper clippings and some are just copies. They just Scotch taped them and they are all peeling off, falling down, and bent over. But I still bought a coffee mug, a t-shirt, a book and all that. I buy all that shit. I love all that Bigfoot and UFO stuff.
As you were writing these stories, who did you see in your mind reading this? Did you imagine it being read by New Castle your family, or something else?
I was writing it more or less in hopes that somebody would make a script or series out of it. So it’s not really to tell people from here since they already know. It more for outsiders and I’m finding that is who is enjoying it more, is those people who aren’t from here.
Any last points you would like to add?
Just that for the most part I write it to be funny, but it also is about being in dire straits. There is nobody with money living at Crestview Gardens. Its stories about being broke. It’s about trial and tribulation and the hustles that your mom pulls to make things work. It’s funny, but there are things that pull at the heart strings. I mean Crestview is Crestview it was the projects for a lack of a better term. Once HUD took over there were some mentally ill people there that I don’t think really should have been around children. Then at the same time crack became a thing, and that was just insane. I had my ass kidded by adults. I was just a kid, maybe 13 or 14 years old and my mom didn’t even hit me like that. Adults tuned me up as a kid. I wanted Drew Barrymore’s Fire Starter telekinesis and I would have caught everybody on fire cause I was so mad. But the book is funny. It kinda reminds me of “Crooklyn” the Spike Lee movie or some people have said it’s like “Everybody Hates Chris”.
So there you have it, just a taste of the insanity that is Crestview Gardens and New Castle Pennsylvania. If you want to dive deeper into the mystic and lunacy you can get your very own copy of the “Tales of a Crestview Kid” from Amazon.
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by Josh Drespling
I was at Preserving Underground to cover Filth and Resistor. I was all set with my photo pass and cameras at the ready. And then this young band exploded onto the stage. No grand entrance, no intro music, no flashy lights—just a wall of noise from the first guitar chord and a guttural growl that seemed to come from somewhere below the floorboards. I was blown away. Thoroughly impressed.
This band was Inferious, out of Dayton, Ohio. If you look up the word “inferious,” most dictionaries will tell you it means something low-status, submissive, or fit for sacrifice. But this Ohio metalcore outfit Inferious has spent the last several years proving that definition couldn’t be more wrong. Tonight in the basement of a converted church, Inferious delivered raw, sweat-soaked fury to all who were smart enough to show up early.
Before their set was even half over, I made up my mind that I had to talk to them and let our readers know about this band. Here is how it went:
Empire: This was the first time I have ever seen you guys. I’ve heard your name before but never had the chance to listen. The show tonight was freaking awesome. I loved it from the first few notes. The vocals and the guitar tone just hit ya right in the chest.
Since I am a new fan, can you give me the nickel tour of how you came together and I understand you are from Dayton, Ohio.
Shaun O’Shaughnessy – Guitarist: I live in Dayton, and the original band members all formed in Dayton, but it was kind of a collage of multiple band folks. People from the southwest Ohio area. Gabe [McQueen – vocals] and I were there at the beginning, and then through some line-up changes, this is our current and most solid touring line-up so far with Cody and Kyle. They also are from the area and have been in several bands. So they were always in the same circles, at the same shows, talking to the same people. It all worked out one day.
Empire: Given that, it seems like there is a healthy music scene in Dayton. Are there any good clubs, any fields to play in?
Shaun: It’s hard to say Dayton, Ohio, specifically so much as just southwest Ohio because of the way that Dayton, Columbus, and Cincinnati form like a little triangle. You’re only an hour apart from each other. So we can get into that larger music scene pretty easily. So Dayton itself has venues, but the whole collective area has stuff. There’s some house venues, like Gnome House, there’s Bob’s, but then Cincinnati has Madison Live, and Design Collective [DSGN CLLCTV] was doing shows for a while, but I think they got in trouble.
Cody: Yeah, it some code stuff.
Empire: I think there are a couple decent places in Akron, and even across the border is Huntington, WV?
Shaun: Yeah, that area still does have sick stuff. It’s just farther away from our personal local scene. Cleveland is kind of separate from us too.
Cody: That’s not necessarily our scene, but there is such a good underground local scene from the Huntington / Athens / Charleston area. Shout to Feverwar.
Shaun: We were just at the Grog Shop [outside Cleveland].
Cody: We were at the New Foundry not too long ago.
Empire: Oh, yeah, like upstairs?
Shaun: No, it is Foundry’s new location.
Empire: I’ve not been there.
Shaun: It looks basically like the old one, but it’s new.
Empire: You mentioned the Grog Shop. Were you guys there with Filth and Resistor?
Shaun: Yeah, we’ve been on tour with Filth and Resistor. The first half of the tour had Two-Piece on it; we missed them, but now Mono’s [Monochromatic Black] on for the second half, and they’re homies.
Gabe and I toured with them in Inferious a couple years ago with band called AMTAE, and Monochromatic Black. So, those are long-time homies as well. So, we’ve known Tanya [Elizabeth (Beickert) – Vocals] and Eddie [DeCesare – Drums] for a long time, and Pierce [Akers – Guitar] is our new best friend as well.
Empire: So, it’s just like a big hang for you guys.
Shaun: Yeah, all the homies are back. We’ve toured with Filth before too; we were out with them on the Oceano tour, and then actually a year ago, I think like right now, like today a year ago, we toured with Filth also. So, it’s Filth and Oceano, and then Filth again.
So, it’s been fun to have a full circle of friend hangs, and every night’s been sick. The show turnouts have been amazing, and then just hanging out with all our friends has been amazing.
Empire: That’s part of what makes it fun. Whether you have 50 people or 1000, you have that camaraderie and shared experience.
Empire: So do you currently have an album out? Where do you guys stand with that?
Gabe: We have music out everywhere, on all music platforms: Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, and YouTube Music. Shit, if you even got to rip that shit, YouTube to MP4, do it, man!
Shaun: We got your back. We got three full lengths and an EP. We are working on a new EP with a label we’re signed to that we’ll announce here soon, but that’s going to be really exciting stuff, and just stoked to be able to get that out soon.
Empire: Cool. So don’t say the label name, but your deal is in place, and then the new album in the fall, winter, spring?
Shaun: Yeah, the EP should be coming out sometime this year, if all the schedules align and everything, but that’s in the works.
Empire: Cool. Filth tour, what’s after that?
Shaun: Finishing up the EP. Record release cycle, and then hopefully touring in support of that. Whether it’s co-headlining with somebody or doing some more support stuff, we’re down for whatever. Hopefully we can fill up the rest of the year.
You know, touring is hard financially, so while we’re able to still make ends meet on the road, it’s hard to pay all the bills, so we’ve got to go home, stack our bread back up, and then be ready to go back out again.
Empire: I understand. Is this your first time in Pittsburgh?
Shaun: We’ve actually played Preserving. This is at least the fifth time.
We played the DIY room, we played this room, this orientation, we played this room when it was facing the other direction. AJ, the owner, has been good to us. He is a rad dude.
Empire: AJ is great.
Shaun: The record shop and merch store upstairs is sick, I just bought a shirt, a Never Ending Game shirt, because we have to do a laundry soon, and I bought a shirt to extend one more day to get through.
Empire: Anything you guys want to add, anything going on? Shameless plugs?
Shaun: This has been a kind of sick tour, because I think we’ve all got to see family members. Gabe’s dad dropped him off, so we got to see Gabe’s dad. We got to go get breakfast with my mom and some family, I saw my aunt. Cody’s mom let us stay at her crib, and we got to hang out with her and his family. Kyle’s family came out last night and hung out, and that was pretty sick, so it’s been a good time.
Empire: Kyle hasn’t said anything, so tell me about your family coming out and seeing the show.
Kyle: I mean, it was my sister’s first time seeing us live.
Empire: What did she have to say? I mean, I’m sure she knew the style.
Kyle: Oh, yeah, she’s conditioned to it.
Empire: She’s not like a Britney Spears fan at a hardcore show?
Kyle: No, no, she’s by far not a normie, but close to it.
Empire: Thank you, gentlemen. That’s all I have today. Appreciate it, and thanks for the show. It was great; loved it.
Shaun: See you next time.
Before that night at Preserving Underground, I’ll be honest: Inferious was just a name on a show flyer. Another opening band before the acts I actually came to see.
That’s the thing about this level of heavy music. The headliners get the lights, the longer set, and the crowd that’s already warmed up. But the openers? They get twenty-five minutes, a soundcheck that barely counts, and a room full of people who are mostly looking at their phones. Inferious didn’t just overcome that. They incinerated it.
What struck me most, sitting down with Shaun, Gabe, Cody, and Kyle after the show, was how unpretentious they were. No egos. No rock-star posturing. Just four guys from southwest Ohio who’ve been grinding in the same circles, playing the same basement venues, and slowly building something real. They talked about the small venues with the same reverence other bands reserve for stadiums. They shouted out Feverwar. They bought merch from the shop upstairs to make it through one more day on the road.
That’s the part you don’t see from the crowd. The financial grind. The van trouble. The “stack our bread back up” reality of modern touring. And yet, here they were—genuinely stoked to have seen family members at shows, genuinely grateful for AJ at Preserving keeping the doors open for underground bands, and genuinely excited about an upcoming EP they couldn’t even name the label for yet.
Inferious may have a name that suggests something low-status, something sacrificial. But after watching them level a converted church in New Kensington, and after listening to them talk about their scene with the easy confidence of people who have nothing to prove, I think the definition needs an update.
Check them out on all the streaming platforms. Catch them when they roll through your town on the next tour. And for the love of God, show up early.
You never know which opening band is going to blow your doors off.
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AESTHETIC PERFECTION CAME INTO PENNSYLVANIA AND BROUGHT WITH THEM JULIEN K AND PRIEST. EMPIRE EXTREME GOT TO SIT DOWN AND TALK TO DANIEL GRAVES OF AESTHETIC PERFECTION BEFORE THE SHOW. CHECK OUT THE INTERVIEW BELOW.
JULIEN K OPENED UP THE SHOW AND ALWAYS PUT ON A HELL OF A SHOW. RYAN AND AMIR AND GALEN ARE JUST REALLY GREAT GUYS AND TRULY APPRECIATE THEIR FANS. ITS ALWAYS GREAT SEEING THEM PLAY LIVE AND ENDING THE SET WITH A THROWBACK TO THE DAYS OF ORGY WITH “BLUE MONDAY”.
PRIEST WAS UP NEXT AND LOVE SEEING MERCURY AND THE GUYS ON AND OFF THE STAGE. WE GOT TO HEAR SOME NEW SONGS AND SOME OLD ONES. I LOVED THEY PLAYED “SIGNAL IN THE NOISE”. SUCH A GREAT BAND TO SEE LIVE.
AESTHETIC WAS UP NEXT AND I WAS EXCITED TO SEE THE BAND ON A HEADLINING TOUR . IT WAS ALSO GREAT TO RUN INTO AND TALK TO JOE AND NOIZITH BEFORE THE SHOW. AESTHETIC PUTS ON A GREAT SHOW AND THE ENERGY FROM THE 3 IS INSANE AND NON STOP. SUCH A GREAT BAND TO SEE LIVE AND SUCH GREAT CATCHY SONGS THAT WAS MAKING THE CROWD DANCE AND ENJOY THEMSELVES. IF THIS TOUR COMES YOUR WAY MAKE SURD TO CHECK IT OUT.
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Interview with Peter Smith, drummer for Resistor
Live photos by: Ron S. of Empire Extreme
Band promo photo credit: Sean Raynor
Long Island’s Resistor have never been content to simply exist within genre lines—they’d rather bulldoze them entirely. The self-described purveyors of “knuckle dragging wika wika core” are poised to unleash their full-length debut BITE THIS on March 27 via Paid Vacation, and if the advance copies circulating are any indication, the 29-minute assault is exactly the kind of no-skip, leave-them-wanting-more experience the quintet has been perfecting since their 2023 So It Begins EP. Built from the ground up with producer Randy LeBoeuf (Kublai Khan TX, The Acacia Strain) and featuring the turntable wizardry of Manhattan’s own Anthony Arce, the album channels the cocky swagger of nu-metal’s heyday through a hardcore filter that’s equal parts brutal and self-aware—a balance that’s become the band’s signature.
Empire Extreme recently caught up with drummer Pete Smith ahead of the album’s release and the band’s upcoming Northeast run with Filth, including a April 30 stop at Pittsburgh’s Preserving Underground. Over the course of the conversation, Smith dove into the story behind the album’s striking clay sculpture artwork, the reality of playing the Gathering of the Juggalos, why cassettes hold a special place in his heart, and how a wrestling ring full of real blood became the setting for one of the band’s most memorable music videos. He also addressed the obvious elephant in the room: whether those Islander jerseys are going to cause problems when the band hits Penguin and Steeler territory.
Empire Extreme – First off to jump right into it. The new album is coming out March 27, and my first question has to be, what is the album artwork?
Pete – Long story short, we’ve been following this theme with our last couple of records. We started with our EPs, so it all began a couple of years ago. We found this cool clown design that just resonated with us. For the last couple of records, we’ve been doing different versions of this clown. For this last one we found a random clown sculpture on Instagram by a local artist. We all saw it, and we fell in love. It’s so cool, it’s off-putting, but like in the best way. We all like it and fit with the music, so we hit the guy up. Initially it wasn’t available, then came to find out he likes our music, and he’s already a fan. Then he was like, “Yeah, you guys can just totally use the artwork” He was super stoked about it. So yeah, it makes a fun story.
Empire Extreme – That’s awesome, I was going to ask you about who the artist was. Can you give us his name, and give him some props?
Pete – Yeah, I believe on Instagram it’s Clay for Brains. His name is Tim. He makes these really cool clay sculptures.
Empire Extreme – Oh, so it’s like a three-dimensional kind of art?
Pete – Yeah, it’s a real sculpture. Our singer [Anthony Grambo] does a lot of graphic design work, so he took the sculpture and made into it what it is on the record.
Empire Extreme – That’s awesome that you are hands-on with that, and plus you got a local guy.
Empire Extreme – Speaking local, you guys are from New York, whereabouts?
Pete – Yeah, so we’re pretty much all based on Long Island, New York, but our DJ [Anthony Arce] lives in Manhattan. We’re all from more western Long Island, and you know. We definitely claim New York. You’ll see us wearing New York stuff, pretty much everywhere you see us. We’re not shy about it, but yeah, Long Island boys for sure.
Empire Extreme – As you know Empire is based in Pittsburgh, and I’ve seen a couple photos of you guys wearing an Islander’s jersey. That’s just not going to go well when the tour hits Pittsburgh. This is deep Penguin and Steelers territory. LOL!
Pete – You know, good thing our singer is not here. He would have a lot of things to say about the Islander’s. For me, it’s the Mets.
Empire Extreme – How about the Jets? We stole Aaron Rodgers now, so…
Pete – Oh, God. Yeah, honestly, my whole family is Jets fans, I haven’t paid attention to football for a long time. It’s very hard as a Jets fan, so you don’t want to pay attention. It’s pretty depressing.
Empire Extreme – All right, back to music stuff. You guys are doing a handful of shows with Filth. Resistor has done some shows with them before, but you seem like kind of buddies. How did that all develop, and are you looking forward to this next handful of shows with them?
Pete – We are all super excited about these shows. We met the guys in Filth. I believe it was summer 2024. That was when we were first gaining any bit of traction. We had finally released our new EP. We were really stoked when we got the first offer with them and it was like an instant connection. We became great friends, and since then, it’s history.
This is going to be our third run together, and this one might be the best one. It has so many good bands on it, a lot of good shows. It’s going to be really awesome.
Empire Extreme – Filth has been one of my favorites in the last couple years. Resistor kind of came onto my radar because of them, plus you were all over my socials. I think it was because of Filth or whatever, but yeah.
Pete – On our second tour together, I actually filled in with Filth on drums, so there’s a bit of it. We’re connected in more ways than one, for sure.
Empire Extreme – Well, your singer, Grambo is a big Limp Bizkit fan. With Filth redoing “Rolling”, is there any chance that you might knock out some type of collaboration or do something silly live?
Pete – We’ve always thrown up the idea of doing some kind of collab, but I’ll leave it at that. I won’t spoil it if we will or we won’t. If it happens, if it happens.
Empire Extreme – All right. Please explain “knuckle dragging wika wika core”.
Pete – “Knuckle dragging wika wika core” at its core, no pun intended is the best way that we can describe what we do. We feel like we’re doing something familiar, but it’s also something that is hard to place into a specific genre because we feel like it can kind of fall under a couple of things. So, we’re like, we got to start thinking of our own thing to call it. And what we landed on was “knuckle dragging wika wika core”. It’s just about crazy, heavy riffs. You know, stuff that makes you want to drag your knuckles across the ground and then you hear the wika, wika, wika, in the background. So, we just put them together.
Empire Extreme – When I first saw that, I just kind of laughed inside. I was like, that nails it right there.
Pete – Yeah, exactly. You know, we’re like, while we are super heavy, with a the “fuck you” [attitude] we also try to be a little goofy and self-aware of where we are. And we’re not taking ourselves too seriously. We are having fun.
Empire Extreme – Can you tell us about working with Randy LeBoeuf (Acacia Stain, Misery Signals, Counterparts, Thy Art is Murder, Every Time I Die, Unity TX, Kublai Khan TX)?
Pete – Randy, I cannot say enough positive things about him? Because he truly is like one of the best at what he does. But yeah, we went to the studio around mid-August last year. And I think up until November, we were writing and recording. We did have a month-long tour in between. But otherwise, we were literally at the studio writing, recording, almost the whole second half of last year. We feel like once it comes out, this record is really going to let people see why we’re taking so long.
Empire Extreme – We got an advance copy here at Empire and I have listened to it probably, I don’t know maybe 10 or 12 times. Just the heaviness of the whole album and it has that groove and a real hip-hop sensibility to it.
Pete – That’s awesome. Do you have a favorite song by any chance? Not to you on the spot first. The one that sticks out to you.
Empire Extreme – I don’t know the names off the top of my head. They all kind of still blend together in my head. But obviously the two singles you put out the videos for. I mean, both of those are slammin’.
Pete – I’m only asking because we are at a weird point where the album’s coming out in two weeks and obviously, we’re going to start playing live and we’re going to start releasing more music videos. So, I just wanted to kind-of get a vibe of what people are enjoying right off the bat.
Empire Extreme – I know exactly what you mean. Let me say this, you know, people say back in the day it used to be albums. How it is now with singles and streaming. We would listen to the whole album without skipping a single track.
Pete – Exactly. That was our main goal with this for sure. We wanted a no skip album. You know, a full listening experience.
Empire Extreme – Yes, it is. Plus, with the entire album clocking in at 29 or 30 minutes long? It’s like, oh, it’s over already.
Pete – Exactly. That’s another thing that we always preached that you never want to overstay your welcome. When it comes to live sets, but also with albums too. We very much want to leave them wanting more. You don’t want to get to the end of an album or a live set and be like, all right, we’ll I wish they were done 10 minutes ago. So, yeah, that’s like our number one thing. We always want to leave people wanting more. That’s a big thing for us.
Empire Extreme – I’ve been in lots of different bands in my life and that was always one of my things. Leave them wanting more because then they’re going to buy the CD, then they’re going to check us out online and even come to another show. We didn’t want to go there and play for an hour and bore them after half an hour.
Pete – I can’t tell you how many bands I’ve watched for the first 20 minutes of the show. Like, this is awesome. I’m so stoked. Even though it could be my favorite band on the planet, I’m watching it for 20, 30 minutes. This is awesome. This rules. And then, you know, minute by minute, you start to feel like, ah, I just wanna go home, this going to go all night.
Empire Extreme – Yeah, you’re looking at your phone and your watch.
Pete – Yes, exactly. I’ve got to speak about it from a showgoer’s perspective or a listener’s perspective, you know? Yeah, that’s a thing that is important to us.
Empire Extreme – You mentioned the videos. Currently there’s the “Dead Soul” and “Petty Fuck” videos. You kind of mentioned there’s more in the works. What’s the story?
Pete – Yeah, I won’t spoil what song it’s for. We did just shoot a video yesterday. That should be coming out the day of the record. It’s going to be really cool. It’s a really funny video. It’s not like the ones we’ve done before. It’s pretty much all a story. It’s very juicy. It’s so ridiculous that you’ll laugh when you see it. It’s not like any video you’ve ever seen before. I can promise you that.
Empire Extreme – I’m looking forward to it.
You guys played the Gathering of the Juggalos this past summer. I’m very familiar with the Juggalo family and have been involved with Psychopathic off and on over the year. It can be intimidating going in knowing that some bands get up there and they are pelted with bottles and booed off stage.
Pete – I want to be as positive as possible, but I’m not going to lie. It wasn’t a great experience. It’s one of those things where I’m happy, we did it. I’m glad to say that we did it. The community, we love the community. The people that were there to see us were super stoked. We love the community and the fans. The time was just weird. We just had to play early, and we also were in the middle of the studio. So, we had to drive from New York to Ohio for one day at a festival and then we drove right back. And things just didn’t line up for us.
Empire Extreme – So it was more of a logistics thing?
Pete – Yeah, I don’t want to say it was a totally bad experience. Just walking around the festival was crazy. You know what I mean? It is certainly site to see. It was a lot of fun. Everybody there was super cool and super nice. I love all the fans. Everyone who we talked to were the coolest people ever. I highly recommend that if you could go you should go once in your life. I would recommend going because it’s so ridiculous. It’s awesome.
Empire Extreme – That moment you walk in the gates of the Gathering. You’re just like, Oh my.
Pete – You know, it’s unlike anything you could truly do on the planet. So, in that sense, it rules. Our guitar player [Anthony Conti] did a Faygo launch competition, which is pretty funny. That probably was the highlight for me. I wish I could say it was like the best thing ever. And there were 5,000 people watching us, but yeah, we can’t win them all.
Empire Extreme – Well, the way they have it set up with the multiple stages and some of them are playing at four o’clock in the morning or whatever.
Pete – That’s the thing. The stage that we played was the second stage out of three. We thought it was like it’s like this big stage near everybody. It was a pretty big stage, but the problem is it’s not near anybody or anything. It was a 10-minute walk away from the main stage and then down a huge hill. If you weren’t near the hill, you couldn’t even see the stage at all. So, no one even knew where we were playing.
Empire Extreme – How was the load into that stage?
Pete – Surprisingly that was the easiest part. I think the only real issue was how early we had to play. Our set time was around four o’clock. We were like “Oh, that’s perfect.” We are right in the middle of day, everyone’s going to be like hanging out. But I think the reality is with the Gathering people aren’t really getting active until a bit later, you know what I mean? It takes until six or seven o’clock and then people start to come out and party. We realized that after the fact, but you know, you live and learn.
That’s why I said it’s like a lot of, a lot of little things. But overall, it was a fun experience, something I’m glad that we did for sure. We just had a couple little of hiccups.
Empire Extreme – To rewind back to the album, I forgot to ask you about the blue vinyl version coming out.
Pete – Yeah, this is our first time doing a vinyl for a full record. We have vinyl up for pre-order now on our website; weareresistor.com. If anyone wants a pre-order vinyl, we got them there. It’s a pretty short run. I think it’s only 300 copies. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. And we will also have them on tour too.
If anyone sees us in person, we’ll have tour vinyls as well.
Empire Extreme – You guys have a date here in Pittsburgh, I think it’s at the end of April or something like that? (Thursday, April 30 at Preserving Underground with Filth, Monochromatic Black, and Inferious)
Pete – Yeah. We’re hitting the Northeast towards the end of the month.
Empire Extreme – What does this band mean to you? I mean, is it a release or therapy, an escape, or a way to pick up chicks or an attempt to get rich?
Pete – Well, I would say if getting rich was my main priority I would have been out of this a long, long time ago. The real reason I’m here is just to make really, really cool music.
My parents are musicians. They’re lifelong musicians. So, it’s something I felt that I was meant to do from a very young age. It’s literally in my blood. My dad is a drummer and my mom’s a singer. That happens to be the two things that I do. You know, it’s a predictable path I went down. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Empire Extreme – Did you start out playing drums when you were a kid or did you start out on another instrument?
Pete – My first real instrument was upright bass. I played that all through elementary, middle, and high school. I played drums here and there as a kid, but I didn’t really have a passion for it. Until maybe when I was starting high school. I joined the band. Well, the original reason was because of this girl. I guess you could say that. It was like she was in the band, and I liked her, so I started playing drums more, and then it all went from there.
Empire Extreme – That’s funny and cool. So, who was your drum idol?
Pete – That’s a tough one. I have a few of them. Do you know the band called Periphery?
Empire Extreme – Yeah, I’m familiar with them.
Pete – Their drummer, his name is Matt Halpern. He was a big, big inspiration. I mean, just his style of playing. It’s a very progressive, very smooth style, very loose, and a lot of ghost notes and cymbals. You know cool little flourishes here and there. I really love that. And the obvious one Joey Jordison of Slipknot. They are one of my favorite bands of all time and hearing his drumming in the band. He had some of the first crazy drumming I’ve heard in my life. That’s an easy one. So, yeah, those two would be the ones if I had to [give] credit to me starting
Empire Extreme – Those are two very prolific drummers. You mentioned Slipknot, and I can hear some of that influence in the new album. The Slipknot rhythm kind of thing. I have it right here in my notes. Limp Bizkit mixed with Slipknot and some punk rock and some newer bands too.
Pete – Yeah, I kind of bring a modern style mixed with some old school style, you know what I mean?
Empire Extreme – Yeah, not to say that it’s all over the place, but it’s pulling from lots of different areas.
Pete – For what it’s worth, it is kind of is all over the place, but in a good way. We wanted it to be a little all over the place. We wanted to be something that, while it’s familiar, it’s something that people haven’t heard before.
Empire Extreme – I have kind of a handful of oddball weird questions, and you can answer them as you like.
Pete – Yeah, sure.
Empire Extreme – When you guys are driving in the van from show to show, who controls the music in the vehicle?
Pete – My personal rule is whoever is driving. When I’m driving, I will not break that rule. Otherwise, it depends on who’s driving. Some of the people in the van are more anal about their music being played. For me I won’t have it any other way. I gotta focus, you know what I mean? I need to have my own music or a podcast or something like that to keep me focused on the road, you know.
Empire Extreme – OK next one. Are you prepared for a zombie apocalypse or AI becoming aware? And is there a difference between the two?
Pete – I think I would take a zombie apocalypse over AI to be honest. But I think the second one is unfortunately way more likely one that happens. I’m probably not prepared for that. I don’t think any of us are. I think I’m probably completely fucked when that drops. At least with AI, I’m kind of already mentally prepared for that one.
Empire Extreme – Here is another silly one. If a cartoon character was to join Resistor, what cartoon character would it be?
Pete – Oh, that’s, a really good question. Mm-hmm. Maybe Beavis and Butt-Head, well one of those two.
Empire Extreme – That’s a great answer.
Pete – I feel like they would like sitting in our van, I feel like it would work. You know? The conversations are all over the place.
Empire Extreme – They’d fit right in, is what you’re saying?
Pete – Yeah, exactly.
Empire Extreme – Here’s another stupid one. Every time you walk into a room and a song plays, what would that song be?
Pete – It’s probably The Rock theme song. That is completely it. Or something really goofy or cheesy. I can’t take myself too seriously, to be honest, something along those lines.
Empire Extreme – You mentioned The Rock. One of my questions that I kind of skipped over was I’ve seen several of your social media posts and whoever is responding from your band has used wrestler memes several times. There was Stone Cold one and a Rock one. So, are you guys wrestling fans and who, what, why, where?
Pete – I would say our singer. He was the most into it out of any of us. I know he was into the old-school early 2000s era. We have a Resistor 3:16 shirt, like the classic Stone Cold shirt. I don’t know if you’ve seen the Come Mierda video, but we literally did it inside a wrestling ring with the real wrestlers. They were just beating the shit out of each other while we’re playing. There is a scene where one of the guys breaks a full light tube over to the other guy’s head and there’s blood everywhere. It’s all real. Nothing was faked. Its all real blood. We had to tarp off the whole thing, it was ridiculous, but a lot of fun. It is my favorite music video we have shot. The actual act of shooting it was so fun because we had a bunch of people literally pretending it was an actual wrestling event. The wrestlers had to do their walk-ins while we were playing and beat the shit out of each other. I also didn’t realize how bouncy a wrestling ring is. When you’re trying to play drums, you bounce and it is all over the place while smashing each other on the floor. It’s no wonder they are jumping from 10 feet off the ground. Makes sense. It was literally like going into a bounce house, but it had a metal floor.
Empire Extreme – I got a couple more stupid ones here. Have you ever gone to spring break?
Pete – No no. I’m not a party person. I’m very much more of a sit at home and play video games guy.
Empire Extreme – Last one, and I’ll get out of here and let you get back to your life. What is your preference. Vinyl, cassette, CDs, 8-tracks, download, stream?
Pete – Okay, so for obvious convenience’s sake streaming is great. But I don’t think it’s the best way to listen to music by any means. Nor do I think it’s good for artists, you know, Spotify and all that. You know the problems in the streaming industry. But honestly, I would love to go back to more cassettes. There’s a certain nostalgia that comes with listening to a tape. Listening to a CD still feels modern. But there is just something I like about it. I remember riding around in the car with my dad as a kid, and he’d always listen to cassettes, and he’d put me onto different bands. He had Rage Against The Machine tapes, and all these different bands. So, I think cassettes would probably be my number one, just for nostalgia purposes.
Empire Extreme – With the cassettes it kind of forces you to listen to the whole album. Skipping was kinda difficult trying to figure out where the next song starts.
Pete – Yeah, exactly. And similar, at least with vinyl you can lift it, but you’re more encouraged to listen to it from front to back, rather than just skipping through.
Empire Extreme – To wrap up is there anything you want to add? Any self-promotion?
Pete – Well, I’ll just end it by shouting out the band.
WeAreResistor on all platforms. Our new album, Bite This, drops on March 27, which I believe is less than two weeks away now, so that’s pretty crazy. But yeah, we’re streaming on all the platforms. We’ve got pre-orders on our website, weareresistor.com.
Empire Extreme – Awesome, great. Thank you for your time. Hopefully I get to check you guys out when you come through Pittsburgh here next month.
Pete – Yeah, I’m so looking forward to it.
Resistor is:
Anthony Grambo [vocals]
Anthony Conti [guitar]
Ian Schneider [bass]
Anthony Arce [turntables]
Peter Smith [drums]
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