ATHEIST Frontman Reveals He Tried Out For 'Rock Star: Supernova' TV Show

ATHEIST frontman Kelly Shaefer has issued the following update:

"Well, we had a very very good time out in La La Land [Los Angeles, California]. Hollywood came out in a big way for our appearance at this year's L.A. Murderfest last weekend. It was fairly star-studded as well.... at least in our world of metal [with appearances from] Gene Hoglan (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, DARK ANGEL),Danny Lilker (ANTHRAX, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, S.O.D.). It was good to see Gene again. We had not seen him since our show back in 1992, I think, on the CANNIBAL tour, and also Danny, who is also on the bill tonight with BRUTAL TRUTH, and many others could be seen lurking the two-stage fest at The Knitting Factory. Seeing the OBITUARY boys again after some 15 years was great as well. John and Donald, Frank, and Trevor are still one of the heaviest bands to ever press the record button! And some of the nicest cats in metal as well. We go WAY BACK with those guys. It was a real treat coming up together and wrapping it up with a headlining show in L.A. 15 years later!!!

"Some asshole stole Donald's camera at the end of the night out of the dressing room. We are not aware of who did it, but if you see any footage of OBIT or ATHEIST in L.A., and it seems like it might have come from his camera, contact us please!

"We all went out on friday night to party in Hollywood, so Death Metal Dave from the OBIT crew, and his gang of merriment meet us at the Rainbow after an extended happy hour at a little Mexican place on Hollywood. Many shots later, we are at the legendary Rainbow room, which, much to my delight, has not changed a bit. I just love that place for all its decadence and history. The thing I love about L.A. is that you never know who you may run into. On this night it was Dave Navarro and Kelly Osbourne, and later after the bar, at this sweet little place called Mexicali on Ventura Blvd. courtesy of my friends Rachel and Brian, we had some dinner and saw Marisa Tomei!! Sweet! We all stayed at a hotel right on the Strip, so it was easy access to everything. Food etc. wrapped up the night around 4 a.m.

"Saturday, day of show! Got up and around at about noon, and decided to head out. Mike W and Doug came by the hotel and we set off to check out some shit and head to the club to see what was going on. The Knitting Factory is ironically the place I auditioned for the 'Rock Star' show at. I gotta tell you, it feels to good to be here for the 'right' reasons.

"A lot of you dont know this, but last year before we came to Europe for all of the reunion shows, I got a call from my good friend Benjie Gordon. He is the guy who signed NEUROTICA, and he lives in L.A. now, and is friends with Gilby Clarke, and says, 'Hey, Gilby has the NEUROTICA record. Do you want to try out for the gig? I can get you around the cattle call etc.' And so I thought, 'Yeah...what the hell!' So I get a call from Gilby, which was cool, and he says, 'Yeah, you got chops. Come on out to L.A.' So I go out there and I audition with two NEUROTICA songs — 'Ride of Your Life' and 'Stars in my Eyes'. Audition goes well, I get a call-back, so I go back the second day, and it goes even better, so I get all the way down to the final 100, and I start worrying, 'cause if I were to be on this show, I would not be able to do the ATHEIST dates... So, of course, I could always say no... but it had to be considered at least, right? I mean, it's fucking network TV. So... long story short, I get a call from the casting director and he says, 'Oh, hey, Kelly.... sorry, man, it's the end of the line for you...??' So I am, like, thinking to myself.... FUCK YOU, YOU GLORIFIED FUCKING INTERN FUCK! And then politely replied, 'No worries, bro. I am off to Europe with my boys in ATHEIST to make a little history of my own,' hahaha.

"So back to the Knitting Factory. It was nice to be co-headlining at this place, packed full, after going through that shit.

"OK, back to the gig, it was a really great crowd, and we met some cool people all weekend. I wanna shout out the guys who drove all the way from Arizona, all of the guys who came from Fresno, and anyone who traveled from Northern Cali to see us, we really appreciate that shit, man! We partied with a group of dudes from San Fran at the Rainbow as well. 'What's up' to Christine from L.A. Good to meet you. Also this dude Cliff, who told me this GREAT story about how he spent his money from his parents intended for college on a trip to Germany to watch ATHEIST play at Wacken. He said it was this crazy journey.That's so amazing when someone responds to art in that way. We are humbled, Cliff! Another dude told me when he was 17 his parents went away and left him limited food $, and the first thing he did was go out and buy 'Unquestionable Presence'. That's fucking METAL!!!!!

"Thanks to all the L.A. Murderfest people for a great festival. Job well done, although you punked me on a ride to the airport, guys! Next stop Chicago April 21. You Midwesterners better gear up — this will be it for that part of the country, so let's make it a memorable one! Got a bunch of new paintings as well. I have been really into painting dead rock stars, and personalities as of late. Check 'em out at www.kellyshaefer.com."