Rock My Monkey: Hello, you’re listening to the Rock My Monkey netcast on RockMyMonkey.com. Today we are speaking with vocalist Kevin "Bull" Bullock of the band Pain Principle. How are you doing today, Bull?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Doing great, great. How are you?
Rock My Monkey: I’m pretty good. Now, since your band is going to be new to most of our readers and listeners, why don’t we start off with you telling me how the band got started, and how we got to where we are now?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Well, it’s a pretty long story. We’ve been together a pretty long time for a band that just put out their first national. The guitar player and I started jamming together in another band here in Florida back in the 90’s. We weren’t happy. We left that band and went poaching some of the local bands for other members. We found Mike, our drummer. And the three of us have jamming together ever since. We’ve had a few other rotating members, but three out of four of us have been here since the first demo.
Rock My Monkey: Now, this is your first national release, your first full cd, but you have had other releases before this, correct?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Yeah, like everybody else the first couple were on tape. We have two demo tapes, and then we put out two full length cds on our own. Which, to me, everything is always a demo until someone else pays for it. So to me those are still demos even though those were full length.
Rock My Monkey: So if people really like this new cd, they can go to your website and still buy the old stuff?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Yes, I think, yes, I believe there is still a link up there to buy one of the older cds, our “Chronic Rage Disorder” demo cd is possibly still up there. We’ve been sold out of the other for quite some time.
Rock My Monkey: Is there any plans of reprinting the out of print stuff?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: The label had talked once talked about doing sort of a compilation cd of a handful of tracks from each one of them. I don’t know if that will ever actually happen or not, but they were talking about it.
Rock My Monkey: What song on this cd do you think has the chance of being your “Ace Of Spades”, the song that fans demand for decades to come?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Hmm. Trying to think what’s going over the best off the new one. The song, the title track, “Waiting For The Flies”, is moodier than most of the songs. It’s a little bit slower, but it goes over really well live. A lot of people seem to really like that one. That and maybe “Martyr System”. It’s one of our close second live, I think, as far as the new stuff.
Rock My Monkey: What do you think makes Pain Principle unique in the heavy music scene, and what do you think you guys offer fans that no other band does today?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Hmm. Let’s see. Stylistically, when we started out we were doing a lot more-it was a similar style, and something we kept in the style the entire time. Our songwriting isn’t like very complicated. It’s more we took heavy music and even a bit of death metal influence and tried to write songs like rock song arrangements. A lot of people, something more memorable. Something that starts sticking in your head, and is over quick. We’re not trying to write progressive rock or extremely complicated stuff. We try to make things short, catchy, and still be extreme enough to be able to stand on the stage next to anybody.
Rock My Monkey: Some people are using the term ‘metal core.’ Do you think that’s a fair tag, or do you think you guys are different than what the metal core tag implies?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: We definitely aren’t what metal core means today. Terms, musical terms, as far as metal go, always seem to change, their definition always seems to change over the years. When we started out, I possibly would have called us metal core, because the metal core of that day wasn’t the metal core that is today. Musically we’re 100% metal. We always have been. Double bass, guitar solos, and everything that was metal. Maybe our DIY attitude and lack of the pretentiousness that a lot of metal bands tended to throw in back in the day kind of gave us a hard core vibe. We always went over okay with the hard core kids and the death metal guys. That’s the only tie in I’ve seen with us being metal core. I don’t think we fit in with the current trend of what gets called metal core very much at all. We don’t do a lot of the one note breakdown kind of riffing.
Rock My Monkey: You guys actually used one of my favorite new producers, Erik Rutan. What do you think Erik Rutan brought to the cd as a producer that would not have been there otherwise?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Erik has just been there. He’s recorded so much, and he records his own stuff, he knows what metal tones are supposed to sound like. I think we got a massive guitar sound. We are all thrilled. Plus the whole cd sounds good. As far as we finally got a guitar sound that we’re very, very happy with, I think that just makes it crushing. That’s the heartbeat-the drums and the rhythm guitar tracks are the heartbeat of any metal cd, and I think both of those are really, really powerful of what we did. He did a really great job, too. He was very rushed on time. He was between a Hate Eternal tour and a Morbid Angel tour when he did our cd. We really didn’t do any pre-production with him. We just went in and blew it out. He did a killer job. I believe it’s actually one of the better sounding productions he’s done.
Rock My Monkey: How did you get the attention of Blind Prophecy Records, and who are they, because this is the first I’ve heard of them.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Upstart label from here in Florida. We’ve actually known the owner for quite some time, for a long time. He’s been a supporter of ours since the very beginning. He just started trying to give something back to metal. He’d been working around, kind of managing and booking bands here for a couple of years, and he had set up a deal. It was originally supposed to come out through something he had going on with another label earlier in the year, and that ended up not working out. Through all his contacts he hooked up a distribution worldwide and put together a label for himself, and he’s got several really, really good bands. He’s signed some world class bands in the last few months, and I think you’re going to hear a good bit more about it in the next few months.
Rock My Monkey: Is there any plans for a video single for this release?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: We are really hoping so. That has gone back and forth. First we were doing a video, then we weren’t, then we’re doing one again, and now we might be doing one. I really hope we do end up doing a video. There was talk of doing one of the song “Martyr System”. We’ll see how that ends up working out. We’re really trying to push for it.
Rock My Monkey: When people see you guys live, what can people expect from your live shows? Is it more of a stripped down kind of thing, or do you guys add anything like projectors, anything to make it more of a show?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: On the level we’re touring at we really don’t carry much production with us. We’ve got some prints and some back drops and we go out and fucking blast metal. Sorry if I-I don’t know if I’m going to get bleeped there or not. This is internet radio, right?
Rock My Monkey: This is internet radio. We don’t care. (both laugh)
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Okay. Excellent. We just go out and blast some metal. That’s about all you really have time for.
Rock My Monkey: There is some controversy that recently seems to be rearing it’s ugly head lately, of too many bands being caught using background tapes. Are you guys 100% raw when you get onstage?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: (laughs) Yes, we are 100% live.
Rock My Monkey: No backing tapes, no previously recorded material to enhance the sound at all?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: None whatsoever. We actually supported a few bands who will remain nameless who, if you’re around for sound check, you hear the harmony backup vocals blasting by themselves. It’s kind of funny.
Rock My Monkey: (laughs) So you definitely know where the question comes from?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Oh yeah. (laughs)
Rock My Monkey: What do you think is more important in a live show? Getting the notes right, or making it a memorable show?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: You got to find a happy medium somewhere there, but I mean making it a memorable show. It’s more about power than the overall-you can’t be perfect live. No one ever is. But you can try to come as close while conveying the energy. The energy is the most important thing.
Rock My Monkey: Is there anything about this album you wish you could have added or anything you wish you could have changed? Is there any regrets whatsoever as far as ‘hindsight is 20/20’ on this cd?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: I think there’s always going to be something. As happy as we are with it and as good as I think it sounds, you always wish you had a little bit more time to do a little more production bells and whistles, a few extra tracks, you know, backup vocals, that kind of thing. Just to make it a bigger, full blown thing. But like I said, I think the cd sounds really, really good, and most people seem to really like the production and the overall cd. So we’re happy with it. There’s always going to be something else you think of that you could have done.
Rock My Monkey: What song on here do you feel is the most personal, any why?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Hmm. Most-for the point that I write lyrics where a lot of them are personal, but probably the title tracks, “Waiting For The Flies”. It’s based around basically where I came from, my home town. My friends there, my friends who never left, and how they’re all still in the same place doing the same thing. Most of them that I talk to on the rare occasions that I go back aren’t very happy with it. Just that kind of thing. Like I said, all the songs are personal, but I think on this one, that one more than most.
Rock My Monkey: What are the chances of the band doing a full coast to coast tour of the United States anytime soon?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: We have, we are tentatively I think in January and early February got something going on. I was just calling the agent a minute ago. Hopefully we’re going to be about for about five weeks then, and I’m hoping that covers most of the U.S. We did, when the album was originally supposed to come out last May we did a full U.S. tour with Skinlab and Ankla. The album ended up not coming out, so it was almost like a huge tour for nothing. But we’re hoping everything works out for this time. I think we’re going to leave on January 5th, as far as I know.
Rock My Monkey: This is the time in the interview I like to call the Lightening Round. I’m going to name something in popular news or popular culture, and you sum up your thoughts in one short sentence.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: One short sentence? Okay.
Rock My Monkey: Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: (sighs) Well, the best of the Republicans maybe. (chuckles)
Rock My Monkey: The NBC show Heroes.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Never seen it.
Rock My Monkey: The iPhone.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: It’s very, very popular, but too expensive.
Rock My Monkey: President Bush.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Hmm. Listen to the first song on our cd.
Rock My Monkey: Fox News.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: (laughs) Fox News? Fair and unbalanced.
Rock My Monkey: Recording Industry Association Of America.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Hmm. I don’t know if I should answer this before having a record deal, or after having a record deal. Hmm. Well, I think they can be a bit greedy, but then again they’re looking out for me now, so I don’t know now.
Rock My Monkey: What do you want Santa to bring you on Christmas Day?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: I don’t care if he brings me anything as long as takes Pain Principle cds to tons of other people.
Rock My Monkey: Alright. I do have one final question. Every year we do choose one final question that we ask every single band from classic rock legends to the most extreme death metal bands at the end of every interview, partially to stump people, but also to see who wimps out and won’t answer. This year I’m asking people to look into their crystal ball and predict what political figure, world leader, musician, celebrity, anybody world wide famous, who do you think might die before the end of the year?
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: This might take a moment. Who might die by the end of the year?
Rock My Monkey: It could be anybody world famous.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: I’m just trying to-I’m running through musicians in my head who I know are not doing so well.
Rock My Monkey: It could also be a world political leader, or maybe a Hollywood celebrity that’s partying too hard.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: (laughs)
Rock My Monkey: Anybody world wide famous.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Hmm. There’s the ever-there’s always Scott Weiland. He’s always a good choice, I think, as far as rock goes.
Rock My Monkey: Scott Weiland.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Scott Weiland. Yeah.
Rock My Monkey: Alright. Cool. Well, I thank you very much for doing the interview. Anybody that’s listening to the audio version can go to RockMyMonkey.com for the full featured version with clickable links, readable text, and many more wonderful features. I’m asking people to click on the album cover above and below this interview to purchase Waiting For The Flies by Pain Principle. And I do hope to see you guys up on tour in the Northwest sometime soon, hopefully at my favorite personal dive in Seattle, Studio 7. And I thank you very much for your time.
Kevin "Bull" Bullock: Alright. Thank you very much.
