I recently had the chance to catch up with 'Zetro' about his new band, Hatriot, as their debut album (Heroes of Origin) hit the streets. Best known as the voice of Exodus on albums such as 'Fabulous Disaster' and 'Tempo of the Damned', in addition to his work with Chuck Billy in Dublin Death Patrol, 'Zetro' is truly a legend in the thrash metal scene.
Joined by his sons Nick and Cody as well as other young musicians, Steve clearly relishes playing the role of mentor. No longer feeling the same external pressures of work and family he did more recently with Exodus, 'Zetro' is committed to making Hatriot work as an ongoing band that tours and records regularly. I really enjoyed talking to Steve, as he's an energetic guy and is very excited about this new chapter in a long, accomplished career. 'Heroes of Origin' is fast, aggressive, and angry, with snarling vocals that will definitely appeal to fans of DDP and Exodus.
Some highlights for you:
On starting over: "People think because I'm Zetro and I've played in these legendary bands in the past, it just doesn't necessarily work like that. It's kind of 'What have you done for me lately?' I had to shop the demo, obviously…That was my hardest part, I was like, 'Am I gonna do this again?' I'm like 45 years old, I'm gonna start a new band. Then I gotta come up with a name, then we gotta come up with a logo, then we gotta get members, and write songs, and play shows, and do photos, and just all the things that like [yuck], that a musician that's been doing it as long as me, you're like [yuck]. But once I got it all done and at the point we are now, I'm so excited for it. I really am. It's great."
On playing with kids and younger musicians: "Every rehearsal is a lesson for them, because I'm going to tell them something to expect. 'This is what's going to happen to this, and then when we do this, it's going to be like this.' And so, I don't sugarcoat anything. I give it to them exactly like it is. It's not pretty, it never will be, it's just the business side of it and how it works."
On his work ethic: "I don't like the laziness of most musicians. It's really bad. If I could have run Exodus or I could have run other bands, maybe it would have been a different story. The greatest thing about Hatriot is that I get to run everything, I make the final decision. And I'm not a lazy person. I get everything done."
On leaving Exodus: "Mentally not in the right place at that time. They can take no blame for that. That was me. Unfortunately that business wasn't doing as well at that time. And working like we were before, it was hard to jump out of a $90,000/year job to go make $30,000 a year so that everybody was happy. Plus I had little kids at the time, and it was just hard to do that. That's why I'm much more dedicated now to being able to do it because my children are in the band, everyone's older, and it's just time to do it again."
Joined by his sons Nick and Cody as well as other young musicians, Steve clearly relishes playing the role of mentor. No longer feeling the same external pressures of work and family he did more recently with Exodus, 'Zetro' is committed to making Hatriot work as an ongoing band that tours and records regularly. I really enjoyed talking to Steve, as he's an energetic guy and is very excited about this new chapter in a long, accomplished career. 'Heroes of Origin' is fast, aggressive, and angry, with snarling vocals that will definitely appeal to fans of DDP and Exodus.
Some highlights for you:
On starting over: "People think because I'm Zetro and I've played in these legendary bands in the past, it just doesn't necessarily work like that. It's kind of 'What have you done for me lately?' I had to shop the demo, obviously…That was my hardest part, I was like, 'Am I gonna do this again?' I'm like 45 years old, I'm gonna start a new band. Then I gotta come up with a name, then we gotta come up with a logo, then we gotta get members, and write songs, and play shows, and do photos, and just all the things that like [yuck], that a musician that's been doing it as long as me, you're like [yuck]. But once I got it all done and at the point we are now, I'm so excited for it. I really am. It's great."
On playing with kids and younger musicians: "Every rehearsal is a lesson for them, because I'm going to tell them something to expect. 'This is what's going to happen to this, and then when we do this, it's going to be like this.' And so, I don't sugarcoat anything. I give it to them exactly like it is. It's not pretty, it never will be, it's just the business side of it and how it works."
On his work ethic: "I don't like the laziness of most musicians. It's really bad. If I could have run Exodus or I could have run other bands, maybe it would have been a different story. The greatest thing about Hatriot is that I get to run everything, I make the final decision. And I'm not a lazy person. I get everything done."
On leaving Exodus: "Mentally not in the right place at that time. They can take no blame for that. That was me. Unfortunately that business wasn't doing as well at that time. And working like we were before, it was hard to jump out of a $90,000/year job to go make $30,000 a year so that everybody was happy. Plus I had little kids at the time, and it was just hard to do that. That's why I'm much more dedicated now to being able to do it because my children are in the band, everyone's older, and it's just time to do it again."
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