A Dirty Dozen with KYLE HAMMER from VOIDGAZER – August 2021

We get Voidgazer’s drummer Kyle to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Dance of the Undesirables is the follow up to the band’s first release, and marks the first record to feature myself on drums and Omar on vocals. One thing that sticks out to me with this record is listening thru to all the absurd stuff Omar pulls out, all the layers, different techniques and types of vocals he utilizes. I can listen thru it and hear each song like 5 different ways. As a guy who typically isn’t into the super brutal vocals, I think that’s a pretty big selling point.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

My dad played in a cover band when I was a kid, and one day the drummer didn’t show up, so I popped behind the kit and was able to actually keep a solid beat enough for them to run through some songs. Within a couple weeks I had a kit of my own to play on. Around that time, my uncle Michael McNeil actually had one of the largest drum kits in the world, so I think that finding my way to the drums was an inevitability. I don’t think I ever had a moment where I realized I wanted to be one, the moment where I found out I already was one came first.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Up until about 8th – 9th grade I was into the normal fare, The Beatles, Grand Funk, typical “Dad’s CD collection” fare. It wasn’t until a friend picked up guitar and started getting real good really fast, and made me learn “Hallowed Be Thy Name” by Iron Maiden. From there I found myself wanting more like that, and then started branching out into heavier stuff when I found out about Slayer, Megadeth, and so forth.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

For Voidgazer as a whole, I’d say Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, High On Fire, Mastodon, and Motorhead. For myself personally, I gotta go Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Motorhead (the stuff with Mikkey Dee), and Jesus Christ Superstar.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

I’d really love for VG to collab with an artist like Carpenter Brut, and explore some really gritty synth stuff.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Two words: Biker prog. In a phrase: Scary music for horny people. It’s like a wet dream and a nightmare rolled into one. With how fresh we are we haven’t gotten too many goofy comparisons yet, but I really can’t wait for some of that. With how eclectic our sound is within the realm of metal, I think we’re gonna get some really out there comparisons.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Grandpas guitars? Not likely! We’re more prone to bust out a couple strips and get silly on the synthesizer before anyone would ever play like, Blackbird or something.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Seeing Tenacious D in 2019. Didn’t get too close or get to meet them or anything, but it felt surreal to be in the same room singing along to the classics with the legends themselves.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

The best part is when somebody tells me something I helped create, got them through something, or gave them some form of comfort. If I can make somebody feel something even for a moment, that’s what I leave the house for. If I couldn’t drum anymore, I don’t even know that there’s anything else I enjoy that I would still be able to do. I’m not sure riding old ass motorcycles is much of a job anywhere, unfortunately.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

The stuff I’d love to be asked about is probably the least interesting stuff to the general populace, the ins and outs of recording and the procedure, and I guess since that’s more of a general topic I don’t really have an answer to that without going off on a tangent. I think the worst kind of questions are the “so tell us about your band and how did you meet.” I’m sure that can be interesting for some bands but we haven’t become the world’s third largest economy yet so that particular question just feels like filler.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

For me, I just wish I would have completed more of the recordings I started.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

I would have loved to be there for the Painkiller sessions. That record was such a turning point in Judas Priest’s career sonically, and their first with Scott Travis, so it would have been cool to hear them working their chemistry out and trying heavier sounds. Not to mention the way they used a synthesizer to play lots of the bass parts definitely intrigues me.

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