{"id":13648,"date":"2014-09-22T01:00:59","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T05:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=13648"},"modified":"2014-09-17T10:42:02","modified_gmt":"2014-09-17T14:42:02","slug":"blowin-wind-with-municipal-wasteiron-reagan-frontman-tony-foresta-youve-got-to-work-hard-you-cant-make-money-playing-music-any-more-so-you-just-have-to-work-extr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=13648","title":{"rendered":"Blowin\u2019 Wind with Municipal Waste\/Iron Reagan Frontman Tony Foresta: \u201cYou\u2019ve got to work hard. You can\u2019t make money playing music any more so you just have to work extra hard and hopefully pay your bills.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-13652\" src=\"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ironreagan01-300x198.jpg\" alt=\"ironreagan01\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" \/>Tony Foresta is one of the hardest working guys in metal. Just when we thought 13 busy years with Municipal Waste wasn\u2019t enough, Foresta has now taken on another band in the form of political thrash punk kings Iron Reagan. Formed just a few years ago Foresta (along with Waste bassist Land Phil) have taken a much needed break from Municipal Waste to do Iron Reagan and they are about to hit the road for an extensive tour behind their latest album Tyranny of Will.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019ve had the awesome pleasure of talking with Tony twice before but this was our first chat as the frontman for Iron Reagan. In another hilarious phone call, Tony and I talked about his juggling of two bands, Iron Reagans\u2019 performance at this year\u2019s GWAR B-Q, the passing of his good friend and GWAR leader Dave Brockie, his love for Tegan and Sara, and what celebrity he\u2019d love to see in a Wall of Death. This was another fun one with Tony and I hope all will enjoy this one as much as I did.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tony, thanks so much for taking the time out to talk today brother.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hey man, long time no hear. What was it? Last summer or so?<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Yeah, it sure was dude. Thanks for remember me! How have you been?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[laughs] Man, I\u2019m good. I was kind of sick yesterday but today I\u2019m feeling a lot better. I don\u2019t know why they scheduled like five interviews for me right after Labor Day. I totally had a raging party but I\u2019m back baby. I\u2019m back [laughs]. I drank my water, I\u2019m good, and I\u2019m healthy.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>This is the third interview you\u2019ve done w\/ the Brainfart. Does this mean we\u2019re going steady at this point? I\u2019m guessing the next interview we\u2019ll start necking.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[laughs] Kind of. I guess so. Do we get pass 3<sup>rd<\/sup> base yet? I\u2019m not sure how this works when it comes to interviews [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tony, I have to say that I fucking love the new Iron Reagan album. What an awesome release brother.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh, thanks man. I\u2019m really proud of that one.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>That album is fucking insane dude. Its 24 songs in 31 minutes. I can barely wrap my head around that shit.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[laughs] Thanks, Don. Yeah, I\u2019m really proud of it. I think it\u2019s one of the best sounding things I\u2019ve ever been on. The songs are really cool and it just marks a really wild time in my life. A good friend of mine did the cover and Dave Brockie was a part of it. It\u2019s just really cool. It was a wild year coming up to that album.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>The last time we talked you told me that the band was doing well but that you were just really feeling like you were connecting as a band. With another year under your belt as Iron Reagan, what is different now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, once the lineup change kind of cemented we ended up with what I hope will be a permanent line up that we want to keep. Last time we talked they had just joined the band and since then we\u2019ve had two releases with them; the one coming out soon (Tyranny of Will) and the <a href=\"http:\/\/ironreagan.bandcamp.com\/album\/spoiled-identity-ep\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Spoiled Identity EP<\/strong><\/a> that we did for Decibel Magazine which was 13 songs in five minutes. We put it out for free on the internet and I think that push really put our music in a lot of people\u2019s hands that normally would have never heard us. That helped us out a lot. We did two full tours with GWAR and then did our own headlining thing. We\u2019ve been out nearly 8 of the 12 months it\u2019s been since I last talked to you so it\u2019s been nonstop. It\u2019s just been all very exciting. It\u2019s cool to see that this work that we\u2019ve put into this is really starting to pay off.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JQgwoUex2JU\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s interesting to hear this. In this time where you have people like Scott Ian whining about free music on the internet and people \u201cstealing\u201d music is killing them, you guys managed to embrace it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Of course it\u2019s killing them when they\u2019re riding around in tour busses and shit. We put out our shit for free because nobody had heard our band and people were starting to hear us. They get it for free and then all of the sudden they\u2019re listening to our band. It\u2019s kind of like putting out your demo cassette but having it available for thousands of people. It\u2019s really a great thing for new bands but that\u2019s ok because we\u2019re going to gouge the fuck out of them with our next record [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>The difference here is that this time I\u2019m talking to Tony of Iron Reagan as opposed to Tony of Municipal Waste. Is this a \u201cdifferent\u201d Tony?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, this one is a more sensual version of me. We play sensual thrash. I wear more purple [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>So does this mean we\u2019ll be seeing nude photos of you surfacing on the internet? Speaking of have you seen all these nude celebrity pictures hitting the net?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I saw those Jennifer Lawrence ones.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dude, she\u2019s fucking hot.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, no shit she\u2019s hot [laughs]. It\u2019s gotten so out of hand. I kind of feel bad for them but they\u2019re also gajillionaires so whatever. I mean, I kind of feel bad for them but at the same time don\u2019t take pictures of your asshole and send them out to your boyfriend. I\u2019m sure there are some dick pics floating around out there somewhere but ya know what? That\u2019s my fault. I will say that the whole paparazzi thing kind of freaks me out. Famous people are just trying to have dinner with their friends but there\u2019s like eight assholes with cameras in their faces. It\u2019s just weird to me.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>I just thought it was funny that they dubbed this whole thing The Fappening!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[laughs] Oh shit. Is that what they\u2019re calling it? I have to look into that more. I know there\u2019s more famous people nude in there but if I do that I\u2019m just supporting it and that\u2019s kind of fucked up [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Iron Reagan recently played the GWAR BQ and I have to say that it\u2019s so awesome that even after Brockie\u2019s passing that it went on without a hitch. How was the vibe for you there?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think everyone, especially in our band, just had this \u201clet\u2019s go insane\u201d attitude. This one was for Dave. We just had a fucking blast. We just said, \u201cWe\u2019re not crying today. This isn\u2019t a bummer time. This is the fucking celebration of a friend\u2019s life.\u201d It was awesome and it was one of my favorite shows that I ever played. It was just really cool. It was a great weekend. They did a really great job with it all.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Viking funeral for Dave was fucking hilariously awesome.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, that was so fucking cool and insane. I could hear Dave just laughing at it in my head [laughs]. The best part was his costume lying on that boat with his dick sticking straight up in the air [laughs]. That shit was in the Richmond newspaper. Dick sitting straight up in the air. It was fucking awesome [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>How was the food and did it give you diarrhea?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[laughs] I can\u2019t remember. I don\u2019t think I even ate. The beer was good [laughs]. They had a Killsner which was like an IPA or something [laughs]. There were like 20 different food trucks selling stuff so I don\u2019t know who made what. I didn\u2019t touch any of that.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>As we all know, we lost Dave Brockie recently and way too soon. Did his passing make you re-analyze some things such as how you take care of yourself on the road and what not?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, you just don\u2019t fuck with hard drugs. I\u2019m a big drinker but you have to have your limits. You also have to realize that you\u2019re not just living your life for you. There are other people relying on you. You have band mates, family, and friends who all care about you. Sometimes you just have to think about that and not take it for granted. I\u2019m not saying that Dave did. What Dave did was stupid but I don\u2019t think he took anyone for granted.\u00a0\u00a0 He just fucked up.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Anytime an artist\u2019s starts a new band, people assume that a band is splitting up. How did Iron Reagan come to be and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Municipal Waste has never taken a break. It\u2019s just how we work but we work very hard. I guess what happened for me was that it was a mental thing. Ryan (Parrish; drums) from Darkest Hour has been one of my best friends since we were little kids. I told him that if ever left Darkest Hour I was doing a fucking band with him. Everyone in Waste had a side project except for me. We had been talking about taking a break since before Waste in Space came out. When we put that album out, we heavily toured on that album for almost two years and after playing these goddamn songs and doing the same thing for like 13 years we just needed to chill out. We not only didn\u2019t want burn ourselves out but we didn\u2019t want to burn our fans out. When it stops being a lot of fun, it\u2019s a problem. It\u2019s not like we didn\u2019t like each other, it was just too much. We\u2019d been doing this for 13 years which is a big chunk of your life. I mean, we\u2019re still doing stuff together but we\u2019re just doing as much as we had been. We\u2019ll probably have a new record out by next year though. Phil was like, \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to play guitar in a band and I wrote a shit load of riffs. Ryan\u2019s free so let\u2019s just get into a practice space and crank out some songs.\u201d We did and that ended up being our demo. Once all that happened it just snowballed into this fucking thing that we really never saw coming.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is Iron Reagan something you see as more of a 2<sup>nd<\/sup> band instead of a side project per say?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, I think it\u2019s just going to be a constant juggling act with both bands. Once Municipal Waste gets busy again I\u2019ll be doing both bands full time. It\u2019s going to be insane but I can do it.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>That\u2019s actually really cool as it will give you a break in the monotony of doing one thing too much for too long.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s right. You\u2019ve got to work hard. You can\u2019t make money playing music any more so you just have to work extra hard and hopefully pay your bills [laughs]. So that\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do. I\u2019m going to work my ass off.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is a current trend that you\u2019d like to see die and go away forever?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oh man, that Dubstep shit is really awful. Its crazy [laughs]. That whole \u201cbass dropping\u201d sound. I fucking hate that. They use that in movie previews all the fucking time. I went and saw a movie the other day and every fucking preview had that sound effect in it at least six fucking times. Maybe that\u2019s from Dubstep but man, now it\u2019s ruining movies. It\u2019s something that\u2019s so trend and so bad in music that now it\u2019s ruining motion picture previews. It\u2019s in like every fucking preview. There\u2019ll be like an Adam Sandler\/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy and it\u2019ll be like \u201cbuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Are there any bands or types of music that I\u2019d be surprised to hear you were a fan of?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Actually, I listen to a lot of pop punk. The Copyrights just put out a new album and it\u2019s really good. They\u2019re awesome. I like Tegan and Sara a lot. I don\u2019t know why I like Tegan and Sara a lot but it drives my bandmates crazy [laughs]. I\u2019m actually wearing a Tegan and Sara shirt in the Iron Reagan video. It\u2019s pretty stupid [laughs].<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2_mTsuaOj4s\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you could put any celebrity in the wall of death who would it be and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tupac Shakur\u2019s hologram [laughs]. That would be pretty funny. Then he would fly away like an angel to rapper heaven with Eazy E.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Finally, finish this sentence: If I wasn\u2019t a musician I would be ______________.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d probably have my own screen printing shop. I used to do that a lot before Municipal Waste started getting busy. I\u2019d probably still be doing that and hating it. The one brief moment that I wasn\u2019t in a band I did photography and I was actually pretty good at it. I was taking photos on film but now it\u2019s all digital and shit and I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d be doing with it [laughs].<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s next for Iron Reagan?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We just finished shooting a video for \u201cMiserable Failure\u201d with <em>Whitey<\/em> McConnaughy who did all the Red Fang videos. We just flew out to Portland and shot for three days. It was the most enormous shoot I\u2019ve ever done for a video. I think it\u2019s going to be really good. We have some tours in the works but nothing I can really talk about just yet. We\u2019re going to be touring for this album a lot and get this thing into people\u2019s hands. We\u2019re really proud of it.<\/p>\n<p>=======================================================<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tony, thanks so much for doing this again dude. It was great talking with you again. We\u2019re 3 for 3 baby!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Right on, Don. 3 for 3 [laughs]. Thanks so much and have a good one. See ya soon for #4!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tony Foresta is one of the hardest working guys in metal. Just when we thought 13 busy years with Municipal Waste wasn\u2019t enough, Foresta has now taken on another band in the form of political thrash punk kings Iron Reagan. Formed just a few years ago Foresta (along with Waste bassist Land Phil) have taken a much needed break from Municipal Waste to do Iron Reagan and they are about to hit the road for an extensive tour behind their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[194],"tags":[1227,670,761],"class_list":["post-13648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-iron-regan","tag-municipal-waste","tag-tony-foresta"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}