Evan Seinfeld Says Biohazard “Needed to Go Away for 10 Years”
They may have a new record in the works and they’ve been playing some killer live shows as of late, but it wasn’t too long ago that Biohazard was firmly in the past tense. As in “man, remember Biohazard? They were cool.” Yet today, the band’s future is seemingly bright and according to bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld, it can all be attributed to that time away from the spotlight — and each other.
While speaking on the Battleline Podcast (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), Seinfeld said a reunion was the furthest thing from his mind. That was, until a chance meeting in an airport got the ball rolling.
“I left the band in 2012, and the other guys toured around [with a replacement bassist/vocalist] for like about two years, three years after that, but that was 10 years ago. They hadn’t played together in 10 years, and nobody was really talking to anybody. And it wasn’t something that I was even thinking about. I was going through the airport and my drummer, Danny [Schuler], who I’ve known since I’m 12 years old, his brother, Richie Schuler, from East 94th Street in Canarsie [Brooklyn], who was also a drummer, who also I used to play with, I hear his voice, ‘Yo, Evan.’ I turn around. It’s Richie Schuler, Danny’s brother. I’m in the airport changing planes somewhere, coming back from Los Angeles to Tulum, to Mexico. And I love Richie. We started talking.
“It’s one of those things like… I was so living in my ego that I was attached to a bunch of resentment about a bunch of things that were a bunch of stories that I made up in my head about thinking how other people should react to things…. I didn’t even remember anymore what the real reason was the band wasn’t together anymore. But I ran into Richie, and he said, ‘My brother would love to hear from you.’ And I thought to myself, ‘We were like best of friends, all of us at one time, and my life’s a lot different now.’ And I picked up the phone and called Danny, and we just started talking. It wasn’t about putting the band back together. I wanted to reconnect with my brothers.”
As a result of Seinfeld and the rest of the band talking again, the reunion was eventually announced back in November 2022. Since then, the guys have played multiple shows, have eyed a new album, and even saved a couple lives.
Without some personal growth and time separating things, it’s likely Biohazard doesn’t get back together. Seinfeld recognized as much.
“If I hadn’t been working on myself and learning that resentment only hurts you, only hurts me… If I got a beef with you, you don’t necessarily know it. I’m carrying it around like a boulder in my backpack, weighing me down.
“A band is hard — it’s a bunch of egomaniacs with low self-esteem. It’s a bunch of guys who are fighting to get to the top together and fighting with each other for every inch of creativity, input of stardom, of fame, of contribution, of acknowledgement. People wanna be seen, people wanna be acknowledged, and when you’re doing it in a group setting, not everybody gets the same out of it. Everybody might put in the same. And it’s complicated, but right about the time I ran into Billy [Graziadei, guitar/vocals] and I got on the phone with Bobby [Hambel, guitar]. I actually talked to Bobby first during the pandemic. He called me out of the blue and we had a really cool conversation, but there was no intention behind it. And somebody started a rumor that we were putting the band back together because people had seen us talking. And next thing I know, I run into Andy Gould and Paul Gargano, the band’s managers… Andy used to manage Rob Zombie for 25, 27 years, and he used to manage Linkin Park — big bands. Pantera he worked on. And Andy said, ‘There’s this incredible opportunity right now for an iconic metal band with all its original members, that everybody’s really good shape and got their chops up. You guys can really make some impact on the scene.’”
The rest, as they say, is history.
“We got together in a room, we broke some bread, we had a rehearsal. It sounded incredible. It was revitalized. It needed to go away for 10 years for everyone to get rejuvenated and excited about it. The fans are hungry. We just did a huge European tour, and if you look at my Instagram, there’s a shot from this festival in Poland with 600,000 people. To stand on a stage in front of that many people and have them like chanting or jumping, it’s another level of experience. I don’t know that I ever appreciated it… I now have a huge amount of appreciation for everything I do. I have gratitude and a positive mindset. It doesn’t matter if I’m sitting in my house or if I’m on a big stage, I tend to appreciate everything more, and that’s a gift, man.”
