Peter Giordano

I have been playing music since the age of fourteen. The very same year that I picked up the guitar or sang, I was gigging out. My first band was called "Metal Rage", named after an advertisement for fishnet gloves in Circus Magazine, we were inspired by the underground Metal and Hardcore music scene that was emerging from New York and New Jersey at the time.

Dennis Hoffmann interviews Pete Giordano of "Metal Rage"

1] What were your primary interests in Metal before you became interested in underground Metal?
My primary interests in metal were Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Accept, Scorpions, MSG, Tank, Plasmatics.... to name a few, they were basically older bands.

2] What underground bands did you become interested in and what did you like more about them than the bands you listened to before?
Some of the underground bands I listened to like Nasty Savage, Exodus, Exciter, Witchfinder General, Helloween, Venom, Hellhammer, Slayer, Manowar, Raven, Celtic Frost, Merciful Fate, Queensryche, Overkill, Anthrax.... these were bands that took Metal in new directions. They had a different feel whether they were Anthemic or Satanic, they embodied the music and brought something new to the surface.

3] At what point do you think you decided you wanted to start your own band and what band/bands influenced you to do this?
When I was fourteen, I took guitar lessons in High School. We had a great teacher who taught us simple chords and how to strum a guitar the right way, so I knew the basics. One night, I went with my brother Phil to a Fallen Angel band practice. It was just Phil, Rob and Steve and it was the best thing I had ever witnessed. At a later time, they let me play bass and I learned a bunch of their material, we played a Battle of the Bands and a 21+ club called "Union Jacks" but I was too young. That was when I knew I had to start a band with guys my own age.

4] How did you come to know the original members of Metal Rage and what were the circumstances of everyone joining the group?
We all went to Brick High School together. When we began playing together, we knew it was serious, we knew we were serious about music.

5] What were your initial goals with Metal Rage?
Our initial goals were to get exposure in the Battle and earn some money to record a demo.

6] What was your opinion of other bands doing similar music to yours in the local area like Lethal Aggression, etc?
I thought the bands coming out were alot different from us. They had a cleaner, more polished sound.

7] Did you see yourself as being in competition with those bands or as allied with them?
Local area musicians were definately allied with one another, everyone traded tips and tricks about everything like singing techniques, guitar licks, drumming tricks, bass guitar sounds and what other bands did in the studio to get sounds, stuff like that. The only time it was competitive was during a Battle.

8] Explain a little about the Metal Rage recordings that are being made available through this project. Those include the track "Armageddon" and then the collection which includes "The Dreaded Mrs. Black" - "Homeless" - "Surgically Removed" and "Shot To Hell."
"Armageddon and The Exorcist" were songs that featured Joe C. on guitar with Chris, Chuck and me. They were the very first songs we had written together. We were fourteen when we did these songs. These songs were part of a five song demo that we recorded in an 8-track recording studio.
"The Dreaded Mrs Black, Homeless, Surgically Removed" were Chris, Chuck and myself, (unless of course you have the version with Ed H. on Vocals). These songs were recorded two tracks at a time and bounced back and forth between two tape decks and a Radio Shack mixer in order to accomplish a multi-track recording.
"Shot to Hell" was a Fallen Angel song.

9] At what point did the band move away from "pure" thrash-metal music like "Armageddon", "Metal Rage" and "The Exorcist" to more crossover-punk songs like "Homeless" and "Surgically Removed?" What was the influence for this kind of move?
At the time, all kinds of punk rock and hardcore music was circulating. I had just heard of the Bad Brains, Fallout, Crumbsuckers, Cro-Mags, Dead Kennedys, bands like that... I was totally blown away. I loved it and was totally influenced.

10] What was the reason for Joe Chelston leaving the group and you taking over as guitarist as well as lead vocalist?
Joe did not have alot of the freedom Chuck, Chris and me shared. He came from a pretty strict/stable household and the stress he put up with at home came into the band. When we weren't sensitive to his situation, it caused conflict and he left. In his absence I picked up the guitar.

11] What made you decide to bring in a new lead vocalist after you switched to guitar?
I was having trouble singing and playing at the same time.

12] Regarding the 1986 Battle of the Bands performance-
A] What was the inspiration for covering tracks like "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton along with more expected fare like your original songs and covers by bands like Slayer.
Mike Zator was taking bass guitar lessons at the time and one of the songs he had to practice was Cocaine.

B] How did the collaboration come about for the song "Shot To Hell" by Fallen Angel" with Steve on Vocals?
Shot to Hell was one of the best songs written by F.A., especially the vocals, Steve was just an incredible vocalist.

C] How did Ed Hallmuth [vocals] and Mike Zator [bass] come to join the band for this performance instead of Chris Kosnik on bass and yourself on vocals?
In the 1986 Battle, we were supposed to be under another name, we were not Metal Rage for the show even though we did a couple of Metal Rage tunes. People who recognized Chuck and me thought we were there as Metal Rage, the announcer guy even called us 'Metal Rage' when we were signed up as "Brain Surgery Disaster".

D] Did you know beforehand that this would be the final performance of the band or did the end come after this despite expectations that you had previously? If so, what were those circumstances?
The end came after. Summer was coming and so was graduation from High School. When weeks had gone by and we had not played, the morale was gone. Chuck had gone missing. I asked around and finally tracked him down to a hotel room in Seaside Heights. After talking with him, I realized he was not serious anymore. I had been through alot in the past three years with the band and Chuck exiting the band was the last straw for me. That was when I decided to move on and leave the state. I heard about a great music scene in Portland Maine, so I went there after graduating.

13] What did you take away with you into your life beyond Metal Rage and your initial experiences with underground Metal into your musical life after that?
I saw how vulnerable a band could be to change and influences like drinking and drugs. I also learned that when you have a good chemistry, when it comes to writing and playing, it is worth working through difficulties.

14] What music have you been involved in since Metal Rage and where can people find you now?
I played in a punk rock band called "Skull 69" with my brother Phil (Philthy Phil) and a guy named Bob (Skummy Bob) Farrington, I was 'Putrid Pete'.
After that I played in a hardcore band called "Intense Vomiting". Skull 69 and I.V. did not last too long and constantly encountered money and practice space difficulties.
In 1989, I joined my brother Phil in another band. We had no name at the time and wrote a couple of songs. We named the band after one of the songs "Twisted Roots". My brother Phil and the original bass player Scott Partridge left after two demo recordings. After finding new members, we kept playing and put out another demo, then went on to record five full length albums and two EP's. "Twisted Roots" are still together.
Part-time stuff: I sometimes play in an improv death-jazz band called Sewa-Sawse. My wife and I have written a bunch of tunes together.
I still live in Maine.


								Spotlight on the Artist: Peter Giordano of Twisted Roots



		METAL RAGE: Chuck Sprecker - Joe Chelston - Pete Giordano - Chris Kosnik We hung a white sheet on Chris' garage and spray painted the logo for Metal Rage. We took a couple of pictures and pulled the sheet down. The red spray paint went through the sheet onto the garage door, so the front of Chris' house looked like it had been tagged. See what he's doing for a joke in the picture, well he did that for real afterwards. Fallen Angel: Rob DeFroscia and Phil Giordano Send us an email						I have been playing music since the age of fourteen. The very same year that I picked up the guitar or sang, I was gigging out. My first band was called "Metal Rage", named after an advertisement for fishnet gloves in Circus Magazine, we were inspired by the underground Metal and Hardcore music scene that was emerging from New York and New Jersey at the time. Dennis Hoffmann interviews Pete Giordano of "Metal Rage" 1] What were your primary interests in Metal before you became interested in underground Metal? My primary interests in metal were Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Accept, Scorpions, MSG, Tank, Plasmatics.... to name a few, they were basically older bands. 2] What underground bands did you become interested in and what did you like more about them than the bands you listened to before? Some of the underground bands I listened to like Nasty Savage, Exodus, Exciter, Witchfinder General, Helloween, Venom, Hellhammer, Slayer, Manowar, Raven, Celtic Frost, Merciful Fate, Queensryche, Overkill, Anthrax.... these were bands that took Metal in new directions. They had a different feel whether they were Anthemic or Satanic, they embodied the music and brought something new to the surface. 3] At what point do you think you decided you wanted to start your own band and what band/bands influenced you to do this? When I was fourteen, I took guitar lessons in High School. We had a great teacher who taught us simple chords and how to strum a guitar the right way, so I knew the basics. One night, I went with my brother Phil to a Fallen Angel band practice. It was just Phil, Rob and Steve and it was the best thing I had ever witnessed. At a later time, they let me play bass and I learned a bunch of their material, we played a Battle of the Bands and a 21+ club called "Union Jacks" but I was too young. That was when I knew I had to start a band with guys my own age. 4] How did you come to know the original members of Metal Rage and what were the circumstances of everyone joining the group? We all went to Brick High School together. When we began playing together, we knew it was serious, we knew we were serious about music. 5] What were your initial goals with Metal Rage? Our initial goals were to get exposure in the Battle and earn some money to record a demo. 6] What was your opinion of other bands doing similar music to yours in the local area like Lethal Aggression, etc? I thought the bands coming out were alot different from us. They had a cleaner, more polished sound. 7] Did you see yourself as being in competition with those bands or as allied with them? Local area musicians were definately allied with one another, everyone traded tips and tricks about everything like singing techniques, guitar licks, drumming tricks, bass guitar sounds and what other bands did in the studio to get sounds, stuff like that. The only time it was competitive was during a Battle. 8] Explain a little about the Metal Rage recordings that are being made available through this project. Those include the track "Armageddon" and then the collection which includes "The Dreaded Mrs. Black" - "Homeless" - "Surgically Removed" and "Shot To Hell." "Armageddon and The Exorcist" were songs that featured Joe C. on guitar with Chris, Chuck and me. They were the very first songs we had written together. We were fourteen when we did these songs. These songs were part of a five song demo that we recorded in an 8-track recording studio. "The Dreaded Mrs Black, Homeless, Surgically Removed" were Chris, Chuck and myself, (unless of course you have the version with Ed H. on Vocals). These songs were recorded two tracks at a time and bounced back and forth between two tape decks and a Radio Shack mixer in order to accomplish a multi-track recording. "Shot to Hell" was a Fallen Angel song. 9] At what point did the band move away from "pure" thrash-metal music like "Armageddon", "Metal Rage" and "The Exorcist" to more crossover-punk songs like "Homeless" and "Surgically Removed?" What was the influence for this kind of move? At the time, all kinds of punk rock and hardcore music was circulating. I had just heard of the Bad Brains, Fallout, Crumbsuckers, Cro-Mags, Dead Kennedys, bands like that... I was totally blown away. I loved it and was totally influenced. 10] What was the reason for Joe Chelston leaving the group and you taking over as guitarist as well as lead vocalist? Joe did not have alot of the freedom Chuck, Chris and me shared. He came from a pretty strict/stable household and the stress he put up with at home came into the band. When we weren't sensitive to his situation, it caused conflict and he left. In his absence I picked up the guitar. 11] What made you decide to bring in a new lead vocalist after you switched to guitar? I was having trouble singing and playing at the same time. 12] Regarding the 1986 Battle of the Bands performance- A] What was the inspiration for covering tracks like "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton along with more expected fare like your original songs and covers by bands like Slayer. Mike Zator was taking bass guitar lessons at the time and one of the songs he had to practice was Cocaine. B] How did the collaboration come about for the song "Shot To Hell" by Fallen Angel" with Steve on Vocals? Shot to Hell was one of the best songs written by F.A., especially the vocals, Steve was just an incredible vocalist. C] How did Ed Hallmuth [vocals] and Mike Zator [bass] come to join the band for this performance instead of Chris Kosnik on bass and yourself on vocals? In the 1986 Battle, we were supposed to be under another name, we were not Metal Rage for the show even though we did a couple of Metal Rage tunes. People who recognized Chuck and me thought we were there as Metal Rage, the announcer guy even called us 'Metal Rage' when we were signed up as "Brain Surgery Disaster". D] Did you know beforehand that this would be the final performance of the band or did the end come after this despite expectations that you had previously? If so, what were those circumstances? The end came after. Summer was coming and so was graduation from High School. When weeks had gone by and we had not played, the morale was gone. Chuck had gone missing. I asked around and finally tracked him down to a hotel room in Seaside Heights. After talking with him, I realized he was not serious anymore. I had been through alot in the past three years with the band and Chuck exiting the band was the last straw for me. That was when I decided to move on and leave the state. I heard about a great music scene in Portland Maine, so I went there after graduating. 13] What did you take away with you into your life beyond Metal Rage and your initial experiences with underground Metal into your musical life after that? I saw how vulnerable a band could be to change and influences like drinking and drugs. I also learned that when you have a good chemistry, when it comes to writing and playing, it is worth working through difficulties. 14] What music have you been involved in since Metal Rage and where can people find you now? I played in a punk rock band called "Skull 69" with my brother Phil (Philthy Phil) and a guy named Bob (Skummy Bob) Farrington, I was 'Putrid Pete'. After that I played in a hardcore band called "Intense Vomiting". Skull 69 and I.V. did not last too long and constantly encountered money and practice space difficulties. In 1989, I joined my brother Phil in another band. We had no name at the time and wrote a couple of songs. We named the band after one of the songs "Twisted Roots". My brother Phil and the original bass player Scott Partridge left after two demo recordings. After finding new members, we kept playing and put out another demo, then went on to record five full length albums and two EP's. "Twisted Roots" are still together. Part-time stuff: I sometimes play in an improv death-jazz band called Sewa-Sawse. My wife and I have written a bunch of tunes together. I still live in Maine.



		Se7en City Productions


				TWISTED ROOTS *Peter Giordano*



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