Is Patrick there?

This is he.

Hey, this is Jason, how you doing?

Hey man, pretty good, how’s it going?

Good. Everything going good there.

Yeah. Yeah. Where you at today?

I am in Chicago.

Chicago? What are you doing there?

We are trying to finish this record.

How’s that going?

It’s going good man, it’s going really good.

Start off. Tell me a little about your relationship with the rest of the guys. Where did you first meet? When did you start rehearsing together? All that stuff.

I had met Mike briefly. My friend owns a studio in Santa Monica called Clown Records and I was playing with him and Sonny Mayo, his name’s Steve-O, I was playing with Sonny Mayo and him from Snot. Or Sonny’s from Snot actually … Snot, Amen, Hed p.e., all that. And, Mike was in there. He was just visiting a friend of his that was there. And, we like met for probably like five minutes. That’s about it. And then Sonny left to go join Hed p.e. and he was like ‘dude, you should try out for Drowning Pool.’ I’m like ‘yeah, that’d be coo.’ He called them up. I sent ‘em some stuff and the rest has just been great man.

Were you ever part of a band before that? How long ago was this?

Yeah, man. I’ve been in bands since I was like 12 years old. My audition for the band was April 1^st. Like I said, I’m still waiting on them to tell me it’s an April Fool’s joke. You know what I mean? It’s like huh, I’m waiting on the shoe to drop. But, I’ve been doing this, basically my whole life.

What kind of process was it? Did they actually have try-outs for the band or did you guys just click?

Yeah. They had auditions and stuff. I went for mine, that night, I actually dreamed before I even went out there. I had never met Stevie or anything, but I dreamed I was talking to him, which was weird as hell. And I go, ‘wazzup man, am I in the band or what?’ and he’s like ‘dude, you’ve been in the band the whole time, quite being a dumb ass.’ So when I got there, I was like ‘whoa, damn there’s that dude.’  It was pretty crazy. They auditioned a bunch of people. They got tons and tons of CD’s. But, I think only, probably tops 10 of us made it to the room to actually play. And I guess they just figured hell, we’ll keep this guy. He’s ugly and he ain’t got no money.

How did that make you feel when you first found out? Were you just like flying?

Awe, I’m still flying man. You know what I mean? I worked basically my whole life to do this shit. To find I actually have a chance to do it, especially with people who are cool and no egos involved, it’s just like a typical dream-come-true thing.

So are you from the California area?

I lived in Venice for probably 12 years. Venice and Hollywood back and forth for about 12 years. I’m originally from South Carolina. When I left there, there was no music scene whatsoever at all. So, I packed up my bags and I moved to Beverly Hills, I guess. Not Beverly Hills literally.

Have you guys played any live shows since you joined the band?

We played one show and it was just like a small, little intimate type thing. We were are rehearsal one night, playing all the new stuff. I think it was Mikey looks at me and goes, ‘we should go play this shit for real and see what happens.’ I’m like ‘alright, coo.’ And then they got on the phone and booked the show the next day. It was at, I think the Curtain Club in Dallas. We didn’t even tell anybody we were playing. It was like, it ended up being like two, three hundred people. Just a little quick show to try out the new stuff. It was cool.

Did word of mouth spread and more people start showing up?

Oh yeah dude. I mean, we figured there’d be like 20 people there. Of course, you tell one friend and they tell a friend. Snowball effect. But it was cool.

How would you describe the emotions of the rest of the band as they get ready to do it all over again?

It depends on what day it is man. Just kidding. No everybody’s just glad as hell to be able to still have a chance to do it. For one thing. And then you know. Just the whole thing, for them, it seems like, being able to get back on the road … after you tour for two years straight and the whole rug gets pulled out from under you, I’m sure they were going crazy sitting at home. Plus it kind of distracts you from thinking about what all happened and everything.

What are your feelings as you guys get ready to hit the road for this Headbangers Ball tour and the new album coming out and all that stuff?

Dude, I’m just happy as hell to be here. You know what I mean. I’m like ‘good God.’ I’m so damn happy I just want to get out there and do it. Let’s go.

Are there any big plans this summer for a big tour, or a headlining tour, or anything like that after the Headbanger’s Ball is over?

I don’t know. I think we’re supposed to play the Donnington. In Donnington in England or whatever.

Yeah.

I don’t really know what it is, cause, you know, I’m the new guy. I ain’ts never been over there. As far as a headlining tour, I don’t know, but that too me to be big. They tell me its gonna be like 50,000 people or some shit. That’ll be a weird trip for me. That’s for damn sure. Basically, right now, we’re just trying to finish up the record.

What can fans expect from the new material?

It’s really diverse. There’s stuff on there that is … I mean the last album was great, no disrespect to that record at all, I’m not saying this ones better or anything like that, don’t get me wrong, but this album is a lot more diverse. There’s like songs that are just way heavier than anything that was on there last time, and songs that are way lighter. It’s not one of records that, not saying the last one was, cause they had slower stuff on there also, but it’s not one of those where you just get beat the hell out of for the thirty minutes you listen to it, you know what I mean? It kind of takes you on a little ride. So, it’s cool. It’s gonna be a good one man. Especially with all the … with all the emotions those guys went through for the past year, or however long its been, year or two.

How big of an influence does Dave have on this band, as far as a spiritual presence with the other members, and the old songs that you guys are gonna be singing?

Of course, he was a big part of the band, and he’s gonna basically always have a big effect on the band, he was a fuckin’ best friend and shit. As far as musically, the old stuff that we’re doing, I mean there’s songs that we won’t do because that was like his baby. You know what I mean? Like “Sermon” we’ll never play that song live. We’re just trying to keep the whole rock thing going. That’s basically all I have to say about that.

So, tell me a little bit about that this single on the “Punisher” soundtrack that you did with Ben Moody. Is that like a Wind-up compilation through the record company?

Naw. Ben actually asked me to do it. The record company had no, I mean he had to tell them eventually, you know what I mean. We were sitting there one night and he goes ‘dude, I got this bridge, and Jason,’ the other Jason, he goes ‘he has a voice that’s totally different and it would sound cool if you came in, cause I want the bridge to be really heavy.’ So I went in there did a warm up take, and then I did one more take and then they stuck that shit on there (laughs). But, I mean it was cool, man. Ben’s a great guy. I love the guy.

I talked to him last year, and actually, I don’t know. I’m pretty happy he got out of that situation he was in, cause it seemed like that was kind of a stagnant deal.

Yeah.

So, when you think about the music that this band is making now, what are you most excited about? In the future and down the road.

You know what man, like I said, I’m just glad as hell to get a chance to do it. Musically, it’s cool to me cause I’m so fucking sick of these whiny ass bastards. That are just, you know, thirty years old whining about their parents and shit.

Staind (laughs).

I’m not naming any names.

Right.

But, I can’t deal with that shit, you know what I mean? It’s like ‘god damn, if you don’t like it, move out the fuckin’ house.’ You don’t live there no more, just quite whining. We’re just trying to have a good time and play music and, fuckin’ that’s what it’s about to me. To be able to do that is bad ass. I’m like, yeah sometimes it’s a lot of work, whatever. Fuck it, you’re fuckin’ lucky to be working. Like that kind of shit, that bubblegum, supposed punk shit makes me fuckin’ sick. I will name a couple of those motherfuckers. No, just kidding. (laughs).  That kind of shit, it’s cool to me, I mean we got slower songs, but they still got balls, you know what I mean? It’s cool to be able to go out and play shit that you know … you probably get the random jackass bein’ like, ‘aw I don’t like that, it’s too pussy.’ It’s like, there’s no way you can sit down and listen to that and actually say that it sounds pussified. I mean, it might have some melody in it, but it’s still heavy and hell, and that’s bad ass to me. To be able to do it and not have to whine like a bitch is cool to me.

Well said.

Thank you, thank you.

If you can share the stage with any bands, past or present, no matter where they’re from, what would those bands be?

The coolest thing for me, is like, we’re going out with Damageplan. So I’m gonna have Vinny and Dime there, you know what I mean. That’s fuckin’, you don’t get too much cooler than that (laughs). Like the first show we did, the one show that we did, I look out and I see Dime looking at me, and I’m like ‘oh god damn.’ It make me feel like a fuckin’ idiot. But it was cool. I’d like to play with, of course, those guys. I’d like to play with the Deftones, cause I’ve known those dudes for quite some time. I would not want to play with Tool. Because they would smoke us so bad, I would fee like a fuckin’ idiot. I’d love to play with Snot again, but that’s not possible. My old band used to play with them a lot and it was just like, god damn, those dudes were, that’s the most energetic live band I’ve ever seen. Ozzy would be the shit, Sabbath. That’s pretty much it.

Well, cool man. Thanks for getting a hold of me. I know you’re a busy man right now.

Well, thank you bro.

I’m really looking forward to the new material, and looking forward to the new material and seeing you guys out there again.

Oh, Motorhead, gotta have Motorhead. Love Motorhead.

Yeah.

And Motley Crue.

Have you heard any of that new Probot?

Yeah. I heard their song with Lemmy. I haven’t heard the rest of the record. But anything with Lemmy on it’s gonna sound cool. Thanks bro, I appreciate it.

Well thank you man.

All right. You have a good one.

You too.