Tony Foresta just may be one of the most unsung, hardest working men in metal. When Tony’s not fronting Richmond, VA crossover kings Municipal Waste he can be found fronting the new powerhouse road dog band known as Iron Reagan. Add to that contributing to the project/super group line up recording of Teenage Time Killers (featuring members of COC, Lamb of God, and Foo Fighters to name a few) and you have one dude who needs a fucking nap more than just about anyone I know.
I had a great time catching up backstage with Tony after a facemelting show supporting VoiVod and Napalm Death here in Atlanta. We discussed the impact touring with GWAR had on Iron Reagan, how Tony feels about signing autographs, and just what glam metal shit he is not even remotely embarrassed to admit that he loves. This was a great interview with one of my favorite people and unfortunately I’m running out of shit to ask him. I better start working on that if I want a #5. Enjoy this one, y’all.
Tony, thanks for taking the time out to do this interview dude. Finally get to do one in person!
Yeah, man. I really thought you were going to be way hotter though.
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I guess when I grew my beard I lost my boyish good looks. I actually grew it to hide this other chin.
Yeah. That’s why we all grow beards [laughs].
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This is our 4th interview dude. I feel like I should’ve brought you flowers or something.
It’s our 4th interview. I think the 5th one is more like an anniversary.
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Happy New Year dude. SO what did you get for Christmas?
I always fly down to see my family so I just tell them to get me gift cards since they never know what to get me. The year before I lost all my gift cards at a bar the night before I had to fly back. This year, I just got gift cards. Oh, I got a Blu-Ray player and that was kind of cool. I really don’t give a shit. I mean, if somebody wants to buy me a new roof to my house that would be awesome [laughs]. My roofs falling apart and I need a new one.
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Maybe we can launch a Kickstarter for that!
Kickstarter: FIX MY FUCKING 120 YEAR OLD HOUSE [laughs]. Get me a new roof!
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How many interviews have you done that start with the question, “So how’s the tour going?”
69! [laughs]
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You know what played out question I’ve never heard asked? Where did you get the band name from? Well? How did that name come to be?
Me and the dudes from Caustic Christ and Jimmy from Annihilation Time were fucking drunk in Pittsburgh and I came up with the name. He had a little jam space there and he said, “Let’s do a band” and off the top of my head I just said, “Iron Reagan” and we were all cracking up about it. We just drunkenly had this for 4 hour jam session. I just sat on that name for a while because I always wanted to do a band eventually with Ryan (Parrish; drums) from Darkest Hour. When he quit Darkest Hour it just all came together. That name was just too good to not use [laughs]. It’s the dumbest name in the world.
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You guys have been playing a shit load of shows behind the Tyranny of Will album. Now that you’ve had time to sit with it a bit is there anything you wish you’d had done differently?
There’s just one sample that I don’t like on it but the rest of it I’m really happy with it. It’s my favorite record that I’ve done ever out of everything I’ve done. I love the way it sounds. I know that everybody says that about their new record but it really is my favorite record. I mean, I love a lot of the stuff that I’ve done. Not in a cocky way but it’s just that it’s like your kids. I was just a crazy time. That year was so insane with how hard we worked and toured and just having that thing come out and hearing and seeing it made me really proud.
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Believe it or not, I’ve even met people that said that they don’t like MW but they love Iron Reagan. Does that piss you off or make your pants tight?
[laughs] It’s cool for me because they can tell a difference. They’re actually listening. Some people say, “There’s no difference. Municipal Waste and Iron Reagan. It’s the same band.” No, I think we sound a lot different. It’s kind of like when people say that all rap music’s the same. People just aren’t listening or paying attention. I’m cool with it either way though if you like one band and you don’t like the other. I don’t care if you don’t like any of my bands [laughs]. I’m just flying by the seat of my pants with this band. Everything has just been falling together and it’s been really cool.
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Iron Reagan has grown so much as a band from that first tour you guys did with GWAR to now.
That GWAR tour had a huge impact on us. I mean, when you go out with those dudes you have to get your tour chops up, even if you’re a new band. That’s why I wanted to do that tour so badly. I’ve toured with GWAR a lot but it’s more about the way they push you to put on a show. Those dudes just pushed us so I knew it would be good for our band to just figure out where we were at. We’re still a new band. We’ve only been a band for two years but we already have a fuck ton of releases [laughs]. We just put a lot of work into it. It’s just been snowballing and it’s been really exciting.
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One of the things that stuck with me the most from the last time we talked was how you pointed out that Iron Reagan isn’t a side band but a band all in its own with 100% of your focus when you’re doing it.
It’s obvious. We have so many fucking releases already [laughs]. It’s fucking crazy. We have a 7” coming out soon. It’s dumb [laughs]. Some people say Iron Reagan’s a side band. We’re just a bunch of dudes that are in bands doing a band. We’re just old dudes doing a band. I don’t know what I’m talking about [laughs]. There are side projects out there but you don’t see them tour as much or work as hard. Now this Teenage Time Killers record that I’m doing with Reed Mullin and a million other people; now that’s a side project. That’s a side band. We’re not going to go out and fucking do a tour and play 40 gigs [laughs].
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Speaking of the Teenage Time Killers project, how is that thing going?
I finally heard a bunch of the songs. They gave me a weird song to do. We did a Void cover. They’re one of my favorite bands but it’s such a weird cover to do. The vocals are fucking weird. Their singer’s a maniac and it’s a weird song to cover. Some Void fans are probably going to be like, “What the fuck?” [laughs]. A Void song is hard as shit to cover but it was really fun. It’s like a stoner, heavier Void song with me singing. It makes no sense [laughs].
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The Iron Reagan video for “Miserable Failure” got a video of the year award on The Great Southern Brainfart. Would you like to give your acceptance speech now?
That’s awesome. Man, I would like to thank all the Fartheads out there, thank you. Very much. That’s all. [laughs]
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So with that video, how much of that shit was real and how much was staged?
The fucking train scene that didn’t make it into the video was real as fuck. The only scene that wasn’t real was the library scene at the beginning. Everything else was just like, “Surprise! Here we are fucking playing! [laughs] There was a lot of people freaking out. One girl had a dog who got really nervous as shit when we started moshing around.
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The highlight of the whole video is the coffee house scene where the little hipster dude looks like he shit his pants when you guys came over the count and started raging.
[laughs] Whitey did a great job on that video.
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How much pre-planning did that video take?
A lot. That coffeehouse scene. Man, we fucked a lot of shit up on accident. It was so dumb [laughs].
So what do you think about this trend that has bands charging their fans to meet them?
Is that really a trend? Man, I think it’s fucking hilarious. I think that’s mainly a promoter thing? I don’t know. I had a friend of mine back in the 90’s who tried to get a picture with the singer of Fishbone and the guy goes, “Yeah. For $5.00.” I thought that was fucking crazy. I’m sure it’s gone up since back in the day. He’s probably charging like $7.50 for a photo now. I mean, really, promoters have to make money in their own weird way and if people want to cough up the dough, I guess that’s cool. A lot of times the bands aren’t even into it because they’re just getting into town and they’re like, “Fuck. Now I have to sit here after soundcheck in this fucking chair.” Yeah, it’s kind of weird.
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If Iron Reagan offered the VIP experience what would fans get?
They’d get disappointed because I’d probably be sleeping in the van and I’d forget about it.
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Do you like meeting the fans yourself?
I like meeting the fans but doing autograph signings for me is weird. It’s kind of awkward. I’m still not used to it. Whenever someone asks me for an autograph I think they’re fucking with me. Still. Even to this day. I’m like, “Do you really want an autograph or are you just fucking with me?”
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Why is that?
I just never expected. It first really started happening when Municipal Waste was on Earache and we were touring Europe. People started asking me for autographs and I would say, “Fuck off.” I figured they were just calling me a rock star or something [laughs]. I just didn’t understand and I pissed off a lot of people. Autographs are weird but I nerd out whenever I see someone I like and I want to get a photo with them so I get it. I just never thought I’d be on this side of it. I came from more of a punk background where if you asked some punk band for an autograph they’d be like, “Eww, get away.”
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How do you feel about social media and connecting with fans through it?
I think when it first came out it was a little fucked up because all the weirdoes came out but I think now people realize they can get checked on it really easily. There’s a lot of fucking weirdoes that I had to deal with when it first started coming out but now you can block people and what not. I like being able to reach out to fans. I love my Instagram. I always post stupid shit and people say hilarious comments and if someone says something shitty I just block them. It’s great.
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Do you think it killed the rock star mystique at all? I mean, not that you’re a rock star but like when we were kids, it would’ve been weird for us to be interacting with Johnny Ramone on Twitter because he was like a fucking god.
Yeah, but now we get to see their plates of food [laughs]. I’m actually cool with that because it’s more my speed but I can see how it would disappoint people.
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What song do you have to sing along with no matter how out of key you are when you hear it while driving?
Every Descendants song. Even their later shit.
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What’s your biggest guilty pleasure television show?
I was really into Cosmos but I don’t think that’s a guilty pleasure. I really like Parks and Recreation but that’s not really a guilty pleasure either. Oh, I really love that Rock of Love Bus shit. That’s my jam.
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I’ve been watching this show called Little Women LA. It’s a reality show about midget chicks.
[laughs] That’s awesome. I have to check that out!
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If you were on death row, what would your last meal on earth be?
I really like this sandwich shop in Richmond called Coppollas. It’s like a weird deli. Maybe a sandwich from there or a dinner from Mama Zu’s which is this awesome Italian restaurant in Richmond. My best friend always orders for me because I have no idea what’s going on but he always orders me the best shit.
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What is your favorite glam metal band that would never admit to being a fan of?
Man, I was going to say Nitro but fucking Nitro rules. “Nasty Reputation” is my fucking jam. Nitro rules. Oh, and also, that song “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Warrant. That song is the shit. That’s a jammer dude. I’m not even ashamed of that shit. I fucking rip that one hard as fuck.”
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If you could get a medicinal marijuana card, what would your condition be?
Probably anxiety because I’m a fucking basket most of the time.
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If I was to come over to your place for a slumber party, what would we do?
I always cook out when bands stay at my house. I just try to feed everyone and watch a bunch of TV. I’ve got a really comfy house. I love it. There’s plenty of room for people to sleep.
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Word association time. I’m going to name 5 singers and I want you to tell me the first word that comes to your head:
Vince Neil: Blonde
Bruce Dickinson: Iron Reagan
Tom Jones: Panties
Beyonce: The White Album. I guess because Jay Z did the black album? I don’t know why I said that [laughs].
Garth Brooks: The shit. I love old Garth Brooks.
So what’s up after this tour? Will we get another MW album/tour? Are you untired enough of MW to do some more shit?
Iron Reagan will be doing Europe for like half the year. We’re going there twice. Municipal Waste will be recording a record I think in early summer. We have so many Municipal Waste songs. We’ve been writing the fuck out of them. We’re going to tour the fuck out of Iron Reagan then I’m going to chill for a few months and then do Municipal Waste for a long time. That’s what I want to do but things change; things happen. We’ll see. I’m all over the place and I’m really excited.
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Finish this sentence: Before I die, I would like to ________________________.
Take a long nap [laughs]
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Tony, thanks again for doing this. 4 for 4 baby.
Thank you, man. This was fun.
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