I don’t understand why people continue to support Type O Negative. Peter Steele’s response to this question? “I’m not too thrilled with my songwriting”, he said. Garnering a solid reputation of forever being their own worst critics, one also has to wonder if the band members actually realize the impact of their music on their legions of cult member-like followers. Could it be, dare I say, a more “positive” feel to an otherwise “negative” history? “Who knows? Peter jokingly replied, “It could be an album of nursery rhymes!” With so many major changes happening in everyone’s lives right now including two new babies on the way, and Peter’s more optimistic outlook on things, Type O fans will be quite curious to hear what the new material will be like. But we’re gonna see what happens, and do a tour that is going to coincide with the record release of The Least Worst Of and then go back into the studio and start working on a new album. And what happened is that we really didn’t do anything for a while. ![]() I mean, after having toured from ’94 to ’97, with relatively few breaks, we needed time off. Thank you for giving us the benefit of the doubt, but in truth, we were just kind of sick and tired of each other. It’s not like you’re going to go in there and come out a week later after giving the fans some cheesy, K-Mart quality piece of junk. There was just way too much time between albums. They wanted to put out a product somewhere between World Coming Down and our next album, just to keep the momentum up. There was a 3-year gap between October Rust and World Coming Down, and I think that the label was afraid that that was going to happen again. So, I don’t think she’ll being hearing it. If there is a God, I mean, I’m pretty pissed off at him for killing all the people I love. I think I would have some explaining to do. I don’t think she would appreciate “Fuck You, God”. You know, I’m kind of embarrassed to let her hear it. Has your mother heard “It’s Never Enough”? ( The song is one of the new tracks from The Least Worst Of, which was written about his mother.) I’m happiest when I’m making the people I care about happy. It sounds disgustingly Christian, but you think if a person goes through his or her life asking the question of ‘what would make me truly happy’ and I think that I’ve found the answer. If she needs me to do something around the house, I don’t even think twice. So you know, now I make sure that I spend time with my mother, having learned this lesson from my father. There are so many questions I had for him that I wished I had asked him, like where was his first date, or how did he feel about my mother when he first met her, you know, things like that. She’s 78, and I learned from my father’s death, and even though he’s dead 5 days, it still feels like it happened yesterday. Because I don’t know how much time I have left. I try to spend time with her and cheer her up, and talk about nice things, or funny things, or old memories, you know. She’s doing okay, and I say “okay” in that she’s not getting any worse. The world keeps spinning while band members are on the road away from loved ones, sometimes losing touch or losing them altogether. The rock n’ roll lifestyle definitely has its ups and downs – money-wise, health-wise, not to mention the toll it takes on personal and family relationships. Peter Steele is nothing if not a gentleman, however, and he was no less charming and hospitable as he was in our past encounters during this “official” chat. And seeing as how he generally hates the scrutiny of being interviewed, I felt lucky to have the opportunity to talk with him so openly. Knowing that the band consists of four of the most self-critical musicians on Earth, one has to be curious what possessed them to put a ‘greatest hits’ compilation together at this stage in the game but Peter had plenty to say about this latest compilation. ![]() In this interview, I went the more personal route for the most part, and allowed Peter to talk about where he sees his life heading, as an individual, and as the front man for Type O Negative. ![]() In the couple of weeks prior to the release of the band’s first greatest hits compilation, The Least Worst Of, Type O Negative are playing some East coast dates, looking forward to the holidays, and the arrival of some new members of the Type O Negative family – via Josh Silver and Johnny Kelly – both are soon-to-be fathers. Finally, I was given the time and space to pose some of the questions that I thought might be of interest to his other fans out there. Anyone who knows me on a personal level also knows that Peter Steele has been an object of my admiration for nearly a decade.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |