Interviews

Last summer, I was hanging out in my backyard shortly after July 4th, listening to tunes, relaxing, and making S’mores with the kids when Skynyrd’s “Saturday Night Special” came on. My youngest son said, “Hey, Dad, you guys should play this song.” Initially, I thought this is not for Metal Allegiance and told him, “Son, we’re a thrash band.” As the song continued to play, I started to think if I were to play this song, what would I do? I immediately started hearing guitar parts, Hetfield-style riffing, and drum patterns. Coincidentally at the same time, Blitz and I were in the middle of one of our famous ball-busting text exchanges. I called to asked him his thoughts about covering a tune like “Saturday Night Special.” Before I even finished my thought, he said, “YES! I wanna do “Never in My Life” by Mountain, I wanna do a Cactus song called “American Made,” and that was it. Within five minutes, the seeds for BPMD were born, and the album was named. When he asked who would play drums and guitar, I said for the drums, “I know a guy.” I texted Mike Portnoy and asked him if he was down and then hit-up Phil Demmel to get his thoughts about playing guitar. We all had great chemistry within the Metal Allegiance ranks, so we all know each other as well our capabilities? In a few weeks, we all met at Mike’s house in PA to start arranging and recording.