Interview with guitarist Ben Meyer
Floridian guitarist Ben Meyer has been a leader in the underground metal
scene ever since the early eighties with Nasty Savage. The legendary classic
thrashers were very popular until they broke up in the early nineties. Ben
went on to the humorous Gardy Loo and then formed the old school death metal
band Lowbrow with his former Nasty Savage drummer Curt Beeson and ex-Six Feet
Under/ Obituary guitarist Allen West. As Ben prepares for a new Nasty Savage disc,
we got in touch to talk about it and about Lowbrow.
What's up with Lowbrow?
Not much at this time. I am in the middle of working on a new Nasty Savage
release.
When do you plan to write and record the third album?
I’m not sure at this time.
How would you compare the two discs?
The first disc, Victims at Play, has some good music. I think the
production was not the best due to a small budget but not too bad. The
second release, Sex Violence Death has much better production and a
overall better sound. I think we matured as a band in the writing.
How does it feel to have Nasty Savage reunited?
All right.
What circumstances led to the reformation?
Ronnie called me after getting a royalty check from Crook’d and wanted to
see if Crook’d was interested in releasing the Wage of Mayhem demo.
Crook’d said yes and we thought it would be cool to add two new songs for
the fans to see that we are working together after all these years.
Meanwhile I mentioned to Crook’d about a full length release and he worked
out a great deal. Crook’d is the best label I have ever been part of.
How have you grown and evolved as a musician since the early days?
In the early days I thought that we were going to make our living off of
the band. Now I know that is not true. I just do it for my own enjoyment
and satisfaction.
When you look at the Nasty Savage legacy, what do you think was the band's
most important contribution to the metal scene?
We were one of the first bands playing a unique style of thrash. When we
started there were only a handful of bands doing stuff that was similar.
Not like today where everyone is in a band.
You formed Lowbrow with Allen West from Obituary- do you feel there were
certain expectations due to Allen's involvement in Lowbrow?
I’m not sure. I would think you would expect to see some similarities to
Obituary and Six Feet Under but we didn’t give it much thought.
With Lowbrow you have captured a timeless death metal sound, do you feel
this is what you have to deliver when writing Lowbrow material?
Not really, it is the singing that makes us sound death metal.
Does it limit you as a musician in any way?
I felt a little limited to what I could do in Lowbrow compared to
Nasty Savage.
What is your favorite metal albums of all time?
Slayer- Hell Awaits and Reign in Blood, Black Sabbath- Master of Reality,
Iron Maiden— Iron Maiden.
What has been the most frustrating aspect of being a metal musician and
your experiences through the years?
Too much arguing and disagreement and dissapointment.
What has been the personal highlight of your career?
Playing WW3 with Celtic Frost, Voivod, Destruction, and Possessed.
Explain the vibe in the eighties when Nasty Savage was making a name for
yourselves? How is the scene different today compared to the fanbase you
see today?
The scene was great back then. Metal was a form of life. We would
pass out about 100 fliers and 500 people would show up at the shows. Now
you are lucky to have 150 people at your shows. It seems like more people
need to support the scene or it will disappear.
What are your plans for this year?
We will start recording the new Nasty Savage release for the next couple
months. After that we will play the classic metal fest in Chicago. In the
winter it looks like we will go to Europe and tour.
Any final comments?
Check out nastysavage.com, lowbrow.50megs.com, and gardyloo.50megs.com.
Discography:
2001... Sex Violence Death (Crook'd)
1999... Victims At Play (Crook'd)
Current line-up:
Rich Hornberger... vocals
Allen West... guitars
Ben Meyer... guitars
Scott Carino... bass
Curt Beeson... drums