Okay, I'm not sure what happened there, I was typing and all of the sudden,
it was gone.  Anyway, here's the interview:

SE:  Even though your group is currently riding a huge wave of success, are
there ever times when you find yourself missing the days when the New York
City Parks Department signed your paycheck?

PS:  I would have to answer that question "of course".  I have to disagree
with you when you say we're hugely successful.  Successful to me would mean
financial independence, which is not the same as being rich.  We are just
about paying our bills right now and I believe we are a long way from being
hugely successful...but what I miss most about working for the Parks
Department is not so much the paycheck - which was a glorious forty thousand
dollars a year - but knowing that I would be at work to and from a certain
time and that I could make plans after work.  When you're in a band you no
longer have a life.  Your live belongs to the record company, to managers,
the public and to people like Syd Edwards.

SE:  How was your European tour this time?  Was there any backlash from the
incidents that transpired on your first tour over there?

PS:  No.  That seems to be way in the past, where I hope it stays.  We
haven't had any problems over there whatsoever.  The only time these, uh,
unpleasant memories come up is when I do interviews with the press, usually
in Germany and Holland.  There are very active anti-facist groups over there
who still are in search of a scape goat.

SE:  So you think you've shed all of the misconceptions about you and the
racist, misogynist, any word that end in "ist" tags?

PS:  Most of them, yes.  Some of them (the press) still want to come in and
interview me with their arms and their legs crossed and they have this really
serious look on thier face.  I tell them, "Look man, you should lighten up
because Type O Negative is no more than four assholes from Brooklyn trying to
make money and trying to make music.  Sorry, but this is not the Fourth
Reich."

SE:  Isn't it funny how things can get so blown out of proportion?

PS:  Yeah.  i think they realize that they've made an error, you know?  We've
played shows over there where weve played to over one hundred thousand
people.  So, I say to these interviewers - If you want to imply that Type O
Negative is an extremist band, well then I think that you've just insulted
not only me, not only the band, but all of the people who come and see us.  I
don't think that one hundred thirty thousand people would have shown up to
see a facist band.  So, do your homework.

SE:  Is it true that you stopped work on "October Rust" to do the tour with
Ozzy?

PS:  We didn't exactly stop.  We rushed through the album in order to get on
to that tour, because it was supposed to start much later.  Halfway through
doing the album, we got a call saying that they wanted us on the tour two
weeks earlier than scheduled.  That really threw a wrench into things.  I
don't thaink that the album would'be come out any worse or any better.  I
just feel that we had done something differently and I just wish that were
were able to work under a less stressful situation.

SE:  The album doesn't sound rushed to me.

PS:  That's because...well, instead of sleeping and eating and going to the
bathroom and working out and kissing pretty girls, we spent our -- what we
thought we'd have --
free time in the studio continuing with the project, trying to maintain some
kind of objectivity as far as realizing that we were under stress and that
you shouldn't spend eighteen hours recording vocals.  It's not good fof the
person trying to execute them and it's not good for anyone else around, you
know?  Eighteen hours is just too long anywhere, except if you're back home
-- then it's okay.

SE:  Do you think "October Rust" is the final step in the evolution of Type O
Negative's sound or just one more stop along the way?

PS:  I think that I have changed a lot as a person since like 1990 and I've
learned one thing, and that is never to say never.  Now, I think  that we've
found our style but if one of us becomes enlightened somehow, or learned how
to play one of our instruments, then maybe there might be some kind of major
change in the future.

SE:  Okay, this one is kind of meaty... You touched upon many pagan themes on
this album and you've been quoted as saying you consider yourself a Pagan.
 Yet, many of your personal beliefs don't seem to fall in line with most
pagan ideologies.  What are your beliefs in the after life, dealth and
reincarnation?

PS:  Okay, that's a meaty question.I must lay the foundation for this answer
by saying that the general public are a bunch of idiots  and there is no way
that I can express my beliefs in one single work, although I'll try.  The
closest I can get to it that most people would understand, without going into
a book trying to explain how I feel about things, is just simply stating that
I am a Pagan.  I know Pagans and I know that it's a bit more practicing than
what I'm into.  Basically, I have the utmost respect for nature.  I don't
believe in animal sacrifice.  I don't believe in magic or rituals.  I don't
believe that I've lived before.  I don't believe that I will live again after
death again.  I think that I, like everyone else, is here just by a matter of
chance - possibly controlled chaos.  I consider myself to be nothing more
than two hundred and forty pounds of chemicals...or perhaps an inefficient
meat machine.

SE:  (laughs)  Do you think your wish to be closer to nature is a result of
being born and raised in the city?

PS:  I would say yes.  I think that if I were raised on a farm or raised in
the mountains, I probably would've taken that stuff for granted.  But, I must
say that whenever I go to the woods - especially in autumn - this feeling
comes over me like all of the stress has been taken out of me and I just feel
so at peace and so at one with everything else around me.  That's the only
time I don't feel like there's some four hundred pound monkey standing on my
back.

SE:  Tell me what inspired you to write "Christmas Mourning?"

PS:  My father passed away on Valentine's Day 1995 and so last Christmas was
not too easy for me because not only was I thinking of him not being there,
but being born to older parents and being the last of six children, I've seen
a lot of my family pass away these thirty four years of life.  So, needless
to say, last Christmas I was seeing quite a few ghosts sitting there at the
Christmas table with us.  When I talk about red water, it, of course, does
not mean blood - it's wine.

SE:  Holidays are tough for anyone who has lost a loved one...

PS:  I know a lot of people who get extremely depressed around the holidays.
 I think that I'm over it now, of course, but when it first came about, there
were so many memories floating around ... it put a damper on the holidays.

SE:  Have you encountered any problems with Neil Young over your version of
"Cinnamon Girl" like you did with Seals & Croft over "Summer Breeze"?

PS:  Absolutely not.  I don't expect there to be any problems.  The problems
that we had with Seals & Croft stemmed from a miscommunication between myself
and the record company.  When I told "them", meaning Roadrunner, that I
wanted to change some of the lyrics on "Summer Breeze" they said go ahead and
they did not check with Seals & Croft before giving me the answer.  So the
problem came from them being displeased that I had tampered with their
lyrics.

SE:  But those lyrics don't make any sense!

PS:  Well, I guess that if you're on the right drugs they do.  I guess coffee
and Prozac just aren't cutting it.

SE:  Was the band's decision to use lowered tunings a result of your deep
voice or a result of experimentation?

PS:  It was a result of listening to (Black Sabbath's) "Master of Reality"
all of my teenage years.  That was the first album that you could obviously
hear that something was going on with the tuning.  I don't think they tuned a
minor third lower;  I believe they tuned their E string down to C sharp.
 After hearing that, when we formed Carnivore, we tuned down a minor third,
and when I formed Type O Negative we took it one whole step further, so now I
tune my bass B-E-A-D.  It plays havoc on the instruments.  It has nothing to
do with my vocal range.  It has more to do with sounding heavier and more
drone like.  Not to offend any of your Christian readers, but it sounds a bit
more Satanic.

SE:  Ah!!  That word! Let's just say is sounds a bit more... evil.

PS:  Evil... satanic... menacing... what have you.


SE:  How did you get into doing the soundtrack for a video game like "Descent
II"?

PS:  That's something I can't answer because a couple of months ago, some
kids                came up to me and said that one of our songs was on
there.  Apparently, when I signed the record contract, it said that if the
record company did not tamper with a recording at all, they did not have to
ask my permission or the band's permission to solicit or to sell a song to
anyone that would buy it.  And so this thing wound up on a video game without
me even knowing.  I don't mind that it's on the game.  I just wished that I
knew it was going to be, so I didn't look like a complete moron when I was
approached by these kids, you know?

SE:  Here's another meaty question - Do you think that the spread of
Christianity across the world has been responsible in any way for
civilization's decline?

PS:  I will say that Christianity basically hampers creativity but at the
same time there are a few good things that have come out of Christianity, one
of which is the twelve-tone scale that was created by Pope Gregory.  And he
also came up with the modern calendar.  So, I think it's safe to say that for
every good thing that the Church has done, they have done six hundred and
sixty-six bad things.

SE:  How far awar do you think we are from a one world order and do you think
it will take some sort of violent overthrowing of the establishment  for it
to gain control?

PS:  I think that it is going to take someone with a very high testerone
level that is going to have to just get up there and tell people how it is
and it's going to have to be done by force.

SE:  So you do think it'll have to be violent?

PS:  I think that's  the only way that it's going to happen because human
beings, as species, resist change.  There are people that would rather stay
miserable and not make a change.  They just won't go through the effort of
changing and possibly leading a better life.  I'm the type of person who
actually thrives on change and I look forward to it because, when I try to
change my life, even if I fail, I still consider that the ultimate learning
experience.  You know failure is not a bad thing, it is a great thing if you
learn from it.

SE:  It seems that the anger and cynicism of your previous efforts have been
replaced by something closer to melancholy.  Has your outlook on life changed
or is it another facet of your personality showing through?

PS:  I believe that my outlook has changed.  I realize that you cannot go
thourgh life fighting the world because you can't win.  An army of ants can
overcome an elephant, so even if you're smart, or strong or motivated, there
are just too many roadblocks out there.  I'm not saying that I've given up or
anything like that, I just think that there are other ways to get what I want
out of life other than being confrontational with people.

SE:  Is your goal still to get as far from civilization as possible?

PS:  Yeah!  Ultimately, I want what everyone else wants in life and that is
peace and happiness.  I'm still not exactly sure what that means.  I've
decided I do want this glass house in the woods and I think that I would like
to be with about three or four women.

SE:  Some would consider that a double-edged sword...

PS:  It's not an age thing.  It's just that, after having five older sisters
and a bunch of younger neices and aunts, I'm just really used to being with
women.  There are some people who have said in the past that I'm a sexist and
that I have to say that's true because I dislike men.  I think they're the
useless half of the species and they're only good for two things - making war
and making babies.  I would rather take myself away from the pants and
bearers.

SE:  I understand you are good friends with Thomas Thorn of the Electric
Hellfire Club.  How are they doing since the loss of Shana?

PS:  Well, I've hear some things that I probably shouldn't comment on because
I can't verify them, but I think it's safe to say that they have been having
some problems.  I understand we're supposed to be doing some shows with them
soon, but that too is a rumor.

SE:  I've heard you were recently spotted at a Switchblade Symphony show...

PS:  I saw them at the Wetlands, back in New York, and I thought there seemed
to be a lot of passion in their music and their playing and it came through
quite well.  I think the songs are catchy.  They have two women in the band
who are quite attractive, so of course you know that gets my attention right
away.  I think we're going to be doing some shows with them as well, but I'm
not totally sure about that right now.

SE:  That sounds like a great package for a tour, actually...

PS:  They had a really big crowd there and they played on like a Tuesday
night, I think.  That was kind of impressive.  Even if we don't get to tour
with them, the next time I'm someplace they are I'll definitely make it a
point to go and see them.  I would probably have liked to have lined this
tour up much differently.  We did shows with Lycia and The Electric Hellfire
Club last October and I thought that line-up was great.  But the management
wasn't happy with the line-up because everything seems to come down to money
these days and they would rather put people on the bill that they are sure
will draw a lot of people to the show.  It sucks that finances have to rear
their ugly head.

SE:  Sometimes management just misses the boat and winds up having to wait
for it to come within grappling hook range once it's become a hot property.

PS:  Yes, that's happened.

SE:  Well, I know you're getting ready for a show, so I'll let you go.

PS:  Yes, I have to get to the venue and I have to work out.

SE:  Have a good show.

PS:  Thanks, I'll see you soon.

******************************************************************************
********************


Until next year!!  Have a great one!!

   Exotica