PRONG are set to release their new "Ruining Life" on 28^th April, and to mark this momentous occasion, they have set out on a blazing tour across Europe, along with the very new Italian band KLOGR as support.
 

First up on stage was KLOGR, an Alternative Rock / Metal band formed in 2011. The fact that such a young band is already on tour with such a genre-defining band as PRONG speaks to how good they are musically, and their performance on stage was further proof of why this band has come so far so quickly. When KLOGR first started out their set, there were only a few dozen people standing at the very back of the venue; rather ironic, seeing as KLOGR's second song of the night was entitled "Draw Closer". Yet this did not deter these four young Italians. With catchy songs and undaunted enthusiasm, they slowly entreated the crowd closer and closer to the stage, one foot at a time, and by the end of their performance they had definitely won over the crowd. Dedicating the last song to Sea Shepherd, a conservation organisation aimed at protecting the oceans, KLOGR left the by then substantial crowd eagerly awaiting the legendary PRONG.
 

Setlist:
1. Room to Doubt
2. Draw Closer
3. Vultures Feast
4. Bleeding
5. King of Unknown
6. Failing Crowns
7. Zero Tolerance
8. Guilty and Proud
9. Hell of Income
10. Guinea Pigs
 

Finally, it was the moment all had been waiting for: the lights dimmed out, the background music faded out, and in its place, an almost Southern intro came oozing out of the speakers, and PRONG appeared on stage, momentarily hailing the audience before launching straight into "For Dear Life". Needless to say, the crowd went absolutely wild; by the time PRONG played the title track from their new album "Ruining Lives", the audience was at an almost feverish pitch. This new song was very well received by the audience, with the band almost having to fall silent as the crowd chanted their name. "Cutrate" with its amazing solo and catchy tune was another song that sent the audience into a state of bliss, as did the track "Turnover", also off of the forthcoming album. This song is heavy, powerful and thrashy, and incorporates a face-melting solo which had everyone's upturned faces staring in awe.
 

One of the amazing things about watching PRONG live is how much energy they consistently pour into each song throughout the entire performance. One only need look at the completely ravaged cymbals on the drum kit to see how much passion PRONG put into their music! With an amazingly long setlist which lasted close on two hours, much of the audience were looking worse for the wear towards the end of the gig, and yet there was PRONG, still energetically leaping across the stage, egging the crowd on. Just before playing "Whose Fist is this Anyway?", the frontman/guitarist Tommy asked everyone to raise their fists in the air, and for those in the crowd near the front who dared not obey, Tony the bassist literally went along the crowd, pulling everyone's fists into the air. Needless to say, these antics combined with the band's exuberant energy had the vast majority of the crowd jumping in time to the song. Any last remnants of vigour that the crowd could muster were soon used up by the absolute anthem "Snap your Finger, Snap your Neck", a track which sent the crowd into complete turmoil. After the final song, the band barely had time to leave the stage before the audience was hoarsely screaming for more, with vociferous calls for an encore. And PRONG most certainly did not disappoint! The first song of the encore, "Close the Door" took things down a notch, and gave the audience a welcome reprieve to quickly catch their breath enough to do the last few songs justice. Overall, it was an amazing performance with an excellent sound quality which allowed each and every note of the superbly executed solos to be clearly heard. It was definitely a night to remember, and there are undoubtedly many PRONG fans tenderly rubbing their necks this morning.
 

Setlist:
1. For Dear Life
2. Beg to Differ
3. Irrelevant Thoughts
4. Unconditional
5. Eternal Heat
6. Lost & Found
7. Ruining Lives
8. Third from the Sun
9. Cutrate
10. Rude Awakening
11. Turnover
12. Broken Piece
13. Carved Into Stone
14. Another Worldly Device
15. Whose Fist is This Anyway?
16. Snap Your Finger, Snap Your Neck
17. Power of the Damager
18. Close the Door
19. Dark Signs
20. Revenge Best Served Cold
21. Prove You Wrong

 

PRONG is currently on tour through Europe promoting their up-coming album "Ruining Lives" (stay tuned for a review of this album on Metal Temple next week!). I was lucky enough to catch up with Tommy Victor, the singer and guitarist of this highly influential band, and we had a chat about the new album, PRONG's influence, the New York music scene's history, and how to be an awesome band.

​Since PRONG's reunion in 2002, each album has been released on a different record label. Why is that? ​

There have been a lot of once-offs; Locomotive went out of business, and then 13 Planets sort of went out of business, and I didn't want to resign with them. Then we actually had two demos and had to find another label for "Carved into Stone". So there you have it really.

​And what made you go with SPV with your new album "Ruining Lives"? ​

Well, when we first spoke with them, they showed interest, the budget was pretty good, and they seemed to pretty supportive and interested in doing it. So, for the obvious reasons. If somebody bigger came around and offered us, we probably would have answered it, but that's what we got.

​On the topic of the new album "Ruining Lives", it's such a bleak title, and the titles of the tracks seem to deal with obstacles and having to change. What is the inspiration behind that album? ​

It's just daily life for me. I'm always hit with obstacles, and I've been learning to smile through them and trying to get more faith in my life, so to speak. Those are the topics I prefer to write about, instead of demons and dragons and Celtic issues or what have you. That's what Rock N Roll is all about too:  those basic personal troubles, back to guys like Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan and people like that. It's reflective.

​Metal's history is full of being misunderstood, and the title "Ruining Lives" is fairly open to misinterpretation. What is the message you are trying to promote with it? ​

They are ruining our lives. Everyone's lives are getting ruined by false living, addictions, media, crappy television, the internet, phones… And it also has a financial vibe to it. I always think about when I was younger, and when PRONG was starting, I had a phone in my little shitty apartment in New York. I barely used it; I think it was like $8 a month. I didn't need it. What did I need a phone for? I didn't have a pager, didn't have internet, and everything was fine. And now suddenly, I'm sure my email will go off in the next 10 minutes "Oh, I have to do this" or "Buy this" or "This is another deal", something of that nature. We're too connected and it takes a lot of our time and money. I think it takes us away from spiritual things, and trying to work on yourself and your own serenity. That's what I mean by "Ruining Lives". And I think it is kind of a conspiracy too. I believe that a group of people has this all planned out, and they're pocketing all our money and inevitably they are going to keep squeezing us for more money, and then take control of all this stuff. And I'm one to talk, I'm watching a baseball game on an iPad.

​It's amazing how many bands recently have started writing about government control and how our lives are so controlled. It seems like a real trend currently. ​

Well, it's nothing new for PRONG. "Beg to Differ" and the song "For Dear Life" is about that too; it's about capitalism. There's nothing wrong with capitalism, there's nothing wrong with struggling and going ahead trying to better yourself, but there has to be some sort of balance. That's what I'm trying to do; trying to reduce all these dependencies that we have, and that carries onto the rest of the lyrics on the album. "Ruining Lives" is a little bit different, more politically centred in the rest of the lyrics.

​And what can fans expect from the new album musically? Say in comparison to "Carved into Stone"? ​

I think it's similar to "Carved into Stone", it's a good follow-up. The vocals have gone up another level. There's some anthems on "Carved into Stone" like "Keep on living in pain" and "Put Myself to Sleep", and there's more of those type of anthems on "Ruining Lives". They're all solid songs; some of the songs on "Carved into Stone" are a little bit more ethereal, like "Path of Least Resistance". I think there's stronger material on this record.

​Are there any plans for a music video from the new album yet? ​

I've been wanting one but everyone's telling me that it's just a waste of time. What we'll probably do is a lyric video. To spend money on a video is not the greatest idea, but I have been pushing for it, so we'll see what happens. But they are going to do a lyric video.

​PRONG have often been referred to as a band that carves their own path and are never one to follow in the footsteps of others. Is this intentional, or more of a happy coincidence? ​

That comes naturally. It started out in the band like that because there were so many Thrash bands, there were so many Hardcore bands, that we just had to do things differently. I'm pretty grateful that the longevity of the project has gone on so long. I look at models, and watch others to see what to do and what not to do, and I'll take bits and pieces. I wish I had a huge concept, but for the most part, it's some outside source that dictates the way I do things. I'm certainly not well-educated enough and smart enough to do what I'm doing half the time.

​What have been your influences over the years, both musically and in general? Have these stayed the same, or have they changed and evolved? ​

Musically, the bands I like span different types of genres. From KILLING JOKE to Jaz Coleman. I like him a lot, he's one of my biggest vocal influences. And then Jimi Hendrix influenced my guitar playing. I like old 60s music a lot, like GARAGE PUNK's stuff. I like modern Metal too, like METALLICA, SLAYER. Musically it spans a lot. I grew up on R&B music really. I had older brothers and sisters who were listening to things like THE JACKSON 5, you know, Motown music, THE BEATLES, ROLLING STONES was stuff I'd listen to as a kid. Eventually I got more into things that were dark and Goth, which goes with horror movies and comic books. I'm into Steven King. And there are other books, like more self-help books. The guy I really got into was Tony Robbins, this self-help guy and I was listening to his stuff a lot. I like the way he incorporates stuff from Eastern religion into modern Western society. I thinks that's really cool; somehow applying this ancient knowledge into this life, which is pretty much a superficial life that we lead. How do you get in touch with God? It's very difficult. That's something I read here and there and think about a lot.

​Many bands say that where they come from has a huge impact on who they are as a band. For example PRIMORDIAL say that a lot of their influence comes from being Irish. Do you think that life in New York in the 80s influenced your music? ​

Yeah, totally. It was a fusion of so many styles. Mainly Noise New York music, which was groups like SWANS and THE CONTORTIONS, THE BUSH TETRAS, the Dance music scene, and Hardcore as well. There were so many clubs, like you'd go to the Mud Club, which was a club in New York, and you'd hear bands like THE HUMAN LEAGUE, or ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN. Then later on you'd have the Max's Kansas City scene, which had all the Rock bands. Then CBGB had the Punk bands and Hardcore bands, like AGNOSTIC FRONT and BAD BRAINS. And later on it was the crossover Metal things, based on the Thrash Metal scene of the Bay area. It sort of fused into New York, and then you'd have bands like PRONG. And then Groove Metal, which was bands like PRONG, HELMET, and WHITE ZOMBIE. There was just so much going on. Again, we did this without phones, without internet. There was a lot of communication via tape trading with cassettes; I used to communicate with a lot of fanzines with handwritten interviews and letters. And people had to go to shows. You'd have a selection of many different venues just in Manhattan alone, in the lower East Side, Uptown, everywhere. Then you'd get Brooklyn and New Jersey; there was a lot more going on. Now it's all laptops and iPads.

​A lot of bands like KORN and NINE INCH NAILS have cited PRONG as having influenced their music. Do you have any advice for any young bands that look up to you? ​

Things are done differently these days. I'm trying to modernise my approach, and I think that the new PRONG record "Ruining Lives" was good. I didn't do it conceptually, but through knowledge from doing this for so long I knew exactly what not to do. You can pile on the duties and say "More, more! Do this!" but it's exactly the opposite. You have to write a good song, and concentrate on that and then I think you'll be fine. Kids today tend to be really concerned with technique and where I came from, that really wasn't important. You got guys like Johnny Thunder from THE HEARTBREAKERS and it was so basic, but it had an attitude. I see these band, these guys are playing every scale. They have the best haircuts in the world, and they're the nicest looking guys that I've ever seen. They look like really hot chicks! And the drummer is great and plays all these double kicks all over the place. And it doesn't work. Why? Because they're just copying and doing what they are supposed to be doing. So if you get an attitude of doing something you're not supposed to do, maybe the art gods will appreciate it. That's why you look at guys like Jack White. He completely obliterated the music scene by doing something that was so basic and nothing to it, but that was so real that it was amazing. You've got to be true to yourself too. Sitting in your basement and learning every scale that you see on a YouTube tutorial is not going to help you. For lyricists and songwriters, it's important to be aware of current events, maybe read spiritual books, read books, talk to people don't just copy what the lyrics are on the new BLIND GUARDIAN record or something.

​Great, that sounds like good advice! Thank you very much for your time. ​

Thank you very much!