AVENGED SEVENFOLD's ZACKY VENGEANCE: 'I Still Have Tons Of Faith In Music'

August 25, 2016

AVENGED SEVENFOLD guitarist Zacky Vengeance was interviewed on a recent edition of "The Kramer Show", which airs on the 104.7 WIOT radio station in in Toledo, Ohio. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below.

Asked what advice he had for young, up-and-coming bands in an age when streaming music seems to be helping popular artists more than it is independent musicians, Zacky said: "Here's what I think is most important: if you love playing music, do it because you love it. And if you have that fire to go out and get in a van with a bunch of your friends and drive through the night and play shows in front of nobody because you truly love it, then keep doing it."

He continued: "To be honest, we started out as a punk rock, hardcore, screaming metal band with no intentions of ever getting to where we [are] now. We didn't have a master plan or anything; we just truly loved what we did and we were persistent. And all those times when you're in the van and you show up to a venue and the show's canceled or there's five people [in the crowd], we'd play our heart out for those five people, and we were persistent-persistent. And looking back, it's been seventeen years, and so much has happened."

Zacky added: "I still have tons of faith in music. I never leave it up to record labels. I never leave it up to what the current state of CD sales [is]. I say if you love it, stick with it, 'cause you never know what could happen. And as far as technology goes, it's only a year or two from the tides dramatically turning, so you never know which direction it's gonna go.

"It's definitely a different beast than back in the day when you could be on MTV and instantly you're selling out arenas and stuff. So bands have gotta work a lot harder now. But, you know, I have faith."

AVENGED SEVENFOLD has been recording its seventh studio album, but it's not clear when the disc will be released since the band announced earlier this year that it was attempting to sever its contract with Warner Bros. Records.

The label sued the group in January for breach of contract, claiming the band owed it another studio effort and a live set on its existing deal.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD said at the time that "none of the senior management or A&R executives who were at the company and responsible for signing us are still there."

The band's previous two releases, 2013's "Hail To The King" and 2010's "Nightmare", both topped the Billboard album chart.

Find more on Avenged sevenfold
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).