VOLBEAT’s “Shotgun Blues” single, which is taken from the band’s latest album, “Servant Of The Mind”, recently topped both the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Mediabase Active Rock charts, the Danish/American group’s tenth top-charter, and cemented VOLBEAT’s record for having the most No. 1 singles on the Mainstream Rock chart by an artist based outside of North America.

VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen told 93.3 WMMR about the achievement (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It’s crazy. We don’t understand it. There are so many European bands out there, so many great bands, and it’s tough to understand that we are the band who has the most No. 1 hit singles over there in America. It’s crazy. And yeah, I don’t know what to say about it. I’m just very thankful that the fans are aware of VOLBEAT and the radio stations play our songs. I’m very thankful for it. It’s a good feeling, because it’s tough times these days. We appreciate it.”

Revolver called “Servant Of The Mind” “excellent… the darkest and heaviest VOLBEAT offering yet.” For the LP, the band, which consists of Poulsen, Jon Larsen (drums), Rob Caggiano (guitars) and Kaspar Boye Larsen (bass), took its signature heavy metal, psychobilly and punk ‘n’ roll sound up a notch while showcasing Poulsen’s keen ability for songwriting and storytelling. “Rarely has such a successful band sounded so ravenous,” says Kerrang! magazine of the album.

“Servant Of The Mind” was written and recorded during the shutdown and quarantine necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The LP includes the “double barrel” of summer songs the band released this past June: “Wait A Minute My Girl” and “Dagen Før” (featuring Stine Bramsen), the former of which became the band’s ninth number one single on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

VOLBEAT has racked up nearly three billion cumulative streams over the course of its career, notched a “Best Metal Performance” Grammy nomination for “Room 24” (featuring King Diamond) from 2014’s acclaimed (and gold-selling) “Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies”, and has grabbed multiple Danish Music Awards.

Since forming in 2001, VOLBEAT has gone from the clubs of Copenhagen to headlining stages around the world, including the famed Telia Parken stadium in Denmark (becoming the only domestic artist to ever sell out the venue). Over the course of seven record-breaking albums the band has picked up number one songs (including nine No. 1s on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and counting, the most of any band based outside of North America), multi-platinum certifications, awards and accolades all over the planet. Most recently, they contributed a cover of “Don’t Tread On Me” to “The Metallica Blacklist”, with all proceeds from the track benefiting METALLICA’s All Within My Hands foundation and the Børne Cancer Fonden of Denmark.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin

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MEGADETH’s Brazilian-born guitarist Kiko Loureiro has uploaded a new 12-minute video in which he answers a number of fan-submitted questions. You can now watch the question-and-answer session below.

Asked if MEGADETH’s leader, guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, uses music theory to compose the band’s songs. Kiko responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “No. He doesn’t use theory at all — at all.

“You have to understand that people are different,” he continued. “A creator can play something and just imagine the mountain, the sea, the hell, a war — imagine things, those sounds. He can relate that riff to a machine gun or can relate that riff to a bomb exploding, in the case of MEGADETH. But he can play a chord and imagine the mountain, the sun, sailing — whatever. So some people are like this. Some other people, they need the theory — they need the names, they need the things organized to make sense. So that’s why some people really relate to the theory and love theory. I love theory. Some other people don’t feel they need theory to compose, to create, because it’s all about imagination. And, of course, the basic stuff they might know — ‘Oh, this is a major chord,’ ‘This is a minor chord,’ ‘This is the name of the notes, like E, A, D,’ but in the end, it really doesn’t matter as well.

“So, does Dave Mustaine use theory? No, he doesn’t.”

In a previous video, Kiko was asked if he has learned anything from playing with Mustaine for the past six years, Kiko said: “Oh, yes, man. Oh, yes. I don’t know if you’re asking about guitar stuff, but I think my answer would go more, like… I learned watching him strive to be unstoppable, to be strong, to search for excellence, to demand excellence from everyone, and everyone delivers excellence, delivers their best. Leadership… What else? I don’t know… Fight for your case. Fight for your music. Fight for your band. Fight for your fans. Being an artist, being creative [and] combining all those things — being professional and at the same time creative and at the same time having fun while you’re doing the stuff. Yeah, a lot of experience in the music business as well — in the music business in general, in the show biz.

“And regarding guitar as well, the thrash metal essence,” he continued. “All the rhythms — mainly the rhythms and then the attitude and the force, the vibe, the drive, the intensity. So, all those things while you’re playing. Mixing the technical things with a lot of energy — like metal with punk with attitude. I think I’m a way better rhythm player because of just hanging and playing with Dave for all those years — since 2015. Also composing — he composes in a very different way than I do. And I think watching and learning from the way he does as well.

“So, yeah, a lot of stuff,” Kiko added. “I could do an entire video of things that I learned from Dave and from the whole MEGADETH experience.”

In an October 2015 interview with The Irish Sun, Mustaine was full of praise for Loureiro, saying: “A lot of times guitarists won’t know how to add to something — they’ll put something in there that’s kind of like tits on a bull, unnecessary. Kiko came in and immediately started making some really good suggestions that we applied [to MEGADETH’s 2016 album, ‘Dystopia’]. When he first came in, I knew he had the ability but I didn’t know if the songwriting technique and talent was going to show up this early on.”

He continued: “What was great about the suggestions that Kiko made was that they weren’t just guitar ones — he made a bass part in a song called ‘Me Hate You’ [that made it] really come along. In fact, that was one of the songs where he made a huge melodic contribution in the chorus and I said, ‘Man, this sounds like something.'”

According to Dave, Kiko possesses all the elements that are required to become part of a legendary metal act like MEGADETH.

“For me — really simply stated — if you want to be a musician, that’s one thing. If you want to be a rock star, that’s another,” Mustaine said. “But if you want to be legendary, you need to have three very important components: you need to have ability, you need to have appearance, and you need to have attitude. Without all three of those things, it’s kind of like trying to have a three-legged milk stool without three legs — it’s just not going to work.”

He continued: “I found with Kiko, his ability was astronomical, with his attitude he was very confident in what he did — there’s a difference between confidence and arrogance. In appearance, he was very classy and very subdued on the street, but up on stage he totally takes command of his performance. When he came up to Nashville to visit with me, I didn’t even have him play for the majority of the day he was there. I just wanted to hang out with him and it’s been a really long time since I hung out with a guitar player before I hired him. Usually I would listen to how he played and then I’d go, ‘Okay, we’ll work it out.’ I didn’t want to do that again. Hanging out with Kiko, and having lunch and kicking back and talking music was all I needed — I knew he was the right guy.”

MEGADETH recently completed work on its new album, “The Sick, The Dying And The Dead”, for a tentative early 2022 release.

Mustaine has yet to reveal who played bass on the new MEGADETH album after David Ellefson’s tracks were removed from the LP following his dismissal from the band in late May.

MEGADETH recently completed “The Metal Tour Of The Year” with LAMB OF GOD, TRIVIUM and HATEBREED.

For “The Metal Tour Of The Year”, MEGADETH was rejoined by bassist James LoMenzo for the first time in nearly 12 years.

LoMenzo joined MEGADETH in 2006 and appeared on two of the group’s studio albums, 2007’s “United Abominations” and 2009’s “Endgame”. He was fired from the band in 2010 and replaced with a returning Ellefson.

Ellefson was in MEGADETH from the band’s inception in 1983 to 2002, and again from 2010 until his latest departure.

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SCORPIONS have released the second in a three-part series of short documentaries — directed by Thomas Noehre — focusing on the making of the band’s 19th studio album, “Rock Believer”. Check it out below.

When the series was first launched, SCORPIONS said in a statement: “For our new album ‘Rock Believer’, we all came back together in the studio like in the old days and captured that journey on camera. Maybe you discover some unreleased music snippets from our new album in it…”

Last month, SCORPIONS released the official music video for their new single, “Peacemaker”. The track, which features music courtesy of guitarist Rudolf Schenker and bassist Pawel Maciwoda and lyrics by singer Klaus Meine, is taken from “Rock Believer”, due on February 25, 2022.

Asked in a new interview with Chile’s Radio Futuro what fans can expect to hear on “Rock Believer”, Meine said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, you can expect an album that is dedicated to all the rock believers in the world. And we’re very excited after all these years. We thought, when you think about all the touring we did the last 10 years, after the release of ‘Return To Forever’ in 2015, the time was right to go back into the studio, to write new material, to write new songs and check out if the creativity is still working. The big aim was, the goal was to make a rock album — to make an album with lots of attitude, power and focus on the good old times and really enjoy the music and have some fun with the music. And that feels really good.”

Speaking about the “Rock Believer” album title, SCORPIONS guitarist Rudolf Schenker said: “Look, we are around the world since 50 years or more. And when somebody can say he’s a rock believer, then this is us. And of course, we meet our rock believers in front of us, our audience.

“So many people said rock is dead. It’s not dead,” he continued. “It’s always coming back — sometimes, okay, more stronger [or] less strong — but in the end, it’s great to play around the world in over 80 countries we’ve played so far, and all rock believers. It was always great to share the music with them together and be in connection with them. I mean, that’s so amazing and so fantastic, that we are very happy to come out with a new album. And yeah, let’s see what’s happening.”

Asked if “Peacemaker” is representative of “Rock Believer” as a whole, Klaus said: “It is an uptempo rock song, and this album really rocks. There are some heavy songs on the album, like when you think about ‘China White’ and ‘Animal Magnetism’, there’s a track on the record that is really in the best way of those songs. There are many uptempo songs and, believe it or not, there are even faster songs than ‘Peacemaker’. [Laughs] There’s also a very beautiful ballad on the album, and I’m sure there are fans out there especially love the SCORPIONS ballads, and they will enjoy this record as well very much. ‘Peacemaker’ is the appetizer for what the album is all about. It rocks.”

“Rock Believer” was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.

“The album was written and recorded in the SCORPIONS DNA with core Schenker/Meine compositions,” said Klaus. “We recorded the album as a band live in one room, like we did in the ’80s.”

SCORPIONS’ new album will mark their first release since 2017’s “Born To Touch Your Feelings – Best Of Rock Ballads”, which was an anthology of new and classic material.

SCORPIONS originally intended to record the new album in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff.

Meine previously told Talking Metal that the goal with using Fidelman to produce “Rock Believer” was to bring “the old vibe from albums like ‘Blackout’, ‘Love At First Sting’ or even ‘Lovedrive’. We try to focus on those albums and this attitude,” he said. “If we get there, who knows — it’s so many years later. But it’s the spirit and it’s the whole vibe around this album. This time, the focus is on the harder songs.”

According to Meine, SCORPIONS’ new LP features “no outside writers at all,” unlike 2015’s “Return To Forever”, which was largely co-written by the album’s producers, Mikael Nord Andersson and Martin Hansen.

SCORPIONS will kick off their “Rock Believer” world tour in March 2022 in Las Vegas where the band will play nine shows as part of their residency at Planet Hollywood Hotel. Afterwards they will cross the Atlantic to Europe where they will play six concerts in France and six shows In Germany supported by Wolfgang Van Halen’s new band MAMMOTH WVH.

SCORPIONS’ last full-length collection of new recordings was the aforementioned “Return To Forever”, partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the ’80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS’ longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.

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Polish tech death metal virtuosos DECAPITATED have completed work on their eighth studio album for a 2022 release via Nuclear Blast Records. The band has just finished filming a video for the LP’s first single, to be made available next spring.

Earlier today (Wednesday, December 29), DECAPITATED guitarist Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka took to his Instagram to write: “I have noticed that some of you are suffering from a lack of information about a new album:) So here’s the statement:

“New @decapitatedband album is done ! We have 10 new songs and we are already about to finish the video for the first single. Album is a quintessence of DECAPITATED, but I also feel that we have created something strong, crushing, unique and unexpected this time!

“I truly believe that after a very long time of waiting, none of you will be disappointed.

“Album premiere-Spring 2022 ?#staytuned

“#newalbum #decapitated #8 #nuclearblast”.

DECAPITATED’s latest album, “Anticult”, was released in July 2017 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Back in March 2018, Kiełtyka said that he and his bandmates were “ready to return,” two months after all rape and kidnapping charges against were dropped against them in Spokane County.

Less than two weeks before the Polish death metal musicians were scheduled to go on trial in January 2018 for allegedly kidnapping and raping a woman on their tour bus four months earlier, Spokane County prosecutor Kelly Fitzgerald filed a motion dismissing all rape and kidnapping charges. The motion cited “the well being of the victim” as a reason for dropping the charges without prejudice, meaning the four members of DECAPITATED could be prosecuted in the future.

Formed in 1996, DECAPITATED built a reputation over the years as one of the international leaders of the “tech death” genre. Over its nearly 20-year career, DECAPITATED has released seven studio albums, which are considered to be some of the most influential death metal releases of the 21st century.

Since 2019, Kiełtyka has been taking care of second-guitar duties in MACHINE HEAD following the departure of Phil Demmel.

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A post shared by Waclaw Vogg Kieltyka (@sirvogg)

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Original SALIVA singer Josey Scott has apologized to fans for his failed reunion with the band.

Scott left SALIVA at the end of 2011 after 15 years with the group, reportedly to pursue a solo Christian music career. He was quickly replaced by Bobby Amaru, who can be heard on SALIVA’s last four releases: “In It To Win It” (2013), “Rise Up” (2014), “Love, Lies & Therapy” (2016) and “10 Lives” (2018).

Scott broke the news of his return to SALIVA in October 2019 during an appearance on “The Morning Dump”, a podcast hosted by “The Big Mad Morning Show” in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time, Josey said that he wanted to get together with SALIVA and “write a badass record.”

In March 2021, SALIVA guitarist Wayne Swinny addressed Scott’s status with the band during an interview with Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station. Asked if there are still plans for Josey to reunite with SALIVA for a possible album and/or a tour, Wayne said: “There was preliminary discussions, but it never really got off the ground. We just basically had to make plans and keep this train rolling, so to speak. It didn’t make sense to me to stop what we were doing. ‘Cause this unit, we’ve been together, it’s been almost 10 years now, with Bobby in the band. Brad came along shortly after that. We’re tight. We get along. It’s a well-oiled machine. We’ve got a great crew, a great bus driver. It would throw a monkey wrench into the actual SALIVA.”

On Tuesday (December 28), Josey took to his Twitter to write: “I want 2 apologize 2 my fans because I thought I was gonna reunite w/certain people & make u new music, & that fell through, but, I believe everything happens for a reason. There are no coincidences. A blessing in disguise. Now it’s just u, & me, how intimate is that? #SV2022”.

When Swinny spoke to WRIF about SALIVA’s failed reunion with Scott, he said that even though there were some initial discussions about Josey’s return to the group, there was no follow-up to ensure that the plan was executed.

“If you wanna do something, do it,” Wayne said. “But you can’t just talk about it and have it magically happen. There’s work, there’s planning, there’s stuff that goes into it, and none of that stuff was done early enough to pull it off.

“Yeah, there was some fan response, saying, ‘Wow, yeah, that might be cool.’ But it didn’t get enough steam to take off,” he explained. “All the preliminary stuff kind of got set up, and it just didn’t jell.

“It just didn’t make sense to stop what we [the current lineup of SALIVA] were doing and do that, because you’ve got momentum, we’ve got a groove going, the band’s tight live. I didn’t feel like we should give that up or give that a rest.”

SALIVA released six albums with Scott and tasted platinum success and a Grammy nomination for its first big hit, “Your Disease”.

This past May, SALIVA celebrated the 20th anniversary of its breakthrough major label debut, “Every Six Seconds”, with a special project called “Every Twenty Years”, an EP of classic songs re-recorded with Amaru.

I want 2 apologize 2 my fans because I thought I was gonna reunite w/certain people & make u new music, & that fell through, but, I believe everything happens for a reason. There are no coincidences. A blessing in disguise. Now it’s just u, & me, how intimate is that? #SV2022 pic.twitter.com/gLJzcL6V8h
— ❌J⭕️SEY SC⭕️TT❌ (@joseyscottmusic) December 29, 2021

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In a recent interview with IndiePower.com, legendary drummer Carmine Appice, best known for his work with VANILLA FUDGE, CACTUS and Rod Stewart, spoke about his friendship with the members of VAN HALEN. “I was friends with all of ’em — [including] Michael Anthony and David [Lee Roth],” he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). I insulted [David], not knowing it. When he came to the rehearsal wearing this outfit, it looked like a pajama set. It looked like it was made out of the Holiday Inn bedspread and curtain set. So I said that. I said, ‘Is that the Holiday Inn? Did you take the Holiday Inn curtain and bedspread and make an outfit?’ And he got insulted. That was the end of the band. [Laughs] It’s funny.

“But, yeah, I knew all those guys,” he continued. “As a matter of fact, when we did a VANILLA FUDGE reunion in 2005, Eddie [Van Halen] was on the phone with me, and he said, ‘What are you doing that for? Screw that. Get CACTUS together.’ He loved [CACTUS guitarist Jim] McCarty, and he loved CACTUS. And Alex [Van Halen] told me [VAN HALEN’s] ‘Hot For Teacher’ really came from the idea we did with ‘Parchman Farm’; that was like the template. And ‘Eruption’ was the beginning of our song ‘Let Me Swim’ extended — same kind of thing.”

In a separate interview with “The Jeremy White Podcast” from this past September, Carmine took the VAN HALEN comparison further, saying: “If you put ‘Hot For Teacher’ on and put our song ‘Parchman Farm’, you’ll hear the same kind of groove. And if you put our song called ‘Let Me Swim’, the beginning of that, and you put ‘Eruption’, it’s the same.”

CACTUS has had a long and turbulent history. Formed in 1970 from the ashes of VANILLA FUDGE by Appice and Tim Bogert, the initial lineup also featured McCarty and vocalist Rusty Day. (Appice and Bogert had originally planned a new band with Jeff Beck which was put off until 1973, because of Beck’s near-fatal car crash in 1969.) Jim McCarty had come from MITCH RYDER & THE DETROIT WHEELS and was playing with THE BUDDY MILES EXPRESS. Tim and Carmine also found vocalist Day in THE AMBOY DUKES with Ted Nugent. Together, the four musicians formed CACTUS, named after the peyote cactus, which provided a key ingredient in mind-altering drugs.

While CACTUS saw success from the start and soon built a loyal fan base, by early 1973, the band had collapsed mainly due to lack of real support from its label, and the fact that Beck was now ready play with Carmine and Tim. It would not be until 2006, three decades after the tragic death of Rusty Day, that the group reformed with Pratt and Kunes. When Tim Bogert was forced into retirement after a serious motorcycle accident, Pete Bremy jumped in both in CACTUS and VANILLA FUDGE.

Carmine’s autobiography, “Stick It!: My Life Of Sex, Drums, And Rock ‘N’ Roll”, was released in May 2016 by Chicago Review Press.

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DISTURBED’s David Draiman has thrown his support behind two Jewish men who were allegedly attacked in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday (December 26).

According to the New York Post, Blake Zavadsky and Ilan Kaganovich, both 21, were in a shoe shop in Bay Ridge when two attackers allegedly approached them.

“They asked us what we were doing in their neighborhood,” Zavadsky told the New York Post.

Zavadsky, who was sporting an Israel Defense Forces sweatshirt, said the pair took particular issue with his hoodie.

“The one who punched me said if I don’t take my sweatshirt off, he’s going to rock me,” Zavadsky said.

“‘How can you support these dirty Jews?'” Zavadsky said the man allegedly asked.

When he refused, he got punched twice in the face and doused in iced coffee.

The NYPD said Monday the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

Draiman took to his Instagram late Tuesday (December 28) to share a photo of him wearing an IDF shirt during DISTURBED’s July 2019 show in Tel Aviv, and he included the following message: “I stand in solidarity with the two young Jewish men who were attacked in Brooklyn NY yesterday, one of whom was wearing an IDF t shirt. We will not be intimidated. #IDFShirtChallenge #amyisraelchai”.

Last week, Draiman said that he had lost thousands of social media followers since publicizing his trip to Israel in November.

On November 30, Draiman lit a candle at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel at the Old City site of the terror attack that killed South African immigrant Eli Kay.

At the time, Draiman, who is Jewish, took to his Instagram to share a few photos of his appearance, and included the following message: “A truly wonderful experience. Thanks so much to everyone who came out!”

On December 24, Draiman returned to Instagram to lament the fact that thousands of his fans had apparently taken offense to his decision to share pro-Israel content on his page and had unfollowed him on the platform.

He wrote: “Here’s food for thought.

“Before my recent trip to Israel, I hadn’t used my Instagram account since the DEVICE experiment. It was at 87k followers. I used it again specifically to make my trip and demonstration at the western wall public.

“Since the pictures of my trip and the demonstration were posted, I’m now down 4K followers.

“AND I’D DO IT AGAIN IN A HEARTBEAT.

“Very telling isn’t it? #AmYisraelChai”.

A week prior to his visit to Jerusalem, Draiman told The Jerusalem Post that he wanted to make a statement by coming to Israel after seeing the coverage of the attack in which a Hamas gunman opened fire on pedestrians in the Old City.

“The coverage was reprehensible in the vast majority of American and European media,” Draiman said. “It’s scandalous how they presented it. Headlines like ‘Palestinian shot dead.’ Well, why was the Palestinian shot dead? Because he was perpetrating a terrorist attack. I love how the context is always flipped around.”

Although David — who has some 200 relatives living in Israel — had visited the country many times before, DISTURBED’s 2019 show in Tel Aviv was the band’s first performance in the Jewish state. Draiman addressed the crowd in Hebrew at many points during the show at Live Park Rishon LeZion and sang the Israeli national anthem “Hatikvah”. Draiman proudly displayed his IDF t-shirt during the concert and at one point declared: “This is for all the IDF soldiers.”

DISTURBED’s song “Never Again”, from 2010’s “Asylum” album, was written about the Holocaust and calls out people who deny it.

The Tel Aviv show marked the first time DISTURBED performed “Never Again” since 2011.

Both of Draiman’s maternal grandparents were survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, while many others on his mother’s side were wiped out by the Nazis.

The United States Holocaust Museum has featured Draiman in its “Voices On Anti-Semitism” podcasts.

In recent years, Draiman spoke out against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which calls for economic pressure on Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian land, grant Arab citizens equal rights and recognize the right of return to Palestinian refugees.

Nearly two and a half years ago, Draiman spoke to KAN radio, where he called BDS advocates “idiots” and “Nazis in suits.”

Draiman has in the past battled with Twitter trolls who have harassed him about his sometimes-controversial views regarding Israel and its ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. Draiman has had frequent heated exchanges with followers on Twitter, some of whom believe that Israel is not blameless in the ongoing conflict with Palestinians.

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A post shared by David Draiman (@davidmdraiman)

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In a recent interview with Joe Rock, TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French revealed that he once threatened legal action to prevent iconic motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson from using the TWISTED SISTER name in connection with one of its products. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “There were so many attempts to use the trademark, and I had to sue everybody — I had to keep suing people ’cause I have the trademark. And I got a phone call one day from a guy representing Harley-Davidson. He said, ‘We wanna name our tire ‘Twisted Sister’, and we did our due diligence and found out you own the trademark. And we’re calling you to let you know we’re gonna use the name and we’re gonna call the tire ‘Twisted Sister’.’ And I said to him, ‘Are you really just calling me to tell me you’re violating my trademark?’ I was dumbfounded. I said, ‘You’re really calling me up, telling me you acknowledge I own the trademark, you’re telling me you don’t care that I own the trademark ’cause you’re Harley-Davidson with 400 million dollars’ worth of assets, and then you’re gonna call a tire ‘Twisted Sister’ and you’re gonna send me a couple of tires as a thank you. That’s what you’re saying to me, right?’ And he says, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘Give me your numbers.’ I take his number down. I hang up the phone and I’m just fucking livid. And I called [him back] and this is what I said to him. I said, ‘Hey, man. Jay Jay French [here]. You know the phone number you called to reach me is a 212 number.’ He goes, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘You know what that means, don’t you? I’m a New York guy. In fact, I’m a New York Jew.’ That’s what I said to him. I said, ‘So this is exactly how this is gonna go down.’ I said, ‘Number one, I sued Six Flags and won.’ He went, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Yeah. And they’re twice as big as Harley-Davidson. And I took ’em to court for three years and I won. Did you do the due diligence on that?’ And he said, ‘No, I didn’t.’ And I said, ‘Well, you should do due diligence on that. Because I also took Urban Decay down.’ And I said, ‘So this is how it’s gonna go down. If you fuck me like this, the first thing I’m gonna do is I’m gonna sign a band and call ’em the Harley-Davidsons. I’m gonna send you a couple of guitar picks and a fucking thank you.’ And he said, ‘How much do you want?’ I said, ‘I want 10 percent and two Fat Boys [motorcycles] a year.’ … And I hung up on him. And he called me back the next day. He said, ‘We’ve rescinded our use of the name.’ And that was the end of that.”

Back in 2013, the owners of the Twisted Sister House Of Hunger food truck in Minneapolis, Minnesota were forced to change the name of their business after they were threatened with legal action by French. In a cease-and-desist letter, French and his attorney wrote, “It is the opinion of our client, with which we concur, that your use of the name Twisted Sister will cause dilution of our client’s famous mark and will cause confusion among consumers.” In response, the proprietor of the food truck said, “I don’t know how somebody can get a 20-foot aluminum box mixed up with an ’80s rock band. We never refer to ourselves solely as Twisted Sister — we’re in the food industry, not the entertainment industry.” In the end, the food truck owner decided it wasn’t worth the time or money of a court trial. He spent about $3,000 changing the company’s name to House Of Hunger, but everything else stayed the same.

Addressing criticism from fans and other observers regarding TWISTED SISTER’s decision to initiate the name dispute, French said in a statement at the time: “I get how stories like these appear like David vs. Goliath. I also get how easy it is to take cheap shots at my band because of our former image and the ’80s-era MTV iconography. The fact of the matter is that trademark law doesn’t give me a choice on who and what to defend. The law is very clear: either defend your trademark or lose rights to it.

“Over the last 35 years, I have defended my trademark against the biggest companies (Six Flags, Urban Decay, Harley-Davidson) as well as dozens of mom-and-pop companies,” he continued. “The defense is almost always the same. They first claim that they never heard of the band and then they say that no one would confuse the two anyway. I have won every case. The unique juxtaposition of the words ‘Twisted’ and ‘Sister’ have never ever appeared in print prior to my band’s use of it. This was established in the Six Flags case. The name is so unique, like LED ZEPPELIN, that any use would confuse the marketplace as either the product or service is owned or endorsed by us. Also, if I let one go, that just emboldens someone else with the rationale that ‘you didn’t bother them, so why go after me.’ I have heard this many times before.

“When my band first started, we thought of calling ourselves ‘THE MAX FACTOR.’ it was a cute idea because we were a ‘glam band.’ My lawyer at the time then said to me: ‘This is a bad idea for two reasons, 1. You will probably be sued for trademark violation and 2. Why would you want to trade on someone else’s idea? Think of something original and unique, that way, should you succeed, you will be able to take credit for your own special creation.’

“I really don’t understand why people feel the need to steal someone else’s property,” French added. “Perhaps they are just lazy. I think that the real reason they used our name and didn’t call it The Beatles, Rolling Stones or Motley Crue House Of Hunger is that they knew that they would get sued and perhaps thought that we wouldn’t notice.

“Sorry. We did.

“I believe in the American way of ‘roll up your shirt sleeves’ entrepreneurship. Be proud of your hard work and ingenuity. Be proud of being unique. Provide a service like we did that people love.

“I only wish for these guys to have this kind of success where you start from nothing, zero, against all odds and have a real career. Just please do it on your own terms, with your own ideas, providing a great product or service, just don’t steal from others. That is not the American way.

“As you can see, I am proud of what we have created. We have learned that being original, true to yourself, working hard and giving back pays off in ways that one can’t even imagine.”

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In a recent interview with Darren Paltrowitz, host of the “Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz”, CANDLEBOX’s Kevin Martin was asked if he is the type of artist who works on music every single day. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “No, man. I’m not prolific at all. I probably don’t deserve the success I’ve had. [Laughs] I don’t work very hard at it. And that’s a terrible thing to say, ’cause when I’m in the studio, I do. But I don’t look at music that way. I don’t have that desire. I guess it probably stopped… When I met my wife Natalie is when I really lost that kind of drive to just produce music every day. I fell madly in love, and I still am. So I think I’d much rather hang out with my wife and my son and go to the beach and vacation than I would write a song. I just don’t find writing to be that cathartic for me. Unless I’m in the mood — if I’m in the mood to write, then I’ll produce two or three songs in an hour. Like at soundcheck the other day, we wrote three things. But that’s only if I’m triggered into it. I don’t sit around with a guitar all day, with a notepad writing lyrics. I just have never been that guy. I don’t know why. I just am not.”

When Paltrowitz brought up DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE’s Ben Gibbard, who has been quoted as saying that he treats songwriting like a dayjob, Martin said: “I was a drummer for years and years and years prior to singing for CANDLEBOX. And what I find is I don’t like to reach for inspiration that way. I allow it to pretty much punch me in the face, and then I recognize it: ‘Oh, that’s a song.’ I just am not that person. And Ben’s a profoundly prolific motherfucker. I have every record that guy’s ever released. I’m a huge fan. I love that he treats it like a dayjob because I always have new music from him. But one of the things that I think that happens in that is that sometimes, it’s my opinion, that you can lose sight of what it is that you are writing about. If you’re constantly reaching for something or looking for a story or you’re trying to write about an experience that you had, sometimes I think that’s forcing it. And again, that’s just my opinion of things. I don’t make records until I’m absolutely ready to make records, until I’m absolutely ready to say something. And that’s just me. I think that musicians that can produce on the level of Ben, I mean, it’s just shocking to me, but it’s still brilliant that there are musicians out there that do that. I’m just not one of ’em.”

CANDLEBOX’s latest album, “Wolves”, was released in September via Pavement Records. The LP was produced by Dean Dichoso at the legendary Henson Studios in Los Angeles, California. It is the Seattle-based rockers’ follow-up to 2016’s “Disappearing In Airports”.

Most of the “Wolves” recordings were finished in August 2019, and Martin completed his vocals in January 2020.

Earlier this month, CANDLEBOX announced dates for the “Candlebox Unplugged” tour. The 14-show routing will kick off April 20 in Cincinnati, Ohio at Memorial Hall and hit the southern and East Coast states before culminating in a special two-show finale at City Winery in New York on May 7.

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