If you love your Metal with a dose of Punk, or your Punk with a decidedly Metal aftertaste then look no further than Virginia’s Municipal waste. Here to help ‘clean up’ Australia in June. Our new ‘Head Of Metal’ Andrew gets down and dirty with Dave Witte.
Andrew: Hi Dave, thank you for talking to the Rockpit. Let’s start at the beginning: how did the band get started?
Dave: Ryan and Tony started the band in 2000 with a couple of other guys, there was a drummer change, two 7″s, a split, an album on Six Weeks called Waste Em All and some touring. Drummer number two wasn’t working out and not long after I stepped in, then the bass player left and Phil came aboard. We wrote Hazardous Mutation together and have more or less been on tour ever since, ha-ha! We managed to write and record a few other records as well. I’m sure you can tell this is the stripped down version of the history, but were still going strong and having a blast.
Andrew: What’s the story behind your first gig, apparently there was a riot?
Dave: I joined in 2004 so I wasn’t there for the first gig ever. What I can tell you though, is that my first gig/weekend out was helping out/filling in. I had so much fun that weekend that I joined the band right away.
Andrew: Any stories to tell us from your the last tour in Australia?
Dave: It was such a fantastic time, great bands, great people, great times. It’s been far too long, were so ready to come back and rip it up! Get ready!!
Andrew: So with the new album “The Fatal Feast”, is there any story behind the album cover’s space/sci-fi theme?
Dave: Basically it’s a mission gone wrong where an entity infects the ship’s crew and they cannibalize the captain. A little space horror goes a long way.
Andrew: There seems to be a little bit of a horror/zombie theme in some of your music, are you guys fans of zombie films like George A. Romero’s films or even The Walking Dead TV and comic book series? If so, are there any particular favourites?
Dave: Oh yeah. Were all huge horror and sci fi fans. I just got into Walking Dead and I love it, some of the other guys are ahead of me in episodes so we don’t talk about it on the bus. I’m curious to see World War Z, it’s due out pretty soon. The trailers seem cool and a little weird. The CGI looks a little fishy, and I love me some CGI though, so we’ll see. We all agree that John Carpenter’s The Thing is one of the greatest sci fi/horror films ever made.
Andrew: What are your influences, musically and otherwise?
Dave: We all have so many different ones. It’s a huge melting pot. As for the band itself, I think we wear our influences proudly on our sleeves. We’re currently on tour with Anthrax and Exodus, both bands had a huge impact on our sound and its great to see them slugging out the hits each night.
Andrew: What are your thoughts on the current resurgence of old school thrash metal including the punk/thrash crossovers? Any new bands out there that you are liking at the moment?
Dave: Every scene comes and goes in circles. It’s only a matter of time until each genre repeats itself and spawns a lot of similar things along with something fresh that propels that scene forward. There are some cool bands out there, but to be honest, I can’t get enough of the latest Voivod album, it’s a perfect example of a band I love returning to its roots and nailing the era of Voivod that I love the most.
Andrew: Do you consider yourselves more punk or metal?
Dave: There’s a healthy mix of both but I would say we’re a more punk inspired metal band.
Andrew: Are there any bands out there that you have not toured with that you would like to tour with or even support someday?
Dave: I always say Metallica ‘cause I know the catering will be awesome. Ha-ha! I love eating and eating well on the road is a wonderful thing. Seriously, Slayer as well, I would go back out with Suicidal and Napalm Death any day. Iron Lung and Victims as well. I love a good mixed bill, so going out with someone that wouldn’t really pop up as an instant match would be cool too. Iron Maiden would probably be my ultimate fantasy.
Andrew: In all the countries that you have played at around the world, are the audiences generally the same at every Municipal Waste show or are there big differences in certain countries or even certain parts of the U.S?
Dave: South America has the most passionate people easily. They rage like no other, it’s pretty crazy at times. We had the best time there and we can’t wait to go back. That being said, the first time we did Aussie years ago, it was awesome and it’s been so long since we’ve been back, we’re itching to have a great time there again!
Andrew: How is the writing process for you guys? How do you write your music and put together an album?
Dave: It works a bunch of different ways, Phil writes a lot of riffs these days, and he’s like a fountain of riffs. Everyone contributes with either stuff brought in or from jamming as a whole in the space. The music usually comes first and then the lyrics are put in and then well demo everything out to see what works best.
Andrew: You guy’s always put out a few videos for every album, is this something you enjoy doing or do you consider it just something that is part of just being in a band?
Dave: Making the videos are one of the best parts of being in the band. We get toast and wear costumes and stuff, it’s so much fun getting to be someone else for a little bit. Filming usually cracks me up while we’re doing it.
Andrew: Where did the idea of people bringing boogie boards to your shows come from?
Dave: I think we started bringing them to be funny and then people just started showing up with them. It was kind of like, hey crowd surfing ya know? Boogie boards, really crowd surf. We brought a trampoline for a little while as well, that was pretty funny.
Andrew: What are your favourite songs to perform at live shows?
Dave: There’s so many to choose from these days. Sadistic Magician is always fun. Head banger Face Rip, I love Idiot Check and the Barfer and Terror Shark. It’s always changing.
Andrew: The Art of Partying is a great album, awesome artwork with some killer songs. Do a lot of fans identify the band with that album more than any of the other albums?
Dave: Thanks. Yeah that album did a lot for us and a lot of people relate with that record the most, I think. Zeuss did a great job of capturing us at the moment as well. Andrei really drove it home with the painting; it kind of made you want to be there. Ha!
Andrew: If you could have been a fly on a wall for the recording of any classic album, what would it have been?
Dave: Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti. Bonham’s drum sound is still unable to be reproduced to this day. He’s the man. I’ve been on a huge Zeppelin kick these days.
Andrew: What is the meaning of life?
Dave: Monty Python of course.
