HATRIOT – Interview with Steve Zetro Souza

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the icon of Thrash Metal – Steve “Zetro” Souza – the man which at the beginning of 80's years of XX century was co-originator the new genre of Metal music – Thrash Metal – which came into being in the United States in region of Bay Area (among the others). Steve mainly was connected with EXODUS, although he also co-operated with the others cult groups like LEGACY, TESTAMENT or FORBIDDEN and he is continually active on the scene from almost 30 years. At present, Steve with sons leads Metal boat called HATRIOT!

Hello Steve! As you had a big contribution into the American Thrash Metal scene, let us talk a little about your past … How old were you when did you begin your adventure with the Thrash Metal in LEGACY? How does look the Thrash Metal scene in the U.S.?

I was around twenty years old when Legacy got started. It was the beginning of thrash metal and a very exciting time. We had no idea that we were creating something revolutionary at the time. We were just playing fast and hanging with our friends. It was a very tight knit scene back then.

The next your step was the join to EXODUS. You recorded five albums with them and reportedly you have been kicked out from the band. Tell us something about this incident?

I wasn't kicked out of the band the first time. The band split up after the tour for “Force Of Habit”. We were in Japan and Gary Holt announced that we were done, so that was it for the first wave of the band. I did quit Exodus in 2004, during my second stint with the band. I was having a lot of issues at home and couldn't deal with everything. My head was in a different place. I left the band high and dry and I do regret that a lot. We have patched things up and are good friends again,

so it is all cool.

In 2001 you briefly showed up in the ranks of TESTAMENT, next in FORBIDDEN (as a guest) and in TESTAMENT again. You have changed the teams as gloves, hahaha … Why could not you stay for longer anywhere?

I love to sing and love to write heavy metal, so when I am not active with a full time band I like to do other projects to keep busy. I wasn't really changing teams. It was more of a guest feature on a lot of other albums. It helped keep my name relevant and helped keep my sanity as well.

And what was F-BOMB?

F-Bomb was a cool band I was doing in the late 90's when Exodus broke up. I had the drummer from Vio-lence in the band. It was cool and very modern sounding – not real thrashy. We never recorded anything but there are live videos floating around the internet. We had about 8 songs ready to go when I rejoined Exodus and had to put F Bomb on hiatus. It's a shame that we did not record anything together.

At present you play in two or three bands? DUBLIN DEATH PATROL , TENET and HATRIOT … In which them do you have the greatest hopes?

Hatriot is definitely my full time gig. It is my baby. We have a deal now with Massacre Records and are busy working on the first album. I will be doing a lot of touring with Hatriot so keep your eyes open for us. Dublin Death Patrol is a fun project I do with Chuck Billy and some good friends of ours. We just released our second record. DDP doesn't tour though. We do an occasional festival show and that is it really. Chuck is too busy touring with Testament and I have Hatriot full time now. As for Tenet, that was a project thing, not really a full time band. I was just hired to sing on the record. I like the record a lot though.

Reading the biography of HATRIOT at your website, I felt that it is written very in marketing style. As advertising of a product from the supermarket, hahaha…

Well if you have a product you might as well market it, right? Hatriot is our product name and thrash metal is our product.

In 2010 you self-released the EP “Hatriot”. What was the interest of thrashers and labels?

It was very well received. The thrashers who have followed the other chapters of my career have voiced their opinions, and it has been very positive. We shopped the demo and received a lot of interest from labels. As of this interview we have signed a two album deal with Massacre Records out of Germany.

There's no denying that the sound of your voice is very original and definitely is one of the best at Thrash Metal scene. How did you get such singing?

I grew up around hard rock my whole life. My dad was an old school biker and he had all the Sabbath and Zeppelin records back in the day. I grew up on it. When I found AC/DC everything changed. I wanted to be Bon Scott. He was the ultimate rock god. I modeled my voice after his and worked on it for years until I found my signature sound.

Your voice is total! For example in “The Fear Within” you are able to shout (in Thrash style), to sing gently and to scream (in Black style). Do you still train your vocal skills?

I am always singing, whether it is at practice doing my own stuff, or in the car singing somebody else stuff. I am always using my voice. A person's voice is a muscle – you have to train it and keep it maintained. Fortunately I always have a project going on so I use my voice a lot. I'd say it is in the best shape that it has ever been in.

These several seconds of clean singing with the clean guitars caused that I felt the hunger for ballad of HATRIOT. Do you have something balladic in plan?

If you listen to the demo “The Fear Within” has a bit of that sound in there. I haven't ventured into that much since my early days with Legacy. I never really did any clean singing in Exodus, but I'm definitely not opposed to that. I love a ballad when it is done right, like Testament has done in the past. You never know what we will do with Hatriot. Wait and see!

You play a traditional Thrash Metal despite the fact that today is difficult to occur between the thousands of bands playing old school Metal. Don't you think about some additions for your music, a something new, a something more original to be more attractive for listeners? Your guitarist Kosta is Greek in origin, he could somewhat add in his riffs the Greek folk accents…

I think Hatriot will stand out from the crowd because of a few things. First off, there is an interest because of my past history. Secondly, this album is going to be so fucking heavy! The guys in my band are younger and they bring a new set of influences to the table. There might be some death and black metal influences in spots. My roots are firmly planted in thrash and I feel that fans of Exodus, and thrash in general, will love what we are doing with Hatriot. No doubt about it.

Wow, man, you have right! HATRIOT sounds totally… The strong old school kick, the aggression, the dynamics connected with the excellent melodics. When I listen of HATRIOT today that I feel like before 20 years… The Metal ecstasy, energy… You aroused my old bones, hahaha… How do you make of your music? Do you create it together, or maybe there is one person responsible for arrangements?

My guitarist Kosta writes and arranges the music, and I write the lyrics for it. It is as simple as that. We have a good chemistry together. Don't get me wrong, the other guys play a big role in what the band sounds like, but Kosta and myself get the basic parts together before showing it to the rest of the band.

About what do you scream in works of HATRIOT so strongly?

My lyrics are always dark, and can be about a variety of things. I like to write about violence, social issues, horror movies, and things like that. There will be no love songs or any bullshit like that!

But HATRIOT also is created by the rest of splendid and young musicians. Where did you find them from? You did some castings or auditions? Hahaha…

Well I met my guitarist, Kosta Varvatakis, at a show that his band was playing. I was blown away by the kid and he was very knowledgeable when it comes to thrash metal, so we hit it off and started writing together. My oldest son Cody is on bass, and my youngest son Nick is now our drummer. Both of them had to audition and earn their way into the band. There was no nepotism or anything like that. Our second guitarist, Miguel Esparza, was referred to us and was a great fit for the band. He auditioned and got the gig.

How does the relationship between you in a band? You're the oldest. Your sons play with you. Other musicians are also very young (I do not know about Kostas, hahaha …). Are you the undisputed leader of the team because of your age and experience?

I am definitely the guy that guides the boat. My name carries a lot of weight in the business and my experience allows us to not make mistakes that young bands make. The relationship between band members is a strong one. They respect me and I respect them. Every practice is a lesson.  I am teaching them what to expect when this thing takes off.

Sometimes do you calms down them as a father when his children are too very naughty (during rehearsals or concerts)?

Well if you are speaking of my two boys, Cody and Nick, they are in “band mode” most of the time. They grew up around the business and I rarely have to get into “dad mode” with them. They are professional. Every now and then I have to do some father stuff. I just cracked the whip on them about getting their passports together, but most of the time it is all professional.

You planned to play a concert with D.R.I. Why did not it happen?

Our drummer at the time decided to leave the band and explore other options, so we had to audition drummers and didn't have enough time to get it together for that gig. I was pretty pissed off about it, but shit happens.

Have you some gigs booked for the rest of 2012?

Maybe a few. Our main focus is getting the album finished so we can get it released in January. The real tour schedule will begin in 2013. We plan on hitting the road hard and making a name for ourselves playing live.

You have to need very good physical condition to be crazy on a stage during the concerts. Thrash Metal scene requires dedication, vitality, energy, and of course the headbanging (until the head breaks off). Do you use some remedies for concerts?

Well lately I have been doing a few miles a day on a treadmill and I watch my diet. I can't let these young guys show me up on stage so I have been working hard at it. I'm not saying I stick with the diet all the time, but I do make an effort to do what I can. Thrash does require a lot of physical discipline. I don't have any remedies really just warm ups and stretching. As the tour goes on my neck gets used to all the headbanging. It's like working a muscle in. The more you use it the more

you get used to it. It doesn't hurt so bad! I've been headbanging professionally for almost 30 years and you would think I would have slipped a disc by now, but that's not the case!

And how do you feel the next day after a show? I always have heavy head (it weighs about two tons, hahaha)…

As long as I get enough rest then everything is fine. I do know what you mean though. I have had the heavy head many times in my career.

You have signed the contract with the German's Massacre Records. So in January we can we expect your first album.

We are in the studio right now and will have it finished by the end of September. Massacre has agreed to release it in January of 2013. We are very excited to get this thing out there.

What will you surprise us with the new album? You betray any details.

The album is called “Heroes Of Origin” and it will be ten songs of pure thrash. We are re-recording three songs off the demo, as well as our video song “Blood Stained Wings”. Everything else is brand new. Thrash fans will not be disappointed!

You observe and contribute at Thrash Metal scene for over a quarter of last century. Tell me, what does it changed in the scene for the better and what is worse?

Well for the better obviously the internet has become a huge marketing tool. You can get your music out to a lot of media without using a label. That is a double edge sword though. There are too many bands doing it. The market is way past over-saturated. The technology has hurt the industry. I used to sell two to three hundred thousand copies of an album with Exodus back in the day. Now the bigger bands, like Machine Head size, sell sixty thousand and it is considered a success in the

industry. This makes concert tickets and merchandise more expensive because the bands can't survive off of record sales. Unless you are Metallica, which we obviously are not, nobody survives off of record sales anymore. I have a poster on my wall that is for Black Sabbath and Exodus on tour from 1992 and the tickets were just thirteen dollars. That would be a seventy dollar ticket now. So that is how it has changed in my opinion.

What do you listen recently?

I like a lot of stuff. I love the new records by the Bay Area guys stuff like the new Machine Head and Testament. That stuff is killer. As for modern bands I like a few. Shadows Fall is my favorite. Their drummer is a good friend of mine. I like Slipknot a lot too.

You heard many your imitators surely, but could you listen THERMITT (Polish young band), please… What do you think about this vocal and their music?

I have never heard of this band, but any band promoting thrash metal deserves some credit in my opinion, so they have my best wishes.

I gave you the link for them at MySpace and I thought you will listen the music. But ok. We follow the next question… For two years you will get fifty. Do not you feel boredom of the fun of rebellious musician yet ? And maybe is it a job like any other? Do you earn by the music?

I think I'm getting more rebellious actually! I get more angry as time goes on and I have a lot more things to write about. I know they say heavy metal is geared toward the younger people because of the angst and all that, but I am 48 years old and I have plenty of aggression to get out so don't look for me getting soft any time soon. I do have fun with it and we treat it like a job, but I still have a day job as well. Most musicians do.

Ok. Steve! Many thanks for the interview. If you have any message for modern thrashers then you go ahead!

I want to thank everyone for following all the chapters of my career. Hatriot is going to be a serious force in the metal world. I promise I will not let you down. See you on tour! – Zetro.

HATRIOT
www.hatriotmetal.com