Thought provoking, funny, intelligent, outspoken, and honest are just a few words that I can use to describe Tony Foresta. Whether he’s fronting Iron Reagan or thrash crossover veterans Municipal Waste, Tony always has something to say. Tony Foresta is someone that I never get tired of interviewing and every time it’s like the first.
On a busy press day promoting the return of Municipal Waste, Tony was awesome enough to talk with me about the return of Municipal Waste, their latest album Slime and Punishment, and the band’s now notorious and controversial Trump t-shirt/backdrop. Tony, as always, had me rolling and it was so awesome to get to speak with him again. Dig on this one, y’all.
Tony, you must really love me as this is, I believe, our forth interview together. Should I have given you something like an edible arrangement or something?
[laughs] Yeah. This is like what? The 14th interview we’ve done or something [laughs].
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So you guys are kicking it out on the West coast for some promo?
Yeah, we’re hanging out in California just relaxing, doing interviews, and signing a bunch of stuff. We hung out at Venice Beach last night so that was really neat.
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Do you ever get tired of doing interviews?
Yeah, I mean you know [laughs]. Nah, its part of the job and it’s fun. You get to meet some interesting people [laughs].
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Municipal Waste is back after a pretty lengthy hiatus. Was it just time for a comeback?
Yeah, it just felt right. People have been harassing us about for a long time now [laughs]. “When the fuck are you going to put a record out?” It just seemed like it was the right time and we finally finished writing something that we were all happy with. It’s cool and we’re really excited to get back out there and start playing some new songs. We get sick of playing those older ones so much [laughs].
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Was it the Trump presidency that brought you guys back out?
No [laughs]. I could never give him credit for something that’s actually interesting. We just haven’t done an album in what, five years? It’s so crazy. People really wanted it and we didn’t want to let our fans down so we busted our butts, got an extra guitar player in the mix too. so it’s the right time to strike.
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So with the addition of the new guy (Nick Poulos), is there a new feeling of excitement in doing this?
Yeah. There’s new blood in the band and everyone’s hungry again. It’s always fun and cool to tour with somebody who hasn’t done certain things before. Its fun to see them excited about shit that you’ve done a bunch of times that you almost take for granted. You say, “Oh yeah. This is really cool what we’re doing. I forgot that I love this. This is exciting.” [laughs]
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Now you also have someone to wash your underwear while on the road.
Oh gross. No. I go commando dawg. That’s how I roll [laughs].
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I have to say, my mom saw my Trump Muni Waste shirt and said, “Donald. That shirt is terrible but Trump is an asshole.”
[laughs] That’s awesome. Yeah, it’s a pretty vulgar shirt. I heard someone call it vulgar the other day. I thought that was pretty funny.
I tweeted a photo of me wearing that shirt right after the election and someone told me that they were going to report me to the FBI or threatening the life of the president.
[laughs] That’s brilliant. Please do. It’s great press for us.
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That image just makes such a bold statement. Have you guys beefed up your security in fear of retaliation from the Alt Right?
No. I don’t care. I like to fight so if you want throw hands about some bullshit, I’ll do it. I don’t give a shit [laughs]. It gets people worked up and that was the point. Well, maybe we do need to beef up our security. I’m not going to tell people [laughs].
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So has this vulgar image brought Municipal Waste some new fans?
Oh yeah. Definitely. It’s funny. Somebody posted a picture of Whoopi Goldberg wearing that shirt. It was totally photoshopped but I don’t care. I’ll take whatever I can get. I’ve seen the dudes in Slayer wearing it. You’d be surprised where it’s gone. I like that.
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I just love that you guys are rattling the cages. Not enough bands are doing that these days.
I proudly stand against Trump. I don’t give a shit if it’s not patriotic. I love my country but I think our president’s a piece of shit [laughs]. I have a right to say that.
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So the new album is called Slime and Punishment. Tell me about this masterpiece that is about to cum all over us.
[laughs] Well, it took us a long time to write it but we really wanted to deliver a proper Waste album. I think it shows that the band’s grown a lot but it still has that fast, fun, pissed off energy that we’ve always put out. I’m excited to get it out there. I’ve been seeing the album cover today and singing posters with the artwork and it’s got me really excited; to finally get the Waste back is a good thing.
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You were really busy with Iron Reagan while Municipal Waste was taking a bit of a break. Was the time away one of those “absence makes the heart grow fonder” kind things?
Yeah, of course. I love both bands very much so I’m going to work my hardest for both. We put our hearts into this new Waste album. It’s fun to get back together with everyone again and it still feels fresh. I mean, we all hang out when we’re at home and whatnot so it’s cool. We’re all like a weird family.
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Municipal Waste has some touring coming up right?
Yeah. We’re doing Punk Rock Bowling, we’re playing a modified Ghostfest in Vancouver, and then we’re doing Warped Tour and that’s like two and a half months long. We’re going to playing in the armpit of everywhere this summer [laughs].
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Will you guys do a headline run?
We’re already discussing what we’re going to do after that but there’s already a lot of stuff for us to do so we’re all just piecing it out.
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Will you guys be rockin’ the road in a tour bus or are you still living the van life?
We like the van life but you pretty much have to have a bus on Warped Tour because you’re in parking lots for like 14 hours a day. It’s so fucking hot so it’s kind of a necessity but normally we rock the vans.
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How long do you think you can do this before you’re like, “My old body just can’t take this anymore?”
What? This interview? [laughs]
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Fucking asshole. That’s why I love you.
[laughs] I don’t know. I’ve got some time left. I’m looking at all these dudes that are like 15 years older than me and I’m like, “Holy shit. They’re still doing it.” While we’re talking, I’m looking at this picture of Danzig painted like a skeleton and he’s like 70. Hopefully I’m not doing it that long but we’ll see.
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That’s from his covers album I think. That album is one of the most awesomely terrible things I’ve ever heard. You’ve got to hear his cover of “Rough Boy” by ZZ Top.
[laughs] I just got it yesterday. I can’t wait to hear it. I love Danzig but I know this is going to be weird. I can’t wait to check it out.
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What’s your most disgusting junk food guilty pleasure while on tour?
I’m totally addicted to Sheetz or Wawa. Whenever there’s one of those I make everyone stop. Whatever food those places are selling [laughs]. I just love it.
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You must have a cast iron stomach after all these years on the road.
Yeah, it’s from all the hot sauce. My stomach is just used to punishment. Whiskey and hot sauce every day.
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What is the least metal thing about you?
I play volleyball every Wednesday when I’m home [laughs]. It’s really fun. I’m pretty good actually. It’s like beach volleyball so I can hurt myself and not get hurt really bad [laughs]. That’s pretty not metal.
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What app/game do you play while taking a dump?
I don’t really fuck with apps honestly. I’m usually just responding to e-mails [laughs]. I used to play The Simpson’s Tapped Out. I was just thinking about that the other day. It just never went anywhere. It was really popular like a year or two ago. You just get stuff but you don’t really win or anything. It was really strange [laughs].
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It was great talking to you again, Tony and next time beers are on you!
Absolutely. Thanks so much for doing another interview. We’ll hang out soon for sure. Cheers.
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