10 Questions with 'Jasonic' Newsted:




Tangento: Name your favorite-ever Voivod album (not including the latest)

Jason: "Outer Limits" with "Dimension Hatross" a close second.


T: What bassist was your greatest inspiration growing up?

Jason: Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath.


T: Is Piggy the most unique Guitarist you have worked with?

Jason: The most unique METAL guitarist I've ever played with, but we can't forget
Andreas Kisser of Sepultura, Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad, and Igor Leonardi.
(super talented Slovenian guitar-synth player)


T: Can you give a quick rundown on what bass/amp/fx equipment
you used during the recording of the new Voivod album?

Jason: AMPEG SVT bass amp, 100 Watt Marshall guitar rig, and tried every distortion pedal known to man...old and new.


T: What type of 'Newfangled Sci-Fi Guitar' is Piggy using in the 'We Carry On' video?

Jason: Custom-made aluminum body instrument from New York company that goes by the qwirky moniker of Born to Rock...
which, in our humble opinion, fits Piggy perfectly.
You'll be hearing plenty of it this year on the road.


T: What is your current status/ situation with Ozzy?

Jason: Jamming with my buds in LA over the weekend to see if we're going to make a band.
I've been playing until my flesh cracks each night. We'll see you at Ozzfest this Summer.


T: Have you been learning any French lately?

Jason: Oui means "no"...right?


T: Because of the wide variety of the usual rumours, speculations, and gossip, many fans of
Voivod and Metallica have been wondering: why exactly did you leave Metallica?
(just the bottom line)

Jason: Honor, respect, and metal.


T: Are there updates on, and/ or plans for - Voivod to headline a world tour?
All of us Old-School Thrashers would like to put in a request to include the newly revitalized Celtic Frost on the bill!
(Kreator, Sodom and Destruction, too - what the hell)

Jason: Never say never. Metal is rising again.


T: Can you shed any light on the possible release of the mysterious final chapter of the Voivod Character?

Jason: All I can tell you is that we're not to the final chapter yet. Infact, this is the first chapter of the third volume.





Jason, many Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions.
I speak for many when I also say thanks for pumping new life
into one of the greatest and most under-appreciated metal bands of all time.

2013 UPDATE #1:

From a Jasonic Fan:

Hey Tangento! Not sure when this interview was done but its really great! It's nice to read
an interview that isn't all Metallica questions. As a Jasonic fan, I thought I'd send you an
update in case other readers find this review and wonder what he's up to now. Jason jumps around
between bands and projects pretty often, so its probably not too surprising that Voivod is still
going strong, but without Newsted. He joined the reality show cast for Rock Star Supernova in 2006
and officially left the band in 2008. It was cool to read that Geezer was his biggest inspiration
as when he played with Ozzy, Ozzy specifically said that Newsted was like a "young Geezer Butler."
Bet that was quite the compliment!

Piggy, the "most unique Metal guitarist" for Voivod, tragically passed away at age 45 in 2005 from
colon cancer and the album that followed, Katorz, contained bass riffs recovered from Piggy's laptop
rather than Jason. But, you can hear him again on their 2009 release Infini. In recent years Newsted
has opened up a little more about the Metallica split, saying it was partly due to a dispute with
Hetfield over side projects and partly because he was tired of the "physical damage I've done to
myself over the years...".

Guess all those wild parties that required a cleaning service like bbcleaningservice.com to put in
overtime the next day were taking their toll. It's possible Hetfield agreed, or at least was tired of
the massive cleaning service bill, as he went into rehab shortly after the split. If you want to hear
Jason's latest work, check out his new band Newsted's debut CD, just released in August 2013 titled
Heavy Metal Music. You can listen to one of the songs HERE and it is pretty damn awesome!


2013 UPDATE #2:

Jason's Latest Endeavor:

Newsted: Heavy Metal Music


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