C.S.: How do you feel, Joe, about being the newest edition to Acid Bath?
Joe: Under the circumstances, it's pretty fun. I'm enjoying it, but.. (Sammy Screams "All I gotta say is JOE, YOU SO FINE! And you can print that, too.")
Joe: And you're a clown. If I had a choice of playing in Acid Bath or bringing Audie back, I'd bring Audie back, but as far as playing in the band, I'm enjoying it. Whenever I came in, I was told by alot of people that the shoes that I was going to be filling were some awfully big shoes. I've known Audie for a long time and I know what Audie could do, and it's an understatement. I know how good he was.
C.S: How did ya'll choose Joe to pick up where Audie left off?
Sammy: The way we are, we wouldn't have wanted some stranger to come in. Honestly we're a bunch of clowns. We don't take ourselves too seriously. We like to kid and tell each other off, and not have somebody (mad) about it. Joe has been a friend of ours for a long time. He's got the vibe that fits with Acid Bath as far as the playing style, the, the whole nine yards, There's nobody else that I could think of that would fit better with us than Joe.
C.S.: Acid Bath's sound has changed some just from "When the Kite String Pops" to "Paegan Terrorism Tactics." How will it be affected by having Joe?
Sammy: It's hard to tell. Me, Joe and Thomas(the keyboardist) were wonking on some stuff. It's going more like really old style Acid Bath even before "When the Kite String Pops." It kinda has that vibe to it which is great, which is what we want.
Joe: I want to keep a lot of the heavier songs. But I also like Dax and Mike's style, the bluesy Southern rock, like "Dead Girl" and stuff like that. I'd kinda just like to keep the format the way it is.
C.S: Dax, you have to be the most mellow individual I've ever met in my life. Then when you hit the stage you explode. How do you get yourself from here to there?
Dax: I don't know, I guess I'm into it. It's like make-believe. I'm that kind of person. I enjoy it. I like fantasy, and I like to play.
C.S.: How do you come up with the lyrics? I mean on stage, you don't even talk between songs. You're like "Everything I have to say, I'll say through my songs, and that's it."
Dax: That's pretty much it. It's just rock and roll-Satanist rock and roll.
C.S.: Do you mind if we talk about that?
Sammy: What - the Satanism thing? I don't care.
C.S.: So are you a Satanist or is it just for show?
Sammy: I'm not Speaking for every member of Acid Bath, but personally, myself, yes-totally, fully, to the extent of everything.
C.S.: What do you get out of it?
Sammy: Well it's like, feeling no guilt. If I want to go out and drink, and wake up the next morning. I don't feel that bad about if I'm gonna go to hell because I drank, or whatever I want to do. It's feeling no remorse. If somebody does me wrong. I'll do them wrong ten fold. Satanism right now, everybody thinks it's a big horrow show. But actually, the way I believe in satanism, it's almost like borderline Self-Ism.
C.S.: I looked up stuff about it on the Internet and it seems to be mostly about personal responsibility. It's about the people who we hurt giving it right back to us instead of "turning the other cheek"
Sammy: Exactly. I mean, if somebody comes to you and punches you in the face for no reason, what would you do?
C.S.: Punch 'em back
Joe: In other words, you'd be a Satanist, too.
C.S.: So following your belief system, what happens to the driver involved in the accident that claimed Audie's life?
Sammy: He'll have to face Audie: He'll have to face Audie, and that wrath would be something I wouldn't want to have anything to do with.
C.S.: How are you guys dealing with Audie's death and getting through it?
Joe: Friends. Acid Bath is a family. When Acid Bath plays here or there, you're always gonna see some familiar faces, and those are like a big family. You've got everybody from different parts that are just real close and everbody just helps each other through, helps each other cope.
C.S.: Now that things are really starting to pick up for you guys, do you think you've reached the level of success that you expected?
Sammy: I think it could get bigger, it's just a matter of exposure. I mean, I'm surprised that we even got this far. I can remember back in the days when we couldn't play in front of people that didn't hate us. And now it's finally coming. People are starting to accept us.
C.S.: So how important is the crowd's reaction?
Sammy: Very. It's totally everything. Without that crowd reaction, you're nothing.
Mike: We're nothing if no one likes us. It's the people who make us.
C.S.: What's the worst thing that's ever happened on the road?
Mike: I lost my pants.
Sammy: He woke up in his bunk with no pants.
Mike: I drank this generic Ny-Quil and I remember smoking a cigarette and burning myself, and I put myslef out. And then when I woke up...I was like, "Where's my pants, man. I'm naked!" I looked for hours for my pants, and they were under my pillow tucked nice and neat. That was the weirdest thing. Because I just don't remember. I don't know if I was dancing in the bus naked or anyhthing. That would be pretty embarassing. You never know.
C.S.: What do you guys get out of this. I mean all of this, the touring, the music, everything.
Sammy: This whole thing that we're in right now has been a dream for us since we were kids listening to KISS going" I want to be that guy going around playing every night and people being there and cheering me on." That's been a dream for all of us forever, and we're finally getting to where we want to be.