Interview with Joey Vera

Bass player Joey Vera is perhaps best known for his work with Armored Saint, but he has also played with Fates Warning, Anthrax and Nevermore. I recently got to check in with him and see what he is up to curently.



MM-What are you currently working on?
JV-Just finished up a new record for DC4 (Jeff Duncan – gtr Armored Saint). I Produced, Engineered and Mixed. Also, my new solo record A Chinese Firedrill is being released on ProgRock Records through Ryko so as a bonus, I’m doing experimental remixes for 3 tunes. This should be out and available on November 6.

MM-You have been doing mixing and production work in recent years. How has this been and do find it to be as rewarding as say playing on an album?
JV-I’ve been into it off and on since about 1988 but I didn’t really start learning about engineering until about the mid 1990’s. I have always liked the process of making music. It’s not only interesting to me but gratifying to see projects come to fruition. The challenges and rewards are very different and I like both.

MM-Over the summer you played bass at shows with Armored Saint, Fates Warning and Nevermore. Is it difficult to just pick up play with different bands like that or is it just a matter of course for you at this point?
JV-Well, as long as I have a little time to do my homework I can pull it off no problem. It really does take some focus though, especially when you’re asked to play an hour set and do it without a single rehearsal, which was the case with Nevermore. Having been a player for so long and been in so many different situations helps when it comes time to do this.

MM-Why do you think Armored Saint never became more popular than they were back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s?
JV-There are so many reasons and not a single answer to that. We got caught in between genres of Metal for one thing. Thrash on one side and Glam on the other. This created confusion within our camp which led to poor decisions. In the end some of us wanted different things from the band than others and we had many disagreements. Musically, we didn’t really begin to become realized until Symbol of Salvation in my opinion, But by that time we were 10 years into it and pretty tired of trying to make it work. As history has been told, the Grunge era killed Metal off for a while in America but we may have had a chance to continue in Europe. But we couldn’t make it work.

MM-What is your favorite Armored Saint album and why?
JV-Symbol and Revelation. I know that’s two but hey. Symbol because as I said we finally got to a place where we found some of our own voice and the record was the closest representation of what we sounded like live. There’s a lot of sweat and tears in that record and I think it shows. Revelation because it represents even more what we sound like live. Tons of attitude in the recording.

MM-How is the music business different for you now than say twenty years ago?
JV-20 years ago, I was only in one band and barely getting by. Now, I have to be involved in many different aspects of the business in order to “get by”. Could be just me but I think that in order to be able to be a working musician, you have to learn how to wear several hats. Diversify. Make yourself an asset to someone. Trust me, it’s feast or famine. But I’m still doing it after 25 years. The business itself has become much more of a disposable entity than before and because of the information age, has made for some music fans with really short attention spans. No one has any time to develop artists or let artists develop. There are a few exceptions but mostly the business is concerned with what flavor the kids like this week.

MM-You have written and played with numerous bands as well as produced and played live with different acts. What have you not done in your music career that you would still like to accomplish?
JV-I’ve done some writing and recording music for a few independent films and would like to do some more of that. Music for film.

MM-Metal was big in the 1980’s when you were starting in the music business. Then we all know that metal dropped off in popularity in the 1990’s. This decade has seen a rise in popularity and various sub-genres of metal getting more exposure. What do you see the metal scene being like in say 10-15 years from now?
JV-I’d be really surprised if we will talk about any bands that are current and that will have careers such as Metallica, Slayer, Tool.

MM-Pick the band you prefer from the following pairs of bands.
JV-
Alice Cooper or KISS
KISS (pre 1980) on Monday, Cooper (pre 1980) on Tuesday
Dio or Ozzy
Dio on Wednesday, Ozzie (1st 2 records) on Thursday
Metallica or Slayer
Metallica on Friday, Slayer on Saturday
Megadeth or Pantera
Both on Sunday

MM-Any regrets in your music career?
JV-None!

http://www.joeyvera.com/
www.myspace.com/joeyvera