One of the hottest new Heavy Metal bands from the US is the Chicago-based four piece RIVAL. They already released a self-titled EP and a full length called "Modern World" on their own... so naturally, they're not that new any more. Anyway, nobody seemed to know about the band until early 2001 when German Metal writer Martin Brandt discovered them and started making everybody crazy about RIVAL. As soon as anybody at TAKE IT heard the first riffs, we were addicted, so check out the review section as well. RIVAL play an energetic sort of "typical" US 80s Metal, highly memorable songs full of life. In 2002 the band was fortunate enough to be invited to play at two very different festivals over here in Germany: the very small but great Headbanger's Open Air in the very north, quite close to the Wacken area and a week later at the infamous "Bang Your Head!!!" festival near Stuttgart where as an opening band they drew thousands of fans in the early morning! Well, I've been to each and every BYH!!! since 1998 and I've never seen a crowd like that rocking with the opening act! Some time later I contacted guitarist Nev Trivic via email for this interview.

First of all: when and how did you get hooked to Heavy Metal? What was your first Metal record / concert? What made you grab a guitar and did you play any instruments before that?  
"Well, as a kid my older brother was into Rock and Roll bands like Deep Purple, UFO, Zeppelin etc. He would play their records and tapes and I would be listening to them as well. It's his entire fault. My very first Metal concert was in 1979. I was a big KISS fan then and they came to town. Judas Priest was the opening act. The whole thing blew me away. I remember saying, "KISS was great, but who was that guy screaming in the first band?"  The next day I bought the Judas Priest "Unleashed In The East" record.  Wow, that was it. The crunching E chord in 'The Green Manalishi' changed my life. I thought the guitar was the coolest thing and I wanted to have that sound. I never played any instrument before. Soon my parents got me an electric guitar and an amp and that was that. From there it was Iron Maiden, Accept, Scorpions and other heavy bands like them."
When did you and / or the others play in other bands before RIVAL? Which ones? Anything we might know of? Did you play original material or covers? Did you record anything with those bands?
"We all played in cover / original bands before RIVAL. Nothing was ever recorded professionally nor would you recognize any of it.  It was a very amateur thing. We just played cover tunes and had parties or played at a local bar. It was fun to do."
When and how did you meet the other guys? Was it hard to find a good name for the band? Which bands had an influence on you? Did you know OMEN back then? Tell us about the founding days of RIVAL.
"Chuck and I met back in high school. He was already playing with Gary in a cover band. At the same time, I was also in a cover band with John. As time went on, Chuck left to join an original project, and the band with John and I broke up. So I took Chucks place and met Gary. That lasted for a few years until it also came to an end. Chucks project also fell apart a few months later. So Gary called Chuck and myself over to have a jam one day and we wrote a bunch of songs as a three piece. John bounced around from band to band until he finally joined us a few months later. We all knew of each other from doing shows and mutual friends before RIVAL ever happened. A good name was hard to find. A friend was hanging with us during rehearsal and said the name out loud and we all went "that's it!!"  I didn't know anything about "OMEN. Gary did say once that he thought that John sounded like their singer, but he had no idea who they were or what they sounded like."
What was the situation like in the early days? Did you play live a lot? Did you have any changes in the line up? Did you record any demos before the EP? If so, how were the reactions and are they still available?
"In the early days, there were a lot of places to play. We did shows when we wanted to. The line up was always the same, no changes in members. The EP was the very first recording we ever did. It was the very first time in a professional studio for three of us. It was the best that we could afford at the time. The sound is very raw, basically a recorded practice with some solos and voice overdubs. The reaction to it was very positive from everyone even to this day. Yes, it's still available."
Please give us an overview from the time between the founding days and the year 2001 when you finally started to draw some attention. And how did the Chicago Metal scene develop over those years in connection with RIVAL? Are you friends with many bands from your area and beyond?
"The Metal scene was changing. Everyone thought that if they moved to L.A. they would be the next big thing. We thought that if you were good, it didn't matter where you came from. We didn't start getting attention until the release of the "Modern World" disk. Instead of trying to get a record deal, we put the disk out by ourselves to see what would happen. Luckily, it caught the eye of a few people and the word spread from there."
What was the reason to make you sell your two albums for such a low price (it was only the first pressings, I guess?)? Did you hear that some merchandisers offered them as full price CDs in order to make more profit? What are your thoughts about that?
"The EP was set at a price that we thought was fair. It was only a demo and not worth the price for a full CD. The "Modern World" CD was actually our attempt at a full professional recording. We thought that it should be sold the same as a regular CD in the stores because of the way it looked and sounded. It was more of everything all the way around. I realize that merchants will charge more for something to make more profit, but if it's too high, then no one will buy it and that screws both of us. We have the CD available on our website for sale if you want to go direct to us."
Anyway, from that point on the news about RIVAL was spreading and after the Classic Metal Festival 2001 you even played two festivals in Germany ­ something quite a few more established bands with record deals never made and you didn't have a deal then! How did that happen? Did you expect enthusiastic reactions like that? Please tell us about your trip to Europe!
"We got very lucky. One of our songs on the "Modern World" disk made it to a compilation disk in a magazine called "Heavy Oder Was?". From there, we were asked to come and play for the Bang Your Head festival in Balingen Germany. We said "absolutely!!" and soon got a call from a guy named Thomas who puts on the Head Bangers Open Air Festival, and from Jürgen who runs Hellion Records. They wanted us to do a gig one week earlier. So we had two shows six days apart from each other. It was something that we could not pass up no matter what. During the shows, the people were totally into it. It was a great opportunity for us. Everyone was polite and treated us very kindly. We managed to go to Amsterdam in between the two shows and look around for a while. All in all, it was a very cool time and we are aware just how fortunate we were to take part in such events. I thank everyone who made it possible and to the people who came to see us."
What about a new album ­ how far did you get concerning the songwriting process? Will there be any stylistic changes? Do you already have a cover and a title? Will it be out on vinyl as well?
"Well, we have material for a new release. No title or cover has yet been determined. The style will be similar to what you have already heard. It has to meet our approval first. I will not put my name on something unless I believe that it's done to the best of our ability for that particular time. I don't know about vinyl, it's a possibility."
How do you compose your songs: are you jamming or is everybody sitting down writing songs, etc. And what inspires your lyrics?
"Writing songs usually starts with a guitar or bass riff.  One of us will start playing, and the rest will jump right in and start jamming.  We'll go through different keys, rhythms, and speeds. Although, there are certain parts that a member will already have worked out before and bring it to rehearsal.  So it's a bit of both.  To me personally, lyrics come to mind by emotions or things that catch my attention."
Writing songs, recording them and playing live: what do you like best and why?
"All three are a lot of  fun and very hard work at the same time. I would say live is the best, because when the audience is into it as much as you are, the energy is powerful and addictive."
When will we see you over here in Germany again? Are you already making plans?
"As of yet, there are no plans. We would love to come back and do it again. We are in the process of signing with a label, then the details will come about as far as shows and recording something new."
How do you earn your money? It's already damn expensive being a fan and buying CDs and vinyl, but as a musician one has to buy guitars and equipment...
"You're not kidding!! Playing in a band can be like having a second job that takes your money instead of paying you. We all have day jobs for the moment. The ultimate goal is to make a living from your music."
I bet you have a funny story for us, maybe from your trip to Germany or from the old days?
"As a matter of fact, here is one. When we finally got to the train station in Stuttgart, I called the shuttle service to come and pick us up. These two guys show up and take us all to a nice hotel near the show in Balingen. To our surprise, we all got our own rooms, and we thought "wow, this is totally cool!" So, John and two of our crew went to sleep right away because it was hard to on the train, and Gary, Chuck and myself went to a nearby swimming pool. Just as Gary says "Finally I can relax after traveling through the morning on that fucking train" we see one of the shuttle service guys walking towards us. He says, "I have good news and bad news, which do you want first?" We took the bad news first. "It seems that we took you to the wrong hotel, these rooms belong to FOZZY, but where you need to be, has a lake where you can go swim." I looked at it as bad news only. So now, we have to pack all our shit up and go to another hotel. We had to have security open up John's room because he was out cold and did not hear us banging on the door. These guys thought John was Chris Jerico (the singer in FOZZY) because they are both into working out and had no idea what Chris looked like. All they heard was to look for some longhaired American guy with a lot of muscles. Back into the shuttle cars we all went, but we took the alcohol from the mini bars in the rooms that were for FOZZY. The hotel they took us to was nice also. Right above a restaurant, the band NEVERMORE was right next door and JAG PANZER was down the hall.  We made friends with them. Very cool group of guys, all of them."
Any final words?
"Well, thanks to you and your readers for the interest in RIVAL. We really appreciate the attention you have given us. We hope to get things in order soon and have a new release and a few shows in 2003. To contact us go to: www.rivalmusic.net or go e-mail us at: Rival@Core.com All the best to all of you!!!"

Interview and all pics: Ramon Claassen

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