Prong - Tommy Victor
Questions: Stuart Millen
Prong are heading to Australia this November for the first time in their 28 year career, with four east coast shows in four days. Founded in New York back in 1986, the band, lead by vocalist/guitarist Tommy Victor, have released nine studio albums, numerous EPs and live recordings. 2014 has been a busy year for the trio, releasing the new album Ruining Lives and relentless touring. Somehow, they even managed to find time to record another two albums while on tour in Europe.
During a short break in a busy touring schedule, Tommy spoke to Caught in the Mosh about the band’s latest album, their Australian shows and recording in Berlin.
You’ve just finished a huge US tour, with 31 shows in 35 days. You’re on a short break now, then Knotfest this coming weekend and then back to Europe for the second time this year. You’re a busy man! Are you having fun?
Playing all of those shows and being out on the road is fun. I’m also in the role of doing other things, things that branch into business... the interviews today... I’m doing a lot of things the other guys don’t have to do. There’s no financial reward to it (laughs). I’m definitely having fun doing the shows though. Making records is definitely challenging and rewarding, especially when people come to you and compliment you, you know, long time fans and new fans too. I enjoy that. It makes me think that I’m not wasting my time (laughs). But I find you have to do it for yourself, you know? And what energises me is the fact that I can still do it. And I think I do a good job. If I felt I couldn’t do it and wasn’t doing too great a job, I wouldn’t do it.
After your European dates, you have four days to get down to Australia for your first ever visit. Prong’s been around for 28 years, yet you’ve never been here, either with the band or on a personal holiday. You must be looking forward to the trip?
Yeah! I don’t really know what to expect though. Art, our drummer, he’s been down there a couple of time with Winds of Plague and he raves about it. And my buddies in Fear Factory always tell me how great it is. And I was always remembering Vinnie Paul and Dime saying how great it was. The people I know that are down there have warned me of the expense of the place though. But apart from that, everyone says the people are very nice and it’s gorgeous down there.
Is there anything in particular that you’re looking forward to?
I don’t know what the others are going to do but I’m an outdoorsy type of person. I really enjoy the beach and I enjoy things outdoors, so, whatever that entails would be cool. There’s no Eiffel Towers or Big Bens down there, you know? The only thing us Americans know is the Opera House in Sydney, so I don’t have any memorials or major tourist attractions to focus on. So... we’ll just have to see what it’s like...
Well, you should stop in for a drink at the Opera Bar in Sydney, the view is fantastic!
Well, I’ll have a soda (laughs). I don’t drink, so I’ll go there and just hang out and enjoy the view!
During a short break in a busy touring schedule, Tommy spoke to Caught in the Mosh about the band’s latest album, their Australian shows and recording in Berlin.
You’ve just finished a huge US tour, with 31 shows in 35 days. You’re on a short break now, then Knotfest this coming weekend and then back to Europe for the second time this year. You’re a busy man! Are you having fun?
Playing all of those shows and being out on the road is fun. I’m also in the role of doing other things, things that branch into business... the interviews today... I’m doing a lot of things the other guys don’t have to do. There’s no financial reward to it (laughs). I’m definitely having fun doing the shows though. Making records is definitely challenging and rewarding, especially when people come to you and compliment you, you know, long time fans and new fans too. I enjoy that. It makes me think that I’m not wasting my time (laughs). But I find you have to do it for yourself, you know? And what energises me is the fact that I can still do it. And I think I do a good job. If I felt I couldn’t do it and wasn’t doing too great a job, I wouldn’t do it.
After your European dates, you have four days to get down to Australia for your first ever visit. Prong’s been around for 28 years, yet you’ve never been here, either with the band or on a personal holiday. You must be looking forward to the trip?
Yeah! I don’t really know what to expect though. Art, our drummer, he’s been down there a couple of time with Winds of Plague and he raves about it. And my buddies in Fear Factory always tell me how great it is. And I was always remembering Vinnie Paul and Dime saying how great it was. The people I know that are down there have warned me of the expense of the place though. But apart from that, everyone says the people are very nice and it’s gorgeous down there.
Is there anything in particular that you’re looking forward to?
I don’t know what the others are going to do but I’m an outdoorsy type of person. I really enjoy the beach and I enjoy things outdoors, so, whatever that entails would be cool. There’s no Eiffel Towers or Big Bens down there, you know? The only thing us Americans know is the Opera House in Sydney, so I don’t have any memorials or major tourist attractions to focus on. So... we’ll just have to see what it’s like...
Well, you should stop in for a drink at the Opera Bar in Sydney, the view is fantastic!
Well, I’ll have a soda (laughs). I don’t drink, so I’ll go there and just hang out and enjoy the view!
You released Ruining Lives earlier this year. I understand it was the quickest album you’ve made. What was different about the process this time around?
There was a definite sense of urgency. I’ve been so busy the last couple of years. Playing with Danzig too, making an album with him. That album hasn’t been released yet. It’s multitudes of those... and going on tour... and there was a contract to put out a record at a certain point. But Ruining Lives was still a month late, unfortunately. But I had to put the pedal to the floor and just get it done. There were a lot of 12-hour days, every day. Just putting the ideas together. At the same time, we’re recording. With previous records, there were demo periods, where we’d demo songs. We’d have a whole bunch of them and decide which ones we were going to use, then make adjustments... Throw out a bunch of songs, write some new ones. But that didn’t exist for Ruining Lives. Every riff and every song and lyric idea that I came up with was used. That was a confidence builder for me because the record came out stellar, in my opinion at least. So, a lot of this whole demo period, this re-evaluation that is done, based on insecurity, I think, more than anything, did not have to be done.
You worked on the album with Steve Evetts and Chris Collier. What did they bring to the process?
A lot! They put a lot in. I worked with Steve Evetts on Carved into Stone, the record before Ruining Lives. We did the whole record with Evetts that time. He had a week of preproduction. We did do demos for Carved into Stone, so he looked at some of the songs, made some changes. On this record, he helped with the vocal arrangements and coached me on the vocals and then mixed it. Collier and I did all the tracking. He was also involved in the arrangements and song writing with me. So he was part of the process whereas Evetts was later in the development of the songs. So it was a slam-dunk, in a lot of ways, to have those guys helping me. They’re both unbelievably talented guys, so I got lucky. Without their help it definitely wouldn’t be what it is.
Could you see yourself working with them again on the next Prong album?
Well, we’ll have to see what I can afford! (laughs) The more success you have with a team, the more... you know... If I can afford it, I would certainly work with them again. Just say when...
And you also recorded Unleashed in the West: Live in Berlin earlier this year. What prompted that?
There was a definite sense of urgency. I’ve been so busy the last couple of years. Playing with Danzig too, making an album with him. That album hasn’t been released yet. It’s multitudes of those... and going on tour... and there was a contract to put out a record at a certain point. But Ruining Lives was still a month late, unfortunately. But I had to put the pedal to the floor and just get it done. There were a lot of 12-hour days, every day. Just putting the ideas together. At the same time, we’re recording. With previous records, there were demo periods, where we’d demo songs. We’d have a whole bunch of them and decide which ones we were going to use, then make adjustments... Throw out a bunch of songs, write some new ones. But that didn’t exist for Ruining Lives. Every riff and every song and lyric idea that I came up with was used. That was a confidence builder for me because the record came out stellar, in my opinion at least. So, a lot of this whole demo period, this re-evaluation that is done, based on insecurity, I think, more than anything, did not have to be done.
You worked on the album with Steve Evetts and Chris Collier. What did they bring to the process?
A lot! They put a lot in. I worked with Steve Evetts on Carved into Stone, the record before Ruining Lives. We did the whole record with Evetts that time. He had a week of preproduction. We did do demos for Carved into Stone, so he looked at some of the songs, made some changes. On this record, he helped with the vocal arrangements and coached me on the vocals and then mixed it. Collier and I did all the tracking. He was also involved in the arrangements and song writing with me. So he was part of the process whereas Evetts was later in the development of the songs. So it was a slam-dunk, in a lot of ways, to have those guys helping me. They’re both unbelievably talented guys, so I got lucky. Without their help it definitely wouldn’t be what it is.
Could you see yourself working with them again on the next Prong album?
Well, we’ll have to see what I can afford! (laughs) The more success you have with a team, the more... you know... If I can afford it, I would certainly work with them again. Just say when...
And you also recorded Unleashed in the West: Live in Berlin earlier this year. What prompted that?
It was sort of a combination of not having anything to do for a couple of days and the potential to add some more income. I didn’t know if it was going to come out. We didn’t really know what we were going to do with it. We just went into the studio in Berlin because we were hanging out for a couple of days. We found a cheap studio and we thought we’d just have it (the recording), see what it’s like. Maybe use it for B-sides or whatever. Lets just record the whole set. It came out so good that we said, this is important, the fans are going to love this. Everyone that gets it, and everyone that hears it, loves it, because it has like the whole bastion of Prong songs from all the different records, all the popular ones. Well, all the popular songs... And we recorded in the trio format, which was just one guitar, a bass and drums and vocals. That was another confidence builder for Prong because a lot of those records were so produced, with layers of guitars and samples. All sorts of crazy stuff going on with some of those records. And here we had the stripped down basic versions of the songs. And they held up. So we were like, wow! And again, we didn’t have to go through all the struggle of spending all the money in having producers and extra people making changes. The Rude Awakening record I’m talking about in particular. We were able to just bash these songs out and they came out just as good. It’s a learning... Every time you do something different, you learn something from it. That’s the great thing about having a music career, you can look back on stuff that you did and make different decisions later on. It’s on-the-job training for me. That record was another confidence builder. It was good to put something like that out, something just stripped down, good versions of the old songs.
How did you go about choosing the songs for that recording?
Oh, that was easy. The ones we pick for the set are obviously ones we did videos for, which are mainly from the Beg to Differ record, Prove You Wrong, the Cleansing record. Those had to be included. The Headbangers Ball theme songs, Steady Decline, For Dear Life and some of the ones that fans always like a lot from Rude Awakening, Dark Signs and Close the Door. Those are pretty standard. You know, when you have a small following, a cult following, I definitely mingle with the fans and a lot of them have become close friends of mine, so it’s not difficult to decipher these sorts of things.
You’ve been touring the Ruining Lives album, yet you’re only playing two new tracks. What went into choosing your live set for this current tour?
Well, our set is really long too, so there are lots of songs you can’t not put in there. And when we’re doing a headline set... Again, there are some many records and knowing the fans, there are songs you just have to do. We’re playing the two notable songs (off Ruining Lives). Remove, Separate Self is the next single, we might try to add that in, if we have time to get together and do that. Otherwise, we have to play Beg to Differ, we have to play Unconditional, we have to play Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck, we have to play Broken Piece. When you leave them out, you’re leaving out really important songs from the past that need to be done. We’d play more but I can’t do a two hour set! (laughs) Right now it’s about an hour and 45 minutes at times.
How did you go about choosing the songs for that recording?
Oh, that was easy. The ones we pick for the set are obviously ones we did videos for, which are mainly from the Beg to Differ record, Prove You Wrong, the Cleansing record. Those had to be included. The Headbangers Ball theme songs, Steady Decline, For Dear Life and some of the ones that fans always like a lot from Rude Awakening, Dark Signs and Close the Door. Those are pretty standard. You know, when you have a small following, a cult following, I definitely mingle with the fans and a lot of them have become close friends of mine, so it’s not difficult to decipher these sorts of things.
You’ve been touring the Ruining Lives album, yet you’re only playing two new tracks. What went into choosing your live set for this current tour?
Well, our set is really long too, so there are lots of songs you can’t not put in there. And when we’re doing a headline set... Again, there are some many records and knowing the fans, there are songs you just have to do. We’re playing the two notable songs (off Ruining Lives). Remove, Separate Self is the next single, we might try to add that in, if we have time to get together and do that. Otherwise, we have to play Beg to Differ, we have to play Unconditional, we have to play Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck, we have to play Broken Piece. When you leave them out, you’re leaving out really important songs from the past that need to be done. We’d play more but I can’t do a two hour set! (laughs) Right now it’s about an hour and 45 minutes at times.
Given you’ve never been to Australia, will you be doing anything different setlist-wise for the shows here? Can you tell us what Aussie audiences can expect?
I don’t think we’ll change it that much, because the set has been so successful and the shows have been so good this last year. So why screw that up and give Ausralia something different to what we’ve played in Europe, now going on the third time on this coming up tour. There’s not really any reason to experiment. We’re playing the best Prong songs there are and that’s important. And the popular ones from Carved into Stone and Ruining Lives. I’ve been hit with emails and comments about every song on Ruining Lives, with people saying they’re their favourite songs but Turnover and the title track seem to be more aligned with what we’re doing live.
Cleansing is now 20 years old. You’re playing a good chunk of that album live. You’re obviously still proud of that album?
Yeah! Well, it’s the most recognisable record that Prong’s done. We haven’t sold millions of records, but that’s our most popular record, so why hide that from people. I’m proud of all the records but that one I’m probably most proud of because it reached a larger audience. I’m not ashamed of reaching a larger audience with anything. So a lot of people are looking forward to hearing those songs, so it’s important to have a good chunk of the set for that record.
We mentioned your live recording earlier. Is it true you also recorded an album of covers while in Berlin?
Yeah, that’s all done. Actually, I’ve just been working on that. We were talking earlier about having “time off”. I haven’t actually had an opportunity to have any time off. The day after coming back from tour I had to run in there and I’m mixing that right now, making a few little adjustments. And it’s another thing that started out as like, hey, you know, we wanna do this as another release. Steamhammer Records got hold of the idea and they want to release it. It’s a very strong record and it’s coming out in April. I think it’s going to be extremely successful, to be honest. It’s mindblowing; the selection of songs, the versatility of that, along with the execution. I gotta hand it to Art Cruz (drums) and Jason (Christopher, bass). They nailed it. The three of us figured out some interesting arrangements for some old standards and we did a great job on it.
Prong’s been around for 28 years. In that time, you’ve also worked with Danzig, Ministry, Rob Zombie, Max Cavalera to name just a few. You must have some amazing stories to tell. Have you ever thought about writing a book?
Yeah, a lot of people are interested in knowing some of the acquaintances, associates I’ve met over the years and knowing more about them. I’d probably have to wait until the twilight of my career, if there is such a thing, to do that. I thought about writing a book about some other things but anything that involves other associates would probably wait until a later date.
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I’m reading the Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen and he certainly doesn’t pull any punches!
Yeah, well, that’s Al. He can be free with his tongue because he was wasted all the time. But I’d choose not to do that.
Thanks for your time Tommy. Good luck for the rest of the year and I hope you enjoy your time in Australia.
Thanks man!
I don’t think we’ll change it that much, because the set has been so successful and the shows have been so good this last year. So why screw that up and give Ausralia something different to what we’ve played in Europe, now going on the third time on this coming up tour. There’s not really any reason to experiment. We’re playing the best Prong songs there are and that’s important. And the popular ones from Carved into Stone and Ruining Lives. I’ve been hit with emails and comments about every song on Ruining Lives, with people saying they’re their favourite songs but Turnover and the title track seem to be more aligned with what we’re doing live.
Cleansing is now 20 years old. You’re playing a good chunk of that album live. You’re obviously still proud of that album?
Yeah! Well, it’s the most recognisable record that Prong’s done. We haven’t sold millions of records, but that’s our most popular record, so why hide that from people. I’m proud of all the records but that one I’m probably most proud of because it reached a larger audience. I’m not ashamed of reaching a larger audience with anything. So a lot of people are looking forward to hearing those songs, so it’s important to have a good chunk of the set for that record.
We mentioned your live recording earlier. Is it true you also recorded an album of covers while in Berlin?
Yeah, that’s all done. Actually, I’ve just been working on that. We were talking earlier about having “time off”. I haven’t actually had an opportunity to have any time off. The day after coming back from tour I had to run in there and I’m mixing that right now, making a few little adjustments. And it’s another thing that started out as like, hey, you know, we wanna do this as another release. Steamhammer Records got hold of the idea and they want to release it. It’s a very strong record and it’s coming out in April. I think it’s going to be extremely successful, to be honest. It’s mindblowing; the selection of songs, the versatility of that, along with the execution. I gotta hand it to Art Cruz (drums) and Jason (Christopher, bass). They nailed it. The three of us figured out some interesting arrangements for some old standards and we did a great job on it.
Prong’s been around for 28 years. In that time, you’ve also worked with Danzig, Ministry, Rob Zombie, Max Cavalera to name just a few. You must have some amazing stories to tell. Have you ever thought about writing a book?
Yeah, a lot of people are interested in knowing some of the acquaintances, associates I’ve met over the years and knowing more about them. I’d probably have to wait until the twilight of my career, if there is such a thing, to do that. I thought about writing a book about some other things but anything that involves other associates would probably wait until a later date.
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I’m reading the Lost Gospels According to Al Jourgensen and he certainly doesn’t pull any punches!
Yeah, well, that’s Al. He can be free with his tongue because he was wasted all the time. But I’d choose not to do that.
Thanks for your time Tommy. Good luck for the rest of the year and I hope you enjoy your time in Australia.
Thanks man!
Prong play Australia this November.
Tour dates and venues:
Wed 19th Nov - Sydney, the Metro - tickets from Ticketek
Thu 20th Nov - Brisbane, the Hi-Fi - tickets from Oztix
Fri 21st Nov - Melbourne, the Hi-Fi - tickets from Oztix
Sat 22nd Nov - Canberra, Metal Fiesta at the Basement - tickets from Oztix
Tour dates and venues:
Wed 19th Nov - Sydney, the Metro - tickets from Ticketek
Thu 20th Nov - Brisbane, the Hi-Fi - tickets from Oztix
Fri 21st Nov - Melbourne, the Hi-Fi - tickets from Oztix
Sat 22nd Nov - Canberra, Metal Fiesta at the Basement - tickets from Oztix
