Chuck Billy Reveals the Drummers Testament Considered Before Dave Lombardo Joined
Finding a drummer sucks unless you’re Testament. In an interview with Zero Hour Squared’s Mike Trujillo, frontman Chuck Billy said that the band cast a bit of a wide net when searching for a replacement for Gene Hoglan.
Although Testament fans are most certainly elated to have Lombardo back, there were almost a few other big names behind the kit. Who, you might ask? According to Billy, Testament tapped both former Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler and former Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph before Lombardo took the job.
“You know, we did reach out to Paul [Bostaph] – Paul got back to us later after Dave committed. But, you know, there’s a lot of great drummers, we got a lot of great drummers – and the one that was right there, if he had made the decision, we probably almost would have chosen him before Dave even contacted us, because we were putting our feelers out before the announcement.
“But Chris Adler was one guy who was ready to step up and come in, and then, just the last minute [he] came out to – he just wasn’t ready to do that.
“And so we’re like, Okay, back to the drawing board. And then we made the announcement. And then Dave got a hold of us. So, you know, it worked out great. We’ve had – Dave came up about three or four weeks ago, we had a week of rehearsals, and then he came up about two weeks [ago], we’ll go for another week of rehearsals, and then he’ll be up here next week for the final rehearsals with us. And it was just fun hanging out. You know, just catching up. And, you know, so it just felt like, you know, putting on an old pair of shoes he hadn’t worn in a while.”
Honestly, any of those options would have been killer. Although finding a good drummer is one of the biggest pains in the ass you can go through as a band, Testament are obviously not hurting for talented musicians looking to play with them, as any of their choices to replace Hoglan would have been killer. And this is because they are Testament.
You can watch the full interview below, and catch Testament on one of their upcoming dates with Exodus and Death Angel:
4/9/2022 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Fremont Theater [tickets]
4/10/2022 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues [tickets]
4/12/2022 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues [tickets]
4/13/2022 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues [tickets]
4/15/2022 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre [tickets]
4/16/2022 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater [tickets]
4/19/2022 – Oklahoma City, OK – Diamond Ballroom [tickets]
4/20/2022 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall [tickets]
4/21/2022 – Austin, TX – Emo’s [tickets]
4/22/2022 – Dallas, TX -Amplified Live [tickets]
4/23/2022 – New Orleans, LA – House of Blues [tickets]
4/26/2022 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade [tickets]
4/27/2022 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz [tickets]
4/30/2022 – Sayreville, NJ -Starland Ballroom [tickets]
5/1/2022 – Baltimore, MD – Soundstage [tickets]
5/2/2022 – Boston, MA – House of Blues [tickets]
5/3/2022 – Philadelphia, PA – Theater of Living Arts [tickets]
5/5/2022 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount [tickets]
5/6/2022 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom [tickets]
5/7/2022 – Cincinnati, OH – Madison Theater [tickets]
5/9/2022 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE [tickets]
5/10/2022 – Cleveland, OH – The Agora [tickets]
5/11/2022 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall [tickets]
5/12/2022 – Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre [tickets]
5/14/2022 – Joliet, IL – The Forge [tickets]
5/15/2022 – Joliet, IL – The Forge [tickets]
5/17/2022 – Minneapolis, MN – Skyway Theatre [tickets]
5/19/2022 – Denver, CO – Summit [tickets]
5/20/2022 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot [tickets]
