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Interviews
Hellride
Music: Grief held a special place for a lot of people. Mostly
people like me that have severe mental problems and are prone to long
bouts of depression, so Grief's brand of misery-core was the shit!!! Grief
was around for 10 long years, a shit load of 7"s and five albums.
The question on every fan's mind, including me, is "So why'd you
end it?!". Terry Savastano: I'd have to say drummer problems had a lot to do with us breaking up. I mean in ten years we had ten drummers!! there were a few long periods of inactivity for us while we were drummerless. We got sick of that,and I think lack of label support,too. We got tired of banging our heads against the wall,trying to get certain things done...very dreary after a while, having a new album out and nobody knowing about it 'cause there wasn't any press or ads of any kind. Shit like that. Me and Jeff were the two constants in Grief and after 10 years (we worked in his dads print shop together too) I think we burnt out on each other. But yeah,the drummer thing is what really killed us, it was like fuck it y'know? We got Rick back in the band for our last tour, and then we thought about going to Japan, but he had another kid on the way and the whole thing just went down the fuckin' toilet. Hellride
Music: Can you give us the obligatory Grief bio? I know
packing ten years worth of history into a couple of paragraphs is tough,
but give it a whirl. Terry:
Our first rehearsal was right before Christmas 1991, it was me,original
drummer Pete ,and our friend Mike on vocals. We wrote "Depression"
and "Isolation", which was called "Everybody Dies"
at that point. Next rehearsal was Randy on vocals and Jay on bass. Randy
couldn't swing it so he moved to bass, Jay to 2nd guitar and Jeff decided
to sing. That was the first lineup. We did the first EP,the Dismal
12" and the split with 13 on my label Grievance records. Then the
Dystopia guys put out the split with them. We toured the West Hellride
Music: Do
you ever listen to the Grief catalog and wonder where all that pain, misery
and hatred came from? Was the music a direct reflection of the band's
mindset, a catharsis of sorts, or did you have to work to get it to sound
that miserable? Terry:
Sometimes I listen to our stuff and it's like "goddamn!!!" Fuckin'
miserable bastards that we were.....but really it all came natural, I
never had to 'try' anything with this band, it all came out in the music,
especially some early lyrics that I wrote. I know where a lot of that
pain and anger came from and I'm very glad to have channeled it out through
the band, otherwise I wouldn't be here today!!! really!! Terry:
Oh yeah!!! I can't believe it.......i'm getting more press now than like
the last 3-4 years the band was together!! I always wear a Grief shirt
to shows and going out to bars and shit and I can't believe the people
that come up to me... I saw Kreator and Destruction last night (amazing
show!!) and like so many people came up to me- one dude wouldn't let go
of my hand!!! Fuckin' fanatics!!!! That's cool though.........whatever
it takes,I'm glad people are into it, better late than never. Terry:
Quite a bit, which is really cool. See, I kinda stopped doing a lot of
band business for a while. When Eric joined he took over a lot of stuff
cause I was going through some anxiety problems and doing an awful lot
of coke... I did all the booking, all the mail, most of the art and layouts,etc...
so now I'm fully into this 100%. Greg Anderson is a cool motherfucker!!!!
He let me do whatever I wanted on this. He's gonna re-mix a few tunes
and remaster the whole affair, but my input is right there. It's good
to be back, and I just wanna go higher and higher now(not coke-wise, music-wise!).
I've been keeping in touch with Jeff about this Terry: Eric is a very touched person!! That's what pills and lack of sleep will do to you! Once Eric joined the band he took over the art completely. None of us had any input, other than,y'know "yeah that's cool, use that for the cover", etc...There's certain things he did that I don't care for, but hey, he's the guy doing it, let him do it. Having Eric do the art was one less thing I had to worry about. But yeah, you can tell who it is right away. Very juvenile ,but very, very unique nonetheless...true character!!! Hellride
Music: How
about engineer/co-producer Bill T. Miller? How much input did he have
in the band's sound? What's he up to nowadays? Terry:
Bill is another freak!!! Without a doubt, the coolest guy to do anything
musical with. All we ever had to do is plug in and bang!!! Bill would
get the sound in 10 minutes!! It didn't matter if it was his studio or
someone Terry: Well it's like 50/50 right now. Do I want to re-form Grief, or start another band? I've got about 5-6 songs written and tons of riffs, all vary from total slow doom to mid-paced to 80's thrash. I don't know yet. I've gotten a few offers to join other bands but nothing attractive so far...it's either gonna be Grief again with whoever I can get to do it, or another band, sort of like all metal styles ,doom, thrash, traditional...I've got a name for it too,'Sinner Repent'. But in all honesty I wouldn't mind trying Grief again with a few new guys. After compiling all the stuff for Turbulent Times the past month or so, all I've been listening to lately is old Grief!!! I caught a good feeling of all the magic and good times the early stuff had, there's something about Come to Grief ,it brings back really heavy memories!!! Either way, I hope to be in a band and doing something by the end of the year. I've taken enough time off. Hellride
Music: What's
your take on the heavy music scene nowadays vs. ten years ago when Grief
first started out? Terry:
I think today's atmosphere is a little more heavy-music friendly. I see
all these young kids into death, speed, thrash, doom, etc... every time
I go to the record store I'll grab some kid ,"hey buy this ,buy this
too!!!". One kid thanked me the next time I saw him! It's cool. There's
a lot of labels out there that seem to care now, putting out quality stuff
and supporting bands, I see a lot more shows in the suburbs compared to
like just in Boston... I think it's easier to get thing done as far as
promo, shows, distro, all that stuff goes. The Internet is fucking awesome,
what a great tool to get shit done!!! Hellride
Music: What
is spinning currently on the Savastano stereo? Any notable bands that
you feel deserve a plug? Terry: I think anything Usurper does is great!! I love those guys. My Dying Bride,too... a lot of respect for them, their new stuff is amazing!! I listen to sooooooo much shit!!! So far this weekend I've been listening to Bolt Thrower, Church of Misery, Pentagram (new and old), Candlemass, Free, Budgie - I fuckin love Budgie!! a lot of NWOBHM like Angel Witch, Tank, Diamond Head; 80's thrash like Sacrifice, Slaughter, Destruction, Death Row, Sacrilege, Exodus, Cactus,Captain Beyond, Thin Lizzy, Stooges, Radio Birdman,the Saints,the Humpers, Discharge, UFO, Deep Purple,etc... the list goes on!!!!!!!! Having a CD player in my van is really fuckin' cool!!!! Hellride
Music: Thanks
again for the interview Terry.... any last words for the fans and Hellride
readers? Terry:
I wanna thank you for this interview, it's been awhile and I'm glad to
be back. Thanks to everybody Grief affected or infected!!!!!! Thanks to
all the bands we played with over the years. Pick up Turbulent Times'
in November, stop spinning your vinyl and pick this CD up ,it's got all
that stuff on there. Drop me and my wife a line at drone92@aol.com
to say high.....anyone living in the Boston/southern New Hampshire area
who wants to jam; like I said it's either gonna be Grief again or a new
band, a little different...can't wait to play again,my Marshalls are still
blaring in my house and the neighbors ain't happy!!! Fuck 'em!! Chris,
huge mega-thanks
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No
one played misery-core as well as Grief...never have the emotions of hatred,
anger and depression felt so palpable. After ten long years slugging it
out on the road with very little promotional support and endless drummer
troubles, Grief called it quits. Hellride Music talks to Grief founder/guitarist
Terry Savastano about the Grief years, the collection of singles and demos
that will be out on the Southern Lord label later this year, and what's
next for Terry.
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