 New England's 3 Headed Monster play heavy metal, they don't sing about it. Drawing influences from as far afield as monster movies and professional wrestling, they have musical tastes that take in everything from Death Metal to Progressive Rock and everything in between, and they throw all of that in the mix in the music they produce.
The band recently launched their debut album via Dutch label Melissa
Records, and are ready to take the world by storm, and that might well
involve bribing new Megadeth guitarist Chris Broederick for a support
slot with his new band!
Komodo Rock's Mike Elliott spoke with lead guitarist Chris Kessaris to find out more.
Mike Elliott: Firstly, can you explain the name?
Chris Kessaris: Well we wanted a name that was simple enough to
remember, but metal enough to make your blood coagulate. We came up
with the initials 3HM and then looked in the dictionary for 2 words
that started with H and M. So that's what happened...
ME: You started off under the Baptismal By Fire. What made you decide to change the name of the band?
CK: I let someone who isn't even in the band name us while we were in
high school...actually I let a lot of things happen that probably
shouldn't have. Like writing songs about Mike Van Pro!
ME: You released your debut album in November. Can you tell us a little more about it?
CK: It's basically a compilation of stuff we've done over the years.
There have been other songs but in the end I just didn't enjoy playing
them. They just weren't 3 Headed Monster enough. They were either too
Danzig or too Police for my liking. This album was recorded pretty
quickly...it was fun. Hopefully people are enjoying it. The next one
will be even heavier with more wrestling references than CNN after
Chris Benoit died.
ME: Stylistically, the album changes constantly. Is that intentional?
CK: Yeah. I mean, I love death metal, thrash, power metal, prog,
everything...so when we go into writing mode, some of that will shine
through. We aren't just fans of Iced Earth, and write Iced Earthesque
songs. We are fans of a lot of bands and some of that can be a tip of
the cap to all of our inspirations.
ME: It's said that one day you just realised you didn't have a vocalist, and didn't mind.
CK: Yeah, someone else must have said that. I've known since day 1 we
didn't have a singer because I was there...writing the stuff! There
wasn't a singer telling me what to do to get his message across. I
guess our message is to think what you will about us, we just want to
rock and have fun.
ME: Do you ever think they'll be a time where 3 Headed Monster will have a vocalist, if only as a guest?
CK: There is always room for that. We do it live all the time. I do
vocals on (cough) Enter Sandman, [laughs] ... yes we did cover that...
like 10 times. We had 2 of our friends come up and do Spheres of
Madness with us. We've done Journey covers, I really want to do a
Winger cover though. But as far as an actual song goes, we'd probably
want an actual singer for that.
 ME:
Pro Wrestling is an obvious inspiration for you. Can you tell us a
little more about the wrestling topics you covered on the album, and
why you chose them?
CK: MEAN! WOOOH BY GOD GEAN! Ahem, well, we have a song dedicated to
the late great Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig. We heard Macho Man's rap song
Perfect Friend, and then our former guitarist decided to name a song he
wrote Perfectplex. I wrote a song Ultimate Rage after watching the
Ultimate Warrior DVD, Engines of AKI is a tribute to our love of the
old N64 WCW and WWF games. Then Ides of March is about Wrestlemania. I
guess.
ME: The artwork for the album is superb. How did it come about?
CK: We told Melissa Records our idea for the cover and they went out
and had someone do it and he just did a phenomenal job. Couldn't have
been any happier with it.
ME: As an American Band, you signed with a record label in Holland. Was distance ever a consideration for you?
CK: Well, the American Metal scene is pretty weak. Nobody listens to
Priest or Maiden anymore. It's all about the trendy new bands...if
they even listen to metal. There are a lot of great bands that have
done extremely well in Europe and not in America because the market is
just different. I find that the people I know are just getting into
music I heard and didn't like 4 years ago. Because it became trendy.
Nu metal died and Metalcore came up. It doesn't really matter because
it's all interchangable to me. I guess thats why you don't hear any
metalcore/nu metal parts in 3HM. In europe though, people listen to
Nevermore, they listen to Iced Earth. Thats what we are fans of. So
the distance thing...if anything we like it that way because hopefully
we'll get to do a tour in Europe.
ME: Any plans to tour in support of the album, and if so, any chance you'll hit the UK?
CK: Well basically we have to get on a tour. So that means networking
networking networking. Although, our old guitarist took lessons from
Chris Broderick...who is now in MEGADETH (my all time favorite band) so
maybe, just maybe, the planets will align and the gods will speak and
let us go on tour with them. But other than that it's basically up to
us to find someone willing to put us on their European tour bill.
ME: As a band what has inspired you musically?
CK: Well, I'm a fan of everything from Winger to Beneath the Massacre.
So I'd like to write some super cheesy poppy love songs one
minute...and then write something that shreds your face off the next.
All 3 of us pretty much like the same stuff so we know we're always on
the same wave length.
ME: And as musician yourself?
CK: Well, Chris Broderick is probably my favorite guitarist to listen
to. that guy can just tear apart a 7 string. Jeff Loomis of Nevermore
is another guitarist I look up to. Reb Beach from Winger, Julian Bream,
who is a classical guitarist. My teachers Mike Turner and Scott
Sanchez also inspired me a great deal as well.
ME: Has the internet helped you in getting your music out to the world?
CK: Well yeah, I mean the internet is the new way of trading tapes.
Except it's better quality and you can reach more people. It only
really hurts bands like Metallica because they forgot how to play their
instruments and have to live off residuals from their old music. Thats
why they sued Napster. Internet is a young man's tool and an old man's
nemesis in music.
ME: In wrestling, if you had to choose the participants for the
greatest main event match of all time, who do you send to the ring?
3 Headed Monster's Self Titled Debut Album Is Available Now Via Melissa Records
CK:
Wow, that's a great question! There are so many names to fit in there,
Austin vs Hulk in their Primes would have done amazing, Michaels vs
Bret Hart 3 would be a blockbuster. But I think in the end. The match
of all matches would have to be something like the Royal Rumble pitting
30 of the greatest World Champions of all time in the ring at once.
Here's the participants
Hogan, Austin, Rock, Shawn Michaels, HHH, Bret Hart, Sting, Kurt Angle,
Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Macho Man, Andre the
Giant, the Big Show, Jericho, Goldberg, Harley Race, Antonio Anoki,
the Great Muta, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Brock Lesnar, RVD, Scott Hall, DDP,
Mick Foley, JBL, Raven, and Terry Funk
COME ON!!!
ME: What music are you listening to right now?
CK: Right now I've got Necrophagist going. Those guys are probably the
best live band in the world. I strongly suggest checking them out if
you get the chance.
ME: Can you give our readers any important web links for 3 Headed Monster please?
CK: Basically you can check us out at http://myspace.com/3headedmonster
Also, check out the other bands on Melissa Records because there is
some awesome stuff on there. All those bands rip so check them out too!
http://myspace.com/melissarecords
A big thank you to Chris for taking the time to talk with us.
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