My first musical meeting with BLOODLUST was when I bought the "Guilty As
Sin" lp after they were featured in an issue of Enfer Magazine. This lp is
a power metal masterpiece that has become a classic. Three years later, I
was blown away again with the "Terminal Velocity" ep, a killer vinyl at the
edge between power metal and speed metal. The two vinyls have kept a regular
playing on my records player. I got in touch with the band on myspace. Guitarist
Earl answered my questions...
BLOODLUST was formed in 1983. Was the original line-up Guy Lord (vocals),
Earl Mendenhall (guitar), Anthony Romero (guitar), Sandy K (bass) and Mark
E. Cuestas (drums) ?
The actual original Bloodlust line-up had young
Steve Gaines on vocals. Steve joined Abattoir before we recorded "Guilty
As Sin", and Guy joined back up with us from Warlock to do the vocals on
that album.
Guy Lord didn’t last long and was quickly replaced by Steve Gaines. Which
was the reason ?
The reason Guy, and later Anthony, left was because
Guy went on to form his own band, Lord. They wanted to perform more traditional
metal and rock (they covered "The End" by the Doors), and we leaned more
to a thrashier, heavier sound, which you can hear on "Terminal Velocity".
Mark and Anthony were ex-WARLOCK (as Guy Lord). Steve was an ex-PRISONER.
How did these two bands sound ? Were Earl and Sandy playing in other bands
before BLOODLUST ?
Warlock was an excellent cover band that attracted
a pretty good following in LA. They played a lot of Priest, Maiden, Zeppelin,
Sabbath, etc. Steve’s band Prisoner was an original power metal band that
I first saw & heard at the Troubadour club in LA. Steve was very young,
and had a powerful rough vocal style that I was immediately attracted to.
Up to that time, I had written a lot of the riff ideas that ended up on the
first record. I had decided that I didn't want to do covers, and eventually
Anthony & Mark left Warlock to help me start up Bloodlust.
In your early years, you played with ARMORED SAINT, BITCH, WASP, ABATTOIR...
What memories have you of this time ?
The early to mid 80's were a special time in Southern
California for metal, a time when all genres of metal played shows together
& rocked. There was a very cool brotherhood (with friendly competition
& rivalries!) that was a powerful force. The late 80's, however, found
the scene fragmenting, getting more aggro & chasing off the girls, and
sadly eventually shrinking. An early pre-Joey Vera version of Armored Saint
played in my backyard years ago! Dave & Betsy from Bitch got Brian Slagel
to come to our very first show and offer us a record deal. Dave Mustaine
was a very good friend and wanted to play on "Guilty As Sin" (but no one
I knew had a crystal ball, and we arrogantly refused!!)..very cool times
indeed!
In mid ’84, Steve left the band to join ABATTOIR and Guy Lord was back
on vocals. How did that happen ? How did you get in touch with Metal Blade
? Was originally the deal for more than one lp ?
As I mentioned before, Brian Slagel wanted to do
record right away in '83, but soon afterwards Steve received an offer to
join Abbatoir who at the time were much more established than us. We then
brought Guy back to do the record and eventually join the band. The original
deal was for only one record with an option for a second. The band &
Metal Blade came to a mutual decision not to do the second recording.
“Guilty As Sin” was released in ’85. It is a power metal masterpiece album
with amazing tracks as “Ride To Death”, “Rising Power” or “Chainsaw” to name
a few. Are you still proud of that great album ?
I am extremely humbled by the publics' response
to "Guily As Sin", especially overseas where we received terrific reviews.
Before we decided to regroup, I attended an Abattoir record release party.
People were coming up to me and telling me how they remember the band. Then,
I got internet saavy and freaked on how many people worldwide still listen
to our old recordings...what a trip! Yes, even though there were many shortcomings
in the final product, I'm very proud of that album.
Did Metal Blade give you promotion and tour support for the lp ? Have
you an idea of how many copies were sold ?
Unfortunately, we received very, very little support
from Metal Blade. At that time, we had a manager that was very inexperienced
& a bit abrasive, and relations with the label were very chilly. If we
had been given the opportunity to play in Europe, I'm sure that things would
have been very different. I have absolutely no idea how many albums we sold.
How did you find guitarist John Lisi ? Was he a friend before joining
BLOODLUST ?
John Lisi was 18 years old & ripping in a Florida
band that had moved into a rehearsal space next door to ours. Guy had left,
and Anthony was on his way out, so I offered him the gig. We've been good
friends ever since.
During a short time, you had a vocalist named Rich Deathcamps. Wasn’t
he suitable for the band ? Then, Steve ended TACTICS and was back...
Funny, I don't remember a vocalist named Rich Deathcamps...what
can you tell me?? (well, I thought this vocalist was shortly in the band
before Steve came back, maybe I made a mistake with another band – Patrick).
We had a couple of really good guys play with us at one time or another (I
can remember a really good singer named Keith Flax from a band called Wild
Dogs, and a guy named Ice from Las Vegas that stole my original Megadeth
t-shirt that Dave had given me), but it never really worked out, so I actually
sang lead & played guitar for a few gigs, giving the band a much more
hardcore sound (I sound like Lemmy gargling with broken glass). After that
abortion, Steve had already left Abattoir, showed up at my door one day &
I asked him back...to great relief!
Why was Mark replaced by Craig Kasin ?
We all were in the midst of a drug & alcohol
haze at one time, but Mark seemed to have a harder time of it. Juan Garcia
(Abattoir, Agent Steel) recommended Craig to us. Craig is now making a good
living as The Drummer KC, playing to big dance rave crowds. He's still a
very good friend.
In ’87, you recorded the “Anti-Life” demo. Was the tape well received
in the underground scene ?
"Anti-Life" was a demo that featured the band as
a four piece (with me on vocals), and was very well reviewed by Metal Forces
and many other metal publications of the day. After Steve rejoined, a decision
was made to record a good quality demo. "Terminal Velocity" is actually that
demo.
I guess this demo tape helped you to sign a deal with Wild Rags. Was the
deal only for one ep ?
The music was only licensed to Wild Rags as a demo,
but unfortunately was perceived by other major labels as a Wild Rags release.
There were only a few thousand of those EPs pressed, and Rich Campos, the
owner of Wild Rags later went AWOL along with our masters. The re-release
will include "Terminal Velocity" off of a vinyl copy. We did play a few gigs
after the release, and briefly had a dialog with MCA Records (through our
friendship with Chris Poland of Megadeth) but soon broke up.
How did this happen that the ep was produced by DARK ANGEL guitarist Eric
Meyer ?
The guys in Dark Angel would come to a lot of our
shows (especially big Gene..hey bro, get in touch!!) & we became friends.
Eric had expressed the desire to get into mixing & producing, and Dark
Angel was blowing up, so I asked him if he wanted to record a demo with us.
That became "Terminal Velocity".
Why did you decide to break up the band in ’89 ?
I had begun to be dissatisfied with the changing
metal scene and the musical direction Sandy & John seemed to be taking.
They began to play very sophisticated & technical riffs that I couldn't
play & that I didn't find rocking enough. I come from a Sabbath, Motorhead,
Maiden, Priest, Iggy Pop background..heavy, simple, loud rock and roll. The
trend at the time was to play faster than anyone (that's what inspired Steve's
lyrics to the song "Terminal Velocity"..I wrote the music to that one in
1982, but it was decided that it was too punk for "Guilty As Sin"), with
country & polka-sounding beats on the drums that ,in my opinion, brought
the music to the point of comedy. I was also dealing with some personal
problems with women & drugs, and was losing my focus on creating music.
I also had a very young daughter that I needed to support and be more involed
with, and the aforementioned had been keeping me from being in her life.
Sucks, but shit happens.
Sandy and John formed LAST RITES. I am not familiar with this band. Was
it still metal ? Did they record something ?
Yeah, Last Rites did record. Contact Sandy &
John through our myspace page www.myspace.com/bloodlustla and they'll fill
you in.
Steve reformed TACTICS (later rebaptized ELECTRIC HEAD), played with DREAMS
OF DAMNATION, PAGAN WAR MACHINE, returned with ABATTOIR and also plays in
ANGER AS ART. Can we say that Steve is a die-hard veteran always hungry to
play powerful or raging music ?
Fuck yeah, Gaines is the hardest working guy in
metal!
BLOODLUST was back in 2004 and played its official reunion gig in May
2005. How were the feelings to be back on stage ? Do you think the magic
is still here ?
I can't describe how good it felt to play that Keyclub
show. Better than any drug on earth...I actually fell on my ass in front
of a big crowd after jumping in the air during our last song "Soldier of
Fortune"!! Yeah, I believe there's still magic there, and hopefully soon
we'll know if the rest of the world thinks so.
The current line-up is Steve, Earl, John, Sandy and Mark. Do you feel
comfortable with this line-up ? It seems to be a stable one, doesn’t it ?
I've always felt comfortable with these guys. We're
all very different people, but we always seem to know what the Bloodlust
vibe is-heavy, memorable songs.
Have you played in some german summer metal festival ? Or is it on the
way ?
Our main goal is to make it to Europe, especially
in Germany where they have some of the very best metal fans on the planet.
Will you record a new album in a near future ? Have you planned to re-release
the lp and ep on cd ?
Our friend King Fowley will be releasing a limited
press of the recordings combined on one CD very soon...PLEASE don't pay for
the pirated shit that's all over the internet. We worked & sweated
creating this music.
I think the BLOODLUST story was covered. Thank you for taking time to
answer. If I forgot something, feel free in this last question...
Thanks for your interest and the kind words, Patrick.
Metal brothers, please check out
www.myspace.com/bloodlustla
and our soon to be revamped www.bloodlust.tv
and say "Hey"...thanks for having us in your lives! Hopefully we'll see
you soon!
interview by Patrick Lefevre
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