Gary James' Interview With Guitarist Gary Holt Of
Exodus



San Francisco was the setting for the emergence of a group called Exodus. Formed in 1981, Exodus has gained both the respect and attention of fans and critics around the world. Exodus made their debut album on Capitol Records called "Impact Is Imminent". Guitarist Gary Holt spoke with us.

Q - Exodus is being heralded as "The first band to bring Thrash Metal to hungry, waiting ears." You also put out an album in 1985 which laid the ground work for Thrash's eventual popularity. But, wait a minute here. What about Metallica? Weren't they really the first group to popularize Thrash Metal?

A - No. I wouldn't say that at all. They might have broken out with their album first, but we were playing the clubs long before they'd even ever played or relocated to San Francisco. As far as the Bay Area Sound, we were doing it long before anybody else. We were doing it when it was primarily Judas Priest, Heavy Metal type bands. As far as out and out Thrash, Metallica is definitely a Thrash band, but I don't think there's any doubt that in 1985 our album redefined what Heavy was.

Q - Yet, Metallica continues to get all the credit and attention. That must really bother you.

A - No, not at all. Nothing anybody says gets to me. For everybody who says that, I read otherwise. We're very much different from Metallica. They were really Thrash with Heavy Metal roots. We took it in a different direction. Nothing bugs me. I'm very confident in what this band has done. We pull in bigger deals than most bands do, merchandising and record label wise. This album for Capitol is not a matter of catch-up. It's a matter of everybody else trying to catch up on this album. In my opinion they're gonna have their work cut out for them in order to surpass it. In my opinion also, this is the album that everybody's gonna look at as the album to beat. Good luck to 'em trying. (laughs)

Q - When Kirk Hammett left the group to join Metallica, that had to hurt.

A - No, not at all. Some people think that, but we wished him the best of luck. That was the turning point for the Exodus sound because when Kirk was in the band we had a definite crunch, but it was still more riff oriented, like a slightly heavier Judas Priest kind of thing. When he left the band, I took over the song writing abilities and it sort of put me in the driver's seat. You know, we've never been ones to pout. We've been through more than anybody else. We just wished him the best of luck and had a big party for him and wrestled over a bologna sandwich. We all wanted to eat it, so we ended up wearing it 'cause we were fighting over it. Kirk's never changed one bit as far as our friendship to this day. We've always been really good friends.

Q - According to your record company bio, the only thing that holds Exodus back from mega success was the fact that they were on an Indie label, which simply didn't have the power to give them the support they needed. What kind of support were you looking for?

A - We were looking for major distribution, getting the album everywhere. The budget we needed to record the album that we always wanted to record, which is this one even though our last two budgets were very good. And, just that major label pull. Capitol has let us do exactly what we want to do. That's a liberty that very few bands enjoy, being able to do exactly what they want. No one's out there telling us we have to have a ballad on this album. We've never had a ballad and never will. Right now, Metallica does a ballad because they want to and they write brilliant ballads which are like finely crafted pieces of music. Very different, but they're all kind of dark images. A lot of the other Thrash bands now, it's like they have the one ballad because their label demands it. If Metallica didn't want to do a ballad, no one at Elektra is going to tell them to do it. Right now, Capitol is treating us marvelously. It's like amazing. We've got huge budgets, seven album deals, one hundred percent of our publishing, which is almost unheard of. Some of your biggest bands out there I'm sure don't get it. I'm talking like mega, multi-Platinum bands, and they may be millionaires, but they're not getting all of their publishing.

Q - It sounds like you're quite the businessman.

A - Yeah. I stay in touch. Nothing goes on without me knowing about it. They're letting us do what we do best, Thrash, 'cause they know that's what will sell, not a watered down version of what they found in the first place,

Q - If Capitol Records was waiting in the wings for Exodus, waiting for your first record contact to expire, why didn't Capitol just buy your contract out?

A - They tried, since our second album. But in order to buy it, someone's gotta say, "Okay. I'll sell it." And Combat (Records) played this game of, "Yes, we'll sell it. No, we won't." We would have been on Capitol two albums ago except Combat didn't want to sell the band. But the contract we had with Combat was pretty amazing considering an Indi label. Two albums long, rather than eight or nine, great budgets. We got all our publishing then. We've been signed to Capitol for some time now.

Q - Your record was produced by The H Team. Who's that?

A - The H Team is Holt and Hunolt (members of the band).

Q - You mean to tell me that a record company like Capitol would allow a band to produce themselves?

A - Yeah. They left everything up to us. They didn't tell us to do anything. We just did everything on our own. They actually didn't hear the record until we started mixing it, without saying anything. They've been real supportive, which is great. They're happy with it and we're happy.

Q - What's the difference between Thrash and Hard Core?

A - Thrash is like Heavy Metal, but a little beyond that, a little faster. Hard Core is just like a real fast, just speed all the way through. There's a whole different meaning to it, the songs they write about. To put us in the category of Thrash is what we are, not Heavy Metal. If we're in the category of Heavy Metal, we'd be competing with the likes of Warrant or Motley Crue.

Q - What is it about Thrash that you like and what is it you think other people like about that music?

A - Well, what I like about it is the energy. It just keeps going without stopping. It's just like the adrenalin keeps going. It's kind of hard to explain. It's like a big rush.

© Gary James. All rights reserved.

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