“BEARD ON BEARD” INTERVIEW: J. COSTA OF THY WILL BE DONE

Those that are fans of my infamous “Beard on Beard” interview series know that yours truly is a huge fan of a manly set of chin-whiskers. So when I found myself in the parking lot outside the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival casually chatting with the Metal Injection dudes and some dude with a ridiculously lush, full, styled piece of facial hair, I had to know more about him. Turns out this international man of mystery was vocalist J. Costa of Rhode Island metal warriors Thy Will Be Done. Mr. Costa graciously agreed to conduct an impromptu interview in which we spoke about beard grooming tactics, guys’ and girls’ differing opinions on the beard, the role of the beard as natural air conditioner, and eventually, oh, some band for which Mr. Costa happens to sing.

Our beardalicious chat, after the jump.

You seem to be a fan of the beard and mustache.

I am a huge fan of facial hair.  I love it and am a big fan.

Describe the grooming of your facial hair.  Is there trimming?  Shampooing?  What’s your process?

I’ll be honest with you, it’s quite a process.  I actually have to go to Nepal about twice a year.  They grow this special plant.  I can’t tell you the name of it, it’s secret.  I hang out with the monks.  We climb mountainsides and we get these luscious petals on these flowers.  We do an infusion, take that, rinse the beard, coat it, and that’s what happens.  I can’t tell you anymore about it though.  It involves a root, shaking it, hopping on your left foot facing west and dancing around.

I keep it trimmed.  It gets out of hand.

I notice you do have the mustache hanging over though.

I do.  I don’t trim the mustache.  I definitely never trim the mustache.  The mustache is always kind of there, but everything else I have to tame.

Do you find like a half a piece of cake in there a few days later?  The ‘stache gets in front of the lips a little bit, it’s difficult.

Realistically, the worst thing that’s ever happened was a bowl of soup that I thought I had a napkin for (and I didn’t).  That was just bad news.  It was a mess.

I bow to you my friend.

It was probably the worst thing that ever happened.

Do you find that chicks dig the beard or is it primarily dudes dig the beard?

I’ll tell you what, though.  Certain parts of the country, dudes love the beard.  The dudes are like “yo, that’s epic” and they want to feel it, touch it or whatever.  Some girls really dig the beard, but then a lot of girls hate it and just don’t like it.

What parts of the country go which way?

Well down south, it’s kind of a mix.  They kind of love/hate it.  They’re like, “Oh, that’s cool” or “That’s weird” or “Does it make you hotter?” Then I get into my tirade of how every warm spot on your body grows hair – your crotch, your underarms or whatever.  It keeps you cool.  So it keeps me cooler in the summer.  I’m not going to lie.  Totally, you know what I mean?

That was my answer too.

People don’t get it.

They’re like, “Oh, really”?

They really don’t get it.  Some people get it.

Let’s talk about music.  You’re in a pretty cool band.

Oh, thanks!

Is this a one off or is this part of a tour?

Well, since we are Metallica, this is our first show.  No, I’m just kidding.

I didn’t see the semi and the tour bus.

That’s all ours.  Oh yeah.  Yeah, that’s ours.  Yeah.  No.  Yeah.  This is a one off.  We’re supposed to leave on tour after this, but the tour got bumped back.  So we actually leave in 2 weeks.  We’re going out with A Life Once Lost.  I’m stoked.  I love those dudes.

That’s awesome.  How long of a tour is that?

That’s going to be about two and a half weeks, nothing too crazy or extravagant.  Then we hop off of that and go out with Threat Signal and The Agonist.

Cool.  So you guys are pretty much busy through the spring.

Yep.  The album is coming out at the end of June/early July.  I don’t have a date yet, but the name of the new album is In Ancient of Days[Now scheduled for a June 30th, 2009 release. -Ed.]

How does that music compare to past music?

With the new record, we have kind of a new lineup.  The people that joined the band joined right after the first album had come out.  We had some members that couldn’t tour or didn’t want to tour.  We started writing right after that first record came out.  We were ready to go.  So it’s basically taking the first record and dialing it up in every aspect.  It’s thrashier, it’s doomier, it’s sludgier, it’s everything “er”.  Just add “er”.

Er.

Er.

Er.

Er.

Er.

It’s hairier, it’s smellier.  It’s good.

You feel pretty good about the record and the potential reception to it?

I do.  I actually feel really positive about it.  I have my own feelings about it.  You get nervous.  I think I was more nervous about the first album because it was our first record whereas this record is like we’ve done it already and those butterflies are gone now.  We’ve always been a band where we try to make music for ourselves with riffs from every spectrum of music and put it together.

Cool.  Thanks a lot for taking the time.

No problem.

Is there anything else you would like to say about beards or music?

I would like to say [shifts to Christopher Walken voice], for the record, I used to be in love.  Not anymore.  It was a hard time.  I miss you.

-VN