TOMMY VICTOR
Prong vocalist/guitarist
Danzig guitarist
www.prongmusic.com

(Winter 2004) by George Dionne

Prong began chomping at the musical bit thirteen years ago, if you can believe it. They were and are still led by singer/guitarist Tommy Victor, who at the time was a soundman for New York City's renowned CBGB's club. Two independent releases later and Prong was signed to Epic records. Throughout the early nineties, Prong set their sights on being the leaders of the industrial rock movement, by releasing three of the most aggressive yet melodic albums of that time, Beg to Differ, Prove You Wrong, and Cleansing.

Prong's line-up was not as solid as their music. Members have come and gone, with Victor being the only constant. 1996's Rude Awakening turned out to be their swan song (or was it?). A 2002 reunion tour spawned a live album, but Prong once again dissolved. Victor kept himself busy by collaborating with Glen Danzig, Rob Zombie, and other metal giants. It's now 2004 and Prong is back with their latest album, Scorpio Rising. (Read CD review) With this new album, Tommy Victor is out to prove you can't keep a good band down.

RIL: It's been seven years since the last Prong studio album and four years since the live album. Why resurrect Prong now?
TV: Boredom was one of the reasons. I guess I miss some aspects of it. Making records are always a good thing to do. I had the opportunity to do another one, and I didn't really have any success under a different moniker. I was sort of pushed into using the Prong name again.

RIL: On your website you state that Prong's new CD, Scorpio Rising, emerges from "poison and corruption. What do you mean by that?
TV: There were a lot of problems going on in the band, in my personal life, with the record label, and with management by the time Rude Awakening was done. There just wasn't many positive things going on. It seemed that my day to day life was filled with ulterior motives, schemes, and backstabbing. It seemed events were occurring beyond my control. That's way I put this sort of pseudo-spirtual theme on the record.

RIL: So the new CD is more about your personal experiences in the music business?
TV: Not all of it. It was just my personal life in general, going out there in the world as more layers of naivety are scraped away. I think each record is that way. The peeling of the onion, so to speak. You gotta take lyrics from something, they're not really forced. They become somewhat of an inventory of my life or a journal. There's some political things in there too. "Red Martial Working" is about the 'war machine', with a right-wing overtone that's also tongue and cheek, you know. "Letter to a 'Friend'" is a betrayal song, "Entrance of the Eclipse" is an apocalyptic anthem, and "All Knowing Force" is a 'why me' song. There's all sorts of things there, it's not just 'cry baby' rock.

RIL: A couple of the tracks "Embrace the Depth" and "Avoid Promises" in particular, sound like 'radio friendly' songs. Have you released any of the new tracks to radio?
TV: The record has been serviced to radio, but that's a pipe dream for Prong. The hardcore 'metal heads' are probably like, "Prong's selling out to radio", but you have to get the rest of the record exposed. Hopefully some of the new album will make it on the radio, but I have a lack of faith in that department. We just gave it a shot.

RIL: Are you going to tour in support of Scorpio Rising? (Read the review)
TV: Yeah. It's being planned right now. There were a couple of tours that we were opting for, but we were rejected. We'll be hading out on a club tour in April. I think that After the Remains are coming out with us.

RIL: Prong has gone through several member changes over the years. Are there any specific reasons why?
TV: Initially we looked into getting signed by a major label and Mike Kirkland, who was a lot older than us, just couldn't do it. I think sometimes change has to do with wisdom. Prong has not been a very profitable entity. It's sort of been my project from the beginning. There's been many stages of the group, and if there wasn't something inside of me, whether it's arrogance, some extreme fire, or the desire to win that I have, the group wouldn't have gone on. There were several times where the pug was pulled. After the recording of Rude Awakening comes to mind, that was a total train wreck. It's just been my desire to keep it going. I have to continue on that path of finding guys at the moment that want to do it.

RIL: Do you think that industrial music is a tough sell in the market today?
TV: Oh, totally. There's bands like Apartment 26 out there that are totally electronic rock. I heard this band called The Faint that I think are amazing. They're kind of like Daft Punk meets The Cure. There's a lot of new heavy duty 'new wave' influence out there. If it goes electronic it has to be on a more 'new wave' tinge. Industrial music got really boring. I listen to Cabaret Voltaire now, the really early shit, and I go 'this is cool'. The only guys I think that can really pull it off are guys like Manson, Ministry, and Nine Inch Nails. If you're coming out as a new band, and you're trying to be industrial, then you're doomed.

RIL: What do you think of bands like Static X an Fear Factory, they fall into that category. Do you think they'll stand the test of time?
TV: I hope so. I love both those bands, I think they're awesome. I think they're good enough to keep going. You have to adapt.

RIL: I know. The music market today is so fickle, especially the popular music market.
TV: There's just too much good stuff coming out today. The quality is so much more advanced than when Prong was coming out.

RIL: Guitar World magazine ranked you #66 on their "Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of All Time" list. They ranked you above Joe Satriani and Ty Taybor (Kings X). What do you think about it?
TV: I was flattered. On the other hand, it was years and years, and years of absolute ignorance and lack of recognition from that magazine for Prong, so I was quite joyful about it. I think they just recognized the time I've put into it. My guitar playing is not warranted to being ahead of Joe Satriani and those guys. I think it's because my approach has always been a little different.

RIL: Are you still working on the next Danzig album?
TV: Yeah.

RIL: Are you finished? How's it progressing?
TV: I don't know. I think he's doing vocals right now. He said my guitar parts are good, now I have to do solos. It's almost done.

RIL: You didn't play on the last Danzig album did you?
TV: No.

RIL: I thought the last album was a little dull. It just didn't have the punch of his earlier works. Is the next album going to be a little more powerful?
TV: I really didn't like the last three Danzig records as much as I liked the first three Danzig records. I liked some of the last album, but I think the next one will be better. I don't think it was a song problem, more of a performance problem on the records. I just think he needed a real guitar player to come in and do a record. I know that John Christ was amazing; I really have a lot of respect for him. I just don't think that the material has been given justice.

RIL: You recently spoke with Rolling Stone Magazine about Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and Marilyn Manson stealing some of your music ideas. What happened there?
TV: I think I was misquoted a little bit. The reality of that situation is; that whole camp from Danny Loner to Rob Zombie had me in the studio to lay down some guitar stuff over some things. Then it was like 'See ya. No, you never did that'. I did it on three different projects. There was the Tapeworm project (with Trent Reznor), where I laid down hundreds of riffs for two weeks down in New Orleans. I never heard back from them. I don't even remember what I put down; it could have been used for whatever. I did the same thing for the Rob Zombie record and the same thing with Marilyn Manson. I never got any calls back. I got a 'thank you' on Anti-Christ Superstar. That really bummed me out for a really long time. It was one of the reasons I said, 'fuck the music business'. I was sick of being backstabbed by everybody.

RIL: Your music is intense and heavy as far as style goes. Do you have any CDs in your collection that people would be surprised that you listen to?
TV: Totally. For contemporary stuff, I really like The Used a lot. I like Shinedown, they're pretty decent. For really light stuff, I have Leonard Cohen records. Lou Reed has always been a favorite of mine too. Recently, my diet has been mainly metal. The band that are coming out are just awesome. One thing about death metal is that it's not always great for the band, but I heard Vader a couple of years ago and they were awesome. I like that band Deicide as well. As time goes on, these kids pick up on these records and they smoke you. There's no way I'm going to enter that realm with Prong because these kids are like monsters. You can't compete with them, not that it's a competition.

RIL: {Don't worry reader, I'm confused too} Have you heard of Opeth?
TV: Of course. I have their last record. To be honest with you, I haven't got into as much as the new Mushroomhead album. It's like everything I hear; what don't I like. Even on these small labels, the quality’s unbelievable.

RIL: I think that some of the best rock music no matter what the genre, whether it's death metal or straight up rock, the best stuff is on the independent labels right now.
TV: Without a doubt. There's not much coming out on the majors as far as rock goes. Major labels want to sell at least a half a million records otherwise they're not interested. That's what Prong went through, not to bring it back to Prong all the time. The labels would be like, 'you guys sold 75,000 copies, now we need to bring it to 300,000, then we need to go multi-platinum'. I'm thinking, how are we going to do that? I have to try and design a record that will do that. Eventually, that got fed up with me. Prong is not going to sell a half a million records. It could have maybe, if we came out four years later. These kids today are given a certain amount of money, they go in and do a record, it's like 'whatever man, do what you want to do'. With our record deal we had the same kind of freedom. Sometimes freedom can be dangerous, especially with me. I was tempted to make an electronic record for years, more than Rude Awakening was. Thank God I came to my senses.

RIL: What's the future of Prong? Are you going to continue to make records under the Prong moniker?
TV: I don't know. It depends on what the people choose, it's their vote. I would say yes. I will continue making records. I've wanted to do one, not under the Prong moniker, for a really long time, and it doesn't seem to happen. It gets down to the point that I'd make demos under a different name, and no one was interested. It's like I have the George Reeves complex right now. If you're a guitar player singer, I think Max Cavalera has shown that's not necessarily true. I over think things. He just said, 'Screw it. I was Sepultura, now I'm Soulfly'. It is possible. You know Glen has done that with Danzig? It is possible.

RIL: I know. It works sometimes. It hasn't worked out for others.
TV: Like who?

RIL: David Lee Roth comes to mind.
TV: But he just called it David Lee Roth.

RIL: He did have the DLR Band at one time. Sticking with Van Halen, Sammy Hagar had the Waboritas.
TV: Hagar had Hagar before Van Halen, and Montrose was probably one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time.

RIL: I agree with you on that one. I did want to tell you I love your new CD. Honestly, I've never heard of you before I got it. This is the only music I've heard by Prong, and its good stuff.
TV: That's probably the best compliment that I could get. When people go, 'I was into you ten years ago, and I love the new CD', I'm like, 'Yeah, whatever.' I've always wanted new fans, and I've always wanted to reach new areas. It's a very hard thing to do. So, I appreciate that. It's what I needed to hear.

Previous Page