Interview With Tom Hunting Of Exodus

THE 10 COMMANDMENTS INTERVIEW WITH TOM HUNTING OF EXODUS

April 5, 2009: By Marisa Connelly – Courtesy of www.thedailyrock.com

“And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”  – Exodus 24:23

“The penalty for contempt against your god is death and nothing else.  Ignorant infidels are subhuman and will all burn in hell.”  – Exodus, 2007 from “Children of a Worthless God”

I was raised listening to metal.  I was also raised Christian, but more on that later.  Anyways, when all my little friends were gushing over The New Kids On The Block, I was more interested in Metallica.  Certain bands I just grew up with.  I don't recall there ever being a time before them.  So for as long as I can remember, Exodus held the title as one of the early champions of thrash metal.

I admit I was a little apprehensive at first, but Tom Hunting's relaxed demeanor and self-deprecating humor was both goofy and welcoming.  We talked about everything from music to drug addiction, bad pet owners to landing strips.  Yes, those kind!  And, being an original member of the glorious Exodus, I asked him to ordain his own virtuous 10 Commandments.  And as far as being a good Christian girl?  Well, lets just say the gods of metal are the only ones I pray to now.

TELL ME YOUR NAME AND WHAT YOU DO.

My name is Tom Hunting, I play drums for Exodus.  I'm the guy that hangs out with the band.

WHY HAVE YOU BEEN AROUND FOR SO LONG?

Whooo, um, because we're pioneers, we invented this shit! [laughs]

BACK IN 'NAM?

Yeah, back in 'Nam.  You know, I couldn't really tell you that.  It's kind of amazing and a miracle itself that we've been around for this long.  But, I guess we still feel a little hungry in this, and we're not satisfied yet, until we crush the world.

WHAT'S THE KEY TO LONGEVITY IN MUSIC?

To be true to yourself and try to stay away from drugs.

AS YOU DID?

[laughs] Yeah! No actually, we embraced it for quite some time, on and off again.  But, everybody's clean and sober now, so it's good.  But the key to longevity is to, you know, you're going to have a certain fan base, and you have to evolve musically, but at the same time not leave your fan base behind because they want you to do a certain thing.  It's kind of hard to please everybody.  But I think that's one of the key things, for sure.  And take good care of yourself to where you still can do this.  So, I don't know, there's the two I can think of.  I'm not the smartest interviewee in the world.

CLEARLY, BUT WE'LL GET PAST THAT.
[laughing his ass off]

WHEN YOU RELEASED LET THERE BE BLOOD, SOME PEOPLE SPECULATED THAT YOU JUST DID IT TO MAKE A FEW EXTRA BUCKS.  WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO THAT?

Well, we don't really make a lot of money anyway, and I don't think we're going to make a ton of money off that.  We just did it as a representation of what the songs sound like now, with the current line up, and as a tribute to Paul [Baloff] our old singer because he sang on the original.  People don't have to buy it if they don't want to, but I hope they would give it a chance, see what it sounds like.  It's kind of like, the recording technology has come so far since we recorded that, everything is so much more isolated and crisp.  Not that the original sounds bad, it's more like an accompanying record for it, like a companion record.  So, everyone's entitled to their opinion about it, but we didn't do it for the money because we didn't make shit!  Yet.

SO, AS FAR AS MODERN PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES, WHAT SPECIFICALLY WERE YOU ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF?  LIKE WHEN YOU WERE IN THE STUDIO?

Better guitar tones, better drum tone, better isolation of instruments.  Whereas before, I think people used to experiment quite a bit in the 80's, like putting a microphone 20 yards away from the drum kit.  Now, everything is close miked and triggers [are used].  I think a lot of different things about this album, I would have to say are tempos.  In the original we didn't have any click tracks or anything like that to play to.  It was kind of just feel.  And I think the slow stuff on the album might be a little slower, and the fast stuff might be a little faster and more steady.  And I think the songs kind of took on a different shape because of the tempos, because of click tracks and what not.  I like the sound of it personally, but I like the original too.  I'm getting kind of sick of them songs, because we are still a current recording band, and  I like recording the new shit much better.

AND PLAYING THE NEW STUFF LIVE?

Yeah!

BUT I GUESS EVERYONE'S NOSTALGIC.

Yeah.

DIFFERENT MEMBERS OF THE BAND HAVE SPOKEN PUBLICLY ABOUT DRUG PROBLEMS WITH METH.  ALSO ABOUT HITTING “ROCK BOTTOM” OR HAVING A MOMENT OF CLARITY.  AND FOR SOME PEOPLE, THEY GO THROUGH 10 OR 20 OF THEM.

And for some people, it never works.  They don't realize that they're at rock bottom.

NO, THEY HAVE NO IDEA.  THEY'LL BE GETTING ARRESTED, COVERED IN THEIR OWN SHIT AND THEY THINK THEY'RE FINE.  WHAT WAS ROCK BOTTOM FOR YOU?

“Rock Bottom,” wasn't that a UFO song?  But for me personally?  I was living at the place where we practice at, the studio, and it was basically a warehouse full of tweekers.  It was a very enabling place, because the lifestyle that was perpetuated there was just ongoing drug abuse.  I never smoked speed, I only did lines of it.  But that was enough to take me pretty far out there and make me lose my vehicles, and lose, you know, not everything, but pretty much on the fucking verge of everything.

LIKE, WHAT'S EVERYTHING?

Cars, lapse in payment of the registration of your vehicle.  Like, go and scrape the tag off another vehicle and put it on yours.  Then you can take that money you were going to register it with and buy a sack of shit.  But, eventually the cops catch up with you, and you get a suspended license and you go to jail because you get caught driving on that suspended license.  And it just snowballs.

DID YOU GO TO JAIL?

Yeah, for a couple nights.  The band bailed me out though, because we had a gig.  It was actually Paul's last gig.  I'm glad I made that one.  But, like we were saying, rock bottom is different for everybody and that was my rock bottom.  And I was fucking miserable and I'm never going to go back there again.

DID YOU HAVE TO GO THOUGH MEETINGS, OR REHAB?

No, I didn't.  Well, I mean, I went though a stage of like, where I was good for 3 weeks, or good for a month, and then I would slip.  And I would have to say the music kind of saved me too.  We had touring coming up, and the band was starting to work regularly again.  You can't carry on that lifestyle and be on tour and play every night, at least not when you're 43!  Maybe when you're 23 or something, but not as you get older. [spoken in a hillbilly accent] Now it's all about a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and a place to get horizontal at the end of the night, you know what I mean?

WAY TO KEEP IT REDNECK!

Oh, you have no idea!  How red do you want to get? [laughs]

HOW RED ARE YOU?

I live in the mountains, I don't have a computer, I don't have email, I chop wood.

SERIOUSLY?  YOU LIVE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE?

Well, I live on a mountain.  There's other houses around.  I really do not have email and computers and all that shit.  I have a phone.

DO YOU HAVE A CELL PHONE?

Oh yeah!

OK!

And I text, that's about as high tech as I get.   I just bought a new camera.  The last one I had was a 110,   remember those?  You probably weren't even born  when 110's  were out.  They were those little flat ones, they were black.

I REMEMBER POLAROIDS WHEN I WAS LITTLE.

Yeah, Polaroids were around when I was a kid too.  [laughs]  Are you redneck too?

NO, I'M FROM SUBURBIA.  ACTUALLY, DID YOU SEE ON CNN THE SHOOTING THAT JUST HAPPENED IN BINGHAMTON?  13 PEOPLE WERE SLAUGHTERED.

Oh shit!  Cops too?

NO, THE GUY KILLED HIMSELF.  BUT, THAT'S WHERE I'M FROM.

I've seen a lot of crazy shit on the news lately.  It's fucking scary.

YEAH.  ANYWAYS, THE 80'S ARE REMEMBERED FOR BIG HAIR, AND I SAW OLD VIDEOS OF YOU GUYS, YOU ALL HAD GI-NORMOUS HAIR.

Really?  That was us? [laughing] I wasn't in the band at that time!

OK, WELL EVERYONE EXCEPT FOR YOU THEN.

I could comment!

YOU WERE IN AND OUT A COUPLE TIMES, RIGHT?

Yeah, this will be my third time, and I'm probably going to be here until the end.  I was there in the beginning, and hopefully I'll be there at the end.

COOL!  SO, THE 80'S ARE REMEBERED FOR BIG HAIR AND NEFARIOUS BACKSTAGE PARTIES.    WHY DO YOU THINK IT'S A DIFFERENT SCENE NOWADAYS?

Um, I don't know, partying isn't as popular as it once was, I guess.  Maybe we're just getting old.

WELL, EVEN WITH THE YOUNGER BANDS?  OF COURSE THE 80'S WAS BIG FOR COKE AND EXCESSES WHICH CULMINATED IN THE EARLY NINETIES.  LIKE THE  “AMERICAN PSYCHO” TYPE MENTALITY, ESPECIALLY ON WALL STREET.  CULTURALLY, DO YOU THINK THAT IT'S DIFFERENT?  AND MAYBE THAT'S INFLUENCING PARTYING BACKSTAGE?

Hmm, I don't know,  maybe it's just a conscious change of lifestyle that people have adopted.  Like, those hair bands from the 80's did a lot more drugs than any of us metal guys for sure.  Like we said before, we like speed way more! [laughs]  But you can't do as much speed as coke, you're heart would definitely explode.

I WOULDN'T KNOW, I'VE NEVER DONE EITHER.

Good for you!  You should never!

I KNOW, I'VE ALREADY HAD MY LIFE DISRUPTED, MAJORLY, BECAUSE OF DRUGS AND METH.

It's a disrupter, man! And in the users mind, whatever they're doing is so internally justified.

OH YEAH!  IT'S EVERYBODY ELSE'S FAULT!

Yeah!  The blame game!  I've played that game before!

BECAUSE IF YOU'RE LYING TO YOURSELF, YOU HAVE TO LIE TO OTHER PEOPLE  TO PROTECT YOUR OWN LIE.

Then you believe your own lie, and that's when the justification comes in.  When you're like, everything I do is fine!  But back to your original question, I can't really explain the lifestyle changes.  I guess people are just trying to be a little more responsible maybe?  I think the business is a lot tougher than it used to be, so it's hard for a band to get out there and do it.  So you got to keep professional, you got to be on top of that shit, and if you're high, you're not.

DO YOU THINK IT HAS TO DO WITH EDUCATION?  NOW THERE'S HIV, AIDS?  WHEREAS IN THE 80'S, PEOPLE WERE JUST LEARNING ABOUT IT.  NOW, PEOPLE ARE LIKE, YEAH, I CAN GET THIS.

Like shooting up and shit like that?

YEAH, WHETHER ITS DRUG USE, GROUPIES, WHATEVER.

Oh definitely!  It's definitely influenced the lifestyle change, I would think.  You know, I think back then, just coming out of the 70's, which came out of the 60's, getting high was cool.  It's not as fashionable as it once was.

SO, SPEAKING OF GROUPIES, DO YOU STILL GET ANY OF THEM AT YOUR SHOWS?

We usually get “The Chick” because we're not a band that draws a lot of women.

YEAH, METAL BANDS USUALLY DON'T.

But, if there's a pretty girl in the audience, everyone's like, Hey!  Look at “The Chick!” [laughs]  But, our singer is married, our guitar player is married.

WELL, NOT  THAT YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE GROUPIES, BUT ARE THEY AROUND AT ALL?  BECAUSE I HAVE A QUOTE FROM GARY [HOLT] WHERE HE SAYS, “I HAVE FORGOTTEN SEX WITH MORE WOMEN THAN THESE KIDS WILL EVER HAVE.”

 [laughs]  That's a pretty good quote!  That's great!

I KNOW! HE WAS TALKING ABOUT HOW ON THE INTERNET, EVERYONE HAS AN OPINION, LIKE AN ASSHOLE.  BUT FOR ALL THE CRITICS OUT THERE WHO ARE LIKE, 15 YEAR OLD KIDS TYPING FURIOUSLY AWAY ABOUT HOW THE NEW EXODUS ALBUM MIGHT SUCK OR WHATEVER, THAT WAS HIS RESPONSE!

Do you have a cat?

YEAH, WHY?

Because you have cat hair on your pants.  I got a dog, it's all over me still.[laughs]

OK, SO…

You ask some really good questions, by the way.

THANKS!

I mean, you know, they're definitely things I think people should know about, I guess.

IF I CAN FIND IT ON YOUR MYSPACE OR ANOTHER INTERVIEW, I DON'T ASK.  I TRY TO AVOID THOSE QUESTIONS.  LIKE, I DON'T CARE WHAT'S IN YOUR CD PLAYER.  I PRETTY MUCH FIGURE IT OUT, BY THE GENRE YOU CAME FROM, WHO YOUR INFLUENCES ARE.  I CAN JUST GUESS, AND BET $100 I WAS RIGHT.

You could guess probably 3 out of 4 I would think.

WELL, EVERYONE SAYS LED ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH, JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN.

Merciful Fate, Angel Witch.

SAXON?

Eh, kind of.  Iron Maiden, Priest, Zeppelin.  You know, actually I just resurged into getting into Zeppelin.  There was a period where I got out of them for a while, but then I read the book “Hammer of the Gods” and it got me back into them.  Now I listen to them and it's pretty cool.  Sorry to interrupt you.

NO, IT'S FINE.  JUST GO RIGHT AHEAD.  SO, YOUR NAME  BEING EXODUS, IS OBVIOUSLY FROM THE SECOND BOOK OF THE BIBLE.  IF YOU WERE MOSES AND WERE WANDERING AROUND THE DESERT FOR 40 YEARS, WOULDN'T YOU STOP AND ASK FOR DIRECTIONS?

Um, yeah!  I would be like, [in a bad Jewish accent] “What! Are we crazy? We can't find our way anywhere!”  Yeah, I think I would stop and ask for directions.  There probably weren't a lot of gas stations around back then, no GPS, no cell phone.

MOSES ALSO LIVES TO BE ABOUT 120 YEARS OLD.  WOULD YOU WANT TO LIVE THAT LONG?  AND WITH MODERN MEDICINE, IT MIGHT BE AN ACTUAL POSSIBILITY.

I think I would, actually.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH YOUR TIME?

I would observe, just take it all in.  People-watch and see how how people were in my 119th year.  I mean, it all depends on how incapacitated you are when you get towards the end of 120.  It's like, you might just say fuck this and check out at 118 or something.

YEAH, IF I CAN'T POOP AND PEE BY MYSELF, NO MORE.  LIKE, I WANT TO BE THE OLD LADY, SITTING ON HER PORCH, YELLING AT ALL THE NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS, JUST DRUNK ALL THE TIME OFF MARGARITAS.

Get off the front lawn!!

YEAH!  BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT OLD LADIES DRINK.

Who's poisoning all my cats!?!?

OH! I DON'T WANT TO BE A CAT LADY, THOUGH.

Too late! [laughs]

I LIKE CATS BECAUSE APARTMENTS DON'T USUALLY ALLOW DOGS.

Yeah, I love dogs too.  I love all animals in general.

I WATCH A LOT OF ANIMAL PLANET.

Yeah, me too.

I LOVE ANIMAL COPS, BUT THAT'S HARD [TO WATCH.]

Yeah, I always get pissed when I watch that show.  Like how is this guy ever allowed [to have a pet].  It should be like a job, you should have to fill out a fucking application!  You should have to have references!

AND THE PEOPLE WHO STARVE THEIR DOGS ARE ALWAYS MORBIDLY OBESE, YOU EVER NOTICE THAT?

Too busy getting your own fucking bacon cheeseburger to fucking go buy some kibble for your dog!

I KNOW!  IT'S LIKE, GO EAT ANOTHER BIG MAC!  BUT, I HAD MCDONALD'S ON THE WAY DOWN HERE, JUST SAYIN. SO, IFYOU HAD TO WRITE YOUR OWN 10 COMMANDMENTS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?

Oh God! Um, can I pass?

NO, THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR NAMING YOUR BAND EXODUS.

[laughs] I'd have to think about those.  Hmm…feel free to help me out.

1. Thou shalt stay away from meth.
2. Thou shalt have to fill out an application to reproduce.
3. Thou shalt have to fill out an application to own an animal.  OK, that's 10, right? [laughs] OK.
4. Thou shalt be forced to shower when on tour with a band, if you don't do so voluntarily.
5. Thou shalt have to feed the band if you're a promoter.
6. Thou shalt always have to provide a competent monitor man if you're a promoter.  Sound on stage is important, otherwise you suck!
7. Thou shalt be forced to watch the movie “Idiocracy.”
8. Thou shalt have to buy a T-shirt if you pirate music over the internet.
9. Thou shalt always have in-tune drum heads.
10. Thou shalt always hit the snare drum with as much force as humanly possible!

I AGREE!  DON'T RELY ON A TRIGGER OR SPEAKERS OR ANYTHING TO GET A BIG SOUND.  YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT YOURSELF OR IT DOESN'T SOUND NATURAL.   IT'S GOING TO SOUND CLICKY AND OVER PRODUCED.

Yes!  Hit it each time like it's your last one ever!

YEAH, I HATE CLICKY OVER PRODUCED DRUMS.  IN THE STUDIO I HATE IT, AND EVEN LIVE WHEN THERE'S JUST TOO MANY TRIGGERS GOING ON, IT'S LIKE AWW DUDE!

Well, we use it on the bass drums, but we add that with a natural kick sound.

WELL, YEAH, YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TWO BASS DRUMS, IT'S NOT A DOUBLE BASS PEDAL, RIGHT?

I have two drums, a lot of people  have a double pedal and one kick drum, but that's kind of gay.

BUT YOU HAVE TWO DRUMS AND ITS HARD TO SIT THERE AND GET THEM TUNED CORRECTLY ON TOUR, WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH TIME TO SIT THERE AND MESS WITH THEM.

That's true no matter how much time you have.  Are you a drummer?

NOPE. NOT AT ALL.|

You're just familiar with stuff?

SOMEWHAT. BUT  I'VE ONLY PLAYED DRUMS ON ROCK BAND. [WHICH TOTALLY DOES NOT COUNT!]

Really?  How did you do?

UM, I'VE JUST STARTED PLAYING THE DRUMS, BUT IT'S LIKE A WHOLE NEW VIDEO GAME.  IT'S GREAT!  IT'S SO MUCH FUN.  I ALREADY OWN AT GUITAR [IN THE GAME].

You play [real] guitar?

NO.

Me neither.

I CAN'T PLAY ANYTHING EXCEPT GUITAR HERO! BUT THE DRUMS ARE LIKE ACTUAL DRUMS.  YOU CAN EVEN GET A DOUBLE BASS PEDAL.

Wow!  Was that 10 Commandments?

YES.  SO, HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A BURNING BUSH?

Um…

TAKE THAT HOWEVER YOU WANT.

Um, no.  I've seen a lot of things on fire, but never a bush.  And most women don't have bushes anymore anyways.

VERY TRUE.  IT'S NOT THE 70'S ANYMORE, THANK GOD.

[Laughs]  Yeah.  I still like a little landing strip though.

I'VE HEARD THAT BEFORE.  OK, SO, MOVING ON, CAN YOU PART LARGE BODIES OF WATER?  LIKE THE RED SEA?  OR BEER?

Um, I can consume large bodies of beer.

OK, THAT'S EPIC!

With a jager back…. So you like this kind of music? You must.

OH YEAH!  OF COURSE!  EVEN THOUGH I WAS, UM, LIKE ONE YEAR OLD WHEN BONDED BY BLOOD CAME OUT.

Why do you think it's resurged again, a little bit?

UM, I HAVE NO IDEA.

Do you think it's like, well, I think it's like a retro thing.  Like you said you were one when Bonded By Blood came out.  I was born in '65, so about 20 years prior to you.  I've gone back to see what kind of music was kicking around in '65, it's just natural  that we want to know the trends.

WELL, I GREW UP LISTENING TO METALLICA, OZZY, MOTLEY CRUE.  MY OLDEST SIBLING [MATT] IS 39, SO HE WAS LISTENING TO KISS, JOURNEY AND FOREIGNER, DIO.

I like two of those bands!

AND MY SISTER GOT INTO THE WHOLE GLAM METAL THING, BUT SHE STILL GOT INTO THE HEAVIER STUFF.

I still want to know what your source is when you say you saw Exodus with big hair.

UM, I SAW IT ON A YOUTUBE VIDEO, IN AN INTERVIEW FROM THE EARLY 90'S I THINK.  IT WAS IN BRAZIL, AND THERE WAS PORTUGUESE SUBTITLES AT THE BOTTOM.  AND THE BAND WAS TALKING ABOUT JUST COMING OFF TOUR WITH SUICIDAL TENDENCIES.  ONE OF THE GUYS EVEN HAD THE FLIP UP HAT, WITH SOMETHING WRITTEN UNDER THE BRIM.  AND THE JEANS WERE A LOT TIGHTER.

Yeah, now everybody goes for the baggy look because we're fat!

YEAH, WELL, THERE'S PLENTY OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF YOU GUYS WITH THE BIG HAIR.

Alright, you convinced me! [Laughing]  Man, I'm so glad those 10 Commandments are over!

YOU DID GREAT!  WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

Did I?

YEAH!  THEY WERE GOOD!

Do people actually ever finish them?

I'VE NEVER ASKED ANYBODY ELSE.

Oh really?  I'm the first? Wow.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER BANDS AROUND NAMED EXODUS?

Um, no.

AND YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH THE STORY OF MOSES?

Um, yeah.  A little bit.

OK, SO WHY DO YOU THINK SO MANY BANDS TAKE THEIR NAME FROM THE BIBLE, OR OTHER RELIGIOUS SOURCES?

Um, I think they just sound cool, just running off your mouth.  You know, GENESIS!

BUT IN METAL?  LIKE LAMB OF GOD, EYE HATE GOD,  WALLS OF JERICHO, EXODUS.

We picked ours before any of them fags did! [laughing]  They were still pissing in their diapers when we picked that name!  But they're all great bands!  I really like Lamb of God, Chris [Adler] is one of my favorite drummers in music.  It's solid and super precise and sickening, actually.

MEH.  I LIKE MIKE SMITH, KEVIN TALLEY AND GENE HOGLAN.

Gene Hoglan, another monster!  [He] makes it look easy, also, makes me want to throw up.  But I love him.

AND MESHUGGAH.  I LISTEN TO THEM AND AM JUST LIKE, HUH?  WHAT?

Yeah, like how did you do that?

YEAH, LIKE AS SOON AS YOU GET THE BEAT PATTERN, THEY CHANGE IT.  NOT LIKE JAZZ DRUMMERS, THEY DO OFF TIMING AND YOU DON'T EVEN REALIZE IT.

Yeah.  By the time they get a groove, it's off to the next one.  And by the time you assume to figure out that groove, they're off.  I'm much more of a cave-man style drummer, I like to continue my grooves once I find them, if I find them! [laughing].

NICE!  OK, I THINK THAT'S IT THEN.  ANYTHING ELSE?

Just come to the show!  Check it out!  Allow us to crush you and buy a shirt!

ALWAYS BUY A T-SHIRT!

Totally!  Merch is life.

YEAH, BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT MAKING MONEY ON ALBUM SALES ANYMORE.

No way!  You know what though?  It's kind of a blessing and a curse for bands like us because it does expose us, gets us out there.

ESPECIALLY TO YOUNGER GENERATIONS WHO WOULD HAVE NEVER HEARD OF YOU?

And they do show up.  We get a lot of kids at our shows, surprisingly.  We played this one place it Anaheim, and it was all 16 year old kids, thrashing around.

THEY'RE ALL BABIES, LIKE WARBRINGER!  SO YOUNG!

Aww, so cute!

YEAH, I'M INTERVIEWING BEN [BENNETT, BASSIST OF WARBRINGER] NEXT.  WELL THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME!

Thank you!  And watch out for Ben!

INFO:

www.myspace.com/exodus

www.exodusattack.com