E-mail: Neon
Interview with George Call of ASKA
Introducing George Call of ASKA.
Vocalist, Lead Guitarist, Song Writer, Lover of Heavy Metal, Rock
Musician, and founder of ASKA. A
Dallas/Ft. Worth area band that sounds like any great Metal band out there (ie.
Kiss, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest). I recently got to see the band open up
for two great heavy metal bands of all time: Lizzy Borden and Saxon.
I'm convinced now more than ever ASKA is just as good! If you would like to listen to them
check out my mp3.com
station or their mp3.com
station and of course check them out at www.askaband.com.
This interview conducted in November 2001.
1.
When did you first start playing the guitar?
I
started playing when I was about fourteen years old. I remember telling my parents that I really wanted an
electric guitar but they said they’d get me an acoustic and that I should
start with that. I insisted on an
electric but they refused and I got neither.
They probably assumed that I’d play guitar for a few weeks and then
cast it aside like kids do in their adolescent years.
I realized they wouldn’t simply get me the electric because I wanted
it, so I made a deal with my Dad. If
I bought the guitar with my own money, saved from allowances or whatever, then
he’d get me an amp. I paid about sixty bucks for my first guitar which was
little beginner thing. Strat style. Piece of shit, but I was in heaven. I
can’t even remember the brand name of the guitar but my Dad kept his end of
the deal and got me a little 15 watt Marlboro amp. I’d go across the street
from my house to some office buildings after hours and plug into their exterior
outlets so I could crank it up without having to hear my Mom telling me to turn
down. It’s also the only way I
could get distortion as I didn’t have any effects yet. I’d crank the shit
out of the amp to where the speaker couldn’t take it anymore and that’s how
I got my distortion.
2.
When did you start singing?
Well,
I started attempting to sing in my second band, Virgin.
We couldn’t find any good singers and we figured, “Why take somebody
that sucks and split our money further when I could do just as terrible a
job?” I was horrendous but still
on par with many people that were claiming to be singers so what the heck right?
Over the years something happened, practice I guess, and I suddenly found myself
hitting these high notes and holding my own with many of the singers that I
respected. I didn’t intend or originally set out to be a singer. Early on
I’d tape myself singing along to records and figured my voice sucked because I
didn’t like what I was hearing during the playbacks. I can recall hearing my
brother hit these high notes, imitating Raven, and for the life of me I
couldn’t hit those notes but he and I have extremely similar voices so I knew
the potential was there, even though he couldn’t really sing either. Our
voices to this day remain so close in fact that people, even our parents,
confuse us for each other on the phone. We
used to fuck with each other’s friends a lot when they’d call. I gradually
got my voice in shape over the years to where I felt and was finally comfortable
calling myself a singer. And my vocals just keep getting stronger and stronger.
Before we started touring I’d lose my voice about halfway through our shows
but it seems the more the band worked and did the hard livin’ thing on the
road, the longer I could go. My voice is fairly impervious now. Even if I’m
sick I can deliver nine times out ten times. The guitar was always the emphasis
for me but as things go, I seem to have garnered more accolades for my voice
than for my guitar playing.
3.
Have you had any vocal training?
I’m
completely self-taught. I did garner a bit of insight from some singing tapes
that a friend of mine had purchased but I never paid anybody or went for lessons
or anything like that. For me, the teachers were those singers that I admired
and respected. I’d watch, listen,
and imitate. What’s cool about my singing voice is that I can hit the highs
but still sound like a man as opposed to some of the guys that sound like young
boys. Staying in key is crucial to good singing. If you can’t stay in key you
shouldn’t be singing. Learning harmony was also crucial to my development as a
singer. I would attempt to sing harmony to everything. Believe it or not there
was a time when I had no concept of harmony or even that it existed.
I’d hear some cool harmony part and just assumed that it was unison
background vocals. I never realized that it sounded so cool because harmonies
were being applied. I could never figure out why all of the background vocals in
my early bands never sounded rich and full like we’d hear on the records.
It’s all stuff you learn as you go. When I discovered harmonies it was like
somebody suddenly turned on the lights. I remember asking this guy that I worked
with, Doug Maxwell or “Freddie Mercury” as we called him, to show me to find
and hit harmonies. He knew thirds and fifths, whatever and could pull them out
of a hat all day. He said “you just have to hear it”. That was the secret.
And once you heard it you had to stay with your part. Beginner harmony singers
will usually drift into the melody or somebody else’s part almost
instinctively. You have to fight the unison instinct to sing good harmony. I
worked long and hard to learn that but I did it on my own. One has to be
self-motivated. To this day I still work and practice my harmonies. I couldn’t
conceive that I’d wanted to play music professionally and didn’t know what a
harmony was or how to play or sing one. Today
I’m all about harmony. You hardly hear it in nu-metal at all.
4.
When did you know you wanted to be a Rock Star?
In
about fifth grade after discovering KISS. That band affected me profoundly. To
this day I’m still a fan, though I’m a bit disillusioned with the whole
Peter Criss/Eric Singer debacle. As
an adult now, Rock Star is nice but Rock musician works for me too.
As long as I’m playing, everything’s good.
5.
Who decided or came up with the name ASKA?
Some
dudes we’d met while in high school had come up with the name and were using
it for their gang. They invited us to be a part of their thing after they attended a couple
of shows that my last high school band, Leejon, had played. We ended up dating a couple of the girls in the group. The
whole group took to us really well and we really liked them as well. When we decided to pick a name for this band we
naturally gravitated towards that. It didn’t hurt either that I already had it
tattooed on my arm.
6.
What’s ASKA up to right now?
We’ve
been furiously auditioning drummers so we can record our followup to Avenger. We signed a deal with Italian label, Adrenaline records, for
Europe which we’re pretty excited about.
7.
Next CD’s release date?
The
next CD? Who knows? Next year sometime for sure, hopefully no later than summer.
Immediately though Adrenaline will be releasing our Avenger disc in Europe. The
European version will probably come in a digipack and will definitely be an
enhanced disc, featuring PC videos for “Crown Of Thorns” and “Angels of
War”. This thing is gonna be so
cool for the fans and it’s the only place the videos will be available. I can
guarantee you MTV won’t be playing them anytime soon.
8.
Are you having fun?
Sure.
9.
Where do you see ASKA in a couple of years?
On
stage or in the studio somewhere undoubtedly. I don’t care to speculate
because wherever we’ll be is where we’ll be. I just sailin’ wit’ the
breeze baby. Doesn’t matter as long as we’re crankin’ the metal.
10.
What do you think about groupies?
I
think they’re great. God love ‘em.
11. Does
ASKA still tour military bases?
Yeah,
but in light of the recent terrorist attacks in New York City, it’s likely
that we won’t be out this year. Not
out of fear or anything ‘cause anyone that’s followed our career closely
knows we’ve been to some of the most dangerous places in the world and lived
to tell the tale. I just think the military may have more important things on
their plate right now than playing host to a metal band from Dallas. One of the
places we stayed while on tour in Saudi Arabia, the Khobar towers, were
destroyed a few years back in a terrorist bombing. That was in Al-Khobar near
Dahran. In Riyadh, a car bomb went off and killed five at Eskan
village where we’d done several outdoor shows over the years at Eskan Park.
While on tour in Turkey one year we were locked down on the base because of the
PKK Kurdish terrorist group’s anniversary attacks or something like that.
While touring Bosnia we were issued flak jackets and helmets and often
had to wait for long periods of time enroute to shows or seek alternate routes
because of mines in the roadway. In Croatia we were doing a big outdoor fest in
the freezing cold while in the background, between breaks in the songs, we’d
hear machine gun fire in the distance. The
show continued on. We’ve never been ones to shy from danger.
12.
How
hard, do you think, it would be for ASKA to get a tour/show with bands like
Manowar, Iced Earth…etc.?
To
get a show? Not hard. To tour, who knows? Probably fairly hard unless there was
substantial label or mangement muscle involved. I’d be more than willing
though.
13.
What would you think of someone putting together a METALPALOOZA, locally?
Well,
I’d love to be involved but it’d probably sink like a lead balloon since
there really aren’t that many true metal bands locally.
The whole word Palooza to me stinks of alternative and has negative
conotations in my mind. It’s like a joke.
Palooza Schmalooza. I prefer terms like MetalFest. Fuck alternative.
There have been people that have put together these kinds of events here though. Anything that supports Metal or gives fans another
opportunity to discover and listen to Metal bands is cool with ASKA.
14.
What do you call a person who hangs out with musicians?
Friend.
15.
Are
you still working on the musical?
We’re
finally done with it. Now they’re
packaging and shopping it. Keith and I sent our personal photos and bios in
recently for the disc or program I think. It’s not really related to ASKA
other than two of the members are in it yet I fully comprehend everyone’s
interest. When the CDs become available we’ll let everyone know.
16.
Do you still write articles for magazines?
I
write for POWERPLAY in the UK. I do a monthly column for them called
“Stateside Cuts” with Hal “Alka” Selzer of New Jersey band, Silent
Witness, as well as disc reviews and some live reviews. Anyone reading this
wanting press for their Metal band, you can send your stuff to me via our ASKA
address which is
PO
BOX 181144
Arlington,
TX 76096-1144
Just
be sure to send it to George Call’s attention. No guarantees but if I like it
I’ll write about it. The mag is
really cool and doing extremely well. We’ve recently increased distribution
outside of Great Britain to Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada. We’re
hoping to make it available in the US someday. Most issues come with a free CD
and tons of reviews. It’s almost essential for metal fans as it’s a great
way to keep track of what’s new and what’s being released where. You’d be
surprised at how big the underground is getting and everything you’re liable
to miss while you’re not paying attention.
17.
How
do you feel about radio stations and how they have helped the demise of metal
music?
I
don’t listen to the radio for music. Haven’t
in years and probably won’t start anytime soon. It’s so fucked up corporate
that it’s an exercise in futility even trying to get them to play anything not
pre-approved and already on their playlists. Try the experiment and see for
yourself. Call your local rock radio station and request something like Slayer,
a major label act, and see if they play it.
Hell no they won’t play it. That would require breaking too many of
their corporate rules and these guys and gals want to remain gainfully employed.
Corporate radio is a fucking joke. You hear these smarmy deejays trying to act
irreverent and crazy, trying to put on airs like they’re
“shoot-from-the-hip” cool when in fact they’re too chicken-shit to play
music that’s not approved by their twice as chicken-shit program director.
What’s so cool about that? In a perfect world you’d have metal or rock
stations that played music because it rocks and because it’s good rather than “because
the label is gonna send us free trips to Disneyland and some giveaway concert
tickets!” It’s almost like
corporate radio are the record label’s bitches. All the label has to do is
wave the cash and prizes and just like these idiots on TV the radio stations
will do anything. It’s blatant
too. People think that laws against payola stopped that but it’s just not the
case. Payola, or bribery as it’s referred to in the real world, is only
illegal when it’s kept hush-hush. Smoke that for a while.
As long as it’s over the table, anything goes. Fuck radio unless they
play true metal. I wipe my ass with radio that doesn’t support my music. Those
that do play ASKA and other true metal bands; All my love and gratitude. With
readily accessible CD and cassette players and even MP3 players for cars these
days, why anybody is listening to the radio for music is beyond me. Sheep.
18.
I know since ASKA’s existence there have been major personnel changes.
Yet ASKA has always remained strong, out there, and ready to rock.
How do you explain this?
Well,
simple. Just because one guy doesn’t enjoy playing anymore and would rather do
something else doesn’t mean that everybody feels the same way, thus the band
perseveres. It would be stupid of me to stop eating meat because my sister
suddenly decides she’s going vegetarian, see what I mean? My motivations to
play don’t come from anyone but me so why let somebody else’s personal
crises ruin my fun? I don’t and won’t thus the band continues.
19.
In your opinion, is metal on it’s way back?
In
my opinion, No. It’s out there as it’s always been but I doubt it will ever
again achieve the exposure and airtime that it once had. It’s the nature of
music. Every generation is defined by their own set of musical heroes. I don’t
mean to be negative, just realistic. Most
people can’t name a single band on Metal Blade Records. That doesn’t spell
comeback to me. But it shouldn’t
really matter to the fans if Metal is as popular as Britney Spears or as
underground as Bluegrass music. As long as the music continues and we have great
bands out there then what the hell. That
the musicians don’t get rich off the music is unjust but survivable. Seriously, what do you think our fighter pilots are listening
to while they carpet bomb Afghanistan? I can tell you it’s not Puff Daddy and
his sampled Zeppelin riffs.
20.
How
does it make you feel to play live and hear everyone singing your songs word for
word?
That’s a great feeling. Certainly one of the things I love about performing. It’s how I get high. I also like it when I’m just a guy in the audience seeing somebody else and the whole place is singing along. That’s extremely powerful. It’s those types of moments when people are truly united under the power of music.
WHERE DID THE CONCEPTS COME
FROM FOR THESE ALBUMS/SONGS?
This
came from an old lyric I had laying around.
I thought, “What if there was a nuclear war or something and the only
four survivors in this particular area were he, she, you, and I?” We’d grieve, search for more survivors, and eventually start
thinking about restarting humanity. Unfortunately, no matter what the bible
might have you think, restarting humanity might not be such a success story with
such a limited gene pool. I don’t know though, we’d be two people up on Adam
& Eve.
This
was Keith’s concept almost exclusively, lyrically.
I just went in and added a few lines here or there which I thought made
it slightly more cohesive. We had a
roadie at the time, in prison now, who had accidentally shot one of his friends.
I’m not quite sure that this is what inspired Keith or not but it seems
feasible.
I
wanted “AVENGER” to be more than just another ASKA record thus I conceived
the Outword/Earth War concept that is loosely present throughout the disc. The
story’s presence in the songs was purposely left vague, as many people out
there don’t deal well with full concept albums.
Ok,
lets’ see. “The Stalker” was a song I had written in high school,
originally titled “Christian”. Keith
didn’t like my subject matter so he took it home and rewrote the lyrics, which
completely changed the song’s focus. I loved where he took it and thus what
you hear on disc.
“Killashandra”
was inspired by a Michael Whelan painting of the same name. I’m a huge fantasy
art buff. My concept was, here’s this woman on the planet Ballybran, sending
these distress messages to this guy on earth. He fears for her, tries to find
her, and in the process, falls in love with her though he’s only ever seen her
in dreams and visions. Everybody;
friends, family, co-workers, think he’s crazy and that it’s all in his mind.
The song of course doesn’t confirm or deny.
It’s not unlike the movie K-Pax. Is he crazy or is this girl really
sending him these distress signals from millions of light years away? Great
stuff I think. I’d like to update this song someday in the future. Maybe
followup the story or something. We’ll see.
Musically,
“Leprosy” came about because my brother, who was in the band at the time,
and I had just seen AC/DC in concert. Ballbreaker tour. We were so fired up that
we wanted to write a song in tribute of what they’d been doing all these
years. Something in their style, you know? “Leprosy” was the result. There
was also a lot of AIDS talk in the news at the time. I thought, man, the more
things change, the more things stay the same. Here we were dealing with this
highly contagious, sexual disease of the immune system in modern times and it
was really no different from people in prehistory dealing with other highly
contagious immune-system scourges like leprosy. Only
in the AIDS case, victims weren’t forced to live apart from society in
anything like the notorious leper colonies of yesteryear.
I imagine that some of these colonies still exist in regions of Africa
and maybe Latin America.
Thanks go out to George for taking time out of his busy schedule to do this interview for you, the music fans!
KEEP
ROCKIN'!
If you would like to contact me for interviews or reviews, email me at the link below and I will get back with you as soon as possible.
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E-mail: Neon