Thrasher Magazine

"We got banned because they didn't like our wizard or something"

by: Jordan Joseffer

MUNICIPAL WASTE HAS BEEN BLOWING UP the past few years. From playing small venues and house parties to selling out big shows. Lead singer Tony Foresta took a minute to talk about some old times and new. —Jordan Joseffer

How long have you guys been a band?
Shit, we've been around for nine years now.

I saw you guys a while ago at Bolazo in the city…
Yeah, with the Accused.

It seemed like back then you could play a smaller place like that without it being a problem. Then, more recently, you guys tried playing Burnt Ramen…
And that didn't happen. Thirty cop cars showed up, with riot police in all their gear. It sucked for us because we used to play Burnt Ramen every time we came out here. That's like our old stomping grounds, you know. We still want to play there. We’ll probably do a secret show with a fake name sometime.

How'd you get banned from 924 Gilman?
We got banned because they didn't like our wizard or something. People were throwing couches around and getting too rowdy. People were stage diving, and they don't like that. We were encouraging people to stage dive and we broke the rules of their precious punk club. Whatever; we don't have any ill will against that place. It's funny because they've actually contacted us three separate times trying to get us to play there again.

Did you like playing smaller places more than the bigger places now?
Well, it depends on the situation. Sometimes the big rooms are just as intimate as the little rooms. It does suck at some places when the security doesn't understand our band. They see the way the crowd reacts when we play and they freak out, because they think people are trying to hurt each other. They don’t realize it's not malicious in any way, just people trying to have a good time. People just jump off of shit, slam dance, and go crazy. Usually we're good at chilling out the security—sometimes we just tell them to leave. We brought our own guy on this tour who handles our stage set-up because we get our equipment knocked around so much.

What was it like touring with Gwar?
Gwar is really cool. We learned a lot from them. They're the hardest-working bands I've ever seen. They load in at like noon everyday to set up all their shit, and they'll hang out and party ’til three in the morning then load up and take it to the next town. Watching them work, we learned a lot about how you should treat other bands you tour with.

Any good stories from that tour?
I broke my leg on stage at a show then, had to play the next show in a wheelchair. Gwar made fun of me by pushing Oderous out in a wheelchair. It was towards the end of the tour, so I just stuck with it and played some mediocre shows.

Are you guys involved in other bands?
Our bass player is in Cannabis Corpse. They use our old van. I sing for a hardcore band called No Friends, and Dave is drumming for Burnt by the Sun. We try to have something to do when we’re not on tour and stay creating music.

You guys skate?
No, none of us do. Phil's brother skates. All of these guys are good musicians and they're scared of breaking their arms.

How do you like playing Europe? What are the fans like out there?
I think metal is way bigger out there. People really just freak out over it. Eastern Europe is just insane, the reaction we would get from the crowd.

What's the weirdest place you ever played?
We played Iceland; that was weird. I guess not a lot of bands play out there so they're really appreciative when you come out. We ate rotting shark meat out there. It was the most disgusting thing I've ever had in my mouth. It tasted like a ball of ear wax.

Anything else you'd like to say?
I'm sorry we don't skate, but I think we're a good soundtrack to skate to.


Download Municipal Waste songs or albums from the iTunes store here or check their myspace for upcoming shows.