Interview

PETER STEELE of TYPE O NEGATIVE

I interviewed Peter Steele in November of 2003 in his dressing room prior to their show. What started out as a brief interview quickly turned into a semi-drunken rambling session between he and I. We polished off three bottles of wine and just let the tape player run. You can imagine how much material I got from this conversation so I edited some of it for you to read. Peter was a very gracious host and very talkative. What cracked me up the most was his twisted, dry and subtle sense of humor.

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Amir - Peter, for a guy who has traveled the world over several times and who lives in New York, what is your opinion of the current situation in the world and the war with Iraq?

Peter - People dont realize that wars take years in the making. World war II was a thousand years in the making and this was with Iraq has taken years to build as well. I have studied Middle Eastern history and it is safe to say, from a Machavelian point of view that the enemy of my enemy is my friend and as long as we support the state of Israel then we will have to deal with the wrath of terrorism and anti-American sentiment. I am not trying to be anti-Israel, rather I am just being me and stating my opinion and I also believe that the media is to blame as well. It is a well known fact that 90% of the media is owned by Jews and they fail to focus on what Israel has done to the Palestinians. In a lot of ways what they did to Palestinians is what America did to the Indians.

A - As an artist do you feel your opinion should be heard? We all know what happened to Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks when she was ridiculed for making anti-Bush comments.

P - First of all let me say that you would have to be fucking insane to want to run for office. The money is shit and the power? I dont understand why anyone in their right mind would want to have that much power. You can not please everyone and regardless of what you do, someone will get offended.

A - So tell me how you feel about your accomplishments with Typo O Negative?

P - When I set out to form this band, I told myself that I would make enough money doing this that I could retire within 5 years and if not then I was going to kill myself. Now almost 10 fucking years later I am still here doing this shit and if you look at me onstage you will see that I dread being up there. I mean I absolutely dread it but then again I am a sado-masochist so I enjoy pain. I guess I deserve the punishment.

A - So it sound like being a musician was not your dream job?

P - Actually I have fulfilled several of my dream jobs. The first was as a teenager when I was working as a professional plumber. A also got to live out my dream of being a sanition department supervisor. I worked for the NYC parks department on the sanitation crew and got to wear those green uniforms. I always wanted to wear that uniform.

A - I remember hearing that if anything could make you happy, it would be working as a park ranger.

P - Well I did work as a park ranger for 7 years and I loved it. I was happy but due to racia quotas not being met and what with me being a white heterosexual male with external genitalia, I was passed over for a promotion 3 times so I said fuck it. This all happened around the same time that the Bloody Kisses cd was about to come out and we had the opportunity to travel the world. The thing I think I loved about that job was the security I had from it and the steady paychecks.

A - In recent interviews you have talked about your depression. Why are you so miserable?

P - I dont really know. I mean I am fortunate in the fact that I can walk and use all of my limbs. Thank god that I am not handicapped but I can honestly say that I have never ever been happy a day in my life. I used to think that I needed other people to make me happy but relationships proved othewise. When you make a woman feel as though she is the center of your being, then the sad fact is that the woman will end up taking advantage of that and play games with that. So now I am learning that I dont need anyone to make me happy, but I am still miserable and I think of my self as a piece of styrfoam in a garbage pile. I mean what is Peter Steele anyways? When I look out and see 2000 people in the audience, I think to myself what the fuck is wrong with these people

A - So what is your dream now?

P - Just to be financially secure. Not filty rich but able to have build a house on 20 acres with a few cars, some boys toys, motorcycles, a welding shop and be able to live off the interest.

A - Tell me about your first band Carnivore and what happened.

P - We never took it seriously. It was more a hobby like playing cards. I never wanted to tour but I just wanted to make music as I find it to be psychologically amazing. I mean if you play a fast beat, people dance, if you play the right beat, people march and if you play a third beat then people mourn.

A - So how did Type O Negative get started?

P - Ironically when I first started working for the parks department, I wanted to be a cop and I went through the academy and all the testing, I cut my hair short and actually was on my to becoming a cop until I realized I would be locking up all my family and friends all the time. Right about this time a guy named Sal (TON's first drummer) came to me asked about putting together a band so we got Kenny and Josh and started writing.

A - What are your influences?

P - I would say definitely early psychedelic rock, Deep Purple, Sabbath and Priest. I also like Duran Duran, Devo, A Flock of Seagulls for their songwriting. In fact in the 80s when I was into Sabbath I could not admit to any of my friends that I liked Duran Duran. My friends would say I was a poseur but I knew why they were posing. Because they got the chicks and we didnt. I mean you to a Mororhead, Manowar or Carnivore show and there will be one woman in the entire place and you cant even tell if it is a man or a woman.

A - You are a pretty big dude. Tell me about your workout routines?

P - Well I am out of shape now but I am trying to get to a point where I am alternating weights and cardio. Being on stage is more like cardiac.

A - It is rumoured that you have vampire teeth.

P - I do. I was born with one right here and if you notice I have no cavities either.

A - Yes you have great teeth.

P - I actually have umpire teeth.

A - Now tell me the whole Playgirl magazine thing and how that came about?

P - I was actually approached by them. If I had my choice I would be in National Geographic except it would be called National Pornographic. But seriously, Playgirl does an annual 10 sexiest rockers issue every year and as a joke they wanted to put me in there. When I met with the editor, she asked me to take my clothes off and I did. She must have been near-sighted because she said she liked what she saw and asked if I would pose nude for the magazine. I talked to the band and decided that it might kickstart the band as well. What was strange about it to me was that all the pics they had of other guys was when they were flacid so I said the only way I would do it was if I was erect. The editor asked me if I was sure I would be able to do it, so I told her 'look, you keep your end up and I will keep my end up'. They liked my boing so much that they gave me 7 pages and a centerfold and the cover. They wanted me to dress up like Count Chocula with fangs I was like get the fuck outta here......I wanted to do something cool like a scratch and sniff picture.

A - How did this affect your career?

P - Well it only changed in the fact that I started to get hit on by gay guys. I would do magazine signings at stores and gay guys would come up and have me sing their copies and sometimes the pages would be stuck together and I even had a guy that had just jerked off in the magazine and I ended up getting it on my leg. So I got tired of all the gay guys not getting the message that I was NOT gay. That is why I wrote the new song ' I Like Goils'. I always told them sorry, I like girls.

A - What is on the agenda for the future.

P - Well as soon as this tour with Cradle is over then I honestly dont know.

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Well there you have it. The great Peter Steele waxing philosophical on everything from music, politics and even gays.

5/26/2004