TYPE O NEGATIVE

November 12, 2003 - Bridge Street Music Hall - Syracuse, NY

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Josh Silver with Tom

Josh Silver Interview

Tom: First off, your sound check sounded great.
Josh: Which building were you in?
Tom: This one…(Laughter) Throughout the years Type O Negative have been called a Goth band, a Metal band, and a Goth/Metal band, would you guys consider yourself a Metal or Gothic or both?
Josh: Oh… I think, obviously, we draw elements from a lot of different areas. The band has a very eclectic sound… uh, I don't think we're Metal but I think we are Metal at moments… we aren't Goth, but we are Goth at moments. I think we suck at moments; and in even rarer moments, we might even be decent. But those moments are rare.

 

Tom: "Life is Killing Me" is Type O Negative's fifth full-length recording and the first new material since 1999, why the long wait? What have you guys been doing all this time?
Josh: Well… um, four years for us, isn't long, we average albums… we put out an album in '90 '93 '96 and '99 and so we got one more year. It's really not that different. Truth is, this is how we've always done it and in the music industry, bands are shoved in by record companies to ride success and immediately follow up with another record even though they're honestly not ready to…or they're just gonna do the same record again just shittier. And we, ya know, just take our time and hope it develops into something much more different than the last. Plus were slow and lazy. (Laughs)

Tom: Tell me about the new album. How does it differ from previous Type O Negative releases?
Josh: I don't think it's very different from previous releases. I think it's more of a combination of a lot of the releases. I think, ya know… I hear elements from everything including Slow, Deep, and Hard, so to me I think its more of a summary.
Tom: This recording is the last studio album on your contract with Roadrunner, what are the band's plans after this?
Josh: Well, I mean, obviously, we are entertaining offers. Some are actually from Roadrunner so I'm not going to say that we know anything for sure and certainly, obviously can't discuss it. That's the bottom line. We do have a lot of offers surprisingly, but nothing in the stages where we're going to be talking about it.

Tom: Type O Negative has included cover songs on most of their albums. This time you selected "Angry Inch" from Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Why did you choose that song?
Josh: I have a very small penis. (Laughs) …and I'm very angry. (Laughs)
Tom: (Laughter) Honesty is the best policy I guess.

Tom: The newest thing these days seems to be Co-Headlining tours… Type O Negative is going on tour with Cradle Of Filth. That begins tomorrow night, correct? How did that tour come about?
Josh: Um, ya know, I don't think we are a great musical combination, but it should be interesting. I don't know the band so I have nothing to say about them. Putting Type O and Cradle Of Filth on tour is kinda like having Clinton and Nixon sit down to dinner but, ya know, here we'll be.

Tom: What can people expect to see when they come to a live Type O Negative show?
Josh: Um, I like to expect nothing so that way I'm never disappointed.
Tom: Cradle of Filth was on this year's OzzFest and there is a rumor floating around the Internet that Type O Negative will be on next year's OzzFest. Is there any truth to that rumor?
Josh: Not that I know of, but that wouldn't be all bad. I haven't heard of anything like that.
Tom: You guys didn't do a Halloween show this year, what was the reasoning for that? And you also didn't do one last year is that correct?
Josh: Last year we were in the process of recording and finishing that record and this year I imagine the band would collectively blame me for not actually doing the Halloween run. They wanted to add two weeks to the front of this tour. And to be brutally honest, I was sick to shit of everybody and said no. Five weeks is more than enough thank you very much.
Tom: I understand. I feel the same way sometimes about my own band. (Laughter).

Tom: Back in 1991, the band toured Europe, and there were a lot of NAZI rumors, how did that affect you and the band?
Josh: Um… It brought us great publicity. It made us much bigger in Europe than we probably deserved. And, ah, ya know, I happen to be Jewish so, I'm obviously not a Nazi.
Tom: Right! That's why I was wondering what you guys think about that. It's kind of a stupid thing for people to be thinking that. You go to your website and there's all the nicknames up there….
Josh: I think they were more concerned with fascist connotations rather than the quote/unquote "Nazi" thing.
Tom: Is there any truth to the rumor that Peter Steele is the grandson of Hitler?
Josh: That's actually true. That's not a rumor.
Tom: That is true?!!!!
Josh: Yeah. Of course… you didn't know that?
Tom: No… I didn't know that.
Josh: I'm joking! (Laughter)
Tom: See… Why ya gotta pull my leg like that? (Laughter) The thing is that everyone who knows me knows Im always fooling… jerking everyone else's leg… I just got mine jerked! I'm gonna openly admit it....(Laughter) The other thing… I was gonna ask about your sense of humor here…the new video "I Don't Wanna Be Me" is hilarious.
Josh: I think so too. It was written by Kenny. We've done a lot of serious videos. We have always spoken out against bands that take themselves too seriously (and they do) and who the fuck are we to not do something funny and comical, ya know? I don't see anything wrong with it. I think some of our fans will have trouble digesting such a humorous video from us. But fuck 'em if they can't take a joke!
Tom: I mean, you guys have always had a bit of a Humor Noir thing going on, ya know? Any regular listener would know.
Josh: I agree, but a lot of people missed it. There are two types of Type O fans basically…there's a lot of types but … and that is the fans that are way serious about it and think we're way serious about it, and the fans that get it and know its kind of spoof and, ya know, everything in the middle. Yes, we have always done tongue in cheek stuff and we've always been humorous…
Tom: Like "Black No.1" was a total punk on all the Goth kids…
Josh: Well, the Goth kids took it very seriously and really loved it. And that's what really started this whole kinda trend thing. That was definitely a spoof. But at the same time it had a lot of elements of Goth music has in it. So, it had a wide appeal, let's say that.
Tom: In a way it was kind of reminiscent of Blotto's song "I'm A Metal Head" that they used to use on MTV's HeadBanger's Ball back in the day. They were making fun of the Metal Heads and they adopted it as their anthem and it became a big hit for Blotto.
Josh: I hear you. I mean it was all an accident… an accident. If I make it out of here alive tonight it will be an accident. (Laughter)
Tom: A few years ago Peter posed for Playgirl. I have never seen the layout. I didn't see the layout, but from I understand he could have also had a promising porn career. What was that like, what was the fan reaction, and how did the band feel about the decision?
Josh: Actually, we all contributed to the decision. He really at first wanted to do it, certainly, in hindsight, which is always 20/20; I think it was a terrible mistake. It turned the band into, like a kind of "girly" direction. That may not have happened if that bullshit hadn't happened. I am, and everyone knows this who reads our site, I am not a big fan of October Rust. There are only a few songs that I think are great songs, but that whole romantic, sexy… That doesn't do it for me. I'm more an angry scumbag type of guy. I'm more of a Slow, Deep, And Hard, World Coming Down, Bloody Kisses. That's more my thing.
Tom: I'm with you on that.
Josh: So in the end, I think that it turned out to be a bad thing. Peter had a great idea for the shoot, which was that he was going to dress up as a priest and the girl was going to dress as a nun. Now, that would have been cool. That would have made it a real goof and crazy and controversial. But Playgirl decided that was too crazy for them. Had that worked out, that would have been excellent.

Tom: I always ask for good road stories. What is your favorite?
Josh: I think the one I keep telling and it's one of the stupidest fucking ones I can think of is we were doing OzzFest. I think it was '96 or '95 (one of those years we were playing) and this girl and her husband were yelling at the fence, and we can't go over to every person that yells or you won't get anything done all day, but they were so fucking persistent that we went over…and Me and Johnny said let's go see what's going on. So we walked over to them and she pulled out her tit and soaked us in tit milk. And the guy was this big hick and he was like, "That's my wife!" (Laughter) He was fucking proud of that shit! I was like man, she could have AIDS and I'm covered in her tit milk.
Tom: (Laughter) Where's a good stiff cup of coffee when you need one?
Josh: (Laughter) I'm sure it tasted as good as any tit milk, but what the fuck? (Laughter)

Tom: Whom do you consider your influences?
Josh: Oh…you know, the answer for the last… my whole life has been Black Sabbath and The Beatles. It still is and it's probably always going to be. I'm so old I'll never change my fucking ways. I think The Beatles are one of the most influential bands of my entire life. Black Sabbath has also been part of my existence from day one. Same answer sorry…

Tom: Which bands do you like from today?
Josh: Not many, or any that I can think of offhand. I mean, the last band I thought was great was Soundgarden. I think that this is a really dead spot in music. I think that this period in time has not bred a lot of good stuff. I think the world has become flaccid and accepting of bullshit. The '70's bred tons of good music and the '60's did. I was never a '50's person, but it was certainly more interesting than what is going on now. I don't like it. In the early '90's: Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, and some really, really killer quality stuff, but I just don't see it now. I mean no offense to any bands out there, but I'm a snob. (Laughter) Sorry!

Tom: What was the last CD you bought?
Josh: Good question. I'm trying to think… I'm sure it was something old. I think it was a Black Sabbath CD I was replacing. But it certainly wasn't anything new. I mean I don't hate all new music, There are bands that I see putting out something great, but I'm not going to mention any names because I don't really want to plug anybody, frankly. But I do see a few young bands that could do something incredible some day. Let's just leave it at that. As for the CD question, probably some sound effects CD.

Tom: What does the future hold for Type O Negative?
Josh: Only God himself would know that answer, and he's probably baffled also. The music industry is so unpredictable and the people, the musician, are even more unpredictable in the industry. Let's face it; musicians are a bunch of assholes. Any one of us could do something really retarded at any given moment. So, I don't know… We, like I said, have offers. We certainly can continue well if we so choose to, and I think that is what we are going to end up choosing. But I wouldn't bet my life on it either.

Tom: Any final words that you'd like to say?
Josh: Just that I'm terribly sorry. (Laughter)

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