Skull Fist's Jonny Chases the Dream

Heavy metal dudes Skull Fist are currently on the road touring about, with two releases under their belt, their debut album "Head of the Pack" and follow-up release "Chasing The Dream". Guitarist Jonny Nesta talks of the band's releases, playing shows, and plans ahead.


1. Can I get a backstory on the band/ band biography?

Jonny: Most of us met at camp, we shared bunks and Jackie saved me from drowning once. We met Casey on a canoe trip when Casey's canoe sank after hitting a beaver dam. We've been pretty close friends ever since.

2. How did you guys come up with your band name?

Jonny: We got it from a biography, not an autobiography, but quite a good one, well written for sure.

3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?

Jonny: We are from Toronto Canada, lots of great music there actually, Cauldron, Midnight Malice, Blood Ceremony, Axxion, Call of the wild, fuckin lots of great stuff. My buddy Kevin, he's pretty cool, this guy I know Chris really likes music, it's a pretty strong thing.

4. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?

Jonny: SATAN!

5. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?

Jonny: Actually we steal all our music from Dokken but we play every riff backwards and change the tempo. that's a secret though so just edit that out. cool?

6. Is there any story or concept behind the Head Of The Pack title?

Jonny: If you're not at the head of the pack, you're running in the middle, or back, which is not as good, like if we're talking a pack of dogs, I would imagine the ones in the middle or back would just be looking at a bunch of other dogs' butts, which isn't as nice as if you were at the front you would have a better view of what was happening, which would be good, if you were running somewhere cool, if it was somewhere bad perhaps being at the back would be better though, maybe?

7. Who produced Head Of The Pack and what was it like working with them?

Jonny: Our buddy Daniel recorded it, I guess we produced it, it was pretty fun working with ourselves. Daniel is fun too, he understands the importance of ice, if you run out of ice, you're not going to have a good time recording because your drinks will get warm. Also he's really good at recording so that helps a lot.

8. Who did the cover art for Head Of The Pack and how much input did you have on it?

Jonny: Phil Bernard drew the cover, he's really great, he does most of our artwork. We kind of ask for an idea and he draws up something awesome, it's great.

9. Do you guys have any new music in the works as far as a follow-up release?

Jonny: Yes, Chasing the Dream is the new record, currently available at Wal-Mart exclusively, well not exclusively, but you can probably buy it there, well, perhaps not buy it there, but I don't think they would have a problem if you entered the store carrying the CD, maybe it would be frowned upon at worst, but I don't believe it would be illegal. But you can definitely get it, it's got a bunch of new songs.

10. Have you shot any videos for any of the songs off these releases?

Jonny: There is currently a video for the title track off our debut Head of the Pack. Then there's another video for Commit to Rock. We already made a video for You're Gona Pay off the new record Chasing the Dream. It was quite high budgeted you should check it out we really spared no expenses on it.

11. What are your upcoming touring/show plans?

Jonny: Right now we're on tour in Europe with Enforcer and Vanderbuyst, it's really fun, shows are going great, we're about half way through, still I think about 16 shows left.

12. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

Jonny: You can listen to our band wherever you would like mostly, if you're in public you can use headphones so you don't disturb the people around you. If you're in private you can usually use a stereo and play it a bit louder. You can buy our stuff from our international merch store, or maybe from a friend who bought some stuff and didn't like it, then maybe they will sell it to you for a good price?

13. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?

Jonny: I'd like them to think, "I've heard worse".

14. What can the fans expect to see from you in the future?

Jonny: Probably more playing, some more albums, nude calenders, the usual type of stuff.


15. Any final words of wisdom?

Jonny: Stay in school or not whatever.