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This interview didn't get off to a good start. I fell asleep and woke up ten minutes after I was supposed to call Machinehead drummer Dave McClain. I found my questions, got my voice recorder and called him, only to have the batteries of my voice recorder die within seconds of him answering the phone. I got new batteries and called him back, with this interview resulting. Machinehead will be dropping The Blackening very soon (or its already out depending on when you read it), and the songs I've heard so far, are pretty impressive.
PL: State something interesting about yourself.
DM: Something interesting about myself? Wow. I don't really talk about myself too much in an interesting way. I'm bald. How about that? I don't know; you stumped me on that one.
PL: What are your expectations with The Blackening?
DM: Our expectations are for it to be a huge album for us. We feel like we made an album that, to us, does not have one song on the album that we wouldn't play live. We feel like we made one of those special albums. We'll see how everybody reacts to it. So far, the reaction to everything is really good. We expect this to...anything less than gold in the states on this record would be a disappointment.
PL: Has it been hard to win over fans on this Lamb of God tour?
DM: No. Not at all. Its been amazing, and its been cool. Rob always asks everybody there: "Who's seeing Machinehead for the first time?," and its quite a bit. We were looking forward to this tour because we would see a lot of people and win a lot of people over. By the time we're done, we're getting "Machine-fucking-head" chants and reactions have been really really good.
PL: How did you get hooked up on the Heaven and Hell tour?
DM: We were originally going to do a Megadeth tour, but that fell through because Megadeth was jumping on the Heaven and Hell tour, so we went after it. We absolutely wanted to do that tour. For us, Dio Sabbath era was amazing to us. We went after it, and I don't know what happened, but we got the tour. I'm just looking forward to seeing Heaven and Hell every night. Its gonna be awesome.
PL: Would you rather listen to music or play it?
DM: Listen to music or play it? Well, I'd rather play it. I can't imagine my life being without playing music. I love to listen to it, but I'd rather play it. There's a real adrenaline rush when you're on stage playing music or just playing in general and learning new stuff. Its a kick ass thing.
PL: Whats one movie everyone should see?
DM: "River's Edge."
PL: Whats a little known fact about the Bay Area?
DM: A little known fact about the Bay Area? Hmmm...there's not a great metal scene there right now. I think too many people know that.
PL: Name one album, besides your own, that you think all people should have in their collection.
DM: Vulgar Display of Power.
PL: Why should people buy The Blackening when it comes out?
DM: I think once people hear the album or see us live...I'm not gonna sit here and say how awesome it is, but as a band and as fans of metal, we're super proud of this album. I think anybody who hasn't heard the band should definitely check this out, and I think our fans will think that its one of the best albums that we've ever done. If you're a fan of metal, you should definitely listen to it, and you won't be disappointed by it.
PL: Is there anything else you want to say?
DM: No, we covered the Heaven and Hell tour. Not really, except that the album is coming out on the 27th of March. Thats about it.
