PipemanRadio Interviews COLD STEEL About Discipline & Punish

0:04 Hi, you live on to censure. Wow for you young. Shot shot, night. Light bat Watch. This is the pipe Man here on the Adventures pipe Man W four c Y Radio and I'm here with our next guests at they're a little bit north. They're a little bit west from me up in the Tampa area, and uh, I love the Tampa area and the music scene there. So let's welcome to this show, Cold Steele.

0:49 How are you? Yeah, man doing good? Thank you for having us pipe Man. Oh my pleasure man, And you guys are badass. And I contribute that to the Tampa metal scene because I was listening to new music. I'm like, man, it just sounds like every great metal you could possibly imagine that area. You know, you guys sound unique, but you also have that familiar sound of like some of the greats that came out of your area. Oh nice much. That's so flattering, man, Thank you. Yeah, Man, RAFFI had a good hand. One of our guitars had a good, great hand in writing everything. And I think that dude leads Tampa through and through.

1:41 So yeah, we're super grateful for the gracious words. Man. Thank you. Yeah. And what I think is cool about it too, is Okay, So I'm a metal head from way back, from when you could only like a certain type of music, but we actually did like all other a bunch of other types. You just either weren't allowed to admit it or weren't allowed to go to a show. And I find that's what your bad is and what makes you unique is you combine like all of the heavy genres that I like, you know, all in one place. You know, it has a thrashy sound to it, it has a you know, a partial death metal sound to it, hardcore sound. It just it puts it all together to make you sound like you.

2:32 Definitely, I think I definitely agree with that. A lot of us wearing different sound of metal bands. I was in death coore bands, metal core bands, now a thrash slash metal bands, thrifty, you were playing reggae, you know. I mean, we're all over the spot, you know. I think we had a lot of a lot of good places with just our influences alone, and they come very eat and fast. See. I love that too nowadays, especially because I find like the bands I like the most are the ones that have so many different blended, you know, genres influences you know that bring it to a table and make it sound unique, because a lot of metal bands nowadays are just like, you know, they plug in this formula.

3:25 I find a lot of times, you know, and everybody in the band is into the same exact subgenre microgenre, and that makes it sound the same as every other band because there's nothing being added to the recipe. Yeah, I've heard that people are definitely following a formula nowadays, but it's nice to find somebody that's like, really true to their passionate writes whatever they want to write, you know. No doubt. Definitely. Yeah, I as formally it as at amazing, Like I think, just us figuring each other out and what we all like and compromising to one spot.

4:06 You don't necessarily need. To start in one specific place, you know, Like yeah, one day we thirty can come through with just a simple two step groove on drums and then we'll play whatever we feel around that, you know what I mean. It doesn't have to stick to a label or a genre in that way. But I think we all just love heavy music, and yeah, I think the music represents a lot of the different versions of heaviness that we really like and respect. Yeah, and I think heavy music takes you on journey, and when you do combine all those different elements, that's what makes the journey. Like if this verse one, it's the same as verse three, and the rifts at the beginning are the same as the mental as the end, like all completely the same. I don't think that has as much heaviness as bands like you that, like one second you're in one vibe and then a few seconds later you're in a different vibe.

5:08 Mm hmm. I can rock with that. I rock with that, I agree to a certain extent. Like the one thing that comes to mind is like songs like the Day That Never Comes with Taluka Yea. The versions are exactly the same, but that's still one of the dopest songs ever written. Somehow for them still making songs like that in two thousand and nine read defining their own version of heavy you know, but the diversity, like the different things they did, definitely shine more so. I definitely see where you're coming from with that. Well, think about from any like band, even going to the Beatles. Okay, the Beatles couldnot be labeled into one genre because like one album, there may be one genre and then another album, there is something different. I think that.

6:00 I think that's the key of being a true artist is you kind of evolve and you experiment. I also think that's the whole idea of metal and how metal started is experimenting and you know, not just going by what is the norm. It's like figuring out what kind of sound you can make? Yeah, no question, man, Like yeah, yeah, I don't believe it that. I agree with you totally. And Metallica is a perfect example of that. I'm glad you brought that up because I was at Metallica's first show ever in LA and you know, I was one of those assholes from the eighties that was like when the Black album came out, I was me and my twenty.

6:53 Four hardcore fans were like, fuck those posers, blah blah blah blah blah, sellout. And but you know what, as I got a little older, little bored, but sure and gone through the whole cycle of a Metallica, it's like, you know what. You listen to James and he talks about those old days of how he sang and he says I sucked. Now we thought his voice was the best ever, and it was like, now you know, like even with Seeking Destroy he was saying that interview recently, I heard him saying about, you know, they play it at the hockey game, you know, but they played the old version, not the newer version. He goes, I learned how to sing like I didn't know what the hell I was doing in that first version. Why are they playing that one?

7:44 It sucks? And I can see both sides of it, And I could see the side of him as the artists and them as the artist. It's like, why would you want to stay a garage band? You know, why wouldn't you want to get better at your craft experiment? And you know, they've gotten a lite of hate sometimes for like doing all these different things, whether it be you know, doing the album with lou Reed or or like, uh, stuff that was on Reload. I don't even say Sane Anger because I think there's some songs on Sane Anger that I like. I love Frantic, yeah, dude, right, I love Invisible Kid. And you know, everybody talks about the drums on sant Anger. I'm like, I think the drums were pretty badass.

8:31 Actually, you know, crazy you're speaking to the choir man. I'm with you on that It's like, I think we can relate it to our music because like our first two EPs are crossover, that's the first word that comes to mind. It's just thrash and metal quarter put together. And this new record that we're doing definitely has elements of that, but there's definitely different routes that we've taken to try and solidify what the Cold Steel sound. Is, at least for what it is now. You know. Yeah, I think it speaks more to the comfort levels of what you want to do and what you want to change. You know, we wanted just to make a record, and we were completely okay with compromising what may have been an original sound, but not necessarily compromising the integrity of the music. You know, we still have those moments of thrive, so those crossover heavy moments, and we may plan forever, we may play them until next record.

9:35 I'm not sure. We'll wait till that happens. And I love that. I love Listen. You're an artist, okay. You you want to explore your craft and what you can do and evolve, you know, And I don't know, it's like, why would you want to write the same song over and over again? Yeah? I agreed, yeah, unless you know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it too. I see that side too. You know, if people can rock with them, want to do that, go for it. Absolutely. I think arts should do whatever they want to do. That's my point. Yeah, you're the artists, right, You're the artist man. And like I've always felt that. I was very involved in that eighties metal scene, and I got out of the scene because it pissed me off what the record labels were telling artists to do. And I'm like, I think the business people should be there, but they should do the business stuff and the artist should do the creative stuff.

10:45 You know. That's the way it should be. And it's funny, I'm gonna piss you off even more because you said crossover. I was at the first crossover show ever. Oh, Like I know, I wasn't allowed, but I wasn't allowed to go to punk shows. Like I was a long hair and I loved punk and I couldn't go because I'd get my ass beat, you know. So that first crossover show it was insane actually. So it was at the Sun Valley Sportsman's Lodge, which was like this Elks lodge, and there was no security. I don't think the Elks Lodge had any idea what was coming into that building, okay, And so you had on like the metal side, you had to span Savage Grace, which was a pre popular thrash band in LA that never really made it too much farther than that, and it was let's see Dark Angel and it was possessed on the metal side. On the punk side was Suicidal pre crossover. It was coc pre Pepper, so when they were hardcore, and then and the descendants, and when I tell you like it's the most it's my most memorable gig, and I've been to like thousands of them. There was no place to hide in that venue. I mean there were people like climbing

12:19 up on the rafters and and you can't even call it stage diving because it wasn't off the stage. People flying through the air, and it was just this brutality of finally the punks and the metal heads figuring out that we should be together, like because I always thought it was stupid. You know, the jocks would kick both of our asses and we would fight with each other. We should have banned together. And that's why it's beautiful that we have bands like you guys today where you can go to like I go on tour and I do festivals all over the US, UK, Eurepe where you can have every type of heavy music at one festival and everybody get along.

13:02 Oh yeah, it's dream. It's a dream, dude, Like right, yeah, you know I could imagine like being raised in like the eighties climate. You know, I'm a sensitive voice, so you know, different things like that. Who knows what could have happened done, But like being you know, circling back to Tampa, like coming to shows all the time where you know, you have acoustic acts opening shows and then you have bands like a Dalia headlining them, you know, like a lot of hardcore, and then you have shows where like I don't know, bands like Holly Maddox playing with eight strings or like, you know, I can go forever about it, you know, but the fact that you can circle around a city that created death metal but find so much more and be able to expand on so much more of it as a young person, I think we're spoiled for choice, and I think it shows with the stuff that we make together and who knows what else will make from here? You know, I'm just excited for your people to hear what we got now it's gonna be awesome.

14:13 And so tell us about the new album and what was the process going into that album opposed to your previous stuff, and like what ended up? How did it start and how did the final project come about. That's a good question. So me and thirty we aren't original members. We weren't there for the making of the first two EPs. I don't know if you're there for the second EP. Thrifty, No, I wasn't. Okay, So yeah, we're two. We're probably the two newest people. But the first two EPs were done with Raffie and Jose our vocalists, and while of our guitarists, they worked with Hunter Young who's in Mood Ring, worked with Psycho Frame. Has a really good repertoire of artist.

15:05 He is a brilliant artist. He was playing shows and bands called Silence as well that I looked up to a lot. So when me and Thrifty joined, I call Brandon Thrifty. By the way, my bad. When I joined, I was the last one to join. We were just putting out our second record, EP record whatever, all the same stuff. Man, We're playing shows around that for a little while, took our first trip to Alabama, took a trip to Texas with a different drummer, our friend Devin pick Up, Devin, I love you, and we kind of circled around started to make music again, and our guitarist Raffi left for a little bit because he had personal reasons. You know, I won't go into details with that, but he had to go for a little bit figure himself out, do his thing. He came back into the fold and listened to some of the stuff that me and some of my guitarists are writing, and it was like, look, I love this and what you guys are doing is great, but a cold steal record it may not be in the same direction. So he sat down in a month wrote seven songs and in the Glories basically, and he like I because I watched

16:43 Draffi in different bands growing up, and this was like exponential Wow. I could imagine he would come back with the stuff that he wrote for the record. So after he did that, we all came together to help shape those songs and created a couple more, one of them being Blacksmith, where me and Sean and Math kind of came together and then everyone else came up with details. By that point we basically had everything together. We got the offer from spine Farm, which Matt Heavey essentially referred us over to spine Farmer was like, Hey, I played a show with these guys once.

17:25 They're incredible. Nice Matt from Trivium. What a legend. Like the fact that he would say anything like this about a. Band that we're in, like kind of blows your mind right. Descendency was the first record, like first metal record physical I ever bought for reference. I cried so hard, won't dive into it. Point being. Spot him him up spine Farm and then then reaching out to us being like, hey, we gotta make a record. You guys are awesome. Matt Heavey like respects y'all and wanted to put y'all along. So from there we got placed in with Arthur Rizzik, who is the guitarist the Cold World. We flew to Philly and literally recorded a record together in his studio And it still feels like a fever dream that we even had the opportunity to do that. Yeah, when we got in the studio and just being able to see what Arthur's ideas were, how things were flowing in how to rearrange some of the things we worked on together, and to hear his ideas as to how to really exude the cold steel sound out of what we're making. That stuff's invaluable, entirely invaluable, and I'm so grateful for the combined work we all came to together. And then that's not even mentioned, Like

18:55 fifty knocked out drums in like two days, because he's a monster, one of the best drums in my life. Like I could glaze all my members forever. I think they're all genius in their own right. Everything was done except lyrics because Jose is a poet before a musician. He wants to make sure his words are good. He took his time to make the record. We could not give him any like am I allowed to curse. I'm not gonna give him any bullshit. You can. Nice anyway, you can say whatever you want.

19:40 Uh, Jose wants to make sure his words are perfect. He went back up to record vocals and we still finished them up here, but like to help him get his message across, with this record essentially being the reflection of how we see the world these days and how negative and distraughtful things have become over the last few years to come together to compile into thoughtful and powerful messaging that I am just endeared to the fact that is on record, the fact that we all have our message, our passion on record with people that care about it, so many people that we all looked up to when we were so young, and to this day, and then to where we are now playing with shows in December with obituary and still being able to play local shows at the same time, this record is showing our dream and we don't even know where it's going.

20:53 I love it, and you know, I want to focus on, you know, some of the things you're talking about, because it's like, like, first of all, who produces your album? I think can make all the difference in the world. I mean, we talked about the Black Album earlier. If it weren't for the producer of that album, we might not know that album to this day. Complete facts like this album, the way that it's made, it's Arthur is it coded entirely. And this is not to this Hunter Young in any way either, because that dude has done so much for those first two EPs to establish the band.

21:35 So of course we're grateful for that. But the work Arthur did like just touch my heart in a certain way just because I was there. You know. That's just my perspective on it, you know. But you'll the rest of the record, you hear Arthur isik, the whole thing is through this thing. So yeah, I don't know this would be a black album for us type but you know, well, I'm just grateful that we got to do one with him in the first place. That's my guy Guitarthur. But that and that's the same thing as you know, you were talking about finding your sound. I think people don't realize that bands don't find their sound until like a few albums in like and it's and that's what's tough, because when you're like one of the original fans, you know, you want to hold on to that raw garage band sound that you fell in love with, but that wasn't necessarily the band's sound. That was the band's sound then in the beginning, probably most of the time when I came back in the day metal and punk where you didn't even know how to play your instrument yet, you know.

22:49 And so I think that's what people miss out on, is like as you're a few albums in you finally find what you really want to sound like and you have kind of learned how to play your instrument the way you want to play it type of thing. Mm hmm, definitely. I think with us it's more so just knowing we wanted to play heavy music together. I think we necessarily knew or almost didn't really care what kind of sound it landed on. It's just like the people in the band, we're all just friends, like we hang out.

23:31 And just that's so import Yeah, it's so important. Man. If you're not friends and you're on the road all the time, especially in those early days when you're in a band and always together, you're going to kill each other if you're not friends. Even though I feel like sometimes I want kill these sometimes he just with his. Memes, man, it just gets me to a point. I can't help it. Man, I go goofy mode whenever I'm around the boys because I just want to make him laugh, you know it. And that and you know what, that's the best messine besides music. Laughter is the best medicine. Because people don't realize when you're a musician and they look at you like, oh, you're living a dream life and in some ways you are, but in other ways it's like it can be hell, you know, and so you need laughter to diversify from that hell.

24:29 You know. Yeah, you could be more right, and I love your message. He's like, he's like, oh, hell no, he's giving me a platform to be goofy on. Yeah, yeah, there you go. Let let that goofiness fly man. You know that. And you know what's cool about that is everybody thinks that metal heads are like totally dark and serious all the time. But some of the people I know are metal heads. Right. Were you, like, were you a class clown in high school? Were you all the yearbooks for that at all? I was for sure, Oh dude, I was like I was just the big boy everyone knew. But I had a sense of humor behind it and hands behind it if people have problems, But that's not the point, you.

25:23 Know what I mean? Same, Like, it's all just like, yes, we want to represent the music we play properly, and we do, but first and foremost, we're friends. We give love, we spread love. Fifty knows all about that. That's the thing. Like nice, there's nothing better than being up there with those other five guys. And playing our fucking hearts out every damn time. It doesn't get old. There's not a song I don't want to play because it's been played too many times or whatever. People give us a platform that's physical, metaphor.

26:03 That's that's the point we get to do it in the first place, and we're grateful that we get to do anything local, let alone whatever scale this goes from. And I love the idea of your message because what pisses me off in the past few years all these people, it's all the people saying that musicians, artists should just stick to the music. Hello, do you know about every music ever in history was always a message. It was always some kind of protest. It was always speaking up. That's what music's about, man, And it's it's cathartic for you, the artists, so you can get this stuff out of you.

26:49 And for us it's therapy too, you know. And you know what, you should have a voice. Why would people that are getting up and doing what you do not have the voice? To me, that's pop music and I'm not into pop. I do love me to some pop music. But man, if you're gonna get me a microphone, how are you gonna tell me how to. Use my voice, no doubt. Like it's like you should. That's what writing a song is about, isn't it. Like you don't write a song that most of the time. You don't write a song just making shit up. You write a song that comes from inside and and frankly, as somebody that was in the eighties, I'm a little like buged that in twenty twenty five, I feel like we're back in the eighties again. You could take songs that were written in the eighties, change the names and it's and it's still an appropriate song today. And that's why musicians, artists need to spread their voice so we don't have to keep having the same thing happened over and over again. Exactly, I've a s laughter, let's hear it.

28:02 What is that. Speak on that? No? I agree, brother, I mean everyone's got a voice. Everybody got everybody has a truth to speak, you know. And from my point of view as a drummer, talk about cathartic energy, bro, Like it is just energy and passion, and like what I have to say is necessarily voiceless, you know, it's a movement and energy and my voice through movement, and I agree though, like lyrically, it can get kind of twisted, it can get kind of old and moldy and the same thing. Repeated over and over again. But like either way, you gotta speak your truth. And I think that the more honest people are like Jose Are Vocalist and a lot of other bands nowadays that are just like raw and truthful in the way that they portray themselves, in the way that they speak and lyricize.

28:53 I think that's the most important thing you can do. And people, people, consumers, fans all align with the t They hear it, they see it, they feel it. Man, if someone's not being honest or truthful vocally or not energetically, it's you can read that ship from a Yeah, people. Are tell my good book. You know. It's so transparent, you know, And and I think the key to being a great artist is just being yourself exactly, you know, exactly, and you know, like you said something about you know people, everybody has their own truth. Like why shouldn't people have a voice. They don't have to agree, not everybody else agree, but everybody should have a voice.

29:46 And whoever it relates to, you know, you'll find your people. And that's the thing, if you're an artist, you're not going to find your people by being fake. You're going to find your people by being real and speaking your truth, and then people will align with you that feel the same way. Exactly. If we're so worried about what we're speaking on, we wouldn't say it. But we just want to put our word out, our energy out, the word of cold steal, whatever. People transpire it to be. But yeah, we're just going to do it because we love doing it and it's our word and it's our true word. And anything past that, anything good, anything bad, that is just what happens. You know, it's a connection.

30:40 People aren't only gonna resonate with what you say, but the people that do, the people that get it. It's not that it matters more, but it matters in a selfish manner. You know. Yeah, no doubt, you know. And there's so much conflict out there that music like yours helps with that conflict. In my opinion, I appreciate that. Man. Check the rest of us, dude, who like I don't think we have an objective other than this is our word. Yeah, here you are. If you want to hear it, go for it. If you want to talk to us about it, go for it. If you don't, that's cool. There's so many other bands, so many good bands, so many people worth the time. As long as people find their message through whatever they're listening to or writing or whatever, congrats.

31:32 That is the find your. Place, that's the goal. That's the goal. So tell everybody how they can reach out to you on socials, on the web, how they can get the new album. It drops November seventh, right. Yes, November seventh, Discipline Punished full length record. Our instagram is at Cold Steel Band fl That's the main place, and the link in our bios are linked tree. You'll be able to pre order our record, preorder vinyl, see all of our music videos, and send us a message if you really rock with the comment whatever you want to do. But I hope everyone listens to the record when it comes out. They like the songs, and yeah, Cold Steel was the best.

32:24 There you go. You got this do fucking rock man and it did. You know. It's funny, it's modern, but it brought me back to back in the day, you know, like it just and I love too that the collaboration type of thing that you do, and that and that it's not all the same, you know, and it appeals to all my schizophrenic personalities. We got the same ship, record experience together to agree. Sometimes that ain't the per world man. Oh no it is. It Hats off to you, though, to have that many people, with that many opinions and actually come out with a badass album at the at the end of the day.

33:14 Good. More so, thanks for bringing us this music, Thanks for speaking your truth and you're and giving us your voice, and thanks for being on the Adventures of pipe Man. Thank you for a time man, big love to everybody anytime. Thank you for listening to the Adventures of Pipe Man. I'm w for CUI Radio.