Spirit Adrift/Neon Nightmare’s Nate Garrett Says He’d Front a Type O Negative Reunion If One Happens
Over the last few months, there’s been rumblings and musings about what it would take to get a Type O Negative tribute show off the ground. Even though it’s been said that there’s no reunion or tribute coming, people like Type O Negative drummer Johnny Kelly have gone on record saying the band’s legacy “deserves some kind of celebration.”
Then came Neon Nightmare, a project from Spirit Adrift guitarist Nate Garrett that wore its heavy Type O Negative influence on its sleeve. Ever since the release of that project’s debut album Faded Dream, people have wondered if maybe the world now has its Peter Steele stand in, given how much Garrett sounds like the late frontman.
During a recent episode of his podcast Nate Garrett’s Big Riff Energy (as transcribed by ThePRP), Garrett tackled the topic head on, stating that while he has some trepidation about something like a reunion or tribute show even happening, he would be more than happy to take up the mantle as long as it was done right.
“I don’t think that any of this will even happen. But at some point I decided that if it does happen, I want to do it. So I’m announcing that publicly. If there’s any kind of Type O Negative reunion, or tribute show, or anything like that, I want them do it right. Like there’s no bigger fan of that band than me.
“So they have to have Josh Silver — If Josh isn’t involved I don’t give a shit what they do. They can get Fred Durst to play Peter Steele or whatever. But if Josh is involved, I want it to be as cool as possible. I want it to sound as right as possible.”
During his comments, Garrett referenced the fact that one issue Kelly brought up in the past was trying to replicate Steele’s bass tone. Anyone who’s ever listened to Type O Negative knows that unlike most heavy bands out there, bass played front and center in the band’s unique sound.
Given the fact that his other band Spirit Adrift started as his solo act where he played everything, Garrett is no stranger to playing the bass. And even then, he agreed with Kelly that the bass will be the hardest to get down.
“And no disrespect to anybody else; it’s interesting that Johnny was talking about the bass playing specifically, because there’s a few guys that have done real cheap ass, like Peter Steele vocal impersonations. But almost every Type O Negative cover that I hear, or any band that’s trying to sound like Type O Negative…. I don’t want to name any names. I don’t really don’t want to disrespect anybody. But some of these Type O Negative covers, I’m like, what are you doing? There’s just subtleties. It’s the exact stuff that Johnny was talking about in that interview. There are subtleties that I’ve never really heard anybody do right.
“I think it’s maybe Pete and I have the same level of Geezer Butler [Black Sabbath bassist] worship and adoration, and we’ve studied him so much that, I don’t know. I’m I’m not trying to toot my own horn here. I read all these comments. I’m just telling you facts of what I saw.
“And if they’re going to do it, and Josh is involved, I’m going to do it. I want to do it. If they’re like auditioning super famous people that aren’t going to do as good a job, I’ll take these motherfuckers out, man. It needs to be done right. It doesn’t need to be done… What’s going to make the most money? Who’s the biggest name we could put in there? It needs to be done right.
“So I just keep seeing these rumblings. I keep seeing footage of Johnny, like his practice room with a green light, and he keeps putting more and more Type O flags up on the wall and stuff, and I just see where it’s headed in the age of these nostalgia reunions and tributes and stuff like that. And… if they do it, and Josh is there, you will have to pry that gig for my cold, dead hands. So public record.”
