Jack Frost certainly isn’t a new name around the metal circuit. This veteran axe-slinger has carved up stages with the best of them, playing to sell-out crowds and rocking around the world with the likes of Savatage, Metalium, Bronx Casket Co which also features Overkill members D.D. Verni and Tim Mallare, Speed which includes members of Annihilator and of course Seven Witches. 2006 has started out very well for Jack, with the news that the latest Seven Witches & Bronx Casket Co albums ‘Amped’ and ‘Hellectric’ both sold out within days of their releases’. In March Seven Witches hit the road with W.A.S.P. playing to sold-out crowds across the United States & since doing this interview Jack has become the new guitarist for the legendary Marshall Law. I had the pleasure of speaking with Jack about the success that both the Seven Witches & Bronx Casket Co albums have had, recording his second solo album ‘Out in the Cold’, some of the artists Jack has worked with among many other issues. I had a blast doing this interview as you will no doubt see, this is a must read for any true metal fan. Jack is here & he’s taking back the metal! Metal Fanatix: Hi Jack, Hows things mate? Jack Frost: Cameron, I’m well! How are ya doin! Metal Fanatix: I’m doin well mate, First of all I want to thank you for putting time aside to speak with us today, & I want to congratulate you on a wonderful job with ‘Hellectric’. I heard that the first initial shipment sold out, that’s amazing news! Jack Frost: Not a problem bro, yeah I don’t know if you heard about the [Seven] Witches [album] but that actually sold out too! Metal Fanatix: No mate I wasn’t aware of that. That’s awesome news. Jack Frost: In Europe the [Seven] Witches album broke even & in America it sold out, it’s been a pretty good year so far. Metal Fanatix: Oh yeah, it’s definitely something worth celebrating isn’t it! Last year you were quite busy, you spent a lot of time in the studio with BCC, also recording your second solo album ‘Out in the cold’ & the sixth Seven Witches album ‘Amped’, when did ya have time to sleep? Jack Frost: Ya know man I didn’t realise it took so much out of me at the time, at the end of the day it really wasn’t that bad. I just paced myself, I have a family & I have a home studio where I demo everything, so it’s not too bad actually. I like the pressure. If you gave me two years to make a record then it wouldn’t be good cause I’m not good at that. I need to be like a rat, back me into a corner, maybe it sounds weird but that’s how I work the best. Metal Fanatix: I think I know where you’re comin from; I know for myself I seem to work better under pressure. Jack Frost: It’s kinda weird, you would think laid back doing it this way or that way would be better but I’ve always noticed if I have too much time I don’t get the same quality. I’m not gonna complain, I’m glad it works the way it does but at times it can be too much too [laughs]. Metal Fanatix: Let’s talk about the new Seven Witches album, I was quite impressed with ‘Amped’, when it came time to record, did you approach it in a different way to albums you have worked on in the past? Jack Frost: Well, yes & no, the last few Witches records are very slick, clean & polished, with this record I wanted to go back to albums like Metallica’s Kill Em All, the first Testament & Slayer records, Fistful of Metal – Anthrax. I just wanted to strip it down & be raw & aggressive. I wanted to make it sound like a band was playing live just the way that Zeppelin & Sabbath used to do it. So that was a different approach. We shredded some of that clean sound & made it a little more dirty. Having Alan come on board was great but we didn’t approach it differently or write it differently because of Alan. I wrote these songs way before Alan was even approached to be in the band. Metal Fanatix: How do you constantly come up with new fresh sounding material without falling into the trap a lot of other bands do by repeating themselves? Jack Frost: I rip off a lot of good bands [laughs]. Metal Fanatix: [Laughs] well at least you’re being honest [laughs]. Jack Frost: [Laughs] Honestly I could never answer that, people always ask me how did I come up with this & that, I don’t know! Honestly, I don’t have a formula or a way of writing, I don’t say today I’m gonna write about the east or the west, talk about terrorism or love. It’s just a natural thing. If I thought about it too much I’d probably curse myself. I write how I feel. I’m proud that I can say that I don’t have to think so much. It’s just me. Metal Fanatix: In a few words can you tell us the first thing that comes to mind when I mention the following tracks from ‘Amped’! Jack Frost: Sunnydale High: Fun, the start of the whole record. Dishoner Killings: Modern & something I’m super, super proud of. Red: That’s songs very special, the drummer & I wrote that at the last minute, it was the last song we wrote for the record & it was just something that we wanted to do together, we never got the chance to just work together that way. That song’s about a comic book we were into & it was something different for us. We sat in a room & put that song together in about four hours. Fame Gets You Off: Reality, what the whole worlds about, how money & power can get you anything Metal Fanatix: Was that song about any one person in particular? Jack Frost: Well, check out the words, Michael Jackson, any of these people O.J. Simpson, come on man, he killed his wife, nobody’s stupid. To me it just shows you what you can do with money & power. If me & you did something wrong bro we would be done! Robert Blake how did this guy walk away, it’s just amazing!
Jack Frost: I actually know this, my dad was a police officer & his partner gave him this really funny looking guitar called a Sadowsky. It was a really cheap guitar, but it was cool that was my very first guitar. Metal Fanatix: It must have been interesting growing up, rebelling listening to the heavier music with a father who was a police officer! How did that go down? Jack Frost: Yeah ya know what? Believe it or not man if I told ya how many friends & people from other bands have dads for cops. It wasn’t like that my dad was real supportive of me & my dad’s attitude was always really positive. His friends at work would say “ hey look at your son, tattoos & long hair” dad would say “look, he never gets in trouble, he never does anything wrong, so if he wants to play music & that’s the worst thing he does then I’ll let him do it”. Metal Fanatix: Oh come on, it’s not that you never got into any trouble, it’s more that you never got caught right [laughs]. Jack Frost: [Laughs] Yeah that’s right & if I did my dad could get me off [laughs]. Metal Fanatix: [Laughs] So I take it you always wanted to be a guitar player? You never woke up one morning and said “oh fuck this I want to play drums” Jack Frost: Actually it’s funny; I did start out playing drums. I just liked them because they were noisy. After seeing Kiss, Jimmy Page & Ritchie Blackmore I wanted to be a guitar player. Today I wouldn’t even say I’m a guitar player, I’d say I’m more of a song writer. So to me that was what I wanted to be. I knew that if I played piano or guitar that I can write songs, you can’t really write on drums! Metal Fanatix: Yeah, well this is true. Jack I believe you are now offering guitar lessons to students in the tri-state area, how did this all come about? Jack Frost: A good friend of mine who is also one of my guitar techs has this really great store, & he said to me “hey, why don’t you give lessons” I had said “oh I don’t know man”, “I’m probably not really good at giving lessons”. Last year I did a seminar at a college about music & I’m pretty good when it comes to talking, it just kind of evolved & I really enjoy it now. I only do it one day a week cause I don’t want to get too crazy, I feel like I’m cheating my students because sometimes I go away for two months & I can’t give my students lessons anymore. If you’re going to take a lesson from me it’s going to be different from most teachers. I’m not going to teach you how to play Green Day or Nirvana. I’m gonna teach you how to play guitar. Metal Fanatix: [Laughs] Jack Frost: I try to emphasise that playing rythems is the most important thing & solos are second, it’s a lot more fun now for me. Metal Fanatix: I know that other artists’ offer these services while there on the road also is that another avenue you want to look into? Jack Frost: If I was on the road for three or four months I’d consider it but our tours are only 2-3 weeks & we have so much to fit in those weeks with interviews, sound checks etc. Probably for now I’d say no but maybe down the road if we’re on a longer tour. Metal Fanatix: Jack, I want to talk to you about life on the road; do you do anything specific to warm up & prepare for a show? Jack Frost: It’s really important to me that our shows are great & before I go out to play I warm up for a good hour. I don’t want to sell anyone short. Metal Fanatix: The million dollar question is, are there any plans to head to Australia? Jack Frost: I’ve been in so many well known bands & I’ve toured all over the world & this is the one place I’d die to come to. We would love to; we say to any promoters, “we will play the shows for free”. Just get us a plane ticket & we would play for a week straight without asking for any money. We would love to play there; I think that would be amazing. Metal Fanatix: It’s really funny isn’t it, as you said you have been in so many well known bands & yet you have never actually made your way to Australia! Jack Frost: Yeah, I’ve been to Japan, I’ve been to Brazil, Greece, & Norway. It’s funny the only two places I have never had a chance to go to is Ireland which I got really close to doing & Australia. Metal Fanatix: The two best places to drink [laughs] Jack Frost: [Laughs] I hear that. I know Australia’s a beautiful country, I’ve seen & heard so much about it, I speak to Danny from Pegasus & he says ‘oh you will love it here” I’ve got lots of friends who have been there, I know Doro was there not too long ago right? Metal Fanatix: Yeah, last time was about two years ago now! Jack Frost: Her drummer said told me much he enjoyed it there & how beautiful it was & don’t take this the wrong way but I’m a big country fan. You’re probably gonna laugh at me but I love Keith Urban, I think his great. Metal Fanatix: Someone’s gotta love him [laughs]. Jack Frost: You don’t like him?
Jack Frost: How can you say that, there’s never gonna be another AC/DC! I don’t know man, thirty years from now when all this music could be gone people will still speak of them, they’re timeless & they are really nice guys. I’ve met Malcolm a bunch of times, Angus I met briefly but Malcolm was so cool & laid back, just not a rock star he was all “hey man, how ya doin” Metal Fanatix: Just your average guy! Jack Frost: Yeah just your average guy wearing a pair of jeans & a t-shirt talking about his amplifiers to me, you don’t realize how rich they probably are. They’ve got to be billionaires but you would never know it. Metal Fanatix: I have heard that about those guys. What I meant was I don’t compare all our artists to them musically, but look at it like “will these guys be our next AC/DC”? Getting back on track though, over the years you have shared the stage with so many great bands. Who have you enjoyed touring with the most & could you share a funny road story with us from the tour? Jack Frost: Well, I would definitely say that when I got the Savatage gig that was pretty much amazing for me, I was a big Criss Oliva fan & the first time that we played in Brazil we played the song Believe & we dedicated it to Chris. To hear those kids sing every single word was amazing. I couldn’t hear my guitars, the drum or anything. That to me was just something that I’ll never ever forget for as long as I live. Metal Fanatix: What is the most ridiculous thing you have ever asked for on a tour rider? Jack Frost: Socks, we always ask for socks. Metal Fanatix: Really, a lot of people I have asked this too always mention socks, what’s the deal with that! Jack Frost: You know what it is, when you’re in Europe a lot you’re kinda walkin around & it’s hard to wash your clothes. You can get away with wearing your stage pants for a couple of days but your socks no. We usually say screw the vodka just get us some socks [laughs]. Metal Fanatix: When the time comes to work out the set list, do you find it hard to choose the right songs, I mean there will always be fans who want to hear the old stuff & the occasional obscure song & of course you have to play some new tracks. Do you find it hard to make a set that is for fans of all eras? Jack Frost: We have six records now, it was pretty easy when we had one or two records out, now it’s hard. We have five songs that people really love & want to hear & every record had a song that I’d hate to say had a hit, because it’s kinda hard to have a hit when you’re in an underground metal band. On every tour we go out & try songs that we have never played before & try to mix it up. We want the fans to walk away going wow that’s cool, we’ve never heard you do that & so on. In Savatage it was cool they’ve got 15 – 16 records out so we would take 8-9 songs & make a little medley of it. Metal Fanatix: Over the years you have been involved in paying tribute to bands such as W.A.S.P., Helloween, The Scorpions to name a few. When the time comes, what bands would you like to see paying tribute to Seven Witches? Jack Frost: Oh wow, oh man I’d love to see Thin Lizzy doin one of our songs, I’m a huge John Sykes fan. I’d like to see Black Label Society do one of our songs too. Zakk would do it really dirty & sludgy & I like that. Metal Fanatix: It’s no secret that over the years that Seven Witches has had it’s share of line-up changes, do you feel that the current line-up is “the one” can you see this being the line-up that is still touring together ten years from now? Jack Frost: I’m gonna have to be honest & I don’t want to make it sound like something it’s not. Would I love this line-up to stay together? Sure, but I’m never gonna promise ever again. You know what bro, everyone gets along right now but I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Every line-up that I’ve had I’m really proud of & I love all the guys I’ve worked with but people change, people have different ideas so can I promise you? I can’t but we’ll see. I hope so. Will we make another record with the same line-up? I hope so but I can’t promise you that, I don’t want to look like a liar. Metal Fanatix: After all these years in the business what goals have you set for yourself these days? Jack Frost: There are no more goals; all this to me is just gravy. My whole life all I ever wanted to do was make a record to tour. I’ve made fourteen records now, about ten tributes albums, I’ve produced five bands, I mean I’ve seen the world twenty times, what can I say? My goal is to never sell the fans short & never to do it for the wrong reasons. That’s my only goal! When it comes to the point that I’m just making music to pay my bills & not actually care about the music, that’s when I’m gonna walk away. To me music is still the air I breathe, I’m very lucky & very honoured to be able to play the music I love & meet the wonderful people that I meet & have met over the years. Metal Fanatix: What's your take on this downloading & file sharing? Do you think it hurts artist like yourself or do you look at it as a great way to get your music out to so many more people around the world? Jack Frost: Well back in the day we all used to trade tapes & stuff like that, but yeah it does hurt because when you’re selling thirty thousand records & all of a sudden you’re only selling two or three because everyone’s getting it for free, bands get dropped & never get to make another record. If a band can’t show that they are making any money or sales then a band doesn’t get to stay around too long. I think it is positive, but still, when I was growing up I still wanted to buy the record, see who was in the band, see the pictures, read the words. I think it’s cool if you want to download it but support the bands too.
Jack Frost: Some bands make a lot of money of records & some bands make a lot of money off touring. It just depends on who you are, for example a band like Def Leppard they make money off touring now & they’re not selling like they used to sell, but bands like Green Day they’re doin both, they’re making’ ridiculous money of albums & ridiculous money off tours. It varies, we make our money pretty much from merchandise, selling t-shirts & hats that’s our money were we can say “hey we made a little bit of money on this tour” & to be honest it’s not that much, just enough so that we can survive. Metal Fanatix: Over the years you have worked with Seven Witches, BCC & Savatage among others. From all the albums you have appeared on what one would be your favourite to listen to & why? Jack Frost: None [laughs] that’s the hardest question. Everything I’ve ever done I’m really proud of & I think it’s not something where I would say wow this is my favorite record or that’s my favorite record because that would be saying that hey the new [Seven] Witches record’s my favorite record so every [Seven] Witches record before that sucked. I’m just proud of everything I’ve ever done, good, bad or indifferent. If I had to really pin point something, the ‘Passage to the other Side’ record was really emotional for me, I lost my brother to cancer while I was making that record. To me that’s something I look back on with the memory of how much my brother & I were such close friends. That record defiantly has a special meaning that’s one that I dedicated to my brother. If I was picking for the emotional side of it all then I’d pick that record. Metal Fanatix: How about some of the artists you have worked with, Joey Vera, James Rivera, D.D. Verni just to name a few. You have been surrounded by some amazing artists who have you learnt the most from? Jack Frost: Jon Lever I learnt so much from. That guy, he’s such a great musician. Joey Vera, definitely! Joey’s one of my all time best friends. I learnt a lot about recording & how to be in the studio from Joey. Pretty much Joey & Jon would be the two guys that had the most movement on me as getting better at what I do. Metal Fanatix: In your honest opinion what do you think about the direction that Hard Rock & Heavy Metal music has taken over the last few years? Jack Frost: It’s getting better, it did go away for a while but it’s like everything it comes back in cycles. I see it doin better. I take my hat off to bands like Disturbed & Godsmack. Because of them music is starting to get back out there. Will it be like it used to be? Nuh it’s never gonna be like it was in 1984 where heavy metal ruled the airwaves. It’s starting to come back again which is a good sign. Metal Fanatix: What would you be doing if you stopped playing? Jack Frost: Oh boy! That’s always the worst question [laughs]. What would I be doin? I’d probably open up a day care centre for kids [laughs]. No honestly if I wasn’t playin metal anymore I’d play country music, nuh [laughs]. Metal Fanatix: [Laughs] Jack Frost: No honestly, I would definitely go into the studio & produce bands & stuff like that. Metal Fanatix: Which record/song would define Jack Frost to a complete stranger? Jack Frost: Probably my second solo record ‘Out in the Cold’, it has a little bit of everything, some [Seven] Witches, ballads, some pure metal. It just has everything that I’ve done in one album. It had me singing, had me doing some strange solos on it. For a complete stranger that would be everything that I’ve ever done in one shot. Metal Fanatix: You have some awesome tattoo’s dude, Out of all the tattoos you have had done what one means the most to you and why? Jack Frost: Probably the Celtic cross on my arm, I’m Irish/Italian & I just really love the work on that one. To me it’s real special, my dad’s parents are from Ireland & it’s just got a lot of meaning. Metal Fanatix: What are your thoughts on fans getting band logos etc tattooed? What’s the best one you have seen? Jack Frost: I think fans that get tattoos of bands are crazy, I don’t know man I think it’s great if you’re a fan but you’ve got too really like this band to do that. In a way I think its cool, it shows a lot of dedication I see people get Kiss tattoos & Led Zeppelin tattoos. You’ve got to love the fans because they’re definitely dedicated. I know people who have my signature tattooed & I think they’re nuts, I’m say, “why do you want to”? “I’m just a normal guy like you”. I’m flattered bro, it really does amaze me. Cameron I’m just a normal dude as you can tell. Metal Fanatix: What advice do you have for up and coming rock/metal bands? Jack Frost: Always believe in what you do, never listen to a record label when they tell you to change the sound, never do something just to fit in, be yourself that’s the best advice & never give up on it, if you just believe then it’s gonna happen & I’m a perfect example of that. Metal Fanatix: If you could put a band together consisting of musicians passed and/or present who would they be & what would you call the band? Jack Frost: Am I in the band to or not? Metal Fanatix: You can be if you like! Jack Frost: I couldn’t even put my name with these guys. Very easy on vocals god rest his soul, Ray Gillan on drums another gentleman god rest his soul Cozy Powell, on bass Joey Vera on guitar John Sykes & Doug Aldrich. Metal Fanatix: What’s the one band that you’d be happy never to hear again & why? Jack Frost: [Laughs] A band I never want to hear again & thank god I won’t is Nirvana.
Jack Frost: I want to thank Courtney Love for shooting her husband I can’t stand that band. Metal Fanatix: [Laughs] Jack Frost: The only problem I have with the whole situation is that she didn’t kill him along time ago. I just don’t like that band. Courtney Love is a piece of crap. Metal Fanatix: Oh she’s a piece of work isn’t she! Jack Frost: She’s a piece of something [laughs]. Metal Fanatix: [Laughs] Oh dude I think we should leave it there [laughs]. Jack I want to thank you again for your time, I’ve had a blast speaking with you this morning. Do you have any last words for our readers? Jack Frost: Well we hope to get down to Australia sometime soon, we know how wonderful it is, it would be a great honour to be there. Thanks to everyone for believing in everything that I have done & I will continue to make the best music I can possibly make for you all. To keep up with all the latest on Jack & his kick ass projects check out the following websites: http://www.sevenwitches.net - Official Seven Witches Site http://www.bronxcasketco.com - Official Bronx Casket Co. Site http://insideout666.mysite.freeserve.com - Dedicated to 40 years of hard rock & metal music © Cameron Edney April, May 2006 Not to be re-printed in any form without written permission. |
