Julz Ramos: Lead Guitar/Vocals
Sterling Bailey: Rhythm Guitar
Alex Perez: Drums
Ryan King: Bass

Formed: 2006
Bay Area, California USA
Label: Metal Blade Reocrds
Genre: Thrash

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Hatchet

March 27, 2010

Interviewer: Peter

DISCOGRAPHY:

Frailty of the Flesh (Demo - 2006)
Frailty Demo (Demo - 2007)
Hatchet (EP - 2007)
Awaiting Evil (2008)

The fairly recent resurgence of thrash metal has seen many bands try to catch onto that elusive wave of success that bands such as Gama Bomb and Municipal Waste have caught in some form.  One of the upstarts to the scene is a Bay Area band called HATCHET.  While they are still relatively new to the scene, as they were formed in 2006, they have experienced moderate success, signing onto Metal Blade Records and releasing an album in 2008 Awaiting Evil.  Currently, the band is on tour with Witchaven and Metal Psalter caught up with Julz Ramos and Alex Perez on the Kansas City stop of the tour to talk about the tour and the search for permanent band members.

Peter: Since most people are wanting to get to know about HATCHET, would you like to say a few things about yourselves?

Julz Ramos: I’m Julz, and I am on vocals and guitar.  We’re here at the Scion Lab playing, what I hear, is the first metal show here and it should be good.

Alex Perez: Hi, I’m Alex and I play drums.  We’re looking forward to playing, as last time here was good.

Peter: What are some of your influences?

Julz: Personally, just some New Wave of British Heavy Metal, thrash, early death metal, stuff like that.  It’s pretty basic for me.

Alex: I like everything from crossover bands like D.R.I., thrash bands like Slayer, and other bands like Dream Theater.

Peter: For a relatively new band, having started in 2006, you signed on to Metal Blade Records…

Julz: Correct.

Peter: How did that come about?

Julz: They actually hit us up out of the blue and basically asked us if we wanted to be on Metal Blade.  They sent us a message saying, “Hey, give us a call,” left a number, and we called the number and pretty much went from there.

Peter: After signing on to Metal Blade, you released your first album Awaiting Evil.  What are some of the things that you can say about the album from a production standpoint?

Julz: Well, from a production standpoint, it definitely didn’t turn out like we wanted, but it definitely fits a thrash band’s first album sound: kind of dry, really analog sound.  We probably would have wanted something different, but it was our first time in the studio and we didn’t know a whole lot about what we were doing, so we went with what was the easiest.  It didn’t turn out bad, but it could have been better, but other than that, I liked the songs on the album.

Peter: And with an album comes the promotion in the form of touring.  With tours like this one, how do you consider this a learning experience?

Julz: We’ve done a few tours, but only two have been full-blown: this one with Witchaven and one a few months back with Havok.  Before that, we did a West Coast tour, with one show in Chicago, and a few more along the West Coast.  It gives you experience, you just basically have to learn to play every night and be ready for it.  It’s different from playing shows in your hometown, where you can play just once or twice a month; you have to do it almost every day.  It’s also basic stuff like road safety, getting along with everyone, and things like that, so it’s fun, but it’s also work.

Peter: For this tour, you enlisted a couple of people to fill in with HATCHET.  How did that come about?

Julz: Before the Havok tour, we had gotten a new vocalist that didn’t work out, kind of a fiasco there.  He left after the Buffalo, NY show on that tour.  Shortly after that, I took over on vocals, learning and taking a few days to do that.  After that tour, our bass player (Ryan King) decided that it wasn’t working out for him and the second guitarist Sterling (Bailey) decided that he didn’t want to do the touring thing anymore, so he decided to leave HATCHET.

I remember coming through Kansas City last time and seeing two very talented musicians in a band called Vanlade: Nick Poffinbarger on bass and Zakk Coffey on guitar, and I decided that before I do a wide search, I’d give them an opportunity and they seemed to be into it, so it worked out.

Alex: They’re both really good players.  Julz and I are really excited to have them on this tour.

Peter: Is there an active search for permanent members or are you going with what you have right now?

Julz: Well, this is kind of a trial for Zakk and Nick, actually.  I approached them with the intent of staying full time because we’re almost two years out from Awaiting Evil and we have new stuff that we want to release and we want to tour and don’t want to spend too much time looking for band members, because the last two members that we tried ended up being a waste of time, so basically, this tour is an opportunity to find out about Zakk and Nick and to see if it works out for us and for them.  Once the tour’s done, we’re going to come up with a decision; that’s when we’ll know a little bit more.

Peter: Is there anything you can say about the upcoming album?

Julz: It’s definitely a step forward music-wise with some catchier stuff and more hooks.  There will still be some fast stuff, but with Alex on drums since Awaiting Evil, we have a lot more capabilities on drums and more ideas to open up, so it’s going to be HATCHET, but it’s also going to be more mature.

Alex: There are lots of heavy parts, so fear not. [Alex and Julz laugh]

Peter: What are the other tour dates you have lined up after this?

Julz: After this, we head to St. Louis and after that, I’m not entirely sure…

Alex: Atlanta, then Florida…

Julz: Yeah, Atlanta and Florida, and then up the East Coast and across the top of the United States to cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City, through Idaho and places like Washington state, Portland, Medford, OR, and ending at home in the Bay Area.

Peter: Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Julz: Not really, we’re just looking forward to playing in Kansas City with the two guys we’ve got and hope to be back soon after releasing a new album.

Alex: When we get back, we have a couple more songs to do and hopefully record in the Summer.

TO THE TOP

Photos courtesy of Jodi Michael

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