Going to Belgrade, Serbia, last week for the concert of Biohazard in the big
hall of SKC we had nothing but the great desire for an interview with Biohazard
and the unconfirmed information for a possibility of getting one. Unfortunately
on the day of the event there was still not a single media meeting scheduled with
the band and as it got clear later on no such was ever been planned at all for
any media, besides the interest there was among our Serbian colleagues as well,
as we found out from the other photographers covering the concert.
After the support acts by the Bulgarian band Last Hope and the Serbs Good Eye
Closed it got clear the Biohazard will not meet with journalists at all and our
dearest dream of daring them to tell us in our face why they didn’t come to Bulgaria
kind of faded away.
But this is far not where the story ends as at the end of the day as the team
of Stroeja.com was the one and only to walk out of the venue that evening not
just with photos of the first three songs of Biohazard, but also with an interview
and stage shots during the show! This is the moment to thank the promoter of the
event for all the support when organizing our trip for the concert and of course
express our most deep affection and gratitude to our friend AJ Marchetta, guitar
player and manager of Suicide City and part of Biohazard’s tour teem, for everything
marvelous he is and for the great help he gave us.
And here it is the one and only interview Biohazard gave during their visit in
Belgrade, Serbia, as part of their 20th Anniversary Tour, exclusively for Stroeja.com:
You are on tour already for quite sometime, how is it going? How do you find
it those days on Balkans? Do you find any difference in the audience, in the shows?
Billy: I think that the audience is quite more energetic, it seems like they desire
us more. As it has been a long time and if I didn’t and I and Evan didn’t think
the band would get back together, a lot of fans didn’t think we will, so because
of that I think the shows are way more wild, when we are on stage it feels like
we are 19 years old, same fire, passion and you know…
Talking about getting back together, was it all scheduled? The moment I split
up and everyone believed this is the end of Biohazard, did you guys knew you will
come back together for the 20th anniversary?
Billy: No, no… I know I was so focused, when I left Biohazard I did Suicide City and
I still do Suicide City and the last thing I ever though was Biohazard would get
back together. After we split with Bobby in 1995 I always wanted that thing to
happen and when it never did I kind of gave up hope it will happen. And then i
left Biohazard and went on with Suicide City and that is where my energy is now.
I got a phone call that Evan and Bobby had dinner one night and.... No way! I
didn’t believe a phone call, I didn’t believe that this could happen, I didn’t
believe they could be in a room together not to say to have dinner together! That
was the last thing on my mind. And for a long time I said no, I don’t want to
do it. Cause my energy was kinda... it’s like an artist using clay, all going
well, you are putting more and more clay and all of a sudden it is becoming a
sculpture and you don’t want to clay it anymore, you are sick of claying. It’s
not that I was sick about it, I was over. And then I remembered the desire to
have Biohazard, the original band, such a long time and the hope to get back together
with Bobby and I was like, you know what, it’s chance for us to rewrite history.
So I called Bobby, we started to come friends again, we started all to hang out
more and then we went to studio in New York and jammed and I knew it’s going to
happen. We played five songs together and it was the same energy, we sounded like
we are nineteen again, but it was twenty years later.
What is the future now in front of Biohazard?
Billy: We have a lot of things we have never released. And I think we never released
them cause something was telling us it is not the right thin, but now it’s the
right time. A lot of videos, a lot of music that we never released, so we are
going to release much stuff after this tour, there are lots of surprises.
And how about concert activity? Will it continue after that tour?
Billy: Well we never played in Bulgaria! (laughing) We never played in Romania and in
Bulgaria. The two countries we’ve missed. Well for this tour, you know I said
yes, I passed the information to the manager, but the tour was already made, we
tried to make it work, but there was no way… So next time… I really want to play
Bulgaria and Romania.
Really? With Suicide City?
Billy: With Suicide City I will, but with Biohazard I want it too.
And would you come back here, in Serbia, then?
Billy: Yes, I would. We are second time here and we had to play also Croatia, but it
got cancelled. I remember we played here twelve years ago and after that we had
a show in Croatia and the Serbian kids talked bad about Croatia and when we got
Croatia I remember a kid said to me “Why did you play Serbia! They are fucking
assholes, shit people…” and so on and I said to that kid, “Do you like Biohazard?”,
and he is like “I love Biohazard! Thank you for being here!” and I said, “When
we were in Serbia, the kids there told me they love Biohazard! So that means the
two people do have similar interests, similar tastes and similar believes, something
you agree on!”, “Oh, yeah, but we still will see Biohazard, then it’s ok.” (laughing)
By the way, just to let you know, as we didn’t manage to take you to the kids
in our country, we are coming tonight with more than 100 of your fans from Bulgaria,
here to see you!
Billy: I know, I know… I met a couple of them right in front… But you are one hundred
people? Fucking a lot! Wow! (surprised)
Tell me few words about your side project.
Billy: It’s not a side project, it’s my band. Suicide City is five of us, Jennifer from
Kittie, Karl and A.J. from Groovenicks, Kid Danny Lamagna and me. I picked all
these members of the band as I always wanted to play with them and AJ and I have
this amazing, get really well together and it all started long time ago, when
I saw him playing on stage I was “Oh, I going to do a band with this kid one day”.
Amazingly strong! And since we did the band he is also the manager of the band
and even though it is very difficult and tiring to do it all in our own for four
years we are doing very well in America, we just released a live DVD and the new
record will be out in spring, it’s our second record.
Any final words?
Billy: Be on the look out for Suicide City! Check it out SuicideCity.com and of course
Biohazard.com and we love you Bulgaria, we will be there one day soon, I will
be there and I hope I will have beers and drinks with everyone!