TERRY BUTLER - OBITUARY

"I love seeing people enjoy the music that I play and create. That's the main driving force" Terry Butler, bassist for Obituary, Massacre

PREVIEW:

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ABOUT TERRY BUTLER:

Legendary bassist Terry Butler joins the podcast this week to talk all things metal. We discuss his career spanning bands like Death and Six Feet Under, and his current projects Massacre and Obituary. Terry talks about how his playing has evolved through the various bands he has played with and some of his favorite basses to play. Plus, we talk about the current tour with Hatebreed, Obituary's plans for the next album, and what keeps Terry kicking ass.

This interview was recorded before Terry suffered a terrible tragedy when his daughter was killed in a car accident. She left behind two young boys and if you would like to help the family out you can donate at gofundme.com/jonawright

TRANSCRIPT:

Jeff: Terry, thank you so much for taking time to talk to me today, and I kind of want to start-

Terry Butler: My pleasure.

Jeff: I want to start where we are, we're on your tour bus, you're right now on tour, supporting Hatebreed on their 25th anniversary tour which makes us all feel old. And when this episode with you actually comes out, the tour will probably be just wrapping up, but we're at the start of it. What's it like? How's it been through the couple days?

Terry Butler: It's great. This is the second show, last night in Worcester was amazing. Great energy from the crowd. You know. Killer turnout.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: All the bands are getting along, so I mean, that's always a positive.

Jeff: Touring in 2019, especially on a giant metal, death metal tour, is it completely different than back in the day? Like what's the biggest difference you'd say?

Terry Butler: I think the biggest difference is actually the technology. I mean, when I was ... my first tour in early '87, you had no cellphones, no computers, none of this stuff, you know? So a lot of it was word of mouth, putting fliers around town, local fanzines, that kind of stuff. I mean, the crowds are pretty similar. The crowds are always there.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: But as far as actual ... it's much easier to tour now, you know?

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Back then we're renting RVs and doing-

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: Everything yourself, driving all night, blah, blah, but ... I mean, that's the biggest difference. I mean ... the people that were twinning in '87, they're now my age, and whatever. They're still there. Now their kids are coming, too.

Jeff: Yeah. Which is really cool.

Terry Butler: Yeah. I mean, so the scene is still there.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: But as far as ... it's just the technology is different, you know.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: Which is a bonus for us.

Jeff: I think that helps out.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: A lot, you know, especially with ... as technical as metal bands get, I mean like-

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: I remember back in the day going to shows in like the early 90s and if the sound wasn't dialed in perfect you're just getting farts on the speakers-

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: You know, I mean like ... and now with the tech, it's ... you can really hear everything-

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: Experience everything, I think it's such a better experience.

Terry Butler: Absolutely. The sound engineers can dial it in better now, your sound man.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: And also, going back just for a second, social media has made things ... I mean, you blast out, "Hey, we're playing here tomorrow," and it goes on five different social sites-

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: That's one way to get it out, which is amazing, that's great.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: So let's go all the way back then. I mean, you started playing in the late 80s. And what ... I always love asking this question to musicians, what made you pick up the bass? What was ... where did that begin for you?

Terry Butler: It was most likely just kind of out of convenience. The band needed a bass player kind of thing.

Jeff: "I'll do it."

Terry Butler: Because I mean, I used to always want to be Ace Frehley, you know, I was jumping on my bed with a tennis racket-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Playing Love Gun and stuff.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: You know, a guitar's sexy, that's what you want to play. Drums and bass, you kind of, you know ... it's almost like the goalie in hockey or the last guy picked on the team kind of thing.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: But actually, I love it. I mean, I just kind of graduated to that when I first started playing, and you know ... I actually really enjoy playing bass.

Jeff: Yeah. So you start ... you cut your teeth, you start playing ... was your first band Death?

Terry Butler: No, it was actually Massacre.

Jeff: Massacre was first.

Terry Butler: My best friend kind of started the band.

Jeff: Yep.

Terry Butler: Bill Andrews, and at some point the bass player they had at the time was released, let go. And I was there at every practice from day one, so I knew all the songs-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: And everything already, so he just called me up, said, "Hey, bring your bass over here, we've got a spot for you." So I went over and ... yeah. We played in Massacre for about nine months and then ... I mean, it's a real deep, convoluted history, but the guitar player, myself, and the drummer went over to Death. They had just recorded their first album. And he didn't ... Chuck didn't have a lineup because he moved back to Orlando from California. So we kind of joined forces, Massacre and Chuck. And we toured for Scream Bloody Gore, and we did all-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Those couple albums. And then went back to Massacre for a couple years. Did Six Feet for a while.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: And then now into Obituary.

Jeff: Yeah. Back in those days with Massacre and Death, like was it harder to get ... not necessarily get the word out, because we did talk about social media, but was it harder to get the fan base growing because it was ... I mean, metal itself was such a new thing.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: I mean, we were ... and death metal itself coming from like the death era, you know.

Terry Butler: Well a lot of ... what helped a lot of that was tape trading back in the day.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: I mean, a demo back then was really important, because labels just weren't signing people left and right. So you'd put a demo out, and everyone in the underground traded that demo, so that's how the word got out. And that's what Massacre did. Put two demos out in '86.

Jeff: Yep.

Terry Butler: And became a cult following, those demos are classics, you know.

Jeff: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Terry Butler: And you know, from there ... it made it a lot easier to get signed later on. We tried ... Massacre didn't get signed and actually early on ... because we did the Death thing for a while, but then when we went back to Massacre, [inaudible] Records signed us immediately pretty much.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: And then you mentioned in between and parallel to all that, you also started playing for Six Feet Under and you played for Six Feet Under for I think over a decade, right?

Terry Butler: 16 years.

Jeff: 16 years-

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: My gosh. And that was ... from the early 90s into almost the modern era of metal. And Six Feet Under was one of those first bands that really started to be part of the conversation. Metal was always the underground, was always the ... you know, like the-

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: They're the guys in the dark corner, but with Six Feet Under, it really was these types of bands, like Hatebreed and that kind of thing, where it was starting to be part of the popular conversation.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: What was that like?

Terry Butler: Well even today, metal, death metal and all of its offshoots, it's still a bastard child of music.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: You know what I mean? It's looked at as like ... you know, let's just not talk about that.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: It's horrible, it's terrible. That's how mainstream looks at it. But yeah, Six Feet early on ... we kind of ... I came from Death, you had Chris Cannibal, Allen West from Obituary, or whatever. People kind of thought, "Oh, it's going to be fast like Cannibal with some killer technical death riff." No.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: We on purpose set out to let's just make this dark, heavy, groovy, simplified, where you can kind of digest all of it, you understand what it is and everything.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: And that was the focus early on, and I think we ... were able to accomplish that. But kind of later years that I was in Six Feet, that kind of got watered down and we tried to go in different areas, and this and that and whatever. But ... yeah.

Jeff: Yeah. And now with Obituary ... Obituary started back, again, same time like with Death and Massacre and all that stuff. So godfather's of this genre, and are still going strong. You guys just last year did a bunch of dates with Slayer.

Terry Butler: Yeah, yeah.

Jeff: Can you talk a little bit about that? What was that like?

Terry Butler: It was incredible.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: I mean not only you're playing with Slayer, you get to see them every night.

Jeff: I know, right? Like ...

Terry Butler: And it was incredible, it was a bucket list thing obviously. And it was great for after being a band for basically since '85-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: To get thrown a bone like that and to be able to do that was amazing. And their crew and the band themself, and all the bands on that tour were awesome. It was such a great feeling.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: And it was killer, you know? And ... to be around still, doing this, it's a testament to the core of the band, which is John, Donald, Trevor.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: They've been there from day one, consistently-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: And the addition of Ken Andrews, the guitar player, the lead player-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Is just absolutely amazing. He's such a killer guitar player. He never over play, he knows exactly what in the pocket to do and everything. And it's great.

Jeff: That's awesome. Speaking of in the pocket, I mean, throughout your career you are an uncanny bassist, and I want to say that to you as a fan-

Terry Butler: Thank you.

Jeff: Like the way that you lock in to a rhythm section-

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: And you can hear your progression throughout the different bands that you've been in. Do you feel with each project that you've been a part of it, it's changed your playing, it's added to your playing, or do you feel like you've just stayed the course?

Terry Butler: No, it definitely has ... like when I got into Six Feet I started using a pick because there was one guitar player and it was just a trunkier, more riff orientated kind of thing. And I just felt a pick, playing with a pick is going to be a lot ... more precise. A lot more solid, and in Death it was I used my fingers and the rhythms were a little more technical. And ... so yeah, each band is kind of a little different.

Terry Butler: Obituary was kind of ... it breathes a lot, the songs, so there's like a lot of space you can do some stuff. Like I've never ... I mean, my favorite bass players are like Geezer Butler-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Steve Harris, Geddy Lee-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Phil [Onotts 00:09:52]. John Paul Jones. But I'm not a flashy guy because the music I play, I don't think needs for me to be doing bass runs all over it and stuff, you know what I mean?

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: So I like ... and to me it's really important to be ... like I lock in with Donald, and with Ken, and we're playing rhythms with Trevor, it's just ... it's so solid, it's like a wall of death, you know what I mean?

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: And that's just the style I like to play.

Jeff: That's awesome. So speaking on ... almost on top of that from style but to tech, what's your favorite type of bass to play?

Terry Butler: It's usually just kind of a modern shape, because sometimes you get the crazy shapes-

Jeff: Yep.

Terry Butler: It's top heavy-

Jeff: Yep.

Terry Butler: You're holding the bass a lot more with your fingering hand. It takes away from what you can do. So something kind of mostly with a strap body, like my favorite bass of all time that I have that I still have, it's a Charvel that I got from like '87.

Jeff: Really?

Terry Butler: Yeah. And that's what Leprosy was recorded with, and I use it on a bunch of stuff. It's my favorite bass because it sounds great, it's solid, and you know ...

Jeff: That's awesome.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: Okay, so the other side of that then, white whale, that if you had all the money in the world what would be the bass that you'd-

Terry Butler: Oh, I'd love to have a Rickenbacker.

Jeff: Oh, I know right?

Terry Butler: Totally spec'd out, and tech'd out, and yeah, that's be great to have one of those. Or even like ... John [inaudible] who's another big influence of mine, I'd love to have one of his basses. Would be killer. But obviously it's a dream, but-

Jeff: That's awesome. So back to Obituary, we've got ... you guys have been touring it seems nonstop since Obituary's self titled record in 2017 came out.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: And on tour, when you guys go out with such a wealth of material now, do you tailor it towards the show that you're playing, do you tailor it more towards new material, more towards old material? Like how does those set lists kind of come to be?

Terry Butler: Yeah, it can get hard because a lot of times, it's like okay, you've got 45 minutes to play, or you have an hour and 15-

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: So you've got to kind of ... okay, we've got 17 songs we can play, let's pull from 120 songs.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: But when your new album comes out, you kind of play ... you want to have a lot of new songs in the set, maybe four or five new songs, wrapped with some classics and stuff. But it depends, you know. Maybe if we're playing in a country we know likes this certain album a lot more, we might put a couple songs in from that.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: But it basically is just kind of a feel thing, you know? It's like hey, we haven't played this song in like 10 years, let's play that one, you know? And you kind of bring a few old ones back in every now and then.

Jeff: That must make it refreshing too, to like be on stage-

Terry Butler: Yeah, it definitely does. There's ... like Slowly We Rot, I think the band has played that song every show ever, because it's like one of the most popular songs, so-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: And it's a classic closing song, so it's like okay, we've got to play this song.

Jeff: Right. And that's good.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: People are expecting it.

Terry Butler: Yeah, so it can get difficult to try and come up with a set list.

Jeff: You mentioned, depending on where you're going to play and in countries and stuff like that. And I've talked to other musicians, and I seem to get a consensus about this, what is it like playing Europe, or other countries than America? Are the crowds bigger, are they more invested?

Terry Butler: I mean, it seems like Europe ... they kind of live and breath the music, you know?

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Like in the States it's like ... I mean, you've got your core diehard fans, but a lot of people in the States are kind of on the fringe. They're so influenced by what's on the radio, or what the media says, or-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Whatever crap's coming across Facebook or whatever. But in Europe they're like ... they know what they like and that's what they want to hear. And you could have a kid that might have a Hellhammer shirt, but he's got a vest on, the back patch on the back might be Helloween.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: They're just ... it seems like they're a little more open minded about all the types of music. I mean, it's good in the States, too, but like the States is a little more ... it's a little more commercial with like-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: "Oh, you guys aren't on the radio? Well then you must not be good."

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: That kind of thing, you know?

Jeff: Which is a shame.

Terry Butler: Yeah, definitely.

Jeff: Where outside of the States is one of your favorite places to play?

Terry Butler: Well ... Europe and more specifically like Germany's always amazing to play.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: England is a great place for us. Spain ... Poland. I mean, it's ... you know.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Everywhere. South America's huge too-

Jeff: Oh, yeah.

Terry Butler: I mean, they're fanatical there, they're so passionate about the music, almost to a point of being, like I said, fanatics.

Jeff: Yeah. I think that's what's lost on American audiences, because I've talked to other musicians and they have the same similar sentiment, that ... other countries treat live music as an event, as the thing that is part of you, the thing that you need to experience. Whereas I feel like we've lost that here.

Terry Butler: Yeah. You know ... here it just seems like there's so much distractions for people, as far as people have phones shoved in their face constantly and this and that. But yeah, in Europe, I mean, you have cities that like actually ... it's a city sponsored venue, it's build by the city, that bands can come and play in. Which is amazing.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: And it's just ... I don't know, that's the feeling I get, it's like ... both places are great for music, but Europe just seems to be a little more open minded, and accepts the extreme music a little more.

Jeff: Yeah, yeah. And okay, now let's talk a little bit about extreme music, like when death metal started, it wasn't ... we didn't have a term for it. You know, like-

Terry Butler: Oh, yeah.

Jeff: And since it has become this thing that unless you're invested in it, on the outliers think of it as just this violent type of music, whereas if you do know about death metal, and a lot of fans talk about this, it's actually cathartic, it's actually something that-

Terry Butler: Of course.

Jeff: A release. Do you agree with this?

Terry Butler: Absolutely. I mean, music in general ... it's like ... it was an evolution, you know? You had Judas Priest, and Deep Purple, and Motorhead, and then it started getting a little heavier. You had Venom, and then Bathory, and then Hellhammer, and [inaudible] Cross, Dark Angel, blah, blah. It grows on itself and gets heavier and heavier.

Terry Butler: But it's a release, you know. Obviously there's going to be people that ... get a little too much into it and they want to actually live the lyrics.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: I want to live my life like a Deicide song. Well, then you're going to get in trouble and do some stupid shit.

Jeff: Yeah, definitely.

Terry Butler: But for the most part, it's in your soul, it's in your blood. It's like a part of me, and it's a great place. I love going to shows because all my friends are there, and it's a good meeting point, and-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: It's like a ... you know ... it's an underground kind of thing, where-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: A gathering, and it's great.

Jeff: Totally. Do you find yourself listening to a lot of death metal?

Terry Butler: I do, but not so much new stuff. I mean, you know ... I'm an old dude, so-

Jeff: You're set in your ways.

Terry Butler: I'm stuck in my ways of ... I like the traditional kind of death metal early on.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: The last, like I said, like Autopsy, and the Death stuff, and Possessed.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: The early stuff, that's all my favorite stuff, you know?

Jeff: That's awesome.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: That's awesome. So ... what we get to on this show is ... the ethos is that we're all fueled by death.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: We all want to leave this world a little different before we inevitably leave it for good.

Terry Butler: Well, sure, yeah.

Jeff: And you personally, your legacy, I think, is locked because of what you've been able to provide to the music community, and also just the wealth of amazing records you've been on. But through it all, through your career, what fuels you, what drives you to keep going? To keep getting up on stage, performing, writing music, what fuels you to do that?

Terry Butler: It's just the love of music. I mean, I love playing, I love the whole production of pulling up to a show. You get out, you unload your equipment, you set it up, you do a sound check. You set your merch up, knowing that what you're doing people want to see and hear. They're coming to see you, they're coming to have a release, come and enjoy your music, seeing people in the front row head bang, or to see a pit going on, someone singing the lyrics, it's just ... you're providing them with something, and it's a great way to get off on that, it's a release of that, and I love playing live music. I love seeing people enjoy the music that I play and create. That's the main driving force, you know?

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: There's still a fire there, to be creative and still write new music.

Jeff: So there's no retirement?

Terry Butler: Oh, no. I mean, not until my body gives out, or ... culture or society says, "Okay, no one wants to hear music anymore."

Jeff: And that'll never happen.

Terry Butler: No.

Jeff: That's-

Terry Butler: Not at all.

Jeff: That's awesome. So the other question, I guess, on Obituary's side, are you guys working on a new record, or are you thinking about a new record?

Terry Butler: We're definitely thinking about it. The wheels are turning. They're not like spinning at like 100 miles an hour at the moment, but they are turning.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: And we have some ideas, and we have a timeframe we want to have it out probably next year is probably the most realistic timeframe.

Jeff: Excellent.

Terry Butler: I can't really give a specific-

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: Week or month. But yeah, there's definitely ideas kicking around. And we will have something out most likely next year.

Jeff: That's excellent. With your tour schedule with the band, what is the writing process like?

Terry Butler: Most of the time it's just ... we might be at a practice, or even sound check, someone comes up with a riff, and we're like, "Hey, that's really cool, record that, let's do that." Or sometimes it's just like, "Okay, we're going to write an album this month, let's get in the studio and just start churning out some riffs," and some of them stick, some of them don't.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: So you kind of ... you know, wheedle around, put a drum beat to it, and John's always there listening to it and getting ideas, so he kind of puts his lyrics on it. We never really know what's going on until he actually does them, which is kind of cool because it's a mystery, you know?

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: So yeah-

Jeff: So he actually writes the lyrics into the songs as the writing process is happening?

Terry Butler: Sometimes, yeah, like we'll be jamming on a new song and he'll just kind of get some ideas, you know. Like he probably right now has ideas of song titles and stuff in his head, just waiting to hear the perfect song to put them on. Like very rarely does someone come to practice, "Okay, here's a song I write from front to back, here's the drum beat that's going to go to it."

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: Blah, blah, blah, you know-

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: It's kind of an organic thing where it's like, "Okay, here's a couple riffs, how do we want to put them together? How long ... what measures, how long do we want it to have, where's the chorus going to be?" That kind of thing.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: That's really exciting, because it seems like such an undertaking to tour as much you do, and then also constantly be thinking about new records, and recording. Do you gravitate towards one or the other? Do you like performing more than recording or recording more than performing?

Terry Butler: I love the live situation better.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Recording is cool because you're making new music, but it can be very tedious.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Because when it's your turn to record, you're kind of under a microscope, it's just you. You know?

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: Everyone's looking at you. But ... you know, I'm always ... I love the live element.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Most. But it's cool to put a record out and hear it, and that's our music, and-

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: Whatever. But ...

Jeff: Yeah, that's cool. What do you think about the state of music today, specifically metal, but we can even go farther into music, but what do you think of the state of music? Do you think we're in a good place, do you think that there needs to be change?

Terry Butler: Well, I mean ... if we're talking all music in general, I think ... it's just ... obviously the media, they get stuck on one thing.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: It just seems like ... "Hey, here's a singer, she can't sing worth a crap, but she looks good. Let's write some fake music and have her fake vocals on it."

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: But it's always been that way, even back in the 50s, teeny bopper-

Jeff: Yep.

Terry Butler: If you look good, but whatever. But it just seems like they focus so much on that, that even like at the Grammy's or any kind of awards, it's like swept under the rug, and it's just like there's so much good music out there that's ... you know, hard rock, and heavy metal or whatever that just gets no play at all.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Again, it goes back to, "Oh, you have tattoos, you have long hair, you have piercings? Oh, that's horrible." You know?

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: But we're always fighting for that recognition. But I think music ... that's just my kind of personal beef about it.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: All the good music never really gets play, it's all the shallow, fluffy stuff-

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: That 15 year old girls or 12 year old girls want to hear.

Jeff: There's no ... I feel like there's no ... there's no clubhouse for metal anymore.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: You know, I mean, I grew up in the era of MTV-

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: We had metal videos on the television, and then Headbanger's Ball, like I would stay up late to watch Headbanger's Ball so I could see bands like Obituary, and stuff, like on television. We don't have that anymore.

Terry Butler: No, you don't, I mean-

Jeff: And it's a shame.

Terry Butler: A band makes a video, what outlet is there to put it on except your own website, your Facebook, or YouTube?

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: I mean, it's not going to be on TV. Yeah. And it's so funny because like Headbanger's Ball, even back in the day, it's like they're playing Aerosmith and Poison-

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: It's like come on. It's called Headbanger's Ball.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: Whatever. But it's always going to be that way. Corporate always gets involved with things, and it's just, you know ... it's like if you know a lot about a certain industry, and then the commercial side of the industry gets a lot of play, you're like, "That's not really how it is."

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: How it really is is down here. But that's how it's always going to be.

Jeff: Yeah. What do you think is the future of death metal? Do you think death metal is going to continue on the same path, do you think there's hope for more? Do you, like-

Terry Butler: There's always going to be more. I mean, what's extreme back when I was 17-

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: Nowadays kids look at it like, "That's terrible, that's horrible." But you know ... I don't know what it's going to be 20 years from now. I mean, how faster can you get?

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: How much more technical can you get?

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: So then you think, "Okay, maybe it's going to fall back onto just what sounds really good from the old days and what's still relevant now." But I think there's going to always be extreme form of music, and I don't know what it's going to sound like 10, 15, 20 years from now. But ... you know, I'm sure there's going to be an audience for it.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: I'm excited. I'm excited ... I've always been excited to see ... especially the metal genre morph and change and-

Terry Butler: Yeah, it's morphed so much now, I don't even know what's next. Ska, death metal, or polka death metal-

Jeff: Oh, no.

Terry Butler: Country death metal, I mean I don't know what-

Jeff: I'll give it a shot. I'll give it a shot.

Terry Butler: Space metal, I don't know what's next.

Jeff: Yeah, space metal. Oh, Obituary in space, I love it.

Terry Butler: Well, yeah. I'd love to play a show in the space station.

Jeff: I'd love it.

Terry Butler: Mars.

Jeff: Yeah, that'd be ... I mean, maybe we could-

Terry Butler: Hopefully.

Jeff: That's incredible.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: So through 2019 you guys are going to be finishing up with Hatebreed's 25th anniversary tour. Do you guys have plans for tour after that, or ... ?

Terry Butler: Yeah, we're going to tour the States. I'm not ... we can't release the dates yet.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: It's going to be kind of from somewhere around ... September-ish, I guess. Then we're going to go to Europe and do a tour as well.

Jeff: Oh, awesome.

Terry Butler: And in between that we're trying to fit on going to some other parts of the world. That'll all be coming out soon.

Jeff: Never stop.

Terry Butler: Well, that's the way it is now, you know.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: Unfortunately, it is a business, you know. Back in the day when I first started touring, you could rely a little bit on the record sales. You'd maybe not tour as much. But now it's become where the merch is the big deal.

Jeff: Right.

Terry Butler: You can do so much with merch now. And also you get to tour a little bit more, because that's where the money is.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: But I love touring, so it doesn't really affect me a whole lot.

Jeff: That's good.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: That's good, that's good, it's good that you still get to do what you love.

Terry Butler: Absolutely.

Jeff: And that's inspiring. Finally, for our viewers and listeners, we did talk about social media, obviously Obituary Band is everywhere on all social media and it's in, it's easy to follow. Do you personally do social media-

Terry Butler: Oh, yeah.

Jeff: That people could follow your journey?

Terry Butler: Definitely. Facebook, I'm on there. I'm on Instagram. It's TerryButler67 and the same for Twitter.

Jeff: Okay.

Terry Butler: Yeah-

Jeff: Excellent, I'll put all that in the show.

Terry Butler: Yeah, I'm usually ... I'll pimp out every band I've been in, basically, and all the Obituary stuff, and also my own personal stuff, too, but-

Jeff: Excellent.

Terry Butler: Yeah. It gets a little monotonous because ... you've got, "Hey, we're got to post about the show, you've got to post it on your sites," and blah, blah, blah.

Jeff: Yeah.

Terry Butler: But hey, that's what you've got to go.

Jeff: That's what you've got to do.

Terry Butler: Yeah.

Jeff: That's awesome though, and like I said I'll have all that in the show.

Terry Butler: All right.

Jeff: Terry, I can't thank you enough for taking time to talk with me today.

Terry Butler: Well thank you, I appreciate it.

Jeff: Awesome, thanks a lot.

Terry Butler: Thank you.

Jeff: Awesome.