Chicken Karaage and Metal Mike Chlasciak

The Members of Halford

Here is how I prepare myself for an interview for the Metal Moment Podcast.  The night before the show, I make sure I clear out my schedule so that I am at the location an hour and a half before the meeting.  I then locate a parking area near the venue or the hotel where the interview is to be held.  Lastly, I seek out a location where I can look over my notes.  Simple enough?  

So, here is a glance at what took place prior to the interview with Metal Mike Chlasciak (Halford, Sebastian Bach, Painmuseum) on July 17^th 2010 at The Regency in San Francisco CA.  The interview was set for 1:30 pm at the venue.  Japan Town in San Francisco was ½ a mile away so I decided to sit down and prep at this place called Bushi-Tei Bistro.  A relatively new Restaurant in the area that is quiet during the day…… if you know what I mean.  Got there at noon and first told the waitress that I needed to leave by 12:30.  Ordered a Kirin on draft and a order of Chicken Karaage.  BTW make sure that the area has full bars (cell phone signal because things change by the minute In this industry). Another thing is that a 1:30 pm interview at the venue means that there is the possibility that the entire band will be there for their sound check.  Although my scheduled interview was for Metal Mike, I had notes ready for the Great Roy Z and of course the Metal God himself, Rob Halford.  For this interview, I had 3 separate scripts.  One with Metal Mike.  One with Metal Mike plus Roy Z, and the third, with them and Rob Halford.  On my second draft beer still waiting for my Chicken Karaage, I get a call from Metal Jay (Mike’s guitar Tech).  “Hey are you near by?, Mike wants to do the interview at 12:30 pm.”.  I’m like, “yes I am near by and I will be there in 10 min”. 

Chicken Karaage from Bushi-Tei Bistro

The chicken arrives while I am on the phone.  I take 3 bits and ask for the check.  Ran to my car and found a sweet spot right by the venue.  I then call Metal Jay.  He comes out with a smile and informs me that Mike’s driver is running late.  An hour and a half later Mike arrives with a smile pointing at my Loudness T-Shirt.  He walks me into the venue and looks at the stage being setup.  He asks me if I want a drink and the rest is history.   

This is one of the easier ones compared to some I have experienced in the past.  The interview with Michael Schenker heard on the Metal Moment Podcast Episode 26 was scheduled for 4:00 pm right after the sound check but materialized after the show in his tour bus at 1:35 AM.  I only interview the people I personally admire so the harder the interview, greater the satisfaction.  The only missed interview that I regret til this day is the Warren DeMartini interview that did not happen because of some communication error.  I eventually got an email from the Band Manager and an email from the Label in charge of RATT in Japan the next day.  Maybe next time I will have the opportunity to sit down with Warren DeMartini and talk to him about his Charvel and Performance Guitars in depth.  

The Metal Moment Podcast interviews are conducted in person, live.  I do not accept Phone interviews.  I am a fan, I still get the gitters and I hope you can witness the wickedness while I try to spread the love for Metal.    Hope to share more of these moments with you soon.  The Metal Mike interview will be up next.

取りあえずメタル・モーメント・ポッドキャストのインタビュー前はばたばたしてますよ。いつも１時間半前には待ち合わせ場に付いているようにしているのですがARTISTの都合によって早まったり遅くなったりします。メタル・マイクの場合はゆっくりとビールを飲みながら唐揚げを注文した所でいきなり電話が入り、“今近場にいたら後１０分で来れないか？”と。唐揚げ一口食べて待ち合わせ場に付くと結局一時間半まち。マイケル・シェンカーの時は４時の予定が朝の1:35分に。（笑い）これがメタル・ライフですかね！Metal Mikeのインタビューを楽しみに。

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