INTERVIEW with JOEY DEMAIO

Has music changed your life? It sure changed mine. When I was a teenager, going through the normal male teenage angst, unsure of myself and searching for something intangible, almost spiritual, I discovered Heavy Metal. To some this may seem petty or overly poetic but I think most Metal heads like me have similar feelings. The band that changed my life was Manowar. It wasn't just the music, but the sincerity. For a young boy lacking confidence they were the very symbol of strength, courage, and loyalty. Almost twenty years later they remain as hard and determined as ever.

On May 1st I met the kings of Metal before their show at the Birch Hill Night Club in New Jersey and interviewed them for this site. They were all there but bassist Joey DeMaio did most of the talking, sounding as excited about Manowar as if they were just starting out. The show was of course awesome. I found myself right up front raising my "hammer high" like I did as a sixteen year old. Few bands can create excitement like Manowar. Metal heads traveled from all over to see them playing in the states again and it was just so great to see all the fans, old and new, gathered together celebrating a band that has meant so much to so many.

AG: I hope you guys are ready for some tough questions?
Joey: Hey, we don't have nothing to hide. We'll answer everything. I remember doing this interview in England one time, and in those days we were wearing loin clothes and carrying swords, and this miserable bitch goes (Joey switches to snotty British accent) "Well then Joey, Manowar, are you gay?" (everyone laughing) and I go no, we're not gay, but we love gay men. So she says, "so you say you're not gay but you love gay men, what does that mean?" I said, well that means the more guys they f***, the more girls that leaves for us. We've got no problem with anybody living their life. We believe everybody should have fun. We're not prejudiced about anybody doing anything. I'll tell ya, her face crinkled up and she was unhappy for the rest of the night. She wasn't a fan of the band to begin with.
AG: I've been a fan of the band since "Battle Hymns", since I was like twelve years old.
Joey: You know it's funny. Even when we talk to people who don't know the band, never saw the band, and are just not into it at all, it's still fun to do an interview because you can always find some common ground. For us it's just a way of life. You just sort of go with the flow.
AG: So you guys have been going for twenty years almost, what's the key to the longevity?
Eric: Good P****! (lots of laughter)
Joey: We've been lucky in that when we made our first record, it wasn't just a kind of music, it was a vast range of music. The band has always had fast songs, slow songs, and the audience just liked the fact that the band was diverse. So we never got pigeon holed into anything so we were always able to grow, and the audience has grown with us. It's a question of giving people something that they pay for, they believe in, and they end up with value for money. When somebody comes to a show, no matter what they paid for a ticket, we try to give them twice the value in heart.
AG: After so long, does this lifestyle ever get tiring?
Joey: You see, people that do something for other reasons, it's going to get tiring. When you do what you are, it's like, fish don't get tired of swimming. They gotta do it, it's just how it is. This is what we're born to do.
AG: Like I said I've been a fan for a long time. As long as I can remember, unless it was strictly a Metal mag, critics always put down Manowar, always bad reviews. And a lot of times it's unwarranted, it's almost hateful and totally ridiculous. Are you ever resentful about any of it?
Joey: No, I love it. In fact it's more fun to read the bad reviews. If you can inspire somebody to f****** hate the world just because you made a record or you played a concert, think of that reaction you caused in people, it's amazing. It's wonderful to hear people say 'I really like your music' but when you think of some f*****, that you ruined his day, he wants to go home and go crazy, and your music inspired that in him, it's an incredible thing. I save all the bad reviews. I mean, I save everything but I have a special place for the bad ones cause I like to read them every now and then because they're f****** great. One review for "Into Glory Ride" I'll never forget, the record came out, it was an English magazine, it might have been Sounds at the time, and the guy, you know, typical English in the way he wrote, ( snotty British accent again )"There are three bands I have to review," one was like The Happy Boys, then some other supposed Metal band, "and these two bands will be around for a long time I'm sure, because they make good Rock and Roll. And then the third band I had to review was utterly hideous. Their name is Manowar and I'm sure they won't be around more than a year. The way they scatter words like fire, blood, and steel is shameless..." This guy, we ruined his f***** world. The way he wrote the review, he f****** murdered us, but it was so clever. I mean this guy took more time to write a bad review than he did to write a good review. I mean think about it, this guy probably took eight hours to write this. It was very well crafted. So it's a good feeling to inspire people to hate you.
AG: A lot of the bands I listened to through the 80's, at one point eventually sold out, you know, put out their Disco record...
Joey: F***** their fans is what we call it.
AG: What keeps your faith in the music and are there any other bands out there that have that same faith?
Joey: There a few other bands out there that have really stuck to their guns and resisted changing their music and changing their style. I think Pantera's a band that's stayed true to what they do. Slayer's another, we just played with them in Brazil a little while ago. There's bands like that out there that keep on giving people value for money. Motorhead's a band, like them or not, that get on stage and are honest about who they are and what they are and you got to admire that.
AG: Your style hasn't changed, yet each Manowar record is different and diverse in it's own way. What inspires the diversity of your records?
Eric: Good P****! (laughter)
Joey: I think it's a lot of things. One of them is being told that you've made some good records but you can't do it again. People daring you to do better and daring yourself to do better. To do it every time is hard.
AG: Is there any record that maybe you wish you had done differently?
Joey: I am personally very proud of how we've stuck together through all kinds of different situations, I mean we've been with 17 record companies. We've been through a lot but we've always held on to the fact that the music was the most important thing, and the people that buy it, share it, and live it the way we do. We sort of put everything else secondary. That's hard to do so I'm very proud. I mean, a guy just walked up to me out there and was like 'man, I remember you from L'amours,' and that was a little while ago you know. That's loyalty.
AG: Yeah, I saw you guys at L'amours too, "Fighting The World" and "Sign of The Hammer" tours.
Joey: There you go, and you're here tonight.
AG: You guys are sort of the torchbearer's of True Metal, how would you define True Metal?
Joey: I think it's music that's made from the heart. I think it's music that when you hear it it's honest, when you see it it's honest. All the way through you know, from when a band starts writing a song, when they make a video, the lifestyle they lead, the way they treat themselves and the way they treat the fans. You know when somebody's honest with themselves and honest with who they are. It's pretty difficult to do sometimes when you live a public life, but our lives are an open book. What kind of interview would it be if somebody gave you a list of things you can not say to the band.
AG: As far as releasing the live album and some of the older records on Metal Blade, Does this mean you'll be doing a studio album with them in the future?
Joey: Metal Blade has been interested in the band for a long time and they're a good label, and you can see that they got integrity. The name alone, they've kept the name, they've stayed with a certain style of music, and it just seemed like it was the right time to work with them, and we're doing this now to see what happens. Right now everything's been great. They're nice people, they care about the fans of Metal music, and if they treat our fans right, then that's what we want to see. So far everything's been good.
AG: What about doing some more shows in the states or possibly touring?
Joey: Definitely, we're gonna start to play in the states more now. The thing with Metal Blade is, when we go to a record company it's just not the four of us going. It's all of us, it's all of our crew, our lives and the lives of those people out there (pointing out to the crowd waiting in line). So if people don't treat them right... and chances are if they don't treat us right they're really gonna s*** on them, and it's happened before. So this is a kind of a time where we want to see what's gonna happen and right now everything seems really really good.
AG: Out of all the Manowar records is there any one that you would say is the definitive Manowar record?
Joey: I've been asked that question 2000 times this month alone, it's a popular question. The answer is, a father loves all his children. It's like somebody saying take one finger and chop it off, you can't. A lot of people feel differently but for me, I love all our records and all our songs.
AG: I don't know if you guys go on the internet much, but the devotion to Manowar on the web is just incredible. Have you guys scene many of the various fan sites?
Joey: We rule the f****** internet. It's amazing. The international sites are phenomenal. Some of the artwork and the way they are put together is really good stuff. People who take the time to do that really love the band. It's not just a part time thing. There's a girl out there, Dawn, she's the f****** high priestess of the internet. She's got her own Manowar site, she goes all over the f****** world to see the band, she a wonderful person, a delightful person. She's out there I bet, just go out and yell Dawnowar. She's got her own page and it's incredible. She's comes to every gig and has a diary of the tour. It's amazing. I think she's psychic to, she knows things before I know it.
AG: I see you guys started your own label, have you signed any bands yet?
Joey: We just signed a band from Chicago. A band that reminds us of the kind of spirit we had when we first started. These guys all live together in a house eating one can of tuna fish with four forks. They're starving for Metal. They believe in themselves one hundred percent and that's the kind of thing we want to see. That doesn't mean we're looking for bands like us, we're looking for bands that are making a statement, crazy, heavy, wild, stuff.
AG: That's basically all I've got guys. I just want to say that Manowar is one of those bands that, when I was little teen aged kid, saved my life. It gave me motivation and confidence to do things with my life.
Joey: That's a nice compliment, a really nice thing to say. Have a good time at the show cause we're gonna take the roof off this shack tonight.

05.08.1999

This interview is taken from about.com

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