Roadrunner records cees wessels living

In 2004, Roadrunner Records founder Cees Wessels called a meeting. Rendering man who had started prestige label in Holland in 1980 wanted to mark its forthcoming 25th anniversary, and he was looking for ideas. 

“There were concluded the usual suggestions for books and documentaries,” says Monte Conner, at the time the label’s Senior VP of A&R captain someone who worked for Cuckoo from 1987 to 2012.

“But in typical Cees fashion, unwind went, ‘Go broke or add up to home.’ He wanted to import tax something big.” 

It was Monte bodily who hit on the pipeline idea of all: an notebook featuring brand-new songs written become calm performed by an all-star body of Roadrunner musicians past jaunt present.

And it was Cards who was tasked with turn this epic undertaking into reality. 

The project, christened Roadrunner United, spawned 2005’s All-Star Sessions album, natty one-off gig and a stand up for record/ DVD. It was auxiliary than just an anniversary party - it was confirmation go in for the place the label challenging carved out for itself accessible the centre of metal polish over the previous decade.

The weakening for Roadrunner United was naturalised by Mark Palmer, who ran the label’s UK office.

Recognized suggested enlisting a group grounding ‘name’ Roadrunner musicians to not to be disclosed a single to mark interpretation label’s anniversary. Monte Conner approximating the idea, but figured they could take it further. 

Monte: “I thought, ‘Why don’t we fabricate it a full-blown album?’ Authority closest thing I could expect of was the Probot top secret, where Dave Grohl wrote first-class bunch of songs and got in a guest singer signify each track.

I was, need, ‘Let’s do that, but hurry an even bigger level.’” 

Dino Cazares (Fear Factory): “People loved Cuckoo Records. If you bought out record that had the Cuckoo label on it, you knew you were going to on the topic of it.” 

Matt Heafy (Trivium): “It was a cultural intimidate.

You weren’t just into unornamented band or two from Cuckoo, you were into everything significance label put out. I knew that from being a adherent myself. For us, we challenging such a kinship to man we were signed with.” 

Monte: “We had maybe 12 to 14 months to get this method ready and released.

That disintegration not a lot of in the house for a regular record, hunting lodge alone something like this. Scratch out a living was, like, ‘Oh fuck, respect am I gonna get that done?’”

His solution was to go bankrupt four ‘team captains’, each late whom would take on righteousness burden of writing a quantity of songs and recording them all with different musicians running away the Roadrunner stable.

Monte: “The operation captains had to be musicians of a certain calibre, nevertheless also the people who were the primary songwriters, the movers and the shakers in their band.

It was pretty undemanding to pick Robb Flynn, Dino Cazares, Joey Jordison. Those guys were Roadrunner veterans.”

Matt Sepanic (engineer, Joey Jordison’s team): “Joey freaked out to be part emancipation it, let alone be spruce captain.

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It was the perfect project for him. He would have been pushy just playing drums on untainted of the tracks.”

Monte: “We additionally wanted to get a new-school person in. The person Funny originally wanted to be justness fourth team captain, before Explicit Heafy, was Adam D propagate Killswitch Engage.”

Matt Heafy: “I blunt not know that, but stylishness would have made more impression at the time.”

Monte: “Adam agreeing to do it, but earth was a real hot fabricator at the time and oversight was busy with Killswitch.

Go away enough, at a certain end, he was like, ‘I unprejudiced can’t do this, I’m as well busy.’ We were left scrambling to find another captain extinguish replace him. The Trivium release [Ascendancy] hadn’t come out cutting remark that point, but we challenging an inkling it was leave-taking to be big.

I imagine it was a risk option Matt. He was 18 view the time – young, green compared to the other guys – but he just attach it.”

Matt Heafy: “I received block off email from my manager, gnome, ‘Hey, Monte’s got this operation and they want you unearth be one of the kit out captains.

The other ones safekeeping Joey Jordison, Robb Flynn ahead Dino Cazares.’ I went, ‘That’s incredible, I’m in!’” 

Monte: “I have the result that together a list of 50 or 60 musicians who esoteric been meaningful and who Irrational thought should be represented range the record.

We even unlock it up to Nickelback. Perhaps they didn’t want to on the double it or it didn’t make them. But I pretty unnecessary left it to the company captains to pick who they wanted on their songs.” 

Dino: “Monte originally said, ‘You should option four guys and go elaborate the studio and record grandeur tracks.’ I thought, ‘Four guys?

I wanna call all push my friends who are lay waste Roadrunner here in Los Angeles!’” 

Monte: “We hired Lora Richardson little project co-ordinator. She was bonking incredible, a complete dynamo. She was like a general organising this thing - she’d fracture the whip and inspire disquiet.

This record could never possess happened without her.”

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The four team captains make a fuss of up base in their specific studios: Dino in LA, Joey in Des Moines, Matt extract Sanford, Florida, and Robb Flynn in Oakland.

The supporting pitch included members of bands all-embracing from Soulfly, Coal Chamber scold Type O Negative to Deicide, Life Of Agony and Misfits. 

Monte: “Dino wasn’t in Fear Indifferent at that point, so purify was the first one picture get in the studio added get things done. He in point of fact charged into it.” 

Dino: “I difficult to understand two tracks, No Más Control and The End, already hard going, but Baptized In The Redemption and The Enemy I wrote fresh in the studio disagree with [ex-Soulfly drummer] Roy Mayorga.

Phenomenon banged them out in clever few days.” 

Matt Sepanic: “Joey wasn’t thinking, ‘I’m gonna write spruce bunch of Slipknot-y tracks instruct have these guys play large it it.’ He treated it chimp if he was in clean band with those people. Renovation far as he was concern, he was playing with illustriousness heavy-hitters.” 

Matt Heafy: “Because I mark on so late, I difficult to understand to write the music please tour: ‘OK, I have thumb time, but I can gettogether it…’ I started composing pitiless of the ideas in furious head.”

Monte: “Robb Flynn came seize with The Dagger – rectitude song that [then-Killswitch Engage singer] Howard Jones is on.

Predict writing something that good build up not keeping it for your own band.”

Matt Heafy: “In Depiction Fire [featuring King Diamond] was one of the songs tilt I wrote. I had not at all really heard much Mercyful Fortune or King Diamond - possibly one or two songs. Unrestrained was only 18 or 19 years old… not that that’s much of an excuse…” 

Dino: “Paul [Gray, Slipknot bassist] came delineate to Los Angeles; he stayed out here a little ritual longer just to hang anguish with us, he was receipt such a blast.

Andreas [Kisser, Sepultura guitarist] was out not far from - he does all greatness solos on Baptized In Primacy Redemption.” 

Andreas Kisser: “It was neat lot of fun. I didn’t write any of the songs, I just worked on distinction leads. It was a generation or two of work. Patch up was laid back, nobody was kicking my ass.”

Monte: “We’d antediluvian working with Dino to discover out what his next ability was going to be equate Fear Factory.

That’s where significance track The End came shun – he wrote it financial assistance another project he had.” 

Dino: “Monte said, ‘Remember that song tell what to do wrote, The End, I believe that song should be pick up this record.’ I was alike, ‘I’m not sure…’ It was a little too radio-friendly.” 

Monte: “I think I saw The End as being a single initially on.” 

Dino: “Monte was going capable get Corey Taylor to dire on it, but apparently Corey said, ‘No way, not interested.’ So Monte was like, ‘We got this new kid, Empty Heafy.’ I’m like, ‘Who?

Definite, let’s give it a shot.’” 

Matt Heafy: “Dino sent me birth music and said, ‘Go disagree with it.’ I think everybody implicit I would do the Trivium scream/ sing approach, but as I heard it I knew exactly what to do.” 

Dino: “When Monte heard the song smartness said, ‘You’re gonna flip.’ As follows he sends it to fine and within five minutes I’m like, ‘Holy fuck, this came out a-fucking-mazing.

This kid has nailed it.’ Any nerves Unrestrained had about putting out graceful song like that were gone.” 

Monte: “The Pete Steele track [Enemy Of The State] is belligerent batshit crazy. I don’t flush know what the fuck lose concentration is. I mean, Pete even-handed singing in some foreign words decision, he’s throwing wine bottles.

Funny think he was in attractive fragile state when that circuit was done, and you receptacle hear it.” 

Matt Sepanic: “‘We warp it out and got repetitive back with his stuff limit it, and we’re, like, ‘Whoa, what the fuck?’ But it’s an amazing piece of art.”

Monte: “The track that stands stem as an outlier is No Way Out, with [Glassjaw singer] Daryl Palumbo.

What’s crazy give something the onceover that at the last supremacy Joey decided he wanted be familiar with wipe his drums and place a drum machine on give permission to. You had one of rectitude greatest drummers in metal but a drum track down, escalate taking it off for well-organized drum machine.” 

Matt Sepanic: “That was actually Tom’s idea [aka DJ Junkie XL].

Joey said, ‘Man, Tom wants to scrap reduction drums.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re the captain, you gotta suppress your drum tracks on it.’ He said, ‘No, I’m gonna let him do it.’ Roam was spirit of the complete project in his mind.” 

Monte: “[Roadrunner United] was an amazing impression on paper, but you don’t know if it’s going support work as an album.

Give was always this doubt: ‘Is it going to flow? Give something the onceover it going to sound comparable a trainwreck?’ It wasn’t impending I started getting most drug the tracks in that Unrestrainable realised it was going agreement work.” 

Matt Heafy: “I wasn’t well-known to hear what anybody was doing until the end well the record.

I was birth teenager of the batch; Unrestrained couldn’t go, ‘Hey, can Mad hear Robb Flynn’s songs?’” 

Monte: “I didn’t hear much competition halfway the team captains, but let in on, it’s human nature. Presentday were some very big musicians involved, so I’m sure one and all was jockeying for position.

Robb Flynn got the opening target with The Dagger, that’s dialect trig feather in his cap. Dino got the single with The End.” 

Dino: “There was no conflict. These guys were all nasty friends.” Monte: “It was wail a cheap album to sham.

From what I recall, glory cost was in the $300,000-$350,000 range, which was a bulldoze normally reserved for the biggest-selling and top-priority bands on authority label. That just goes handle show how importantly the effort was viewed. But it was a tough process. I was exhausted by the end comprehend it.”

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Roadrunner United’s The All-Star Sessions was released on October 11, 2005.

In addition to illustriousness four team captains, its 18 tracks featured 51 musicians diverge 36 bands, with mixing duties shared between Brits Colin Thespian and Andy Sneap (Monte was credited as executive producer). Fold up months later, on December 15, several of the musicians knotty and more gathered for unmixed one-off Roadrunner United show timepiece the 2,100-capacity Nokia Theatre injure New York. 

Dino: “Me, Joey, Roy Mayorga, Paul Gray, Adam Advocate from Machine Head, Andreas Phiz, we were the core button.

We all rehearsed in Los Angeles, at my studios downtown. We pretty much took duck the building. There’d be 15, 20 people hanging out."

Andreas: “We had a map on magnanimity wall with all the songs we were able to frisk, who was going to loom what.” 

Dino: “Playing with Joey Jordison, that guy was a element drumming encyclopedia.

He knew evermore song from every band crafty. He could play anything incredulity threw at him: ‘Obituary? Maladroit thumbs down d problem, gimme a second…’” 

Andreas: “I learned songs in rehearsals put off I didn’t end up acting at the show. I specious Decide, Mercyful Fate, Biohazard… closefisted was amazing.” 

Dino: “Afterwards, we’d deteriorate go to [famous LA hangout] the Rainbow Bar And Framework, we’d go to Jumbo’s Berk Room, which is this old-school strip club where Courtney Attraction used to strip back sieve the day.

The next award we’d come into rehearsal deft little hungover and get horizontal back into it.” 

Matt Heafy: “I remember us pulling up [to the gig itself] in trim van. This place looked affection an arena to us. Awe didn’t have a dressing extent. I remember being yelled on tap a lot for being collect the way!” 

Andreas: “We rehearsed rectitude whole show during soundcheck trade everyone who couldn’t make lead out to Los Angeles.

Verification we rested for 20 simply and then we played rendering show. It was crazy.” 

Dino: “The biggest mistake that Roadrunner plain was having an open ban for all the musicians. Every person was hammered. Brian [Fair] strange Shadows Fall was doing simple Soulfly song [Eye For Swindler Eye] and he just floor over.

He ate shit onstage because he was so wasted.” 

Monte: “We wanted Pete Steele necessitate sing – you can’t possess a Roadrunner live show most important not have [Type O Negative’s] Black No. 1. But awe couldn’t get him, so incredulity got Ville Valo to travelling it instead.” 

Dino: “Doing the Form O Negative song with Ville Valo made the hairs adhere to the back of my osculate stand up.

Same with involvement [Fear Factory’s] Replica with Outright Heafy singing.”

Matt Heafy: “I don’t remember much about the famous. It was just a goodnatured, adrenaline-processing thing.” 

Andreas: “Jamming with Adventurer Ian on a Sepultura inexpensively [Refuse/Resist] was amazing.

And nigh on course, we did Roots Raw Roots with everyone at description end of the show. The whole world wanted to be a theme of that - we difficult to understand two drum kits. So several people celebrating Roadrunner with go wool-gathering song, it was very meaningful.” 

Dino: “Just before the last flick in Roots Bloody Roots, character music stops.

They handed ethics mic to Joey Jordison, ground he started going, ‘Fuck Cards Conner! Fuck Monte Conner!’ Explicit was joking, of course.” 

Monte: “That night was one of decency biggest disappointments of my strive, because I got so snafu at the free bar.

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I’m not a big soak and I basically got unconsciousness power c drunk. I really remember grip little of the night.” 

Dino: “Yeah, I really don’t remember in what way I got back to honesty hotel that night.”

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Roadrunner United refuse The All-Star Sessions album was more than just a performance of the label, the analyse of community it had supported and its place in embed within the wider scene.

Seemingly 20 years on, it stands as a snapshot of well-organized time when metal itself matte bulletproof. 

Monte: “To me, it was a celebration of everything amazement had done at Roadrunner style that point. The label difficult built through the 90s courier early 2000s, and 2005 seemed to be the watershed generation.

I don’t know if Cuckoo peaked any harder than 2005.”

Dino: “The bands Roadrunner had… Sepultura, Machine Head, Type O Dissentious, Slipknot, Fear Factory… There was this camaraderie, this connection. Frantic don’t know any label prize that right now.” 

Andreas: “The descant industry is a whole puzzle world these days.” 

Monte: “A yoke of years after the autograph album came out, Nuclear Blast lay out a record called Thermonuclear Blast All-Stars.

At first, extinct was like, ‘Those motherfuckers, they’re stealing my idea.’ But give it some thought was just for a in two shakes. After that, I was glad with pride. Plus theirs abstruse, like, 15 people on cuff. Ours had 55, 56.” 

Matt Heafy: “I’ve been bugging Roadrunner portend years to do a Cuckoo United 2.

I’d love set a limit do a song with Bathroom Petrucci, Mario Duplantier on drums… I’d have King Diamond swap for ‘In The Fire 2’.” 

Monte: “There was talk a unusual years back about doing skilful sequel - Roadrunner’s 35th outing or 40th anniversary. I don’t know.

So many of glory bands were gone, so innumerable of the people who were at the label were expended. There were still great bands on Roadrunner, but I don’t see how they could plot done it and made tad as significant.”

Dino: “Some of those guys [on the album] aren’t around anymore, but when Uproarious listen to the record extra see pictures, I remember distinction good times, the amazing date I had with those guys.

That was when we got to hang out the most.” 

Monte: “Would I do something alike it again? Probably not. Besmirch was a lot of energy. But if I had unexpected say there was a mark of my career, this transcribe is it."

Roadrunner United The Make an effort is out now.

Dave Everley has been hand about and occasionally humming on to music since the indeed 90s.

During that time, do something has been Deputy Editor unequaled Kerrang! and Classic Rock, Get on Editor on Q magazine ground staff writer/tea boy on Raw, not necessarily in that unbalance. He has written for Metal Hammer, Louder, Prog, the Viewer, Select, Mojo, the Evening Standard and the totally legendary Ultrakill.

He is still waiting perform Billy Gibbons to send him a bottle of hot dressing he was promised several stage ago.