MUNICIPAL WASTE Frontman Discusses Upcoming Album

Steven K. of Swigged! recently conducted an interview with Tony Foresta, lead singer of the Richmond-based metal act MUNICIPAL WASTE. An excerpt from the chat follows below.

Swigged!: It's been about two years since the release of "The Art of Partying". What has the band been up to since?

Tony: Touring our ass off and writing a new album. We already finished a new album so we're done with album number four. We finished it two days before we left on [the No Fear Energy Tour] — we recorded it and everything. We recorded it in Richmond and went to Zeuss' place in Massachusetts to master it. It's going to be called "Massive Aggressive". It'll be out August 25. It's a done deal, we're done with it. Same guy who did the last one, Andrei, is doing the artwork. But it looks way different.

Swigged!: Ah, so you guys went back to Chris "Zeuss" Harris for the production?

Tony: Yeah, he's our boy. He's the shit — really easy to work with.

Swigged!: In comparison to "The Art of Partying", how did you approach the album differently?

Tony: It's more aggressive. I think it has better elements of both punk and metal. It's weird — it's more extreme from both angles. Saying that right now seems a bit off, but after people listen, they'll get what I'm talking about. I've explained that to other people and when they've heard the album they're like, "Oh, now I know what you're talking about." It's better — I think we became better at writing songs.

Swigged!: Is it a big difference?

Tony: It's way different. I sing a lot more, but I swear it doesn't sound stupid. I'm trying to practice how to sing and take care of myself more. I'm rethinking how to approach songs differently. It's not about trying to cram as many words as possible into a song, it's more about melodies — it's hard to explain. The dudes in the band were practicing every day until the record was out. I did too — I was writing. It's hard to write lyrics — obviously if I'm struggling, people will help. We dissect every song and each member speaks up about shit they don't like.

Swigged!: Now that there's been some time to reflect on "The Art of Partying", are you happy with the direction it took the band?

Tony: Not really. I don't want to blame anyone, but it was a party-concept album — which is cool and that's where we took it, but I think it kind of got out of control and that a lot of people thought we were less intelligent than we really are. People thought of us as a dumbed-down BEASTIE BOYS, but we take our song writing very seriously. And we're pretty good musicians as well. It went a little too hectic, but I do like to have a good time — I'm not dissing that at all.

Read the entire interview from Swigged!

HardTimes.ca conducted an interview with MUNICIPAL WASTE on April 16, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Watch the 14-minute chat below.