INTERVIEW: MARC SCHOECH (HEAVY METAL RADIO)
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The following is an interview I conducted during February of 2007 with Marc Schoech, creator of Heavy Metal Radio.
My goal with this interview was not only to make you (readers) aware of the process of Heavy Metal Radio and its strong points, but also to give you an in-depth look at the man behind it all.
Thanks for your interest!
CLINT
First off, where did you grow up and where do you live now?
I was born in Detroit Michigan in the early 70s. My parents left Detroit shortly afterwards because of the Race Riots; they didn’t think that this type environment was any place to raise a child. They were part of the ‘White Flight’; a condition describing the exodus of Caucasians from Detroit in the 60s and 70s. On leaving Detroit, they moved to a rural part of Northern Michigan, bought 40 acres of land and built a house. For the first few years, my dad must have thought he was a farmer because he raised pigs, chickens, ducks and rabbits which we used for food. He also ground his own wheat to make bread. It was all very self-sufficient and back-woodsy. For several years, we even made maple syrup in the springtime. My school was very small and, until the year before I graduated, the entire K-12 was under one roof. I graduated High School in a class of 62 people. I had a great childhood, but was sort of sheltered.
I went to college in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at Michigan Technological University. I started as an electrical Engineering major, but after a few years decided to go to The Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale. I went to school there for a year studying ‘Music and Video Business’. Florida was full of posers, so I went back to Michigan tech, changing my major to Business Administration. I eventually graduated with a degree in 1995. After graduation, I got an internship with Polygram Records in Detroit, so I moved there hoping to be a big time label A&R guy. I quickly learned that record companies have 3x more interns than paid employees, and there was to be no job at the end. I’ve lived in the Detroit area since then.
What were some of your first experiences with metal?
During the summer after my 7th or 8th grade year, I used to ride my bike into town to play tennis with some kids in my class. One of the kids, Tony Drew, had a tape of Dio’s ‘Holy diver’ album. I was a dark kid, and was interested in stuff that other people didn’t think was normal ie: I was reading things like the Necronomicon and The Anarchist’s Cookbook. I liked music, but it wasn’t a huge part of my life; probably because I had never heard anything that inspired me. I thought the album cover was cool, so I traded a beat-up skateboard that I had, ahem… ‘found’ for the ‘Holy diver’ tape without even having heard the music. I loved that album once I heard it. Living in a rural area where nobody listened to metal, it was nearly impossible to find new music. A year or so later, I started a job at a pizzeria and one of the guys there, Ron, was a stoner and metal-head. He got fired, but he had left behind a tape at work, so I popped in the player - it was Iron Maiden’s ‘Power slave’. After hearing it, I was hooked. I started buying all of Maiden’s new albums. Then I bought their old albums too. It was about this time that I started DJ’ing High School dances. I’d always toss in some metal, usually ballads (ie: Dokken - “Alone again”) to expand the horizons of my fellow classmates.
What were some of your favorite bands during these early metal years?
Dio, definitely and Iron Maiden. Another significant band for me was one that I accidentally stumbled on; the band called Whiplash. I bought their album ‘Ticket to mayhem’ for $1 in the cutout bin at the record store. Yes, this was the actual album: 12” vinyl! Whiplash as it turns out was one of the first thrash/speed metal bands, starting back in 1984. This got me to a place where I was open to listening to harder music when I went to college.
When did you get the idea to start up an Internet radio station and what made you actually dive into it?
Some history: When I was in college, I decided that I wanted to be a DJ on the University’s Radio Station, WMTU. After all, I was a DJ in High School, right? I had experience! Well, I got lucky and met a guy at the station’s DJ sign-up meeting that seemed to have similar musical tastes as me; Jason Crowley. We partnered up and got a 6-9 AM slot. That first term I was exposed to a lot of new music; we were playing things like Queensrÿche’s ‘Operation: mindcrime’, and Laaz Rockit’s ‘Annihilation principle’. After that term, Jason and I parted ways, but WMTU’s management must have heard something they liked, because they gave me a solo show the next term. (In a sad turn of events, Jason was killed in a car crash about a year later). It was during my 2nd term as a DJ that I developed a radio personality for myself; my on-air alter ego was THE DESTROYER! My radio show became known as ‘The Destroyer’s Metal Mayhem’ and I was (probably) the most listened to DJ playing metal on campus. I joined the radio station staff at the end of that year as the Heavy Metal Music Director (MD) and did that for 2 more years. What a great job; DJing on the radio, talking to record companies, and getting lots of new music to listen to. At this point, I took a year to go to Ft. Lauderdale. When I came back to Michigan Tech, I was MD again for a year and then Program Director (PD) for 2 years.
After College and out in the real world, I found that I missed having a source of new music to listen to so I started experimenting with the primitive tools that were available for Internet radio. Since I loved computers and I loved music, it seemed only natural to combine the 2 and make an Internet radio station. The first version of the station was back in 1999 and had a max of about 5 listeners but it did not have a website. Later that year, I registered a domain name (www.schoech.net – my last name) and I published the first website for the station. The next year I registered the domain name www.metalmayhemradio.com and operated the station under that name until 2002 when through a stroke of pure luck, I was able to obtain the www.heavymetalradio.com domain name. During those early years, I met other metal broadcasters through the Internet who served as both my competition and my inspiration to make my website and my station better. Thanks to Kirk at www.stickmanradio.com and Chris at www.thrashnbashradio.com for all the great ideas and inspiration.
Are you a regular Heavy Metal Radio listener or do you just keep it running?
Yes, I’m a regular listener – I have to be! I get so much new music for Heavy Metal Radio, that I can’t listen to it all before I add it to the rotation. Most times, the first time I hear a song is because I’m listing to Heavy Metal Radio. Operationally, the station pretty much runs itself; the real time commitment is in finding and preparing the music for addition to the station’s rotation. I listen both at work and at home when possible.
How easy (or hard) is it to get set up (registered) as a listener?
Super easy. Heavy Metal Radio is now and will always be free; that’s the way I believe the Internet should be. You do not even need to register to listen to the station, just click on the Tune-in link. If you’d like to make requests or participate in the forums, then you must register. It takes about 2 minutes to go through the registration process and you need a valid email address. After you complete the registration forum, you’ll be emailed a confirmation link, and that is it!
Is there a special program (type of media player) needed to tune in?
Heavy Metal Radio is a streaming MP3 radio station; any program that can play an MP3 stream will work. My favorite is Win-Amp, but others listeners use Real-Player/Real-One, Music-Match and others. I like Win-Amp because it is small and doesn’t slow down my system. Heavy Metal Radio is listed in the Shout-Cast and Audio-Realm Internet radio directories in case you want to see other great stations.
I know that listeners can “request” songs, but how long does it usually take for a “requested” song to pull up and play?
It really depends on how many other listeners are requesting songs at the time. The wait between your request and when it actually plays is what I call ‘queue depth’ and anywhere from 8-15 minutes is typical. Heavy Metal Radio does a ‘Two-For-Tuesdays’ program and, on those days, the wait is usually a bit longer. I’ve seen the queue depth longer than 70 minutes when there are a lot of people requesting tunes! Requests are automated, and controlled by a complex set of rules to prevent repeats and abuse.
I know that there is a max amount of listeners allowed at any given time. What is the current max number, and how often is it reached?
Funny you mention this... I recently ‘upgraded’ my max number because I was reaching the max (40) for long periods during the day. My current max-listeners number is 150, but in the past it was 40, and 20 before that. When I upgraded to 150 max-listeners, I also doubled the bit-rate of the stream from 64kbs to 128kbs, which really excited me. Since then, the most listeners I have a one time has been 62, but I’m looking forward maxing out the 150 number.
What genres are mostly played, and does this vary at different times of the day?
I dislike classifying music by genres, so I won’t. The reason I dislike genre classifications, is because they are so subjective and they seem to divide the metal community. How many times have you heard the following: “XYZ band isn’t Death Metal, they’re Black Metal!” or “Nu-Metal sucks, it’s not even really metal at all!”
That said, I do vary the music played on Heavy Metal Radio based on the time of day though; I play the heaviest music from midnight to 8 AM, the lightest/mellowest music from 8 AM to Noon, and medium/mainstream metal from Noon to Midnight. All times are Eastern Time zone. I find this works well because an internet radio station has a global listener base. In general, European listeners tend to like heavier music and since their time zones are offset from ours, they get the heavy stuff during their daylight hours, and we get the songs we like during our daylight hours.
When is the absolute best time to tune in for prime power metal?
There’s those nasty genre’s popping up again! :) I know Metal CD Ratings has a power metal focus, so that will be my last poke at genre classifications. Even though I don’t like them, I recognize that genre’s are a necessary evil. For power metal, I’d suggest tuning in between Noon and Midnight (EST). But feel free to tune in any time to expand your musical horizons and listen to some great tunes that you may not have heard before; if you don’t like what you hear, feel free to request your favorite songs and they should play between 8-15 minutes later.
What percent of the songs on Heavy Metal Radio are power metal or close to that genre?
I’d estimate 20-25% of all the songs are power metal and the percentage is increasing due to some dedicated contributors. :) Maybe this doesn’t sound like a lot to your listeners, but consider this; Heavy Metal Radio currently has over 32,000 songs. That means that there are between 6400 to 8000 power metal songs; all of them requestable!
Almost all of the Metal CD Ratings fans/regulars are unaware that I (with the help of a buddy, Guy --- thanks dude!) am a major contributor to Heavy Metal Radio (several hundred CDs I’m sure... so far), which means some of the hard-to-find bands like Catharsis, Ebony Ark, Seyminhol, Timeless, Echo of Dalriada, Hamka, Galneryus and several others can be heard over there. Would you be alright with a bunch of these fans heading over to tune in and immediately increasing the regular amount of listeners?
First of all, a big thanks to you and Guy for your contributions to Heavy Metal Radio; you’ve expanded my horizons greatly over the past 2+ years. You’ve also provided me and my listeners with some great music and insight on the power metal scene. I would love to extend an invitation to all your readers, visitors and metal fans alike to tune in and become regulars at Heavy Metal Radio.
Are you interested in additional contributors? If so, how should they go about contacting you to get started and what styles/genres are you mostly looking for?
We’re always looking for additional contributors. If you’d like to contribute, you can email me at webmaster(at)heavymetalradio(dot)com or you can use the ‘feedback’ function on the Heavy Metal Radio website. Specifically, we need contributors for news items, CD or concert reviews and of course music contributions. Styles and Genre’s, to me are irrelevant; just do what you love and that will keep you happy. At this time it seems appropriate that I thank some of my regular contributors: John (Necrophage) from merry old England is a regular contributor of news items; he is also a forum moderator and a music contributor. Rusty (Arkticdeth) from Chicago and Sue (Aphrodite) from California are regular listeners and contribute feedback on station performance. Guy (IroncladGuy), who was previously mentioned, is a contributor of tons of music and lots of kick-ass ideas, most of which I have no idea how to incorporate. Of course, we’ve already discussed your contributions as well.
Do bands ever contact you and request that you play their music?
All the time. I usually get 3-5 bands a week that contact me requesting that I play their music. If they send me their CD or full album MP3 files, I will first, see if it’s suitable (quality is good, etc...) and then I usually add it to the ‘playlist’. I’m also on the mailing list of several record companies and they send me their latest releases.
Do bands ever contact you to simply thank you for playing their music?
Occasionally. Usually, they just tell all their friends to visit the site and request their songs! That’s just as good as a personal “thank you”.
Even though listeners can’t download songs off of Heavy Metal Radio, have you ever had a band ask you to remove their music?
Not yet, however if they ever (or their lawyers) did ask, I would certainly comply. I prefer to think that I’m performing a service for these bands rather than hurting them. I give them exposure, publicity and air-time which they might not ordinarily get through the status-quo corporate music-mill. I’m not out to make money off their efforts; I run Heavy Metal Radio so that I can bring new and exciting music to people’s ears.
Is Heavy Metal Radio completely non-profit?
Oh, it’s much worse than that; I LOSE MONEY EVERY MONTH running Heavy Metal Radio. (Here’s a breakdown of my costs just in case the RIAA wants to audit me)
$50/yr for Streaming Audio Manager (SAM) Software.
$575/yr for stream hosting.
$50/yr for web-hosting.
$550/yr for home Internet access.
That’s over $1200 a year or $100 dollars a month! This doesn’t even include the server and other hardware I have at home with over 2TB of storage. Why do I do it? Well, everyone’s gotta have a hobby and mine is computers and music. It could be worse, I could be into gambling or hookers. ;)
I actually have no desire to make money on Heavy Metal Radio. If I ever do, then I’d feel like I owe the record companies and artists something.
So we both run non-profit site’s, but I pay very little to keep Metal CD Ratings running and you pay quite a bit to keep Heavy Metal Radio going. Why do you fork out the high amount of cash to maintain Heavy Metal Radio (basically, what is the most rewarding aspect)?
I guess the most rewarding aspect is seeing the listener count go higher and higher over the past few years. Knowing that other people see what you’re doing as valuable is the most rewarding aspect. A side benefit is that I have one killer MP3 collection!
What do you think makes Heavy Metal Radio great?
Variety of music selection and the fact that I’ve been able to keep it free of charge for the past 8 years are the defining attributes of Heavy Metal Radio. During the course of a regular day, nearly 35% of all the songs played are listener requests; if the ‘playlist’ is good, it because the listeners helped make it that way. If it sucks, we’ll that’s my computer’s fault!
Do you have any additional ideas or plans for Heavy Metal Radio’s future?
Right now I’m in a holding pattern; I’ve got no major updates planned nor do I really have the time (or money) available for major upgrades or redesigns. I guess I’ll just keep cranking out jams until either someone forces me to quit or I get a great idea that I can put in place. I have no plan on shutting down unless I’m forced to.
Is there anything about Heavy Metal Radio that might change in the future?
I would like to get the forums working again. If this interview draws more contributors, maybe I’d be motivated to fix them (hint, hint!!). Also, the site needs a facelift; I’ve been on the same color scheme (theme) for the past 3 years I think.
Since Heavy Metal Radio is non-profit, what is your current occupation?
I work in the computer industry; I’m an IT Infrastructure Manager which means I’m in charge of servers and routers and PCs, help desk etc... It’s a pretty cool job because no 2 days are ever the same; there’s always something different that requires your attention. I’ve been working in the computer biz professionally since 1995.
When you’re not dealing with Heavy Metal Radio, what are some of your hobbies?
Right, Like I have any spare time! Well, I like to ride my bikes (mountain bike and road bike, not motorcycles) in the summer and I play volleyball year-round. I also enjoy reading and spending time with my girlfriend, Yvette, but I don’t get to do enough of either. I also like to travel, especially taking long road trips out west, going to national parks and seeing the natural beauty of our country.
What are some of your favorite books?
I’m a big Sci-Fi buff. I’ve read most of Isaac Asimov’s books, which led me to Gregory Benford, David Brin and Greg Bear who continued Asimov’s Foundation Series. I’ve enjoyed a lot of their books/series too, along with the Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson. I don’t read too much non-fiction unless it’s technical documentation for work.
What are some of your favorite movies?
My all time favorite movies are The Fifth Element and Spaceballs. Like my reading preferences, I tend to prefer Sci-Fi and Fantasy. The Lord of The Rings trilogy, Star Wars, Star Trek and comic book franchise movies are always appreciated. I also like movies by the Coen Brothers, and dark themed movies by Tim Burton and Quentin Tarantino.
Do you have any instrumental talents and/or band experience, or are you just a major listener like myself?
I started playing the coronet/trumpet in the 4th grade and by the 8th grade I had upgraded to the baritone. In 10th grade, I super-sized it and began playing tuba for our school’s concert band, but I stayed with the baritone for jazz band. In college, I started a band with some guys in my dorm. It was originally put together for a skit that we produced for our winter carnival festival, but then we stared practicing together more often and gelled as a band. We were basically a thrash band doing covers of bands like Metallica, Anthrax and Metal Church, although we did have one or 2 originals. We called ourselves Drastic Measures.
After I returned from my year in Ft. Lauderdale, I joined a band called Breaking Point that some friends of mine had started while I was away. This band did mostly covers as well, but the more popular stuff you’d hear at a bar. In Breaking Point, we also did some Rush and Iron Maiden as well as a ripping version of “Turbo lover” from the great Judas Priest. Since college, I really haven’t done much except be a roadie and sound man for some a couple of gigs my friend’s band has done. Oh, by the way, I was the lead singer/screamer in both Drastic Measures and Breaking Point.
Where is your favorite place to listen to music?
In the car, definitely. You can crank it up as loud as you want, sing along with the music if you want to and no one else cares. One of the reasons I like to take those long road trips is so that I can just listen to music for weeks on end. I’ll hook my laptop up to my car stereo and bring 50 GB of music with me for a 2-week trip and just JAM.
What are your thoughts on the main metal genres?
Black metal:
Not too bad, but it’s gotta have either something original going for it or great production values. Good example: Cradle of Filth.
Death metal:
In college, I wouldn’t touch the stuff, but I actually think my musical tastes have been getting heavier with age. Again, it’s gotta have good production values, but I can appreciate some stuff in this genre from time to time, especially the melodic stuff. I’d put the older Opeth in this category.
Doom metal:
Not a huge fan of the sludge stuff (ie: Sleep), but some of the classic stuff I can handle. I love the band Trouble.
Folk metal:
I love this stuff! Back in college, the Noise Records rep and I were pretty tight, and when he introduced me to Skyclad’s first album ‘The wayward sons of mother earth’, it changed my life.
Gothic metal:
I really like the goth stuff. I probably would have been a goth kid if I hadn’t grown up in BFE. One of my favorites out there now is Moonspell.
Heavy/melodic metal:
Yes, Yes, Yes! This is probably where geniuses like Nevermore should go, plus Iron Maiden.
Power metal:
Yes, so long as it doesn’t have too much mushy keyboards. Most of the medieval sounding bands are great – any where from Blind Guardian to Symphony-X to Falconer and DragonForce.
Progressive metal:
Good stuff. I got into Dream Theater in college and have liked Prog since then. So few bands do it right, and the genre is so hard to set boundaries on.
Symphonic metal:
Definitely! I love bands in this arena. I love the combination of the heavy and classical instruments. Haggard is one of the best out there. I tend to like the “Beauty and the beast” style of symphonic metal.
Thrash metal:
I like the old-school stuff (ie: Exodus, Anthrax, etc.) but I’m not sure who qualifies these days as thrash.
What are some of your all-time favorite bands?
OldSchool: Iron Maiden, Rush, Dio and Metallica.
Mid-years: Skyclad, Damn the Machine, Iced Earth, Death Angel, Pro-Pain, Queensryche and Crimson Glory.
Now: Nevermore, Haggard, Draconian and Opeth.
Who are some of your favorite musicians?
I was always drawn to bass players and bands with exceptional bass players. Geddy Lee and Steve Harris were my early heroes. Yngwie Malmsteen figured prominently into my youth. Dave Mustaine too. There are so many, I hate singling out just a few.
Who are some of your favorite vocalists?
Warrel Dane, Bruce Dickenson, Rob Halford and Serj Tankian.
What is your most prized metal possession?
I’m not really a collector. I guess my most prized possession is the Heavy Metal Radio MP3 collection itself. It’s taken years to build to this point and it's so massive, I’m afraid that a hard drive crash will kill it. It almost happened twice so far!
What was your favorite concert?
The most memorable concert I’ve ever been to was actually with 2 local bands; Thrall and Moog Stunt team. Moog opened the show and their performance was spectacular; they had great songs, were uber-tight and they had great theatrics including spraying hot metal sparks into the audience by using a guitar that was also a rotary grinder to rip apart specially made microphone stands. Then Thrall took the stage; 3 young dudes and a chick playing bass, all dressed in black. They start the show with this killer hypnotic mid-paced riff then after a few minutes this older guy, dressed in a black suit, black tie and white shirt wanders out on stage. He looks like an insurance salesman, but slightly mentally disturbed. It turns out, he’s the band’s singer, Mike Hard. With each passing song this guy gets crazier and crazier, the pace of the music increasing and this guy is tearing his clothes off, literally, ripping his shirt, throwing his tie into the audience and losing shoes, socks, etc... by the end of the show this mother is on stage, bloody, his remaining clothing tattered, with his Johnson hanging out. They practically have to restrain the guy and carry him off stage!
Are there any bands you haven’t seen in concert and would very much like to?
Yes, too many to mention. Dio is at the top of the list. I see Opeth and Nevermore every change I get; I hope they each make 30 more CDs.
It was really nice to meet you at the end of 2005 when you were on your Western-U.S. trip (I’m in Utah, for those who didn’t know).
Hey, It was good to meet you too! I’m thinking of coming out this summer too, wanna grab some Chinese food?
Yes of course, you know where to find me!
Are there other people in the metal world you would like to meet?
You know, that’s a tough question. I’m not really a hero worshiper when it comes to celebrities of musicians. I think it would be cool to tour with a band for a month to see what its like. I really respect Nevermore, Skyclad and Iron Maiden, but I’m guessing that a month on the road with each of them would be quite a different experience.
What do you think metal will be like in 10 years?
Uhhh, Louder??? Like most of pop culture, music tends to run in cycles. I’m guessing we’ll see a resurgence or re-invention of something we’ve already seen before; maybe nu-nu-metal? Seriously though, the great thing about music and culture is that the new ideas mix with the old ones creating something novel, yet familiar. I’d argue that no music genre that we currently listen to can be described as “revolutionary”. It’s “evolutionary”, one form building on another, evolving into something new. Folk metal and Gothic metal didn’t just “appear” one day, they had early progenitors, and those musicians had their influences, and so on and so forth... what I predict, for myself that is; is that in 10 years, I will evolve with the music, I will continue to partake in the present music until it becomes the future music.
What can we as metal fans do to help preserve the metal scene and what would you like to see for the future of metal?
Fans can listen to metal, buy the CDs and go to concerts to support the scene. Getting involved online is also a great way to contribute to the global scene. I would like to see a future where metal has no groups that become hugely popular (ie Metallica, Queensryche, etc.), but where a lot more bands can make a living simply by going on the road and supporting their CDs.
Finally, thanks not only for the opportunity to conduct this interview, but also for the opportunity I have to get high quality power metal on the radio. I hope Heavy Metal Radio continues going strong!
Thanks Clint, It was an honor to be interviewed. Best of luck with your site and in promoting the music you love!
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