COUNTDOWN TO THE METAL SUCKFEST: THE RED CHORD’S MIKE “GUNFACE” MCKENZIE
Photo by Chris Fulcher
The Inaugural Metal Suckfest is almost here!!!! Twenty bands will DESTROY The Gramercy Theatre on November 4 and 5, PLUS there’s an awesome, five-band pre-party at the venue the night before, making this THE can’t-miss hang of the year.
Tickets are on sale now right here, and you can hit up the fest’s official website for more info on the shows, including the complete line-up. In the meantime, we’re counting down to this weekend of chaos and debauchery by speaking to one member from each band on the bill. We continue today with guitarist Mike “Gunface” McKenzie of The Red Chord, whose most recent release, Fed Through the Teeth Machine, came out in 2009 via Metal Blade.
Read our chat after the jump. And don’t forget to check back in the coming days and weeks for interviews with more of the musicians participating in this awesome event!!!
What other festivals have you played before, if any?
Lots. But a few are Smell Urine Fest, About to Crouch Open Air, and I’m Bill Fest.
What was your best and worst festival experience (as a performer, not as a fan)? You don’t have to name the specific fest if you don’t want, we’re not trying to get you to burn bridges.
Best: Brutal Assault 09 in the Czech Republic. I was a performer and a fan that day; I got to watch Ulver.
Worst: the LA show on the Ozzfest 06 tour. Someone blew it with the schedule involving opening doors and we played to the vendors. Everyone (including our label and all of our guests) were stuck at the entrance half a mile away.
Any tips to fans for having the best possible festival experience?
Don’t get drunk so early that you miss all the bands. Don’t ask our merch guy to hold your shit.
For people who are too stupid to read the poster, which day is your band playing Suckfest?
Saturday November 5th.
Can you tell us anything about the set your band is planning for Suckfest?
It has some of our songs in it.
Which band or bands (besides your own, duh) are you most stoked are gonna be at Suckfest?
Cynic, of course. Also, if Misery Index is playing, them too.
When you were first contacted about appearing at something called “Suckfest,” were you at all concerned that you were being propositioned to appear in a porno movie?
I thought it was a reference to the result of iron being produced in a supergiant, leading to a black hole. Thus, Metal Suckfest.
Is it awesome or weird that Axl Rosenberg’s parents are coming to Suckfest?
I’ll answer that question if and when I meet them.
On a scale of one to ten, one being a freshly douched vagina and ten being your balls at the end of a performance, how badly will the Gramercy Theater reek of B.O. by the end Suckfest?
The end of any fest is a 100 on that scale. Even the small percentage of people who bathe or wash their hands after using the bathroom will smell at that point.
Finally, how bad is Suckfest gonna suck?
Slightly less than all the world’s misery and unrest. But only slightly.
Read other entries in the Countdown to The Metal Suckfest series here.
