{"id":43905,"date":"2016-02-29T13:00:57","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T19:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toiletovhell.com\/?p=43905"},"modified":"2016-02-29T12:28:55","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T18:28:55","slug":"i-talked-to-black-fast-about-what-its-like-to-be-a-middle-school-metalhead-in-st-louis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/i-talked-to-black-fast-about-what-its-like-to-be-a-middle-school-metalhead-in-st-louis\/","title":{"rendered":"I Talked To Black Fast About What It&#8217;s Like To Be A Middle School Metalhead In St Louis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Black Fast<\/strong> are one of the most exciting bands in the game these days. Aaron Aakin, the band&#8217;s charming, fresh-faced frontman was nice enough to sit down with me for a few minutes in St. Vitus before he took the stage to devastate a nearly sold out crowd. Coming right from a guest spot at Sirius XM, the dudes were excited and ready to rip.\u00a0Chatting with Aakin about his band, youth, and of course<strong> Death<\/strong> was a true pleasure.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><b>How the hell are you?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m well, how are you doing?<\/p>\n<p><b>I&#8217;m wonderful. <\/b><\/p>\n<p>Excellent.<\/p>\n<p><b>You&#8217;ve been on the road for a minute, how are you feeling?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been four days, and I&#8217;m feeling pretty good. We&#8217;ve been touring off and on since August since the record came out, and we went right up until about Christmas. Then\u00a0we took a break for a couple of months, and now we are getting shit going again.<\/p>\n<p><b>Europe?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Not yet. Hopefully. We have nothing in the works. If not this album then the next.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  style=\"display: block; margin: 0px auto;\"  id=\"_ytid_11750\"  width=\"320\" height=\"240\"  data-origwidth=\"320\" data-origheight=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RBNc7kU_cmw?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>Are you already planning for the next album?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Not in the business sense, but us as dudes and players we have stuff. Trevor and I live together, and Ross just lives a few blocks away, so we are always tinkering and getting song ideas.<\/p>\n<p><b>If you&#8217;re living in such close proximity how do you not get sick of each other?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Exactly! I started living with Ross when I was 19, and he was not even 21. We worked together too and were together all the time. Then we toured together in bands, and we still haven&#8217;t killed each other.\u00a0So far, so good.<\/p>\n<p><b>Why do you think you&#8217;ve been able to do so much with these people an not kill them?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>We want similar things. We are all pretty mellow dudes and pretty like-minded. None of us freak out or have meltdowns. We know what we expect of this and of each other, and we don&#8217;t need to talk about it at this point. We&#8217;ve been around each other for so long that I wouldn&#8217;t have to talk to Ross for ten years, and we would be fine. When you&#8217;re around the same dudes for so long that becomes the dynamic.<\/p>\n<p><b>Well it&#8217;s like having a bunch of marriages.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, maintaining them and stuff. I definitely have to invest more into this than I would have to in a relationship. I can&#8217;t say that about marriage because I haven&#8217;t been married, but it&#8217;s lot of work. Not just being in a band but maintaining relationships. You don&#8217;t put effort into trying to stay friends, but getting it together and doing the practices and rehearsals everyone knows that&#8217;s the gig. It&#8217;s what we like to do. It is work and it isn&#8217;t, to some degree.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/skullsnbones.com\/snb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/black-fast-aaron-interview.jpg?resize=552%2C259\" alt=\"\" width=\"552\" height=\"259\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>You&#8217;ve done a bunch of cool shit thus far, but what is the goal for the next couple of months? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>In the next couple of months we just want to tour. It&#8217;s going to be summertime. The record has been out for six months or so, here comes spring and summer, we have to nail it.<\/p>\n<p><b>One of the things that got me about Black Fast initially is the Death worship \u2013 let&#8217;s talk about that. What do you love about Death?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Just that they are perfect! There&#8217;s really not a lot of bands that are unfuckwithable. There isn&#8217;t any blemish on any part of Death&#8217;s catalog. Maybe it&#8217;s just because Chuck died while still in his prime \u2013 maybe he hadn&#8217;t peaked yet, who knows. Everything they have done is perfect. They are a pinnacle metal band, and there&#8217;s not a whole lot out there who can say that. They are a band who all of us grew up listening to it, we never said, \u201cLet&#8217;s sound like Death.\u201d I guess that influence was just kind of there. When we started this band we would just get together in our basement. Trevor would come over and that&#8217;s how we would sound. If you listen to our first EP&#8217;s that&#8217;s just the sound of us jamming for three years before we had music out. I was never a singer; I was just like, \u201cFuck it, I&#8217;ll go for it.\u201d And people thought I sounded like Chuck which blew me away. If people want to say that we are a death worship band that&#8217;s fine. Who can complain? Why would I have a problem with that? I could be like, \u201cFuck no, man we&#8217;re original.\u201d Everything has been done, who cares? Death is an awesome band.<\/p>\n<p><b>Does the fact that everything has been done ever bother you?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hell no! I&#8217;m super stoked about music! I don&#8217;t care about that. I think it&#8217;s a healthy thing to take note of; you can&#8217;t be naive but be yourself \u2013 who cares? If you&#8217;re yourself then you will be fundamentally different, but being yourself is one of the hardest parts.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theaquarian.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/09-02-Buzz-Black-Fast.jpg?resize=375%2C250\" alt=\"\" width=\"375\" height=\"250\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>I have a theory that you can tell a lot about a person based off of their favorite Death record. What is your favorite Death album? <\/b><\/p>\n<p>I guess <i>Symbolic <\/i>because that was the first one I heard when I was a kid. &#8220;Lack Of Comprehension&#8221; was I think the first Death song I ever heard, then I heard &#8220;Pull the Plug,&#8221; and so I got into <i>Leprosy<\/i>. I heard that shit when I was like 12, and it was like, \u201cWhy don&#8217;t I know about this band?\u201d It wasn&#8217;t like my friends were Death fans. I had older cousins into metal but that was kind of it. It was just like, \u201cWell this band rules!\u201d So I had to get into it on my own. I love it all though. I love <i>Scream Bloody Gore.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>What is it like being a middle school metalhead in St Louis?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Well I was in middle school in 2000! Still though, I remember the fist time I heard <i>Master of Puppets<\/i>. I had an older cousin trying to show me<strong> Korn<\/strong> and <strong>System of a Down<\/strong> and then he played &#8220;The Thing That Should Not Be&#8221; and I was like, \u201cOh yeah! Whatever that is!\u201d Then he played more off <em>Puppets<\/em> and I was like, \u201cThat.\u201d Then I got older and he showed me <strong>Slayer,<\/strong> and I thought it was the scariest thing ever. I wondered if those guys were actually evil. He showed me a VHS tape of one of their shows and it was terrifying. It was this intriguing thing that I was drawn to. It was kind of tantalizing because it was a little scary. Then I got older and it became something I kept to myself. I would maybe wear a metal shirt outside of school but I was a quiet guitar player worshiping <strong>Sepultura<\/strong> until I got to high school. I kind of kept it to myself. I might have been the only metalhead in my middle school, so by the time I was 17 I was like, \u201cFuck this I want to start a metal band!\u201d And I eventually got there. I always jut wanted to be in a band and make music and cruise around with a CD and be like, &#8220;I made this.&#8221; Being able to do that in the early stages was the goal. It was never really more ambitious than that.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/drscdn.500px.org\/photo\/129356375\/q%3D80_h%3D300\/df1fa09e1731658e4022d3185c662acd\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>Now that you&#8217;ve gotten there, how does it feel to live the dream?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I just want to stay on the ride and not think about it to much. I feel like to be doing what we are doing, to do the tours we have done, to have done a record with Erik Rutan, to play shows in Brooklyn. I just want to keep my head down and keep working and not freak myself out. I&#8217;m trying not to forget to have a good time doing it and being in the moment?<\/p>\n<p><b>How do you maintain being in the moment?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Talking to people who come to the shows. Forcing yourself to meet awesome people and to talk to the people who come out. It&#8217;s a grind being on the road and mos of the time when you&#8217;re loaded in and set up you&#8217;re whipped and then you have to play and breakdown and all that shit. It&#8217;s part of the grind. I think the biggest thing is to be present and to meet as many people as you can. It&#8217;s communicating your art through music.<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay up to date with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BlackFast\/timeline\" target=\"_blank\">Black Fast on Facebook <\/a>and check them out at a venue near you.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/12647499_981963318558779_7719915016899208934_n.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-43963\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-43963\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/12647499_981963318558779_7719915016899208934_n.jpg?resize=623%2C960&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Black Fast Tour\" width=\"623\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/12647499_981963318558779_7719915016899208934_n.jpg?w=623&amp;ssl=1 623w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/12647499_981963318558779_7719915016899208934_n.jpg?resize=195%2C300&amp;ssl=1 195w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 623px) 100vw, 623px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Black Fast are one of the most exciting bands in the game these days. Aaron Aakin, the band&#8217;s charming, fresh-faced frontman was nice enough to sit down with me for a few minutes in St. Vitus before he took the stage to devastate a nearly sold out crowd. Coming right from a guest spot at Sirius XM, the dudes were excited and ready to rip.\u00a0Chatting with Aakin about his band, youth, and of course Death was a true pleasure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":43906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Matt Bacon sat down with Aaron Aakin of Black Fast!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[478],"tags":[788,1215,216,4909],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/black-fast-2015.jpg?fit=960%2C450&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43905"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}