Riot God Interview is up 9/2/2010

RIOTGOD

http://www.myspace.com/riotgod

1. For those not in the know tell us about RiotGod and how it came to be . I understand 2 members are from the mighty Monster Magnet ?

Well me,(Bob Pantella drums) and Jim Baglino(bass) are both in Monster Magnet. In about 2005 Jim and I started talking about putting together a band of our own, so in 2006 when MM had taken a hiatis, our time off gave us the opportunity to do just that. Mark Sunshine(Vox) I had known for years and he was always the guy for the band in the back of my mind. It's very convenient that I have a recording studio in my house, so I started writing and recording some music,(Drums, Guitar and Bass),about 3 tunes. I gave them to Sunshine to see what he could do with them. Well it worked out better than I thought it would. I finished mixing the songs, minus leads, and played them for Jim and he was stoked. So the the task of finding a guitar player was at hand.

Garrett Sweeny(guitar), I had also know for years. I was out at a bar where his cover band was playing and I knew in about 2 minuets that he was the guy. He recorded the leads and we continued from there. That was about 2007.

2. Your sound on the Debut CD is a mix of 70's heavy rock Zeppelin, Mountain and Cheap trick with bands like Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone and Zodiac Mindwarp to my ears.. Its all about the groove and heavy bottom end of the music. Is that most important to the band?

Yea I would say that groove and heavy bottom is a very important part of the sound of Riotgod. I mean it's not the most important, it's all important, melody, guitar sounds, lyrics.

I would say that Sabbath, Zep, Purple, bands like that had somthing to do with it........

3. I'm from New Jersey and played and went to many shows at Brighton Bar, Stone Pony, Fastlane, Studio One etc. your singer Sunshine is he the same person from the 90's playing in bands there at that time I think he was in few Doomy Rock acts like Solace or Sunshine Blind or am I mistaken??

No thats not him. Sunshine played in bands like Systemattic(not sure of the spelling), Peekabudua. I've known Sun for about 25 years and worked with him in 2002,2003 so I knew that we would work together well. So far, so good. Remember The Pipeline around the corner from Studio One? I played there in like '89 with a band called Raging Slab.

4. I love the low end but yet catchy style of the music has it always been this way or did move to this sound over time?

Well since the band is very new, it's been like that from the begining. I really like to keep the focus on writing a good song.

Getting good sounds and making it heavy is really the easy part.

Songwritting isn't. Sometimes great ideas come all at once, sometimes you have to force it (and that does work once in a while), or forget it and wait till tomorrow. I would say thats the Jimmy Page influence.

I love layering melodies and sounds in the studio. You never know what your gonna get until you do it and that can inspire an idea for a whole new song.

5. You signed with a smaller european label Metalville why is that.Being members in Monster Magnet did you want to keep this more low key and build a following to start? why not sign with bigger label and get a bit more support?

Well I guess we wanted to do as much as we could on our own really.

Metalville approached us first, so we went with them. Being on a big label and being a new band doesn't always mix. One thing at a time.

6. I know Riotgod plays out live do you want to tour the US or will Europe be you 1st invasion of sounds?

We actually toured last year in the States and Canada. Mostly out in the midwest. Detroit, Chicago, Toronto........

The Euro tour in Sept of this year will be a bit more involved, since we have a record out now and a budget to work with.

7. What do you want to come from Riotgod when all is said and done?

If the band can keep it's head above water for a while that would be great. I want to be able to keep in making music that I like. I'm not gonna lie and say that I don't want it to be a big success, ofcourse I do, that would be amazing and just make life a lot easier to do what we are already doing. Who does'nt want that? That's the American dream.......

8. Do you feel the Digital Age has hurt Rock n Roll or is it just giving the world the music it should hear and never got to before?

No I don't think it hurt RnR at all. If anything it made it more accessible. I wish it was like this when I was a kid. Everything was word of mouth, so you could easily miss out on a lot of grat music. As far as the business goes, I think that it hurt it the way the business was. Business has to catch up with technology and it is little by little. Things just have to be done differently, thought of in a different way. New approaches and creative thinking. Eventually things will even out.

9. Is Riotgod a full time band or is it just a group of guys having fun away from there main projects?

It's definitly a full time band. It takes up a lot of time and energy.

I would say all the bands are full time. I personally play in 4 bands.

Monster Magnet, Riotgod, The Atomic Bitchwax and Cycle of Pain. Full time all the time. Lots of Rock and Roll. I love it because thats what I do. I don't feel like I spread myself too thin really. I'm so used to it that Im ready for another one...... No I'm kidding 4 is enough.

Honest!!!!

10. Will there be any official videos or a Live DVD of material coming for the fans as the shows I've seen on Youtube you are a very powerful live force?

At the moment ther is no official video. There is one that we made about 2 years ago with absolutly 0 dollars that is circulating on the web for "Light of the Sun". It just wasn't in the budget to do a "real" video at the time, but I think in January we're gonna do one for "crusader". Thats gonna be fun....

11. If RiotGod were asked as a band how would you explain your sound to someone that has never heard it?

Well from what I've been hearing it's a cross between Soundgarden and Zep with a little psych edge to it. That sounds like an ok description to me. Not a bad comparison at all.

12. Your Myspace and Facebook pages talk about alternate universe of Monster Magnet what does that mean?

We came up with that in the begining to kinda let people know who we were and where we were from, and it is an alternate universe of MM since Jim and I are both in MM.

13. If you could tour with any band who would it be and why?

Thats a tough question, since there are so many..... At the moment I would love to tour with Alice in Chains just because I love the new record and I wouldn't have to buy tickets to see them. Soundgarden would also be a real treat, espcially because of all the vocal comparisons, and I wouldn't have to buy tickets to see them.

14. Does Riotgod prefer Smaller or Larger Venues for the live setting does a venue get too big for Rock and Roll sometimes?

Honestly I don't really care how big or small a venue is, as long as there are alot of people there and the sound is good. I understand sometimes a huge arena can sound like hell and you don't get the intimacy you do at a smaller place, but when the sound is great and the light show is great, you can't beat it.

15. Thanks for the time any final or closing thoughts place here..

Riotgod will be on tour in Europe from Sept 9th till Sept 26th 2010..

so check on line at Riotgod/myspace or Riotgod.com to see if we'll be near you..... Thanks and take care, Bob.