1,1 Hey there, we would like to congratulate you on the new album "In An Outrage", which will be released August 30th 2004.
David T. Chastain: Thanks! We spent a great deal of time making sure everything turned out just right on this one.
1,2 How did the band come together to begin with?
David T. Chastain: I was shopping demos of another one of my bands called CJSS and Mike Varney liked the songs but not the band. We put together a new band that included Leather on vocals and drummer Fred Coury who later played with Cinderella. The first 5 Cds, Leather and I used different bassist and drummers who themselves went on to play with King Diamond, Alice Cooper and others. Then in 1995 I started a whole new Chastain with vocalist Kate French. This is our third Cd together. On this one we had x-Vicious Rumors bassist and drummer Dave Starr and Larry Howe join the band. This is the most metal line up Chastain has had to date.
1,3 Why did you choose your own name for the band? And what does it mean to you?
David T. Chastain: Originally it was Mike Varney's idea to do. It is a name that is pretty uncommon in most places and since I was the main songwriter and guiding voice it made sense at the time. Plus I can't get kicked out of my own band!
1,4 How did you get signed to Massacre Records?
David T. Chastain: Most of our earlier records were on Roadrunner. However when Kate joined the band we shopped the band to other metal labels and Thomas Hertler of Massacre and I just got along very well. I knew they had a very good reputation with Metal bands. This is our third Cd on the label. Plus they did re-release some of the catalog stuff a few years back.
2,1 Could you tell us about you're process of making the album?
David T. Chastain: I write all of the music and record a demo with the guitars, bass and drum machine. I send that to Kate and she writes and records the vocals and melodies. The bassist and drummer listen to my demo and learn the parts, and of course they add their own flair. Then those parts are recorded. We then send the tracks to Christian Schmid in Germany who did the mix. This process took about the 3 years. We were not rushed so we took our time to make sure we got it just right.
2,2 Who produced and mixed the album, and are you happy with the result?
David T. Chastain: I am the producer and as I mentioned before Christian did the mix and mastering. I think he did a great job. I believe this is the best sounding Chastain Cd to date. Very metal sounding for sure. There are not many engineers in the US who know how to really mix metal.
2,3 To the new coming listeners how would you describe your music?
David T. Chastain: I would say that in today's world I would describe it as progressive traditional metal. Not that far removed from bands such as Maiden, Dio, Sabbath, Priest, etc but only slightly more progressive. And of course we have a great female vocalist who can not only sing incredibly she is very sexy.
2,4 Where do you get your inspirations from, both on the musical part but also the lyrical part?
David T. Chastain: Musically I just write what I write when I write it. I am a fan of most types of metal but I really don't have any favorite bands. I just don't have the time to listen to anything much unless I am involved. The lyrics on this Cd were all written by Kate and she seems to write more about her personal experiences for the most part.
2,5 How has the response to your new album been so fare from the fans and critics?
David T. Chastain: Response has been very positive. Everyone says we have returned to our "Chastain roots" on this one. We are happy that everyone is into it. It makes our job a little easier. With that said however...our main critics are ourselves. I am not the greatest judge of a Cd until a few years down the road. I think any true classic metalhead will love the Cd.
2,6 Who did you get to make the artwork of the cover and why?
David T. Chastain: Travis Smith did the artwork. He always seems to do things that are a little different and that is why I enjoy his work. I just told him the Cd title and asked him what he could come up with. I think it is a pretty intense cover.
3,1 The Internet is an important promotion source in today's media, how do you use it to promote the band?
David T. Chastain: Of course we have numerous sites promoting the Cd and a good one is http://www.chastainmetal.com
We have ads on such search sites as google and yahoo. We hired a company to handle internet promotions also. We actually sold the Cd one month early to eager fans at our site. A special one time deal. It seemed to work very well. The internet sort of levels the playing field in many ways.
3,2 What is your position about all the peer 2 peer programs like Kazaa and Napster? Were people steal the artists music, and sometimes even before the albums are released.
David T. Chastain: All of the piracy is really disgusting. It really boils down that no one should be giving away a musician's music for free other than the musician themselves or their record companies. If I decide I want to upload one of my songs for everyone to have for free then that is fine. But for someone else to upload one of my Cds for anyone to take is criminal. No ifs and or buts. I don't think the fans realize that they are putting hard working musicians around the world out of business. It is almost impossible for musicians to make a living as it is without the thieves. Plus I just read a report recently that 33% of all normal Cds sales are bootlegs. Pretty insane!
4,1 Do you have any tour plans yet? Will you be going on world tour with the new album? And maybe come and visit Denmark?
David T. Chastain: Hopefully we will get to do some dates around the world. I short tour anywhere in Europe would be gladly welcomed. We recently shot a video for the track "Bullet From A Gun" out in Oakland California at 880 studios and I believe it turned out great. More of a performance type of thing instead of a bunch of nutty effects. Kate is totally rocking! With a little luck maybe we can place it on some of the bigger networks and that will help in getting some bigger tours.
4,2 If you could pick ANY band to tour with who would that be? And why?
David T. Chastain: Probably Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio on vocals. I think that was one of the greatest true metal Cds of all time. I actually did a short tour opening for that band before and it was inspiring. Another would have to be older Iron Maiden. Judas Priest would also be a lot of fun. The drummer Scott Travis and I played together on my instructional video and he is a great talent and cool guy. As far as newer bands, probably Firewind is the only one that comes to mind right off the bat.
5,1 Last but not lest do you have anything that you'd like to add or say to your Danish fans?
David T. Chastain: If you like classic traditional metal give CHASTAIN "In An Outrage" a listen. I am sure you will be happy. And guys, Kate French our vocalist is also very nice on the eyes but can still sing with any man alive.
5,2 Revolution-Music would like to say thanks a lot for you're time. And wish your guys all the luck in the future. And also a big thanks to Intromental for setting up the interview.
David T. Chastain: Thanks for everything and keep the metal faith alive and kicking!
