INTERVIEW # 1:
Metal Paths David DeFeis (Virgin Steele) Interview
Conducted by Sir Julian Iliev

Julian: Hail, David!!! Hope you're doing fine recently, I'm glad to have the honor of conducting this interview!!! Considering that there are many interviews with you on your Website and in the Internet, please, allow me to ask a bunch of non-typical questions, ok? (Anyway, they'll be connected to subtle pieces of your lyrics and music)

David's ANSWER: Thanks & Cheers! My pleasure. Sure rage on...Let's go.... J: Well, first of all, and to make an exception, I have to ask how are you these days, what's new with you and Virgin Steele? You told me not long ago that you're locked in the studio almost day and nite, so, what are you rascals up to this time? ANSWER: I am fine thanks for asking. I am on Fire and Roaring! Yes I have been in the studio preparing the re-issues for NOBLE SAVAGE & AGE OF CONSENT. I am putting them out with a new company called Dockyard1, and I have added 2 bonus tracks to each release. I would have added more...but...the CD only holds 80 minutes. We may also issue one or two Internet Ep's that will contain a track from the album and other rarities that could not ft on the actual CD's. In addition, I have been recording what will be the next couple of VIRGIN STEELE albums, as I have written many new songs. Oh yes, and I also recorded a duet with a group called Crystal Viper. They did a cover of my song "Blood & Gasoline", and I added my vocals to their version, and Edward & Josh added some guitar, plus I mixed the track. The 2 re-issues are due to hit the streets on February 2 nd, and I believe that the Crystal Viper Ep will be out on the 25 th.

J: I guess there are periods when you're writing and we all know about the snow-ball effect but please tell me more about the days when all the current work is done and finished!!! How does it feel, what does a typical free David/VS day look like when you're not working on your music?

ANSWER: Free???!!! When the Work is done...I am usually thinking about the next one, but yes I do have days when I am not working. However, my mind is always thinking, so I am always storing up new experiences and images and ideas for future use. If I am not doing anything of a strictly musical nature, then I can be found exploring the Island I live on with a female companion, enjoying the pleasures of the grape, and doing what comes naturally...We have very nice areas here where the ocean is, and also more forest type places that I like, and...I am determined to eat in every restaurant on this Island, so...I seek out new food experiences, (Ishould weigh a thousand pounds...but luckily I have a fast metabolism which is good!) And...I drown in Wine and try to discover and unravel the Secrets of the Universe. J: I know you're open to new music from all around the world, any new band/s you've discovered or a cool concert you've been attending recently? ANSWER: Unfortunately no, as I have been so focused on what I am currently doing. I did however hear the new Cult album, which I like very much.

J: Tell us about the time you were young and the dirtiest jobs you had to work in order to make a living?

ANSWER: I did all sorts of things, from cleaning toilets to cutting up steel in a factory, to giving music lessons. Cleaning toilets and cleaning up vomit after drunken executives have puked, were among the dirtiest jobs that I have done. I was a maintenance guy at the newspaper manufacturing plant here on Long Island, called NEWSDAY, and those rest rooms were dirtier than the ones at the factory I worked at! I often found interesting diversions from this, by flirting with the secretaries, and rescuing raccoons that had fallen into the dumpster behind the building. Among other things, I have given piano lessons, and I was once a car parker at a Country Club...I lasted one day there...Edward had actually gotten me that job. He was a caddy there.

J: Well, a few of my favorite songs - On The Wings Of The Night, Seventeen, Tragedy and Chains Of Fire have always been, in my opinion, the perfect sex-soundtrack for all guys who love rock music. Like everyone, you've been young, wild and I hope you still are, so... Love is Pain indeed. What advice can you give to all the boys and girls out there in the real cold world about those type of relationship - it's always a dramatic feeling to be in love and it can turn your mental and/or physical world upside down! Please, share your thoughts on this?

ANSWER: Live, enjoy, dive in! Thanks very much for your confidence. That is exactly why those songs and songs like that were written, to be the soundtrack for such pursuits! Yes I have been and still am a wild man when it comes to this. I think the best that one can do in a relationship, is be open about what your expectations are. If you are straightforward, then no one is laboring under any illusions. You both know what you are involved for, and can honestly share the journey. One should enjoy the differences between and celebrate them, as well as the similarities. Don't create an image for your partner that is incompatible with who they really are, and don't do the same with yourself! Be upfront about who you are and what you truly believe in. If you do this and they stay...it will work more often than not.

J: I know you like Wine and the odor of drinks like me and most of the metal heads out there. However, it would be nice to know if you are for or against drinking during rehearsals? Personally I prefer it as the spirit gets higher and there's more vibe to the rehearsal - it's like the audience is in the rehearsal room screaming at you... And at live concerts (in small amounts), it helps to get the stage-fright off your body! What do you think?

ANSWER: I don't indulge in drink during rehearsals. The music in VIRGIN STEELE is too complex and the physical demands are quite enormous, so drinking doesn't really work for us in that situation. If we were doing covers or simpler kinds of things, then maybe it would be all right. If I have dinner before the rehearsal, and have some wine and such...then it is all right, because food is also in the mix. Or if we are doing the acoustic thing a bit of wine, etc., is OK, but not for the full on battle style of VIRGIN STEELE. The music demands total mental and physical commitment.

J: Do your neighbors know you and what you're doing?

ANSWER: Not really. I keep a low profile. They know that I am involved in music, but they don't know the details. I live in an area that is fairly private, and I keep my distance.

J: There's lots of emotions in your music, are you emotional and is this an obstacle on the way of being rational?

ANSWER: Yes I am a man of many emotions and moods. Yes sometimes emotions can override reason and better sense of judgment, but...one hopefully learns with time and experience to not let emotions run amuck; to master oneself, and to do what one really wants to do, and to act how one truly wishes to act, not how body chemistry says or dictates. But that being said...once in awhile the "Flip out" does occur...

J: Is it easy for you to get rid of someone when you've "had enough"? Actually, in real life, do you seek revenge if you've been offended or you just keep the distance and let them walk away? I'm asking, as my personal beliefs tell me that if we can feel love it's unnatural to pretend that hate doesn't exist inside as well.

ANSWER: Once I reach my "saturation point" with someone who is a pain in the ass, I remove myself from the equation. I don't allow them in my Life anymore and that's it. "Revenge"...I don't really indulge in, but...it would all depend upon what the injury to me was, and what the circumstances were. No you can't pretend that anger and hate do not exist. They certainly do. However, one can always try diplomacy first. Often it is better to simply cut the other person out of your Life, to think of them as deceased, rather than exact revenge. If however someone enters my home uninvited, with malicious, harmful intent...then I have no problem with cutting off their head.

J: Which are the things you still have not achieved, both musically and personally?

ANSWER: There is so much that I still wish to do musically. I have thousands of ideas that I want to explore and complete. I want to realize many different kinds of albums, and I will do this, as I have been writing and all will eventually be completed. I want to perform in every Country of the World, and meet many more people along the way. I want to make a movie, write a book...it goes on and on...Personally I want to improve myself in all areas.

J: Are there some personal demons that you've given up fighting? In other words - things that once you didn't like but you've come to the truth that this is just a part of yourself. Or maybe demons are a part of us but they're there to be fought and if you give up on fighting you're lost?

ANSWER: Like anyone else on the Planet, I have my issues, and I deal with them myself. I don't burden the people around me with them. I struggle on my own. Life is a grand and glorious struggle, and that is what gives it meaning and makes it worth living. I embrace all aspects of Life, the good, the bad and the ugly, etc., as then I know that I am truly ALIVE! One cannot run and hide from pain and discomfort or anesthetize themselves, for that is not truly living Life, and that is the way of the weak.

J: Will there ever be a VIRGIN STEELE Live album or a DVD?

ANSWER: Yes absolutely! I am currently in the process of re-organizing our Label situation. I have recently received several new offers from different Record Companies, and I am very close to completing the negotiations and signing a new deal. So yes...that will happen, first a new album, and then a live album, and then a full on DVD, with everything under the sun in there!

J: What was the reason behind the NOBLE SAVAGE & AGE OF CONSENT re-issues? Was it a money thing?

ANSWER: No it was not a money issue at all. The reason why bands re-issue albums are many...but with us it was simply a case of wanting to have the albums available for future generations of Fans to experience, and also to have them available for the older Fans to replace their worn out copies...if necessary, and mainly to avoid bootleggers. Once an album goes out of print, then they step into the breech. We did not want this to happen. The other earlier versions of NOBLE SAVAGE & AGE OF CONSENT, ran their course with the label we were signed to, so if I did not agree to re-issue them then they would be out of print and unavailable.

J: Well, that's it, David. Thank you for taking the time!!! Hope my questions aren't that unnatural but I'm sure there are other crazy heads like me who'd love to read your answers!!! A final word to all our readers and all those who like to think and ponder?

ANSWER: I thank you for your time and interest and I wish you a most Glorious day! Some last words...Sure. Thanks for listening and thanks for all your tremendous support, honour and belief! Pour the Wine in the Cup Of The Future, and Raise Your Glass For Today...Cheers!!!

BY THE BLACK SUN & MOON,

David DeFeis