I can't say enough good things about Unearth. Their new album fucking rules and guitarist Buzz McGrath seems like a kind and honest person. Read this interview, buy their album and then go see them live. You shouldn't be disappointed.

PL: Introduce yourself.

BM: My name is Buzz McGrath and I play guitar for the band Unearth.

PL: What do you hope to accomplish while being on Ozzfest?

BM: Just selling some records, increasing our fan base, and getting ourselves out there and playing in front of a bunch of people. Ozzfest is great; its like Heavy Metal Summer Camp and everyone's having a good time.

PL: Would you have done this tour years ago when it was full of all Nu Metal bands?

BM: Yeah, I would have done it anytime because its such a massive event and the exposure is just too much to say no to. In the past, there were some questionable bands, but still, heavy metal is heavy metal I guess. Well, not really, but it was ahh...to answer your question, yes, yes I would have.

PL: Hows the autograph signing been going?

BM: Thats been a lot of fun. Everytime we get up there, I expect it to be that scene in Spinal Tap where nobody shows up and the guy's like "Its my fault. Kick my ass." But, its great; kids have been lining up with the CD in their hands. Its really a great tool to sell CDs because people buy a CD and they come through the line and I'll look at the line and its tons of CDs. Its pretty cool and everyone's psyched to have us sign it. Its really cool that you can see the people, look them in the eye and say "Thanks. Thanks a lot for buying our stuff. It means a lot."

PL: Whats up with the T shirt prices?

BM: The T shirt prices here, they charge a fee to sell T shirts here. Its like if you go to Topsfield Fair or a carnival and you try to buy a...its the same reason you try to buy a water here and its four dollars, because the venue, Clear Channel, charges a fee to sell stuff here. So, in order for us to make any money, we have to jack the prices up. If you come see us at a regular club show, that same T shirt would be $10, maybe $12. It pains me to walk by there and see a $25 price tag on a T shirt. I really hate that.

PL: Do you fell that the mainstream public is ready for this kind of music?

BM: I think that the mainstream public is coming closer to what we're doing. I don't think we've changed at all, but the mainstream is kind of swerving closer to retrieve heavy metal. This is good because this is what I'm doing for work now. I'm married; I own a house; I've got a lot of bills to pay and in order for me to do this, I've got to get paid some money, which is happening now and I'm really living the dream.

PL: Is it tough being away from your wife on tour?

BM: Yes, very, very tough. This tour is about two months long and she's gonna come out and visit, which makes it easier, but its still hard and we're working it out. She understands that its a once in a lifetime opportunity that we've worked through it. Its cool, when I go home I just sit at home and don't do anything. And I've got two cats and a dog which I miss too.

PL: Do you think that your new album blows away your previous albums?

BM: I would think so. Its still kind of the same Unearth, we didn't reinvent the wheel or anything, we just took what we did and made it better. We matured musically and the music shows that. I think its much better than the other albums.

PL: Was making the new album more fun or more stressful?

BM: It was fun, but we had a bigger budget which made it fun and less stressful. Recording with Adam D., he's our friend so its always a good time. But, it got kind of stressful towards the end because we finished up the music and Trevor went to sing, and on the first day-maybe he got one song done-he got the worst throat infection of his life. And the whole project was kind of on hold for two weeks. We made the deadline, thank God, and everything came out fine, but, for a few days, it was like, "Man, I hope this doesn't get fucked up."

PL: What would happen if you didn't make the deadline?

BM: It would just go over budget and it would be a pain in the ass. We get an advance to record it and, if there's any leftover it goes to us. We kind of planned on having a few bucks left over. If we went over, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but.

PL: Why does it seem that Boston bands are always going through drummers?

BM: I don't know man; its crazy though. Its the hardest person to replace besides the singer. When our drummer quit, we wondered what we were gonna do. We were using fill ins and had all kinds of weirdos coming through. Finally, we got a new drummer now which turned out really good.

PL: He's really good.

BM: Yeah, he's amazing, and he lives right down the street from me.

PL: Metal Blade is different from Eulogy because...

BM: A huger distro, much bigger label, a lot more money to throw around for advertising and all that. Eulogy was good for us as a start up label. They picked us up when we just had a demo out. It brought us up to the next level and we're stepping it up from there.

PL: Are you going to vote in this upcoming election?

BM: I think we're gonna be on tour, but if I did vote, I probably wouldn't vote Bush.

PL: Name one album besides your own that kids should go out and buy.

BM: A band called Sleep-Volume One, its some real slow stoner rock stuff. Any old Cave In, Overcast, Lamb of God.

PL: Do you have any final comments?

BM: No...just thanks for the interview and go out and buy the record because its cheap. Some stores have it for $8. Thats amazing, I'm excited about that. Thats one of the deciding factors with us signing to Metal Blade. If you go and try to buy a Roadrunner record, it'll cost like $17, but I'm psyched that most places have it for $10 or $11. So, yeah, go out and buy it.

Interviewed by RF

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