Interview with: Peter Wells, Frontman
Interview by: Laura DeSantis-Olsson
Cover photo by: LDO Photography
1. What is the history of the band APATHY…
Pete: “The band formed in 2000. However it wasn’t until really, 2005 or 2006, that we had really become established as a four piece band. At the time, when apathy formed I was just the guitar player, and we had a singer (Jury Marusic). So, it was just a singer, I was on guitar, and then we had a drummer (Bill Jameson) and various bass players. That’s how we started out. From 2005 till about 2008 we played with this kind of lineup. In 2007, is when we really changed the band around. We had so many line up changes and so many members with different attitudes, that the band ended up just being two people in September of 2007. It was myself and drummer, Bill Jameson, at the time. This is when we decided at DINGO’S DEN and a few beers that I should be the singer. I wrote most of the songs, so we figured I should try singing. I started doing vocals at that very moment we discussed this. Then low and behold we found another guitar player (Manuel Cordova), which is what we wanted. We wanted another guitar player. Then, we found a bass player (John Titkamason). From there, I would say APATHY really catapulted into 2008. February of 2008, when we opened up for Suffocation, at Starland Ballroom, that was our first big show we also released our first demo (APATHY) with this line up.
We had played shows before that in the local scene, and at the time we came out it was all “Emo” bands and this whole new aggressive; they call it nu-metal. However, we were coming out playing thrash and people were saying, “Oh, that’s old school, no one listens to that anymore.” They were saying, “That’s just a fad, nu-metal is the new thing now.” Looking back, here it is 2015, the music scene has changed, and everybody wants to be in a thrash metal band now. I’m also looking back like, “Wow, I guess we were doing something right.” All those bands that said we were old school, and our music as just a fad, those bands don’t even exist anymore.” Or, “now they want to be thrash.”
“Yes, 2006 though 2008, is when I would say things started really coming together. The Starland Ballroom show with Suffocation, really opened the door for us. We wound up doing shows out on the west coast for a little bit, and we had a lot of other big shows come in right behind that. APATHY was truckin’ from 2008 up until 2009. We were doing shows every weekend for an entire year. It was almost the end of 2009 when we sat down and decided that we had to record an album. That’s when we made the album, A Decade Of Violence. We weren’t sure how it was going to come across. It was produced by Chris Gibson at Upstart Studio, Hoboken NJ. Gibby, as we like to call him, has done recordings for Agnostic Front, I believe a band called Civ, and Glassjaw.”
“When A Decade of Violence was released JUNE 2009, we sold, I mean for a local band, we sold 200 physical CDs within the matter of a month. We sent them out for a couple of reviews here and there. I have to admit, I think out of five reviews only one was sort of negative. They just said, “The songs were good, but Apathy just needed a little something else.” However, everybody else gave a fully positive review. It opened the doors for us. Unfortunately at the time, our guitar player (Manuel Cordova) decided to quit the band. He was just burnt out from all the shows. What’s stinks though is that he’s not in the actual album cover. It’s another guitar player who came in at the end of the recording, Warren Conditi. Warren had played with bands like Whiplash, and “Skull Sessions” he’s a great guitar player. He fit the band perfectly. It was just sad that, here it is our old guitar player was on the album, and it’s just upsetting that he decided that during the mix of the album he he had to quit cold turkey. We had a show lined up, the first show after the record was done but not released and Manny refused to do it at least this last one. but that didn’t stop him, he quit, and we did the show anyway. This very show would be the first and last time Apathy would ever play as a 3 piece band. We did it because we’ve never turned down a show. Even if it was the worst show in the world, we would never turn a show down.”
“The first time APATHY’S, A Decade of Violence really got heard, I was flown out to Tempe, Arizona, to do an interview on radio Station KWSS for one of their radio stations. It aired. interviewing me was Radio Host, Kevin Gassman and Tracey McCormick was loving it and said, “You guys sound like Anthrax, you have that old school thrash metal sound that’s been missing.” While we were talking, he pointed out to me monitor who’s listening in and he told me that our interview was getting attention all the way on the east coast. There were people listening on the east coast, who were loving A Decade of Violence. For the interview, he played every song off the album. There wasn’t one negative reaction to what was played. Everybody loved every song off the album. He was astonished. It was a great time. So, the radio station in Tempe, Arizona, was the first one to play APATHY on the air. Eventually, Seton Hall’s WSOU 89.5 radio station picked us up. Metal Messiah Radio was another one to play our music.”
“I have to say it was really astonishing. I really didn’t think people were really going to like the album. However, they did. People were saying this was like, “A great thrash metal record.” I remember one guy did an interview from an outlet called, Thrash Zone, an online fan-zine. They wrote up a great review. That same year, 2009/2010, I was surfing google just to see if there was anything about us and found out we were nominated for best thrash metal album of the year on Thrash Zone’s fan-zine. We were nominated as such buy people typing in and saying what they felt was the best thrash album. As a result, we were up there with Slayer’s album, World Painted Blood. We were up there with Megadeth’s album, Endgame, as well as Skeletonwitch, and Municipal Waste. We beat everybody. We were the 2009, No. 1 thrash album on Thrash Zone’s charts. On an additional site, we were in the top 100 best thrash metal and metal bands in the U.K. The site was called, Thrash Unlimited, I believe. On a German radio station, we found out that we ranked in the top ten on one of their charts. We were two slots away from Slayer’s song, “Psychopathy Red”. I found out all this information though google and also email.”
“So, from 2009 to 2013, APATHY had a really good run. We were non-stop. We were always going. We were always doing something. At the same time, we really wanted to have time to work on the second album, but we couldn’t, we needed the down time to take a break and while taking the break, 2012 we recorded an EP titled FACTORY SESSIONS, which included 3 new songs, 1 live song and 2 songs with the 2007 line up. However, if someone asked us to do a couple of shows we agreed to do them. We ended up playing with so many bands. We played with Bonded By Blood, which was a new thrash metal band coming out at the time. We played with Generation Kill, Sanctuary, Overkill, Bloodfeast, Suffocation, Mucky Pup, Whiplash and great local acts. We were all still burnt out and getting annoyed with each other or guys were hating me, either way we were just wiped out. We opened up for D.R.I at Gramercy Theater in New York City. In May of 2010 were were the co-headliners with D.R.I. It was our first New York City show and we premiered some of our new songs with were to go on our second album, Hell Is All We Have, being one of them. Some months after this show bassist Bill Valverde called it quits with the band and for a short time Manuel Cordova came back to the band but finally called it quits and it was back to the drawing board for Jameson and I. However, what was funny about the show at Gramercy, was that guitar player (Daniel Cadena) who we have currently, was in the crowd that night. So it was ironic that we talked to him that night, after also meeting him before, and that he ended up in the band currently.”
“Currently, we are working to finish our second album, Hell Is All We Have.”
Photo by: LDO Photography
2. How did you choose the name APATHY for the band?
Pete: “I’m going to tell ya, this is going to probably be the best part of the article. It was 1999, I was playing with some bands and it just wasn’t working out. I was like, “Screw this, I’m going to take a break from the drama, I’m done with bands, I’m gonna form my own band, and I’m going to be really critical about whose in my band.” I told myself, “This is it, I’m doing it, I’m focused.” So, I was listening to Slayer’s song, “Angel of Death”; I must have been cleaning or whatever. I just had it on for some reason and I heard – “apathy.” It’s like the last part of the song. However, technically he doesn’t say Apathy. He never said it. I wind up looking up the words later on because some one asked me the same question on how I got the band name. I said, “I heard Slayer say apathy.” They told me, “He doesn’t say apathy.” I said, “Yes he does.” They said, “No he doesn’t, look it up.” So, I look it up and he doesn’t say “apathy” in “Angel of Death”, he says “Abacinate.” However, because I was doing many things at once while listening to the song, I though I heard him say “apathy”. So, I said, “That’s the name for my band!” I wanted to name by and APATHY. I hadn’t even researched the word for maybe two years after I started getting the band going.”
3. Out of all the genres of metal, why are you attracted to thrash metal?
Pete: “You could say it got me out of a bad place in my life when I was a kid. I liked bands like Motley Crue. Motley Crue is one of my favorite, all time bands. Even to this day I will still go out of my way for Motley Crue.”
“I was into bands like Motley Crue and Tesla, but then I heard “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying”, by Megadeath. I had already heard of Metallica, I heard of Anthrax, but I wasn’t really into those bands yet. I was still listening to Motley Crue, Tesla, Warlock, bands like that, just more heavy metal. However, one day when I heard “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying”, I was like, “Who is this band?” I just liked their style. From there, I researched, I found out it was Megadeath, and from there I actually went backwards. I went Megadeath, Slayer, then I went to Metallica. Then I was like, “Oh I know this band Metallica, I’ve seen them before, let me check out what they’re like.” I had already had, I think, two Megadeath records, Over Kill records, Anthrax records, but thus far had never owned a Metallica record. Metallica was my last. I know, it’s weird right? That was it. When I heard all that, I really got into it and I was like, “You know what? I like this. This is something I can get into.” It just really had that aggressiveness. You know when you’re a teenager, you’re all about aggressiveness, rebelliousness, and all the craziness of the world. However, Megadeath just spoke to me a little bit more. As I got into playing their style of music, thrash metal, I just said, “You know what? This is a calling.” So, I took it over and I really like thrash metal. Even to this day, I will always listen to thrash metal.”
“I mean, I like all types of music, but if I’m going to pick up my guitar and bang my head, it’s going to be thrash. I just love the riffs, I love the style, and that’s why I stick to it.”
Photo by: jeffcrespiROCKS.com
4. Did you know how to play guitar before your interest in thrash music?
Pete: “No. I started out as a Motley Crue fan. I love Nikki Sixx. I wanted to be Nikki Sixx, so I asked my mom, “can I get a bass for xmas,” and she brought me one. From their, I started out on bass and on my quest to play metal. It wasn’t until the late 90’s that I decided to pick up the guitar. So, it was maybe 98’ or 99’ when I picked up the guitar and really got into it. I’m self taught and always learning to this day.”
5. Have you had any of your fans tell you APATHY’S music was inspiring to them? What’s the band’s fan response like?
Pete: “I can only go by what I’ve seen. After a live show, and I can tell you this and I’m not being pompous, there has never been a show where anybody has given us negative feedback. It has always been, “You guys are awesome.” I remember when we played the Championship Bar & Grill in Trenton; the sound guy came out of the sound booth and said, “I’ve never heard a band like this in years.” He said, “You guys have hooks, you guys have have a great sound, you guys sound really good.” Another time, the big shocker was, we played a place in Pompton Lakes, NJ called Ripples or Riddles, and the sound guy there freaked out. In the middle of our set Manny did a guitar solo and the sound guys ran out after and said, “Dude, I’ve seen so many bands play here and not one of them has ever done a guitar solo.” He said, “I haven’t seen a guitar solo since Eddie Van Halen, and that was some badass shit you just did, you guys are AWESOME!”
“So, not to be pompous, we’ve never, even from the smallest show to the biggest show, everybody’s always been like, “You guys are just amazing, every song is different, it’s great.” Then, we also always get this, “You guys are the new Slayer.” Not one show have we left where no one has said, “Slayer!” We always get someone saying that. I think it might be my voice, but we’re not even trying to be like Slayer, so maybe it’s just the energy we give off.”
“Fan have been really responsive, and fans have really stuck by us. We never really had a negative response, not even on emails or websites. I’ve looked around on the web and it’s always the same thing. People might not like every song, but they do like the band as a whole. Plus, the online sales of the music are great. We’ve sold over one thousand copie s over the years. People hit me up from Europe for music as well.
Photo by: jeffcrespiROCKS.com
6. Do you find there is a big fan response from Europe in regard to APATHY’S music?
Pete: “A little bit. I would have to say we did get offers to play over there but between money and time it’s hasn’t been scheduled yet. I think it we’ve gone out there and played, we’d probably have a bigger and better response.”
7. What would you say qualifies as a good review of your music and what would you say qualifies as a negative one?
Pete: “I would have to say a good review is when you can tell they are speaking from the heart. I think the last review we got, was by CRYPTIC ROCK from our Sept show with Overkill. “As they tore through an all too brief set, Apathy showed a penchant for mid-to-late eighties band, Slayer, doing it harder and faster and possibly even better than a lot of those bigger names in the Thrash Metal game. A big, sweaty circle pit followed their every note, as Apathy engendered all kinds of emotion from those in attendance. The world needs to hear more from this band.” To me, that’s a great review. To me, it’s telling me that everything we’ve been doing has been on point. Compared to a bad review, I mean, I’ve never really heard a bad review of the music except, “Hey, maybe the drums should have been louder here.” Or, “The guitars should have done something different here.” However, the reviews were never a negative thing. If we did hear some criticism, I’ll take it. Not everything’s roses. I was actually looking for bad criticism from people online, I was always trying to look for that, but I never really got it. I would say we got it in the beginning when we first started out, when everybody was into “Emo” and everybody was into the whole, Nu-metal. That was probably the only time there was negativity. We would get here at a lot of venues, “What your playing is old.” When we first started, we’d always end up playing first. We always got shafted in the beginning, when we first came out. So, I would say that was the only bad criticism we had.”
8. Currently, what is APATHY’S writing process when writing new material?
Pete: “Right now, the writing process is pretty much consistent with how it normally was and is. I’m the main writer of the music and lyrics but I give the guys the oppurtuinty to write. If the lyrics don’t flow right, I will arrange them a bit because I gotta sing it. However, since Danny came into the band, and has been in the band, Danny’s guitar playing is similar to mine and a little better. I like Danny’s guitar playing a lot. There are definitely things he writes that inspire me. On this record right now, we have about 6 songs. We had ten, but we scratched a couple of them because they weren’t really strong, they weren’t really going with the other songs. I’m actually going to give Danny freedom to do the rest of the writing, not saying I wont, but I like what he brings to the table. We do approach the other guys in the band on what danny and I are working on and we are open to what the other say and may add to the song. We all may not agree on every song but if it has that APATHY trademark sound well then its gonna get thrown in the pot.”
“Speaking writing process! I learned something from a chat I had with Rob Dukes (Generation Kill and former Exodus vocalist) it went like this: So Rob says “Let me tell you something; we’ll all come in to the studio with our own stuff and if it’s not that Exodus sound, if it’s not that Exodus trademark, it’s not getting on the record.” He said, “Sometimes it sucks to do that, but If that’s you’re band’s style, that’s what you have to do. I said, “Wow, you know, I didn’t think about it like that.”
“APATHY just wrapped up a show in NYC w Sanctuary and I saw Rob outside, I was flipping out because the guys left without saying a word and I was loading the gear by myself. Rob goes ““Dude I think your buddys took off with some girls” after hearing my rant we started talking lol! Some how we got on the subject of writing music and lyrics with a band and not to cause any problems he told me a short brief story on how it is if a band looks to succeed.”
Photo by: jeffcrespiROCKS.com
9. How was opening up for Over Kill at Starland Ballroom in 2014? How did it feel playing with them?
Pete: “We’ve played with Over Kill before, but this show, this time around, was sort of a vendetta. For me at least. It had noting to do with the bands on this show, it had more to do with some of the people in this local scene and some of the crap I’ve heard and seen throughout the years. It was like, “You know what, we’re going to kill this show man.” The fan response was so overwhelming, I almost fell off the stage. It was amazing. The crowd didn’t stop. I saw people circling, getting the pit ready. It was intense. I was more into the crowd then us performing. What really made this show really great was; we got this new bass player, Vinny, and the drummer, Randall. Between those two, and the way we played, it was just a powder keg when we came out. Randall’s playing a lot different then out past drummer and Vinny’s playing a lot different then our other bass player, so it’s just one big explosion. It went so fast. The fan response was amazing. Everyone was really psyched in the band. We couldn’t stop, we were just like, “Look at this, look at the crowd!” So, it was nonstop. We had some vets that came because they were home from Afghanistan and decided to go out the Over Kill show. Here is what one of these soldiers told me, “Dude, we walked into see Over Kill and we are blown away by you guys.” The said, “This band is awesome, wow. The way you guys sound is so aggressive.” So they put us on their bar tab and said, “You guys got fifty bucks, whatever you want, on us.”
“It was really great. I heard Bobby Blitz (Over Kill) peeked out and was like, “Oh man, these guys are good.” He’s even seen us before. I heard a couple guys from the bands Prong and Municipal Waste were checking us out, saying, “Wow, this band’s really good.” We always get this, we always hear this through the grapevine, “Why are these guys not out there?”
10. How would you answer that question: “Why are these guys not out there?”
Pete: “I would have to say the reason why we’re not out there is because of money, backing, things in our personal lives. If things were a little different, for example if we had more backing. If Testament or Over Kill were to say, “You know what, we’ll put you guys on a two week tour with us,” I think that would help us.”
“We were out there for some time. Like I said 2007, 2008, 2009 all the way up until 2013, we were out there. We were out there doing so many shows, with so many bands. We’d get some recognition here and there, but nothing ever really came to be a solid thing. We were going into a distribution deal with somebody. Then another records company came to us, a small independent label came to us, but nothing ever came through. So, I don’t know. I don’t know.”
“So, we’re going to see what happens with this new album. This is sort of our come back. That Over Kill show was a little bit of our comeback. We hadn’t done any shows for about a year before that one. That was our first show in almost a year. It felt really good to be in it, watching the crowd, and hearing the fan responses. It just felt great. It made us want to get back out there and play.”
Photo by: jeffcrespiROCKS.com
11. What is your connection to the American West? What is special to you about traveling there?
Pete: “I guess it’s just an attachment. I love the west. When there’s nothing going on with the band, we’re taking a break, I will find the first flight and I’m out. I like to go out there to relax. My ancestors are from out there. We are part Mexican and American Indian so that adds to the western connection. When I’m out there, I feel at home. Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to live out west. I never wanted to be in New York or New Jersey. Now, I’ll go out west, I’ll ride horses, I’ll eat jalapeños, and chill out and take it all in. We’ve played some shows out there and they love their metal out there. They really do. They love their metal.
12. What is the crowd response to thrash metal in the west?
Pete: “It’s small but it’s amazing. You don’t really see it, it’s quiet, but then you go to a club like The Sets in Tempe, AZ, or you go out to Yuma, the next thing you know it’s PACKED. It’s like, “Where did these people come from?” It’s amazing. You’ve got Rob Halford, who lived out there. Dave Ellefson from Megadeath lives out there. Max Cavalera from Soulfly lives out west. These guys are out there. You would think there would be a huge metal-core or metal scene, and there is, but it’s very quiet until the day of the show. It’s amazing. I remember we did a show in Phoenix, it was the last night of a tour, and it was funny. The owner of the club, who said that he used to produce Black Sabbath, took us aside and said, “You know what I like about you guys?” He said, “I don’t even like heavy metal, I don’t even like the music you’re playing. But I watched you guys, and what I like about you guys and not so much the other bands that played here tonight, is that I can look at you guys and I can see that you like what you do. You’re having fun on stage. You’re walking around, your engaging the crowd. You’re talking to each other on stage and making good connections. I can see you guys like what you do.” That is one of the things that’s most important to a producer, a record company.”
13. Who is APATHY recording their new album, Hell Is All We Have, with?
Pete: “As of present, We are gonna go back to Chris Gibson “gibby” who did the first record. He actually sounded pretty psyched and said we will be approaching this differently now since we both know how each other works. So it should go smoothly! LOL! Yeah Right!
Photo by: jeffcrespiROCKS.com
14. How do you combine staying loyal to your music while also working and advancing in your personal life?
Pete: “Thrash metal saved my life, you know. I mean I didn’t grow up in a violent neighborhood or anything like that but, you know, people got in trouble for doing stupid stuff. For me, I just got into playing music and I was like, “Man, I’m going to do music for the rest of my life, that’s it.” I did everything I could to really try and make it. There was a point in my life I moved to L.A. to try to pursue the career I wanted. I did the struggle. I went to L.A. for a little bit. Then, I went to Vegas for a little bit. Then I ended up back here. It was a struggle.”
“It’s a big struggle and you have to keep your head. There’s a lot of downers in this. Balancing work 9 to 5 and living the rock star life (LOL) takes it toll and if this is what you love to do, big or small be ready to lose something too! I can say for myself, I made some sacrifices for my music, I’ve lost people, things and special moments I cant get back because I wanna do this. There’s been many times, even recently, where I was like, “I’m going to walk away, I’m done.” I wanted to say, “I’m done with the scene, I’m done with the headache.” However, there’s always that something that brings you back. It could be going to a show. It could be running into a person who inspires you; for example, recently I was taking to Tony from Whiplash, who was giving me advice. His advice made me go, “WOW!,” and it sort of brought me back. It’s hard, especially when you have line up changes, money loss from canceled shows, or people not showing up to shows. However, there’s just something that keeps you coming back. I love doing it. Sometimes I get away from it a little bit and wind up doing something else, or getting involved with something else, but I come back to it.”
“The guys who I played with before, Manny Cordova, Bill, Jameson, Bill Valverde all those guys, those are good guys. They establish APATHY. It was just that the “burn out” got to everybody. Everybody got burned out, whether it was with each other, doing the shows; everybody just go burned out. With these current group of guys, Danny, Vinny, and Randall; I mean we’re in the room and we’re belting out these songs. It’s like, “HELL YEAH!” It’s like, “YES! Lets do this! Lets conquer it!” Like I said, when we go out and do shows, I see people show up and give us good advice. They tell us, “Why aren’t you guys this? Why don’t you go do that?” They give us a big push, it keeps us going. I mean, I can only speak for myself. I really can’t speak for the whole band, but it’s that little piece that keeps you going. I think for anybody, if you’re going to continue this, whether it’s on a huge level or a small level, just do it and be honest about your music. Don’t try to do something that’s not you. Don’t think because a band might be heavier and louder that they are better. I’ve seen this a lot, I’ve even felt it, where we’ve done a show where the band is just brutal, everybody’s like, “YAAAAAAAA!” We’re standing there thinking, “Man, everyone’s going to hate us. We’re going to suck.” However, when we do end up going up there, people say, “Oh wow, you guys are AMAZING!” Case in point, when we opened up for Suffocation, it was a death metal show and I was like, “Nobody’s going to like this, no one will like us.” We get up there and that was it, BOOM. Everybody was like, “You guys are awesome!!” Then, we played with Suffocation again, I think in Long Island, and we got the same response. We go the same response of, “You guys are awesome. You guys are probably the best band here.” Which didn’t make sense, but it was all good feedback.”
“There’s always a good and bad in everything and it is a struggle. There are times where you just sort of like, “Screw this man, I’m done.” However, something brings you back. I have cassettes, and you know last week I went and I started digging out old cassettes and started playing them again. I was sort of getting me back, bring me back to when I was a teenager, bringing me back to my twenties. I was like, “Yeah, this is what I’m talking about.” It’s like a happy feeling that brings you back to when you started. I went and saw Motley Crue at the beginning of their final tour, I traveled out to Phoenix. Just being there and hearing Motley Crue brought me back a little bit.”
“Right now I feel this way: APATHY has one record, we have two demos, and and now we are in the process of getting Hell Is All We Have out there. We’ve already got the songs, we just want to get it out there and see what happens after that. APATHY is actually coming up on ten years. Yes, I would say June of 2015 it will be ten years. Who knows, maybe I’ll bring back all the band member that used to be in the band.”
15. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
Pete: “Well in talking about the new album a bit more, I would like to discuss some of the songs we are working on. The title track is, “Hell Is All We Have.” A couple other songs we have right now are, “Serpents Order” ; “Murder Within The Skin”. I’ll tell you about “Murder Within The Skin”. That’s actually the beginning story of our mascot. When you look at the first album, you see a soldier standing in the middle of an explosion. So, the second album is going to be the continuation of that album cover. Here’s how it works: A Decade Of Violence is the first record. That album cover, is illustrated based on the story behind the song “Machine Gun Rain” off that first album. So now, “Murder Within The Skin,” is Part II, and it’s about the soldier being mutated from the explosion. So essentially, he’s going to be turing into our skull mascot, pretty much. So, it’s almost like what Iron Maiden did. Each Iron Maiden told a story. So this song on the album coming up, “Murder Within The Skin,” is about the soldier being mutated from the explosion that was made up of poison gas and all that. That’s where we’re at right now. So we’re taking it from there.”