Let’s start talking about the tour itself: how did this happen?
Oh, gosh! I’m not sure that I’m the right guy to comment on all the details but basically Anton and Ian from Sick Drummer magazine contacted Shannon Hamm and myself and started throwing the idea around. They had a basic idea of what was going to happen and we talked about it and said “Yeah, that would be great so, get on the phone and call the other guys!” Time went by and everybody got in contact with everybody and [we] were [all] in agreement that this would be something very cool.

It’s really just grown from there, beyond the scope of what we thought could happen. Those guys [Ian and Anton] really came together and brought a lot of people together. I have to give them credit. We are so happy they did it. I am so happy that the family [of Chuck Schuldiner]: Beth, Jane and Chris, are on board with us and happy that it’s happening.

Coming in time with the issues that have happened over the last several months and continued to happen… we are really proud of the work. It is really special for us to get together and play again. Some of them [other Death to All members] know each other and have for a quite long time and others like myself, am just meeting Sean Reinert, Paul Masvidal, Charles Elliot and Matt Harvey for the first time. It’s really great!

We sit here [we were sitting at the front area of the House of Blues] and we can see the line going into the House of Blues in LA and you can see a mix (I hate to say old because I’m part of that) of old and young. It is a great thing that has happen [The Death to All tour] and I think that most people coming here have a really strong appreciation for Chuck’s music and that’s what it is about.

The Charity is a really big deal to me and Shannon [Hamm], we both had a couple of incidents and we’ve run into some high medical bills. We really could have used something like Sweet Relief but unfortunately we didn’t know about it at the time. Chuck could have as well but, anyways…

How it came together was Anton and Ian contacting ex-members and ex-members all agreeing to do it for the right reasons. Nobody was like “I want this, and I want that, I want it this way or I want it that way”. Everybody was very cool about it.

No “divas”…
No, no… no egos. It is an honor for me. I had never got to play with Gene Hoglan. I only had met him once at Dynamo [Open Air]. He was playing with someone else when we were there. I stopped, shook his hand for about 30 seconds and had not being able to meet him since then. It is a pleasure to play with him and Bobby [Koelble].

I almost got choked up in practice playing the Symbolic stuff. It was amazing. I was excited about it for week before it “I’m getting to play with Gene Hoglan and Sean Reinert!” I was very excited, just as much as a fan because, I am a fan. I’m a fan of Cynic, I’m a fan of Gene’s work in his other bands. I always had a lot of respect for these guys… they are top notch in my opinion. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

How was the concert yesterday in San Francisco [first concert of the tour]?
Very fun, very fun. I know that both Charles and Matt had a little anxiety. The practices have gone great; they both have come in with their parts done very well. Matt had a lot less time because we had a cancellation with Stephan Kummerer for whatever reasons I’m not even aware of. Matt came in and has really stepped up and there is a lot to learn, never mind in 10-12 days. So, he has done a great job. I’m proud of him. The crowd has nothing but good things to say about him. Charles is very sharp, spot on. They both did a great job last night.

I got to stand and see Steve DiGiorgio play! It’s been a lot of fun, we are looking forward to tonight, and it is going to be a really wild show. We hope to crank out as much as possible. The set is kind of long but we have a lot of people to play, a lot of material to cover and I think we are doing a good job covering it. I’m just looking forward to doing it again tonight.

Unfortunately this short run of 5 dates is going to be over just as we get it started. It ends in my hometown so it’s kind of a tough thing but I hope we will do it again, I really do.

So, are you guys open to continue to tour after these 5 initial dates?
Sure, sure. It is entirely out of my hands but at the same time I am 100%, … 110% willing to do this again. Everybody, all the way down to the crew would definitely get invited back, you know? It’s been a great experience.
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BR/>It is unique because it is not just a regular band. Guys like myself and a few others who aren’t really as busy at the music scene as someone like Steve [DiGiorgio] or Gene [Hoglan], or Sean [Reinert] and Paul [Masvidal] are, we don’t get to get out very much. So, for us to get out on a regular gig with a band would be great but this is really special. I’m learning a lot from Steve DiGiorgio. I’m getting free bass lessons (laughs).

How long did you guys have to rehearse everything?
About a week or so. Sean [Reinert] and Paul [Masvidal] came in later. Sean with his injury didn’t want to over rehearse but you know… they are doing great. Gene took a little bit more material for him but the crowd is loving it. They understand that he [Sean Reinert] is hurt and they don’t want to see him overdoing it. One of the reasons I hope we can do this again is so he can be 110% and have them both up there really just killing it.

Was the idea of doing this tour in benefit of Sweet Relief present from the start?
From the first time I heard about it yes… absolutely. I think it is a very appropriate charity for an event in recognition and celebration of Chuck’s life and music.

He had so many different things that he tried to do to find out what was wrong, it took a long time. I don’t know a lot of details to speak of but I know that even when I was still in the band he was complaining about having a pinched nerve on his neck so… he took a lot of medical care and he did not have insurance. It’s a source of stress when you are sick and you don’t need that extra stress on you when you are:

A) Trying to find out what’s wrong with you;

B) Sick and it is stressful to be sick;

C) Now find out it’s serious and you need to attack it.

So, “D” doesn’t need to be “Yeah, by the way, there is a bill for this.”

What they do in this institute [Sweet Relief] it is just incredible. It can’t be big enough. Charity can’t be big enough… you can’t give them enough money. Because there are working musicians out there in every city, that do this for living and don’t have health insurance. They can’t afford to buy themselves. It can’t be overcome by one charity but at the same time if you can just make people realize that musicians do work… it is work… they are in the entertainment industry. There should be something available so they could at least participate at a reasonable rate they could afford. Individual insurance in America is not reasonable, it’s really not.

I’m very proud to be part of something supporting a charity like this. As I said earlier, I could have used it myself as well as other members of the band.

You had planned 7 concerts in the US total. Two of these had to be postponed. Any plans on when they will happen?
No. Again, this is out of my hands but I will definitely be in it 110%, for any future shows, for sure!

Death has contributed a lot to the metal scene and specifically to the extreme metal scene. Do you still enjoy extreme metal?
You know, I do listen to a lot of different types of music and metal in particular. I guess I have my limits. I know a little bit about most metal [genres] but I know a lot about my favorite types which is progressive metal, stuff with energy and melodic and some decent lyrics. Lyrics can get boring to me if they are silly… I don’t have a lot of patience for it.

But I’ve also discovered a ton of bands in my time with Death. I saw bands like, at Dynamo [1998] that I never knew about at the time. Yeah…I like a little bit of black metal… the symphonic black metal if you want to get specific which is something kind of funny.

You know, with the internet blowing up since it has (and I know it has been for a while)… but really, in 98, it didn’t affect us as much as it does now. So, you still had a lot of information from magazines and radio. Not every single band had a website… we didn’t! Chuck was starting to embrace it, he was skeptical of it because it can be used in a lot of different ways. But now, I think that because of the massive spreading of metal world wide… there is so much of it, it’s overloaded, and you almost have to categorize it or sub-categorize it. I’ve only looked out at it so I can find it in a fucking record store. Where do I go to get Covenant? Well… somewhere between Metallica and Burzum (laughs).

Well, it’s not a big deal, we didn’t care for labels. I remember that late 80’s extreme metal was not anywhere near as popular as it is today. Now, if you are a death

metal fan, and you want technical in your genre… you probably deserve it because the players are amazing now.

Well, Death was a really technical death metal band. Maybe you were the guys who set the standard really high…?
Well, he [Chuck] did that on the first album and he continued to grow from there. You can see the evolution if you sit down and listen to one of two songs from the first album … which you are about to… live (laughs), you will see the evolution. It is not that the early stuff is anything short of technical it is just technical in different ways.

I learned a couple of older songs for this tour and I revisited some of the albums. I was listening to Living Monstrosity, Left to Die, Torn to Pieces. You know, this is really well written. I forgot how good it was… it had been a while since I listened to it. I really enjoyed learning them again and play. Really Monstrosity is progressive metal if you say nowadays. Then? No… Ohh… you wouldn’t say that (laughs).

He just wrote! I don’t think he ever had anything else in mind other than writing. When he sat down it would come out of his feelings. You know, the lyrics portrayed that pretty openly. To me, it started on Individual Thought Patterns, just the name of the album alone tells you he was thinking and feeling more complicated. When it comes to the music it is also more complicated. It is natural. That’s what was great about him. That’s what the fans love about him. He was down to earth. Even though people always say that about famous people… he really was (laughs)! He appreciated his fans very much.

For the fans who never had a chance to meet him: how was he as a person?
Very affable, very easy going, down to earth, animal lover, great cook, just liked to have fun, he wasn’t negative, got a healthy life style. That’s what kills me… there are so many people who don’t try to take care of themselves and live to be 112 and someone who actually does care is stricken with something. But that’s a bigger plan than I can speak of so…

During the time you played with Death: what was the moment that marked you the most?
Well… you know… losing my friend. You can’t get around it. To the fans they lost a legend. Now he is a legend and I respect him in that matter as well but at the end of the day he was our friend. That’s the biggest thing… it is not a negative thing, we still think of him in a positive way but, we’ve lost him. He is gone. So, that’s negative. He is not here…I would do anything to be playing with him in Death now, instead [of] in a tribute to him.

If you want me to answer you that in terms of musicality, experience, or something like that I can: I am a way better player because I met Chuck, I am a way better cook because I met Chuck, a better person… He taught me how to deal with fans; I never had any fans before playing in Death (laughs)… we had some friends that would come to see us.

What can you say? He taught me to be a better friend… He was just one of those people that you run into once in a while. People were drawn to him and he kind of dealt with that the best he could. He was really easy to get along with.

What is you favorite Death song?
“A Moment of Clarity” from the album I was on. I also like “To Forgive is To Suffer” because I helped in some of the bass parts. I think it kind of influenced how he went here and there in a couple of guitar parts. Mainly he had all the stuff done when we came in. We never played it live and it will never be played live. But, we also never played “Voice of the Soul” live either but we are going to do that tonight. We did it last night… and that’s for him! For him and him alone!

What do you expect for the next concerts?
I just want to go and have some fun and I want to play this material the best as I can… present it to the people that had seen it before and to the people that were never able to see it before… show them what it was really about. And how a guy can have such a big impact to so many people, meaning: Chuck’s music. That’s what we are playing: Chuck’s music. We are going to go out there and try to do it the best we can.

Any messages for the SOM readers and all Death fans out there?
I hope we will do it again. [And if we do] and if you can come to support this it is to very, very worthy causes: Sweet Relief charity and keeping metal faith alive and keep Chuck’s legacy flowing. I am certainly proud to be a part of it.