CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED – Interview with drummer Richard Christy

Listeners of the HOWARD STERN show know Richard Christy as the prankster interviewer who took over Stuttering John’s job. Those of the metal world know Christy as the dynamic drummer who came out of nowhere to help Chuck Schuldiner complete the final DEATH album, and then man the kit for Chuck’s power metal group, CONTROL DENIED. Since the untimely death of Schuldiner, Christy played on a couple of ICED EARTH albums before leaving the music biz for the STERN show.

After a five-year hiatus from recording metal, Christy called up a few friends to form a new band, CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED. CHARRED is a metal fan’s wet dream, featuring a star-studded lineup consisting of ex-JUDAS PRIEST howler Tim “Ripper” Owens and bass player extraordinaire Steve DiGiorgio. Both artists played with Christy in ICED EARTH. Christy chose Jason Suecof as the group’s guitarist. Better known as the producer of famous modern metal acts such as TRIVIUM, Suecof delivers pure guitar shred as well as recording and producing CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED.

On the verge of his first release in over a half decade, an excited Christy called Metal Centre to give us the low down on his return and the making of what will prove one of the great albums in 2010.

“Charred Walls of the Damned” marks your first recording since leaving the music biz for the Howard Stern show. How do you feel about coming back to music’s dark side?

I love the dark side (laughs). I’ve been in the dark side since I heard IRON MAIDEN when I was ten-years-old. I left the music business in a way when I went to the HOWARD STERN show. I didn’t do any recording, and I haven’t done any touring in the last five years, but I’ve stayed in the music by going to every metal show that comes to New York. I still get up on stage and jam with some bands that are friends of mine. Also, I host some metal festivals around here, the New York area. So, I’ve still stayed in the scene. I also still play the drums. I’ve been playing guitar a lot more since I moved to New York. This was something I’ve been thinking about since I moved to New York. I always knew that I wanted to get back in the studio and play with a band, in some form or another. I’ve had a lot of offers from different bands that want me to play drums for them, but there was always a problem with my schedule on the Stern show. The Stern show is most important because it’s my day job. I finally got to the point where I figured the best thing to do was put my own band together, so I can record and tour on my own schedule. I’ve also done a lot of writing since I came to New York. I’ve also become a much better guitar player. I feel more confident in my guitar playing and writing. Once I had six or seven songs, I thought it was time to put a band together and make an album. I finished all the songs for this album, and called up Jason, Tim and Steve. They were really into. Everything seemed to come together great. I feel really lucky to have gotten all the guys that I could for this band.

You’ve jammed with Ripper and Steve before, but not recorded with Jason Suecof. What were you’re initial thoughts when you first jammed with him?

I’ve actually worked with Jason for a very long time, and I have done a lot of recording with him, just not on anything that has been released. I met Jason when I lived in Florida in 1999. We became very good friends. He built his Audio Hammer studios in 2000. I even helped build it. My band, BURNING INSIDE was the first band to record there. He and I could both admit we didn’t have much game with women back in the 2000s. On the weekend, we didn’t really go out and pick up women; we just jammed together and wrote music. Jason and I have been working together for a very long time. We’ve always wanted to put a band together with him. He was the first person I thought of when I put this band together, and he was the first person I contacted. Not only is he an amazing producer, which he is known for now a days, he is a shredding guitar player. I knew that I would want him to record, produce and play guitar on the album. That took care of a lot of what I needed for this band. I knew that Jason and I would have a lot of fun. He’s a really funny guy—he’s got a great sense of humor. I had worked with him and Steve before and we are really good friends. I admire them as musicians. I’ve been a fan of Steve since the SADUS days. He played on DEATH’s Human and Individual Thought Patterns. Tim is an amazing singer. I’ve been a fan of him since the JUDAS PRIEST days when he took over for Rob Halford. We toured and recorded together when we were in ICED EARTH. He’s a very down-to-Earth, cool guy and an amazing singer.

You and Steve DiGiorgio have made some of the tightest rhythm sections in metal. Why do you two work together so well? Are you on the same page as technical artists?

I think it works well because we are both technical players, but at the same time we both have a loose style where we don’t follow specific time signatures. We both have a natural ability to feel where the other is going. We are able to lock in but at the same time be technical and have a lot of feeling. I can’t say why it works or where it comes from; it is just a great thing. I’m very psyched when I get to jam with Steve. He has such a cool style. I feel very comfortable playing along with him when he does things with my drum fills. He is just incredible! He’s also a cool dude, we enjoy hanging out in the studio. That makes it even better.

When you wrote the album, did you write parts meant for Steve to display his bass talent?

No, I kind of did what was best for the song. I knew that I would want some cool bass things to happen. Also, some cool drum, guitar and vocal things. It wasn’t a conscious thought of “Right here I want to bass to do something crazy,” it was just the natural progression of the songs. The most important thing for me is the songs being good. My songs needed to be catchy, melodic and people will want to listen to them again. When I wrote these, there were certain parts that just felt natural to have the vocals stop and then just have the bass and drums playing or have just bass or just guitar. I guess it’s hard to explain why certain parts happen like they do. I remember when I wrote the intro to “Blood on Wood,” I wrote it with just guitar and drums. When we were in the studio, there was something that happened between Steve and me. It was something that just happened. At the same time, I knew I wanted something like that to happen with all the guys because they are all really talented. However, I didn’t want to do something that didn’t fit our songs. I needed something that stuck with the concept of the song.

I’ve only hear Ripper sing power metal, but here you throw in some death metal drumming that really elevates his singing. What was it like having him sing to a blast beat like on “Manifestations of the Supernatural?”

Yes, I was really excited about that. A lot of people ask me what I would consider the style and sound of CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED. I just describe it as heavy metal. I wanted it to be heavy and I wanted it to sound good. I play blast beats and I knew it would be something different for people to hear Tim sing over blast beats. I really looked forward to that. I think it comes off as sounding very natural on this album because it’s just heavy. That’s what I was going for. I didn’t consciously say I want to mix all these different styles together. It just kind of happened because those are the styles of music that sounded natural. Tim has so much range. He can sing melodic, but he can also sing really heavy and make it sound evil. I knew that I wanted to cover his whole range with this album, have an album that covers all the bases. I went to see Tim live this past week in New York City. That was with his band HAIL with Andreas [Kisser] of SEPULTURA, Dave Ellefson of MEGADETH and Mike Portnoy of DREAM THEATER on drums. They did the song “Territory” by SEPULTURA and Tim sounded just like Max [Cavalera]. He sang some stuff similar to that on “Charred Walls of the Damned,” but not that low. It sounded very cool. I would love to record something like that on the next album. I’m excited that our singer can do pretty much anything.

Has Howard [Stern] plugged this album for you much?

A little, he played the single “Ghost Town” when it came out. I definitely plan on giving him a copy. He’s been very supportive and nice about it. He said he loved that song. He gave me a bit of a hard time, saying the drums sound kind of loud in the mix, but that is a very drum-heavy song. All my friends and co-workers have been very supportive. It’s great to work at a place where everybody is that supportive. Howard has helped me immensely on getting the word out about this band. Even the band name came from some work I did on the Howard Stern show. Myself and Sal Governale (“Sal the Stockbroker”) made a prank call to this Christian radio station down south. They got very angry with us, and said on the air how we were going to hell for prank calling them. They said we’d be in hell, scratching our nails on the charred walls of the damned. When I heard that, I thought it was a very metal sounding name.

When you joined DEATH for the final album, you looked pretty small. A few years after that release, I saw you throw your drum sticks to the crowd after an ICED EARTH show. Then, you were bulked up like Lou Ferrigno. Is that the result of your drumming or the massive amount of porn on your computer?

(laughs) Well, my right arm is a little bigger than my left. What happened was around 1999-2000 I started lifting weights more. I started getting more into working out. I started taking vitamins, so I started getting healthier. I knew as I got older that I started to get a bit of a belly, so I figured I better kick up my working out a notch. I started working out a lot more and running. I guess it’s also a thing where I went through a late puberty at 24 or 25. I’m no Lou Ferrigno, but I’m trying to stay in shape.

During your hiatus away from recording, did you come up with any new drum beats while playing Butt Bongo?

(laughs) Butt Bongo is fun, but it’s not something I spend hours doing. In the few minutes I’ve played Butt Bongo on the Stern show, I haven’t been able to practice or create much. That’s nothing compared to the hours and hours spent in the rhearsal studio in Brooklyn where I practice drums. Some of these songs like “Ghost Town” were written hours before I had the guitar parts. I wrote that song on the drums first. I had some ideas from practicing by myself, I would play the drum beats, record them, take them home and then write the guitar riffs. There is no one way to write a metal song; I like trying everything. Most songs start out with a riff, but some start out with a drum beat. Sometimes it will begin with me humming something as I walk home from work. That’s the thing about writing music—it never happens the same way twice.

So you do have plans on making another album?

Absolutely, I’ve already written almost six songs for the next album. I’m very excited! I got inspired by recording this album in Florida this summer. After we finished the album, I got so excited and passionate about how it turned out that I came back home and immediately started writing new songs. I have almost six songs completely finished that sound incredible. Now, I can’t wait to get back in to the studio! Hopefully, I can get back into the studio later this year.

Do you have any touring plans?

Definitely, I’m meeting up with some booking agents either tomorrow or next week, and we’re going to try to do some stuff this summer. We’re talking about maybe playing New England Metal Fest. We would like to do some festivals, which will be easiest for our band because of everybody’s busy schedule.

http://www.myspace.com/charredwallsofthedamned