Thrash act Wargasm were churning out some powerful thrash from the mid-1980’s until their break-up in the mid 1990’s. Well, now they are set to reform for a one time reunion show in September. So I recently checked in with vocalist/bass player Bob Mayo to find out more.
Hello, tell us some about your reunion show coming up in September. The show is going to be recorded for a DVD release, right?
Nope; it's going to be released on CD as a live version of our debut album, "Why Play Around?"
Have you started rehearsing yet? Any chance of any other Wargasm shows in the near future?
We start rehearsing this Tuesday, actually. Nothing is planned after this show, but you never know.
Don’t you have another DVD you have been working on for awhile? What is all on that on and when is it due out?
The DVD from our reunion show in 2004 will be available in time for the show this September. It's taken so long basically because a) we are doing it ourselves, and b) it took us a long time to gather and review all of the old footage from 1985 to 1995 that we gathered to include as bonus material.
Any possibility of your back catalog getting reissued? Are there a lot of rights issue that have those tied up?
Yes, unfortunately it looks like "Why Play Around?" is hopelessly tied up forever. This is exactly why we are doing this show; to celebrate the anniversary of it's release and to record it so we can release a live version of the album.
Outside of the Wargasm reunion plans, what else have you been working on lately?
Rich is into production; he produced the Steel Assassin album "War of the 8 Saints" and is in pre-production for a new Meliah Rage album. Barry is currently in 2 bands, Gozu and Mob Hit. I have a recording project that has been in the works for almost 2 years now & it is almost complete. Hopefully it will be out in the fall.
Now you guys were Maniac before you were Wargasm. Why the name change and where did the name Wargasm come from?
There were several other Maniacs in the country at the time. Rich & Barry's sister found it in a thesaurus listed as a synonym for 'Attack'.
You did a demo called ”Satan Stole my Lunch Money” that I remember reading about in Metal Maniacs or one of those magazines back in 1986. What songs were on it and what was the response to that demo?
Wasteland/Revenge/Bullets & Blades/Sudden Death. That was the demo that got us signed, the response was great!
Does it seem like “Why play around?” is 20 years old? What do you remember about recording that album?
2 decades; it's pretty crazy. It was a really easy album to record. We remixed the 4 demo tracks for the album, so we only had to record Undead, Wargasm, Le CouCou, and Humanoid to complete the record. I remember the 1st mixes were rejected by the label and someone from NY came up to 'fix' them.
After that you did a series of demos in the early 1990’s. What happened with Profile records?
The guy who signed us left the label, so Profile held off on releasing our record until he hooked up with a new label. It was a favor to him but it kept the album tied up for 8 months. In the end, he never ended up with a label and Profile put it out themselves without any promo. They were idiots.
About five years went by between “Why play around” and “Ugly”. How tough was that period in between for the band? Did you get any other label interest besides Massacre who released “Ugly”?
It was very tough. We didn't get any interest because we were still signed to Profile, we couldn't sign with anyone else. They wouldn't let us out of our contract, and we refused to give them another record. It was a long battle to get off that label and we lost a lot of momentum.
When and why did the band call it quits in the 1990’s?
I quit. I had just turned 30 and was about to get married; we had just run into label trouble again... I had given it 10 years and that was enough for me.
What were some of the most memorable shows you ever played?
The 'Thrash Bash' shows we did around New England with Manowar & Nuclear Assault were great; the last 2 shows at the Rat, the reunion show in '04, we played a festival in Belgium on the Bohazard tour that was great. There were a million great shows.
What do you think about the recent resurgence in thrash and all of the young bands popping up? Are they doing anything that thrash bands in the 1980’s didn’t do?
They have the internet and the new ways music is recorded and promoted that we never had. There doesn't seem to be a need for labels anymore... who knows how are career would have gone if we started out nowadays? Musically, this thrash revival is completely unoriginal but it's still fun. I love the Evile record; the way they re-create the whole thrash vibe and are so respectful of the music.
What kind of music are you listening to these days?
Metal! I love Entombed, Behemoth, Dismember, Enslaved, Belphegor, Mastodon, Meshuggah, Gojira, Coldworker, Sahg, The Sword, Vader... and the ancient ones that are still around like Motorhead, Rush etc.
What advice would you give to a band who is just starting out?
Do it as much of it as you can YOURSELF. Retain control of your material. Do what YOU want, and do it YOUR way.
Pick the band from each of the following pairs that you prefer.
Anthrax or Overkill
Overkill, for consistency.
Executioner or Post Mortem
I don't remember enough to have an opinion! Sorry!
Meliah Rage or Necrophagia
Meliah Rage=Fellow Bostonians and a great band!
Judas Priest or Motorhead
Both! I love old Priest but have been a hardcore Motorhead fan since 1979.
Is there anything else that you want to say about your music or anything else?
I will say that the interest in this band is still amazing to me after being broken up for all these years, and with our albums out of print for so long. We have the best and most dedicated fans EVER. I urge everyone to try to get to our show on September 13 at the Middle East in Boston, as we are recording it so we can finally make our debut album available again, without any label involvement, but in a live format, which is cool because if you come to the show you will be on the album!!
http://www.myspace.com/wargasm
http://www.wargasm.org/intro.html
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