Type-O-Negative knows this particular truth best, they were what I needed to SURVIVE MY MOTHER'S DEATH. I didn't want to face the world anymore. I was going, I gave up, I needed STRENGTH for just one more DAY. I listen to music constantly and as I continued my education at MSU, new music helped me face the next day, barely. A video production class was a solid goal, creating and working through a concept to a visual product's end. But until World Coming Down and the songs, Everyone I Love Is Dead and Everything Dies I wasn't able to hear my pain and grief clearly enough to start the healing process for my mom.
Those silly vampire wanna-bes, or maybe they are real vampires, I have no idea. The band found out from my co-workers at the time that I was crediting them with saving my life. I was working as a Music Director Assistant, living in London in 1999 and still feeling the loss of my mother from my life as hardcore as a person could. God called my mother, Laura Ann, home, May 5th, 1997 with Pancreatic Cancer. I was so depressed, but not medicated, at the time. Medication always pulled me too far down the depression highway. Suicide seemed like the best option while I was taking it, at the time I was only 3 years into being labelled Bipolar.
I saw it in their faces, Type-O-Negative couldn't believe it when they met me. They wanted to meet me too, only I didn't know it when I met with them. Too shy to ask for what I wanted, I only ask for what I NEEDED. I asked that the late great Peter Steele sign the fold out poster from my personal copy of World Coming Down, the CD they were touring at the time. If you know a member of that particular band, they'll explain what happened until you wet your damn pants. I fangirl-ed so hard I raced off to do the interview of my life but I'd left my notes back at the radio station. Peter Steele, patted me on the head and told me to sit and calm down. I flipped out that he'd touched me with the magical hands that created amazing music.
I was given the opportunity to interview any member of the band I wanted to after seeing all three shows while they were in London at the end of my abroad internship. Of course, I would have loved to ask Peter Steele all my questions. I ended up interviewing Kenny Hickey, I found him the least intimidating of the band. I admired them all, but Peter Steele was a Demi-God in my head. I couldn't speak to the man, for thinking him too beautiful to look at, words would not form on my tongue good enough to grace his perfect ears. I liked that Kenny was about my height and seemed most approachable, he was sitting closest to me after Peter made me sit down.
Kenny and I moved into the sunroom of the hotel and had coffee. I turned on my recording device and asked the questions my boss had faxed over that I'd created in preparation for the interview. Kenny and I went through my questions twice. I asked inspired in the moment questions not on my pages. I obtained a station ID for MSU's station and one for SBN, Ltd. Sound bites by artists, the stations could use as ID drops, a requirement for radio stations. We shook hands and I headed back to the office, found a studio, and listened to the interview over and over again. I moved back to Michigan two days later.
I found out from my boss that the band had been looking forward to meeting me just before I sat back and listened to the interview over and over again. When he asked how it went, I'd explained that I'd fan-girled and blew it. My boss smiled and told me what had been a secret up until that point. So I listened with new eyes, my mind officially blown that the band I was so impressed with enjoyed meeting me too. It was a special something extra to the experience that if I'd known in advance, I'm not sure what would have happened. I would like to think knowing would have changed nothing. A small part of me thinks knowing would have made me brave enough to interview Peter Steele...
No comments:
Post a Comment