Just recently Meet Me For Coffee/iHeartradio Podcast, hosted by George Panayi, conducted an interview with the worlds best rhythm section, TESTAMENT‘s STEVE DI GIORGIO and GENE HOGLAN.
Host George Panayi: “Who is the worlds best rhythm section? Gene Hoglan and Steve Di Giorgio are! You’ve seen them on stage with the legendary Testament and Death. Join us as we dive into their music careers, what it takes to keep it going in todays music business, and we get an exclusive look at what it was like to play with Death. Great conversations over coffee.”
More on Meet Me For Coffee With over 200,000 listeners and growing, Meet Me For Coffee is quickly becoming one of the world’s hottest podcasts. The show is rated as one of the top 50 shows globally by the New York Daily Times, outranking The Daily Show With Trevor Noah and The Adam Corolla Show. Meet Me For Coffee host George Panayi brings over a decade of broadcast experience to the table with a passion for excellence. His unique, personable interview style has led him to feature in The New York Times, Blabbermouth, along with various significant media outlets across North America. Due to his devotion to captivating content, Hollywood Digest has rewarded George with the Most Vivacious Host Award.
Please Note, STEVE DI GIORGIO is available for studio sessions as well as session bassist for tours. For further information, please contact tarja@splitscreenproduction.com.
The fretless guru, STEVE DI GIORGIO doesn’t need any longer introductions, as he is widely renowned as a pioneer on the fretless bass in heavy metal music, being the bassist of TESTAMENT, DEATH and SADUS, among others. Within his genre, STEVE DI GIORGIO is respected for his playing skills, versatility and incredible technique. He has more than 40 studio album recordings and over 20 years of touring the world.
BRYAN BELLER (bassist for The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Dethklok) has released a new music video for two songs – ‘A Quickening’ and ‘Steiner In Ellipses’ – from his critically acclaimed 2019 progressive double concept album, Scenes From The Flood.
Playing five characters (including himself), and featuring special guests Gene Hoglan, Mike Keneally, Rick Musallam and Kyle Hughes, watch the ‘A Quickening’ / ‘Steiner In Ellipses’ video here:
Tackling the challenge of creating a unique home-shot video during months of tour-less semi-quarantine, BELLER’s hyper-paced, withering satire tells the story of four characters with musical dreams – a nerdy accountant, a hipster douchebag, a cross-dressing keyboardist, and an aging rocker, all played by BELLER himself – grappling with creating content and the drive-by commentary of social media, all in an age of ever-increasing isolation and primarily digital existence.
“When COVID hit, at first, I really had no idea what to do creatively,” says BELLER, social distancing from the city in his remote north Los Angeles County residence. “It was all such a shock, the sudden cancellation of everything, everyone stuck at home. So I thought, I’ll just wait and observe. Lots and lots of screen time, you know? And then I realized – as musicians, creators, and just as people, we’re all doing the same thing, aren’t we? So let’s tell a story about what humans try and do with that.”
The result is a frenetic and radical deconstruction of a typical play-through video. BELLER’s four characters play their parts in earnest as a critical chorus of social media commentary appears on-screen with near machine-gun frequency. Eventually the accountant, the hipster, the cross-dresser and the rocker all check their own social media accounts and read the comments, to their abject horror. The second half of the video then takes a hard metal turn before a plot twist brings the characters together for the grand finale…or does it?
“It occurred to me that we could create a phenomenon where the viewer, in real life, is watching this video, probably on a social media platform with the ability to comment, about characters performing and posting on a social media platform while people comment about them, and then they log on to their own social media accounts and read those typically horrible comments about themselves,” says BELLER. “It’s pretty world-inside-a-world meta, and more than a little absurd. But that’s where we are these days, aren’t we? All of us, spending too much time inside in front of a screen, doomscrolling and re-examining our lives? I figured, let’s at least have a little fun taking the piss out of all of it. And let’s make the video really fast, really crazy, really over the top and totally in your face.”
For that mission, BELLER turned to video editor ZZ Satriani (son of guitarist Joe Satriani, and editor/director of Satch’s 2016 tour documentary Beyond The Supernova). “I’m 49 years old, and ZZ is 28. The millennial take on video pacing is just completely different than your typical Gen X’er who grew up on old school MTV videos. It’s just so much faster, so much more dense, and I felt this video really needed that. I’d actually been a fan of ZZ’s work for a while. He really got the vibe I was trying to convey.”
The two short, up-tempo songs in segue succession – the breakbeat drum-and-bass-flavoured ‘A Quickening,’ and the throwback thrash metal anthem ‘Steiner In Ellipses’ – proved to be the right tunes for BELLER to exemplify the concept. The actual musicians who played on the album tracks – legendary metal drummer Gene Hoglan (Death, Testament, Strapping Young Lad); eclectic genius guitarist/composer Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa, Joe Satriani), and L.A. session specialist Rick Musallam (Ben Taylor, Carly Simon) – show up in the video as well, playing straight men to BELLER’s esoteric ensemble cast. Additionally, British drummer Kyle Hughes (Bumblefoot, Marco Mendoza) contributes a new drum track layer on top of ‘A Quickening’ that isn’t present on the album version, creating a new arrangement of the song specific to this video.
“In the story of Scenes From The Flood, ’A Quickening’ is about the acceleration of our culture from the social media instant-feedback loop, and ‘Steiner in Ellipses’ is about a powerful force that presents as benevolent, but might be malevolent. Musically they’re two different worlds, but conceptually they’re very connected. They both move really fast, and they eventually build to this dizzying finale. It felt like the correct musical canvas to try something bizarre and left field like this. Hopefully people will get a laugh out of it, and then maybe think a little bit about where we are, how we got here, and where this all leads.”
A work so sweeping in scale that it took BELLER nearly a decade to conceive, compose, and now fully realise, Scenes From The Flood asks an existential question: When the storm comes for us, the big one after which things will not be the same, who are we and what do we become in those defining moments? What do we keep, and what do we let go? Scenes From The Flood features 26 world class musicians including Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Guthrie Govan, Gene Hoglan, Mike Keneally, and Mike Dawes, explores themes of ambition and loss, intentionality and reality, hope and disillusionment, and uses every second of its 18-song, 88-minute running order to tell an emotionally consuming and unforgettable musical story.
TESTAMENT‘s Gene Hoglan has posted on his Youtube Channel a quarantiner video – DEATH TO ALL Play DEATH’s “Overactive Imagination” – in tribute to Chuck Schuldiner. 1967-2001. Watch it here:
DEATH TO ALL are:
Steve DiGiorgio: Bass
Bobby Koelble: Guitars
Max Phelps: Guitars and Vocals
Gene Hoglan: Drums
“In tribute to our Metal Brother, Chuck Schuldiner. 1967-2001. May his music live forever…”
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Please Note, STEVE DI GIORGIO is available for studio sessions as well as session bassist for tours. For further information, please contact Alpha Omega Management.
The fretless guru, STEVE DI GIORGIO doesn’t need any longer introductions, as he is widely renowned as a pioneer on the fretless bass in heavy metal music, being the bassist of TESTAMENT, DEATH and SADUS, among others. Within his genre, STEVE DI GIORGIO is respected for his playing skills, versatility and incredible technique. He has more than 40 studio album recordings and over 20 years of touring the world.
If you’ve witnessed a performance featuring world-renowned drummer GENE HOGLAN within the past decade or so, chances are you’ve seen him perform with his Pearl Masters Custom Set (pictured below) – utilized on Ozzfest, tours with Opeth, Strapping Young Lad, Unearth, and on Hoglan’s first DVD, The Atomic Clock. The set was also used to record Strapping Young Lad‘s The New Black, as well as records by Tenet, Meldrum, Mr. Plow and Zimmer’s Hole. Now, this drumkit can be yours!
Hoglan is currently auctioning this drumkit, which has been featured in Pearl catalogs and Modern Drummer Magazine, via eBay auction. Partial proceeds from this sale will be donated to The National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics, in memory of Death frontman Chuck Schuldiner and Michelle Meldrum. You can visit the auction page and place bids here: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/-/282488942406
Watch a personal video message from Hoglan describing the kit, albums/tours it was used on and donation details here:
Hoglan says, “It’s a killer kit, sounds huge… sounds amazing on The New Black. You can really tell when you listen to the album. Some of the proceeds are going to be donated to The National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics in memory of Chuck Schuldiner and Michelle Meldrum, so part of it is going to a good cause.”
The Pearl Masters Custom Set features a 12×9, 15×11, 16×18 and two 24×16 kick drums. It also includes shells, rims, cymbal stands and a tom stand (this includes what is pictured on eBay only).
GENE HOGLAN‘s second DVD, The Atomic Clock: The Clock Strikes Two, is out now! The DVD features the Clock himself breaking down some of his favorite beats, telling stories and playing along with tracks from several of his most legendary projects, including Strapping Young Lad, Testament and Death. An impressive roster of high-caliber musicians also weigh in over the course of the feature, offering stories about Gene and their experiences working with him. Interviews include the aforementioned clips of Scott Ian and Frank Bello of Anthrax, 3 Inches of Blood/Revocation‘s Ash Pearson, Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall, Chuck Billy, Alex Skolnick, and Eric Peterson of Testament, and more. The Atomic Clock: The Clock Strikes Two provides a glimpse into the philosophies, techniques, and history of one of metal’s most influential musicians of all time.
Fans can order physical and digital copies here in Canada and here in North America/elsewhere worldwide. Watch Hoglan’s playthrough of Strapping Young Lad‘s “Skeksis”, cut from the DVD, here:
Legendary heavy metal drummer GENE “THE ATOMIC CLOCK” HOGLAN is no stranger to holding his own behind the kit and is one of metal’s most in demand drummers.
GENE is currently playing with TESTAMENT, DARK ANGEL, DETHKLOK, DEATH DTA TOURS, as well as doing appearances with “THE GENE HOGLAN EXPERIENCE”, his one-man show. The concept behind “THE GENE HOGLAN EXPERIENCE” is to give the fans what they want:
The ultimate “GENE” experience. In addition to telling personal stories and playing along to your favorite tracks, Hoglan reveals some of his secret techniques and tips to help all drummers and musicians at all levels.
Later this month Hoglan will bring his Experience to Poland for 3 appearances during DRUM FEST.
Oct. 17th: Gliwice, Centrum Kultury Studenckiej Mrowisko
Oct. 18th: Opole, Panstwowa Szkola Muzyczna
Oct. 19th: Wroclaw, Zaklete Rewiry
Get your tickets now at http://www.drumfest.pl
To follow this up, on OCTOBER 25th, Gene will take on an extreme feat by playing in the day with TESTAMENT, at KNOTFEST, and later that evening, he will man the kit for DETHKLOK as they headline the FESTIVAL SUPREME Comedy Festival at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, featuring CHEECH AND CHONG, TENACIOUS D and a host of comedy giants.
HOGLAN’S 2015 is shaping up to be just as busy. This week it was announced that DARK ANGEL will be appearing at BLOODSTOCK FESTIVAL in 2015.
As previously reported, DARK ANGEL reformed for a limited number of appearances in 2014 in the U.S. and select festivals in Europe, this will continue in 2015. Along with DARK ANGEL’S BLOODSTOCK appearance Hoglan will pull double duty and play back-to-back with DEATH DTA TOURS.
What’s this?
Indeed, Hoglan will be playing back-to-back on the same day with DARK ANGEL and DEATH DTA TOURS at BlOODSTOCK FESTIVAL 2015. The last time GENE challanged himself to two sets was at the JALOMETALLI FESTIVAL 2014 in Finland with DARK ANGEL and TESTAMENT.
Back in 2012 GENE pulled double duty for ANTHRAX and TESTAMENT’S US dates, saving the tour after ANTHRAX drummer ChARLIE BENANTE was forced to leave to spend time with his terminally ill mother, who later unfortunately passed away.
Commented HOGLAN: “I am honored to have been asked by Charlie to fill in for ANTHRAX in his time of need. We are all metal brethren, and this is what we do. Unite for the cause, unite for the fans, and unite for metal. Everybody on this tour has pulled together to keep this tour rollin’, everybody is kicking ass. And everyone on this tour is sending our love and respect to the Benante and Bello families. [ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello is Benante’s nephew. — Ed.] And Charlie, we can’t wait to have ya back where you belong, my man. I’m just keeping your throne warm for ya, bro.”
“I’m thrilled to be bringing my Experience to The Drum Fest in Poland. Poland has always shown me and any project I’ve been involved in the utmost support, and I’m excited to be able to connect with all the Polish fans who’ll be there. And as for the double-duty TESTAMENT/DETHKLOK day, what a blast that’s going to be, too! Two badass metal bands in two completely different situations, who could ask for more? I really dig the challenge of killing it with TESTAMENT, then killing humans with DETHKLOK. Pain Waivers and LA traffic be damned. And hell, I hear SLIPKNOT’s intending to cover the KNOTFEST grounds in camel poop? Howling Christ, I’ll be stoked to get the hell outta that joint early! At least the Sports Arena will smell like Cheech y Chong [sic], I can deal with that…”
When it comes to playing fast, few can beat GENE “The Human Drum Machine” HOGLAN, writes Neil Shah in The Wall Street Journal.
“There are young dudes coming up behind me who want to take my throne, but I’m not going to give it up that easy,” says Mr. Hoglan, 46 years old, who warms up with drum sticks twice as heavy as usual, a trick he learned from baseball that makes his normal sticks seem lighter. To tone his legs, crucial for foot-drumming, he wears 3-pound ankle weights. When he pops these off, he can really fly.
Though he weighs nearly 300 pounds and is, in his own words, “really lethargic,” Mr. Hoglan has been called one of the quickest and most precise drummers in heavy metal.
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 