Even before the Lawrence, KS based Hammerlord formed, its members were making individual names for themselves in bands such as The Esoteric and Nodes of Ranvier.  However, Hammerlord seeks to make their own way instead of living off their past achievements.  Already having released two albums and a strong following in the Kansas City area, the next step for them is to get a van.  Recently, they opened for Death Angel on one of their tour dates, and vocalist Stevie Cruz took time before their set to talk about Hammerlord, the quest to get a van, and pro wrestling.

Peter: Would you mind saying a few things about Hammerlord?

Stevie Cruz: Well, we’re a heavy metal band based out of the Lawrence/Kansas City area.  J.P. (Gaughan, guitars) and I live here, and the others live in Lawrence.  We’ve been a band since 2008, and played our first show in the summer of that year, I think.  We put out our first album shortly after that, and we released our new album Wolves at War’s End this year, and we love to play and record and have fun.  I don’t know what else to say beyond that.

Peter: Since Hammerlord’s members were in bands like The Esoteric and Nodes of Ranvier, how, if any, have those bands played into Hammerlord’s influences?

Stevie: Not really at all.  None of the bands we’ve been in have recently influenced the band we’re in now.  I mean, at the same time with The Esoteric, that’s where I cut my teeth and played a lot of shows with them.  It helped me be who I am, but it has no bearing on the music Hammerlord makes.  It doesn’t necessarily have any influence on the band, but it gets brought up because those bands did some stuff and whatnot, but Hammerlord’s a completely different band.  J.P. was in a more metal band called Evermourn.  I don’t think it has an influence on the band, but it probably has an influence on how he plays.

Peter: What is the band’s current record label situation?

Stevie: It’s kind of a handshake deal; we’re basically an independent on Init Records, which is based out of Sioux Falls, SD, and is a small operation owned by this kid named Steve, who is a cool guy and puts out stuff he really enjoys.  Terry (Taylor, bass) and he have had a sweet working relationship, where Terry’s been in bands since he was a kid and Steve’s been putting out records for awhile, which is how I think our deal happened.  We’re not signed as far as a contract goes, but Steve does what he can for us, which basically means putting out our records, which is cool.

We wrote, recorded, produced, mixed, mastered, and got our friend Justin Osbourne to do the artwork for Wolves at War’s End, so we’re a pretty self-sufficient band, but it would be really cool if we could get on a record label that can do more for the band.  At the same time, we never set out to be on a label, but to have fun.  Now that things are going well, we’re going…

[Interruption for an exchange of pleasantries with bartender]

I’m sorry, what were we talking about now?

Peter: Init Records…

Stevie: Oh yeah, Init Records.  He’s a really cool guy and has put out both of our records and may put out our third record.  We’re three or four songs into writing our new record, but we haven’t really discussed it, so we’re just playing it by ear.  We don’t solicit our stuff to labels, as we never had any interest in sending stuff to labels such as Metal Blade or Roadrunner, but now we may be thinking it may be a good deal.  However, the whole game’s changed and we don’t know what’s going on there.  All we can do is take care of our own business that we can handle, which includes getting a van, something we’ve been looking for on Craigslist and other ad sites.  If you know someone who has a van and wants to sell it, let us know.

Peter: Speaking of Wolves at War’s End, is there anything you’d like to add about the album?

Stevie: We wrote and recorded it around this time last year out in a farm house our drummer (Adam Mitchell) owns in the country outside of Lawrence.  We got together as often as possible, and we put it together and it was super fun.  I really enjoyed the record and the songs are a blast to play live.  Everything we’re playing tonight is off that record, and with most bands, they’re better live than on CD, which is where I think we are at this point.  On the new album, the thing I want to do is to capture what we sound like live, which is hard to do, especially when you’re doing it on your own, but we’re learning as we go.

Peter: And one of the songs off of Wolves at War’s End is “Tombstone Piledriver,” which is an Undertaker reference.  Would you like to elaborate a little about the song?

Stevie: It’s an ode to old school Undertaker and Paul Bearer.  I’m a big time old school WWF fan, old school wrestling, and even the territories.  I can’t stand the stuff they’re passing off as wrestling today, it’s ridiculous.  I know Undertaker’s still involved, and that’s cool, but the song’s about the early years and the storylines, where as a kid, I was just scared of him, yet loved the whole imagery because it was so grand, plus the promos and the faces Paul Bearer would make.  The song was something we wrote early in the process, and it all came together naturally.  Though it’s the only song about wrestling so far, it’s about something I love, and it seems that heavy metal and pro wrestling go together.

Peter: There’s also going to be a music video for that song.  What would you like to say about it?

Stevie: Yeah, I just saw the rough cut.  We just got a bunch of wrestlers and a ring and set it up, got our asses kicked and performed in the ring.  It’s going to be a simple performance, and it was fun to do.  Our friend Jeff from Troglodyte came up with the idea and helped us do it.  He also shot and edited the video, and it should be out at any moment.  He had just had a little child, a little “Sasquatch” if you will, since his band deals with Bigfoot, but he had finished everything before the child was born, so I can’t wait to see the final cut.

Peter: In addition to opening for Death Angel, there are some possible European shows, according to the label website.  Would you like to address this idea?

Stevie: I haven’t heard that.  I mean, that would be rad.  I haven’t talked to Steve lately; Terry talks to Steve often, but I would know if we were going to Europe.  We’d love to be able to play outside the United States, and no offense, but we think we would be better received, and it’s something I’ve never done.  Obviously, I want to do as much as I can before I die, so I’d like to tour Europe with this band, and I hope it happens, but I have no idea about current plans, as we don’t have a van.

Peter: Are there any shows that are going to happen?

Stevie: Right now, we’re just going to hunker down and write the new record because since we’ve been together, we’ve put out a new record every year and we want to continue with that.  We don’t have any major tours booked.  We definitely want to get out and tour more this year, but we haven’t done too much since we’ve only been together for a few years.

[Bartender enters and talks about the Motörhead show, which happened a few days after this interview took place]

But, yeah, no other plans, really.  We may play a few shows regionally and hopefully get a van and get on the road, but at this moment, none of that is imminent.  We’re going to just write and record the new album, and take it from here and see what happens.

Peter: Last, question, what is your favorite Undertaker match and why?

Stevie: Oh man, that’s a great one.  There are so many, but one of my favorites was his first Wrestlemania (VII), when he Tombstone’d “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka.  It was glorious.  I loved that match and watched it over and over.  At the time, I really loved “Superfly” Snuka and was emotionally vested in that match because Snuka was old school and the good guy and I was digging the Undertaker.  It was weird how the Undertaker was this super evil dude and everyone was so into it that he went over.  I think from that moment on, he was a face, and that was beyond me as to how that could happen, but I loved it and it was great.  That one sticks out in my mind, and his debut was also great.  Even though he didn’t do much, the way it was built up and when he came out with the Million Dollar Man, it was awesome.  I wouldn’t call that a match per se, but it was great.  I would say that the Wrestlemania match with Snuka sticks out and anything from those first few years was amazing.  Another match that stands out is the match with Mankind in the steel cage, even though that happened around the time I quit watching wrestling.  That one was pretty brutal, and will go down as one of the greatest matches of all time.  I had stopped watching wrestling by that time, but heard about it and thought, “Shit, I need to see that one.”

Hammerlord's Stevie Cruz

Interviewer: Peter

February 24, 2011

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TO THE TOP

(Click on Photo to Enlarge)

Formed: 2007
Lawrence, Kansas  USA
Label: Unsigned
Genre: Thrash Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Stevie Cruz:  Vocals
Ty Scott:  Guitar
J.P. Gaughan:  Guitar
Terry Taylor:  Bass &
                                    Backing Vocals
Adam "Hammerlord" Mitchell:
                                                   Drums

DISCOGRAPHY:

Hammerlord (2008)
Wolves at War's End (2010)

PHOTOS BY PETER SANTELLAN

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)