A Dozen Furies: Kicking Ass and Taking Names at Ozzfest
 

A Dozen Furies was unknown to the vast majority of metal-heads at this time last year. However, after winning the top slot on the MTV show "Battle for Ozzfest", (a reality show that pitted eight bands against each other to earn a slot on the popular summer festival) they quickly gained a following. Taking the opening slot this summer, the band has been winning over fans show by show. Their debut record, "A Concept From Fire" is set for release on September 13 on Sanctuary Records. antiMusic spoke with lead singer Bucky Garrett near Nashville where the band was trying to keep out of the way of Hurricane Katrina.

antiMusic: So the release of your debut record, "A Concept From Fire", is just around the corner. What are your feelings about the release? Are you excited to get the reaction? Or are you apprehensive about finally letting everyone hear it?

Garrett: Nah, I'm so excited for people to hear this. It's an excellent record. I listen to a wide variety of music and it covers that. It's metal for sure and it's hard and rough but at the same time, all of the choruses are catchy enough to where, if you're not deep into metal, you can still find something in it that you can enjoy. It's a real versatile record. I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy it. And hopefully word will spread around and we can sell a million.

antiMusic: Any special meaning to the title?

Garrett: "A Concept From Fire" is a song title and we were searching and searching for names and we couldn't really find a better one so we just kind of stuck with it. We wanted something that was catchy and something that was cool and really different so we went with that.

antiMusic: Can you give us a little advance glimpse into what we'll find on there? 

Garrett: It's got a little bit of hardcore influence in there but I would say, the majority of it is flat out metal and it's hardcore metal. Our first EP was, I would say, just aggressive rock and once we kind of grew…we've been a band for two years now and we started getting harder with every practice. We just fell in love with the metal and that's what this album became. We've just got a ton of riffs and we just blasted them out. There's 12 songs on there including the intro and the outro that we just decided to get weird and spaced out with as well. So that's pretty interesting. I listen to it once a day. It's exciting. 

antiMusic: So how has Ozzfest been going? 

Garrett: It's been amazing. All the bands are really cool. All the shows have been phenomenal --- other than the heat. We've had a really good response and there's been lots of pits, lots of crowd surfing and lots of injuries. That's pretty much what we want to see. 

antiMusic: What has been the reaction so far to your music?

Garrett: You know what, a lot of people don't really know us. But after our first song, you can see people are getting into it. They're pumped. Cuz we're pretty crazy onstage. I guess it gives some people the OK to act like idiots out there too. Once the second song starts, the people are jumping around and the pit goes crazy. The body surfing starts. And we've had pretty good lines at the CD signings and Jagermeister poster signings. So people don't really know us but we're winning over new fans every day. 

antiMusic: What time slot do you have? 

Garrett: We're one of five bands that have a locked in time slot. We play at 1:05 every day.

antiMusic: People have said for years that the second stage is where the wildest fans have been. Have you found that to be true?

Garrett: The second stage is the place to be because, I mean you have legends on the main stage and what not. But then also you also have the crowd who is sitting down and eating hot dogs and drinking soda and are pretty much exhausted or hammered from being at the second stage all day. The chairs get in the way. For a band like us, we're high-energy…most of the bands on the second stage are like that. It doesn't benefit to have chairs down there. It's supposed to be for the younger crowd and they can move around and enjoy themselves and pit or do whatever they want to do without having chairs in the way. It's a little more chaotic and fun. I would say, the second stage is the place to be. Nobody really wants to play the main stage until you get a little older and little more settled. I mean, you probably sell more records but who knows…I don't know how that works. We're just loving playing the second stage.

antiMusic: Who were you most looking forward to seeing at Ozzfest?

Garrett: I was into Maiden but that whole thing dissing on everybody got old. We were here last year and I came once before. It goes without saying, it's always cool seeing Ozzy. Ozzy started it and he's still there slugging away, every time he can. He always makes it worthwhile. I was pretty excited to see Mudvayne come back and they were pretty decent. 

antiMusic: Looking back at the competition. What are your thoughts on the whole thing and is it something you would do again if you could do it over?

Garrett: Well, we wouldn't be at Ozzfest now otherwise, so I would say it's been a huge set of jumper cables on our careers, you know. I'm positive that we would be a successful band regardless of the show. And we would eventually be on Ozzfest but… I mean, there has been some negative stuff from it. People thinking that we were some band that got scrapped up out of a garage from MTV or something. But we were a band long before that and we've all been in bands for close to 10 years. It's one of the negative things that come from it but everything else has been real positive. I think anybody who was skeptical we kind of won over. 

antiMusic: Did you know a long time in advance that you had won and did you have to keep it a secret from everybody?

Garrett: From when they announced it on, I think a Monday night, we knew on the previous Sunday night.

antiMusic: What's the first thing you did when you found out?

Garrett: Well, we were there live. I think we jumped around and climbed on top of each other and went nuts for a little bit. Some of us celebrated a little too hard that night. But then we went back and got prepared to destroy Ozzfest and that's pretty much what we've been doing since. 

antiMusic: What can you tell us about the Sharon Vs Dickinson thing? Did you see Maiden's last show and the events that transpired? Had Bruce really been bagging on Ozzy for the entire time?

Garrett: Yeah, from what I heard. And then the whole thing happened in San Bernardino which was just outrageous. I don't know how much he deserved but they were shutting the power off on him and stuff like that. I don't know. Anybody who has the balls to talk mess about Sharon or Ozzy who has had their own festival which is named after Ozzy for 10 years. And it's been one of the most successful tours ever….is just real ballsy. And in my opinion it's a bad move. But I'm not Iron Maiden so it's not my decision. 

antiMusic: I guess it shows not to mess around with Sharon Osbourne. What have your dealings with her been like?

Garrett: I've met her a few times and she's been all hugs and super nice and she had nothing but good things to say to us and stuff like that. She's really nice….what I've met of her. I'm sure she has a bad side that I don't want any of us to be on but she was real nice to us. Ozzy the same.

antiMusic: Considering all the security etc around that family, have you had much of a chance to hang out with Ozzy or any of them socially?

Garrett: No. No way. I've seen him in passing but he's surrounded most of the time. That's the way they do it. Cuz I mean, there's people who'll just run up, especially drunk people, and think, "Hey. I've been listening to him for 20 years. It's OK for me to run up and talk to him about whatever." 

antiMusic: Can you tell everybody a bit about the other members? Nothing special, just celebrity girlfriends, prison records, that sort of thing. Nah, kidding. Just a line or two about what they bring to the table. 

Garrett: 
Marc Serrano: Marc is high energy and he's experienced. He puts on a really good show. He, I would say, if he wasn't in music. He'd be a politician.

Joey Turner: Joey is raw, talented and quiet, and sometimes a hermit. He definitely is one of the most talented guys in the band.

Keith Reber: Keith is tall and cute and funny. And is good onstage. In fact, I'd have to say all the guys in our band are showmen!

Mike Miller: Mike is definitely a showman. He's super funny. He's got a self esteem problem (laughs). But he wails on drums and is a great guy.

antiMusic: What would the other guys say about you. Obviously, that you're the great guy in the world, right (laughs)?

Garrett: Oh yeah. I'm the greatest guy in the world to these guys (laughs). They would probably say that I'm aggressive and hard-headed…weird humor and one of the best vocalists they've ever heard (laughs).

antiMusic: You recently shot a video for your song, "The Cycle" that prompted the director Darren Doane to say it was the most dangerous video that he's ever shot. What can you tell us about it?

Garrett: I don't know what he mentioned about explosions but we had like 50 foot mushroom clouds blowing up literally 15 feet from us in all direct5ions. I don't watch too many videos but I think it's a really neat video to watch because there's explosions and s*** blowing up everywhere. And it's was a super fun video to shoot. That guy is really cool. 

antiMusic: It seems like there would be so many highlights this year for you. What has been the best so far?

Garrett: It's gotta be the tour. Playing Ozzfest is just unbelievable. I don't want the tour to end even though it's super hot and it's just relentless. And it takes a toll on you and stuff like that. But Ozzfest is just place to be and the place to play.

antiMusic: What does the rest of the year hold for A Dozen Furies?

Garrett: After that we're going to go back home. Of course, our CD release is September 13. And I don't know if we're playing a show that night or not but we're going to go and do a little Texas run and support that in Texas. I think Oct 7 is our first date in NJ with Gwar and DevilDriver. I think we're going to be touring with them for two months. I think we're going to try and go to Europe before the end of this year. And hopefully we're going to start touring with a lot of our favorite bands, that we've listened to. That we've gained a lot of respect for.

antiMusic: Thanks a lot for taking the time, Bucky. Good luck with the album.

Garrett: OK man, thank you! Go pick up the album.!

Preview and Purchase The band's debut CD Online

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