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BOSTAPH SLAMS INTERNET ‘COWARDS’

Manos Spanos
SLAYER drummer Paul Bostaph says that "people are cowards behind their computers," explaining that social media has made it possible for everyone to speak with virtually no accountability because they can hide behind false names and identities. Asked by AndrewHaug.com, Australia's first-ever dedicated 24/7 rock and metal online radio station launched by Andrew Haug, the former host of Triple J Australia's "The Racket" radio show (originally "Full Metal Racket"; 2001-2011), what he thinks about people like former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted opting out of social media and whether he feels that fans and artists are getting overwhelmed with information overload, Bostaph said: "Social media is interesting, because I'm just now trying to… I've been on and off social media, just because I'm kind of a private person. I see people posting pictures of what they eat for dinner, and I'm, like, that just doesn't appeal to me. Unless I feel it's something interesting, which… I look at my life as these are the things I do, and I can't manufacture something I think is interesting in my life. So it's kind of one of those things where I've just gotta get used to putting something out there that I feel comfortable with." He continued: "Say, for instance, if social media was around in the '70s, which it wasn't, I would have loved to have seen what Alex Van Halen was doing today, you know what I mean?! But I never had the opportunity. And maybe the opportunity to, maybe, [if] one person gets a response back from that individual [that he or she admires], [like] if I would have had one of my favorite drummers of all time reach out to me and say, 'Hey, thanks for this compliment,' just one thing, [I would have been, like,] 'Oh, my God, this guy got back in touch with me.'" "I think, to a certain degree, social media is… It's gonna be one of those things where… I think it's gonna go by the wayside, like everything else… I could be wrong. But I think people are just gonna get too much of it, or it's gonna grow into something else. But right now, it's one of those things…" He went on to say: "I never thought of [social media] as a necessary evil. I think the way I'm looking at it is, now, for myself, if you've really got something you wanna share with people, then you do. I also think that there's a lot of bad things out there in terms of, not just social media but the Internet, because people have no accountability. "When I grew up, if certain people said things about me on the streets where I grew up, if you said it to my face, certain things, you would have gotten a knuckle sandwich. That's how it was. You don't talk trash about people. If you've got something to say to me, you come up to my face. That's not the world we live in. People are cowards behind their computers. Or they're 'brave.' I'd say they're brave behind their computers, and that makes them a coward. "Look, if you can't say something [to a] person [if he or she] was in the room, don't [go online and] say it. So I don't blame certain individuals for opting out of [social media], because after a while, you're, like, 'Man, what is this? It's just a bunch of crap anyway.' Other people utilize it. They say you have to have thick skin. So, it depends on how thick your skin is. If you have thick skin, you can deal with it. For other people, it becomes social drama. "It's an interesting question. I don't know if there's one… There's not a right answer to it. Shoot, there's idiots driving cars out there, so I guess there can be idiots on the Internet." Bostaph rejoined SLAYER last year following the band's latest split with its original drummer, Dave Lombardo. Paul was SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001 and recorded four albums with the band — the gold-certified "Divine Intervention" (1994), the 1996 punk covers album "Undisputed Attitude", "Diabolus In Musica" (1998), "God Hates Us All" (2001) that received a Grammy nomination for "Best Metal Performance", as well as the DVD "War At The Warfield" (2001), also certified gold. In addition to SLAYER, Bostaph has been a member of FORBIDDEN, EXODUS, SYSTEMATIC and TESTAMENT.
04 min read

PAUL BOSTAPH: SLAYER Is Honoring JEFF HANNEMAN By Continuing Without Him

Manos Spanos
Earlier this week, Dimitris Kontogeorgakos of Greece's Metal Kaoz conducted an interview with SLAYER drummer Paul Bostaph. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). On how it feels playing with SLAYER again: Bostaph: "It feels phenomenal. It feels really good. It feels like being home. I've always loved playing this music. I grew up on it… Just coming back to this, it's been really good. It's kind of like going back and playing with old friends again. I mean, Kerry [King, guitar] and I were really close and we still are, and I'm close to Tom [Araya, bass/vocals]. And I know Gary [Holt] from EXODUS [who is filling in for late SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman] — I know Gary very well. The only bittersweet part of it, obviously, is that Jeff is not with us anymore. And I was looking forward to that, to playing with him again. But other than that, other than Jeff passing, it's been really good." On his decision in December 2001 to leave SLAYER and how things are different today: Bostaph: "Well, it's funny… I was different back then. The way I looked at things was different — right or wrong. And now I've had the time to kind of… Sometimes they say you don't know what you have until it's gone. And I think over the years, just seeing the guys and playing with different bands [since I left SLAYER], I kind of realized that playing with these guys is that there's a way that they do things that… In terms of… I don't know… It's hard to explain. There's a work ethic that appeals to me within this band. I think there's just a feeling of loving the music. First and foremost, and the primary thing out of everything, I couldn't find a band that could do what this band does. And that's the bottom line, really." On whether he was the first and only name on SLAYER's list of possible replacements for the band's original drummer, Dave Lombardo, when Dave parted ways with SLAYER earlier this year: Bostaph: "Honestly, I don't think so; I don't think I was the first and only [name on the list]. I mean, there's probably some other guys [that were being considered as well]. But I'm the guy that's here now. It made sense [for me to return]. I mean, you can't think anything for granted and think it's just gonna work. You have to try it out and see how things feel. It's been over [ten] years [since I left the band], and I'm sure they wanted to see how it felt playing together again, and being in a room together, you know what I mean?! You just don't make a snap judgment like that and [assume] that it's going to work. And they didn't. And we got together and we felt it out, and it felt really good, and here we are." On how different it feels being in SLAYER without Jeff:
08 min read

SLAYER’s TOM ARAYA: Having Drummer PAUL BOSTAPH Back In The Band ‘Is Awesome’

Manos Spanos
On October 9, Peter Atkinson of Metal-Rules.com conducted an interview with SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. A few excerpts from the chat follow below. Metal-Rules.com: Are you interested in seeing people's reactions here to the new SLAYER, the new old SLAYER, or whatever people think it is? Tom: [laughs] I don't know. They've experienced SLAYER with Gary [Holt, guitar], and everybody's experienced SLAYER with Paul [Bostaph, drums] because Paul was part of the band for quite a few years, so it'll be time for everybody to get reacquainted with Paul and acclimated to this lineup. Gary has been playing with us for two years now, if you can believe that. People have seen the various pieces, just not all together. Paul's always been a friend. When he left, it was on his terms, and it was no bad feelings at all. Paul felt he needed to move on and it wasn't on bad terms and to have him back and playing in the band is awesome. It's like we're taking up where we left off with Paul and he's amazing. He's full of energy, he's excited to be back and he's excited to be part of SLAYER again. So it makes for very energetic shows and very exciting times. This is gonna be good. Like I said, everybody is going to be reacquainted with Paul and everybody knows Gary has been filling in, now it's just a whole different circumstance knowing that Jeff [Hanneman, guitar] has passed. I'm sure everyone will enjoy it. Paul is very energetic and excited, which makes everybody else excited. It'll be good and it will allow closure for everybody. Metal-Rules.com: How is Gary dealing with all this. He's in odd position — plus there's still EXODUS and I wonder if he's itching to get back to that, since it's his baby?
05 min read