LAMB OF GOD Bassist On Touring, Groupies And Band's Lyrics

SunJournal.com recently conducted the following interview with LAMB OF GOD bassist John Campbell:

SunJournal.com: Full name, age:

Campbell: I'm John Campbell, and I just turned 35 in September.

SunJournal.com: How did you get involved with the band?

Campbell: We met in college. I started playing bass in '90, '91, and the band started in '94.

SunJournal.com: Where you into metal when you got to school?

Campbell: I was not, and (another band member) Randy was not. But Chris, Mark and Willy definitely were. They turned me onto metal in the dorms. We lived on the same floor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

SunJournal.com: So...the music is angry and heavy. Were you angry?

Campbell: Oh no, definitely not. We were happy.

SunJournal.com: Did you envision this for yourself as a younger guy? Does anybody in college really know what they want to do?

Campbell: I didn't really know. But I knew there was a really strong artistic community over here and I knew I'd find something really cool. And I managed to pull that one off, too.

SunJournal.com: What do you do when you're not on tour?

Campbell: I've been working out in my yard, hanging with my wife and dogs.

SunJournal.com: So, what's the best part of being on the road?

Campbell: The best is being able to play. Really, the best part of the day is playing the show. The worst is being away from home and living in a metal tube with 6 to 11 other people.

SunJournal.com: Do you get along well?

Campbell: Yes, we get along well. We've known each other for a long time, but as evidenced in our DVD that just went platinum, we get to throwing punches from time to time.

SunJournal.com: Tell me! Tell me!

Campbell: Nope, it's all on the DVD. It was a fist fight, between the singer and guitar player.

SunJournal.com: So...why the angry music?

Campbell: We definitely want to be a real heavy band. Mark and Willy do most of the riff writing. Mark and Randy are the primary lyric writers. Heavy metal isn't written about puppies and children, unless they're being slaughtered and abused. (laughs).

SunJournal.com: What are the songs about?

Campbell: Two of our records were very political, and the anger was directed at the powers that were and that be. This latest record we kind of focused on more personal demons and conflicts.

SunJournal.com: Groupies?

Campbell: We have fans, and some of those fans are of that mindset, but we're all very happily married and that's not why we got into this to begin with.

SunJournal.com: You have two dogs?

Campbell: Two little cat-sized dogs. I have a mini pinscher and a Jack Russell terrier. The terrier is named Angelina, the pinscher is named Balut — it's a Filipino food and the name means "he treat with feet." And our dog was a little treat with feet.

SunJournal.com: Do you have pre-show rituals?

Campbell: We start warming up about an hour before we go on. I drink a Red Bull or two and hang out backstage, get a feel for what's going on.

SunJournal.com: How did you come up with the band name?

Campbell: BURN THE PRIEST was our name initially, but as we got more successful and got ready to sign a real record deal, internally there was some negativity toward the name... It was gimmicky, it didn't reflect how we felt about it. We figured we'd be more subtly sacrilegious and go with LAMB OF GOD.

SunJournal.com: And what about your goals for the future?

Campbell: That's hard to say. We've always been shortsighted in our goals. At first we wanted to play the party down the street, then the club, and then everything kept stepping up and up and up and up. I guess our next goal up is to write a record that tops all the records we've done at this point.

SunJournal.com: Are there any specific lyrics that mean the most to you?

Campbell: There's no specific message, but the general sentiment of the lyrics I agree with wholeheartedly. Generally, when we started as BURN THE PRIEST, it meant "f*** authority." It's kind of developed beyond those rambling thoughts, but at its core that's where I'm coming from.