Indiana’s SKULLVIEW are a traditional heavy metal quintet consisting of Quimby ‘Earthquake’ Lewis (vocals), Dave Hillegonds (guitar), Dean Tavernier (guitar), Peter Clemens (bass) & Joe Garavalia (drums). They’ve been around since the mid 1990’s and have released three CD’s so far : Legends Of Valor (1997), Kings Of The Universe (1999) and Consquences Of Failure (2000). And number four is set for release later in the year. The band was set to perform at last year’s Classic Metal Festival already, but that didn’t work out in the end. Guitarist Dean Tavernier tells us all about it, and more.

We are from Indiana & play heavy metal. We formed in 1995, under the moniker of CESSPOOL. But CESSPOOL sounded too much like a grind band or something. Had we kept that name, we would have been forced into singing songs about the evils and hypocrisy of the multinational corporations. I never really understood why the grind and Bay area thrash bands were so upset about multinational corporations, so we just had to choose something different, so as not to have to go in that route, lyrically. So we ended up choosing SKULLVIEW, because it sounded much better. We did a rehearsal demo and signed with R.I.P. Records for a 3-album deal. We’ve released three albums, and played 2 or 3 shows a year since 1996.

SKULLVIEW only plays a couple of times a year because we don’t line up shows ourselves. We play a show when we are invited to play, and it is usually a couple of times a year. We’ve not had any offers from promoters to do any touring.

We are ambitious enough to want to write good heavy metal songs, and not sound like every other band out there, which is good enough for me. Next level? What do you mean by next level? This is the heavy metal underground, where we belong!! We are not trying to make music our career. If we wanted a career in music, we’d be forced into playing trendy garbage, and the name of the band would not be SKULLVIEW, and you wouldn’t be interviewing me now. We’d hire lawyers and PR people, and really go after a large record deal. I’m sorry, but we’re not going to be doing that.

The band has been doing nothing but writing new material. We rehearse once or twice a week, and that is it.

As far as I know, Massacre contacted R.I.P. and were interested in releasing the album in Europe. Apparently the album did not sell well in Europe, after little promotion and advertising, so the sales figures did not impress the money hungry Massacre Records enough to want to release Consequences Of Failure.

The deal with Iron Bonehead for vinyl was struck behind the closed doors of R.I.P. Records. We were told that vinyl would be coming, and it happened. We were not involved in the dealings, however we did get some copies of the vinyl in the end. I like the vinyl version of Consequences Of Failure a lot. Iron Bonehead and R.I.P. did a good job putting the thing together, I can’t complain.

Vinyl sounds better than CD, in my opinion. But I don’t mind either, as long as it is metal.

From what I understand all of our albums are to be pressed to vinyl.

I feel most of the progression for SKULLVIEW happened in the studio, from one release to the next. The sound quality has gotten better on each album, and that has a lot to do with us becoming more comfortable being in the studio. On the first album, we were so excited about getting an album recorded and released, that we may have rushed a few things in the studio. As far as our songwriting, not too much has changed over the years. Maybe we have just become more comfortable playing together as a band, which makes writing a little bit easier, because we’ve learned each other’s writing styles and tendencies.

Legends Of Valor is my favourite, songwise. I think the songs sounded a bit darker on that one, and the fact that it was our first album will always make me love that album. I like all the albums, however. My favourite songs would probably be Stone Of A Thousand Spells, In League With The Dragon and Palace Of The Boundless Cold.

I think the idea is necessary, because rap trends need to die, and die soon. Festivals like the CMF are the real deal. They don’t throw in some trendy band, just to draw a few more people. They let good, real heavy metal bands play, and everyone in the audience knows what is going on. So much different than a Milwaukee Metalfest, where so many genres are represented, and you get a mixed crowd of wiggers, mall metallers and real metalheads. In essence, you can’t call a festival like that a ‘metalfest.’

Yes, but I think the 1980’s underground will continue to thrive, despite the show. But I do think that the show will hopefully turn some new people on to the greatness that lies within the scene of traditional/classic heavy metal fucking music!!

We expect to be able to play, that’s for sure! We didn’t get to play last year, but hopefully we will this time. We’ll definitely show people what they missed last year.

We were scheduled to play at 10.00 P.M. on Saturday. Due to some pussies not wanting to play on Sunday, as they were scheduled, and some other fags not wanting to leave the stage when they were supposed to, our timeslot got pushed back later into the night. Just as we were bringing our gear to the stage, the venue closed and we were not able to play. It was impossible for all the members of the band to be in attendance on Sunday, therefore we could not play on Sunday. The bottom line is that we sacrificed our timeslot to accommodate other bands, and got screwed in the end. This will not happen again.

It is unclear at this point as to what exact songs we will play. We will do songs from each of our albums, and probably a new song or two, which have yet to be recorded.

We will continue to work at our respective jobs, pay off legal obligations, and rehearse some songs in our basement, and occassionally throw in a TED NUGENT or DEEP PURPLE covertune to have a little fun. We do not know what will happen in 2002. We will do some shows over the summer and hopefully record our new album, and get it released by the end of the year.

We haven’t figured out a title for the next album yet. A few ideas have been kicked around, but nothing concrete. The music for the album will be nothing new from SKULLVIEW. It will be the same driving SKULLVIEW material. Nothing experimental at all. Heavy metal is what you’ll get. We’ve not started looking for artwork yet, that will come after we decide on an albumtitle, and after we get the songs recorded. Some new songtitles are: Metalkill The World, Behind The Cell, Legions Of The Star Scroll, Blind and Unconscious, And The Mountains Came To Life.

We don’t know what label the album will be on. We may settle for self-releasing the album and licensing distribution out to labels around the world. We’ve not searched any new offers. I’m not against doing another album with R.I.P. After we record the album, we’ll decide what we are going to do.

No, we have no plans of touring. We’ll play some shows from time to time, and record some new records, but that’s about it.

We have no merchandise to offer through the band at this time. We have released three CD’s : Legends Of Valor, Kings Of The Universe & Consequences of Failure. We also have Consequences of Failure released on gatefold double LP through Iron Bonehead Records. Our records can be bought through : www.diskery.com or www.restinpeacerecords.com. I think Sentinel Steel sells some of our stuff too, as well as other distributors.

You may contact the band by mail, email, or go to our website. Mail : SKULLVIEW / P.O. Box 2364 / Valparaiso / Indiana 46383 / U.S.A. Email : skullview@webtv.net or metalkill@webtv.net. Website: Http://www.truemetal.org/skullview.

Have fun at the show, and stay out of jail, that sucks. See you in Cleveland.