BLACK LABEL SOCIETY,QUEENSRŸCHE

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY's Nick Catanese Forms New Band With QUEENSRŸCHE Guitarist Mike Stone

www.Live-Metal.net has issued an interview with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY guitarist Nick Catanese, conducted by Greg Maki at the recent OZZFest show in Camden, NJ. The following is an excerpt from the interview:

Q: That’s one of the things the Black Label fans are always asking about: When are we are going to hear some of your music?

A: "Very, very soon. Things are happening quicker than I thought."

Q: What kind of music is it? How would you describe it?

A: "You know what? Everybody’ll like it. There’s heavier stuff, but there’s stuff like, we wrote a song that sounds like if you put THE BEATLES and PINK FLOYD in a blender, and it came out. It’s me and Mike Stone from QUEENSRŸCHE. He’s playing bass and singing. And a drummer named Mike Froedge. He played for a band called DOUBLEDRIVE. And it’s just a three-piece, so just me, Mike Stone and Mike Froedge. So we’re just writing away, and that’s pretty much what I’m doing with my off time now."

Q: Does the band have a name yet?

A: "Yeah, we’re just right now in the midst of copyrighting it. It’ll be out soon. We found out that there’s not one of them out there, so we’re safe. It was crazy. This is a little hint, but we changed it a bit. We were gonna call the band Speed - Speed wasn’t taken - because I’m into NASCAR, I’m into NHRA - anything fast, I love it. And we found out in like 1996 there was a Japanese band called Speed. So anybody that had that name, you know, you get big, they could be jerks and sue you. So we found a way to get around it. So it has “Speed” in it. It’s cool. It’s cool."

Read the full interview at Live-Metal.net.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY Guitarist Talks About New SPEED Project


While BLACK LABEL SOCIETY was on a little hiatus this summer, as Zakk Wylde performed with OZZY OSBOURNE, guitarist Nick Catanese took full opportunity to work with his new project that features QUEENSRŸCHE's Mike Stone on bass and vocals, and Mike Froedge on drums. Although the name of the project is a work in progress, and further details still have to be worked out, the name SPEED has been kicked around.

Catanese spoke to www.KNAC.com's Deb Rao recently. A few excerpts follow:

www.KNAC.com: Would you say that the name of your new project Speed came from your love of fast cars and racing?

Catanese: "Well, Speed is a name in progress, it's not the name we are using, and it’s close but not exactly. I can't say it until al the legal mumbo jumbo is done, but I am excited. I hope people dig it. We should finish the CD by the end of October."

www.KNAC.com: In the past, you have worked with so many talented people in the business. Let's discuss your current project. In the band, you are working with Queensrÿche's Mike Stone, and DOUBLEDRIVE drummer Mike Froedge. How did this come together?

Catanese: "Stoney and me met at the Blacktooth Bash at NAMM, we hit it off there. Then I found out he is a Bass player and sings his ass off. And Mikey, he and I actually played together in bands back in my High Voltage days in Florida. Then he played in Doubledrive and I knew he kicked ass. So we got a great power trio."

www.KNAC.com: What kind of sound are you aiming for with the new project?

Catanese: "There isn't a style; we are just writing what comes out. We have no direction. We are just doing what comes out. We did three songs in Atlanta in Mike’s studio, and for just a week, the three songs are cool as hell. All different styles and fresh. Doesn’t sound like anything I have heard. There's one song that is very PINK FLOYD-ish meets the BEATLES. I love it, and the solo is way STEVIE RAY."

Read more here.