“¡You guys have given our album and band a new life! “

Interview by Luishard

Dioses del Metal’s Friends, from the USA (Poughkeepsie, New York) we have the luck to speak with Kevin McAdams (drums/percussion) from the band Crucial Fix (NY), survivors of the 90s, thanks for your time, it’s a pleasure.

What happened twenty years ago that made three young people in NY together and form the band Crucial Fix?, fortuity?.

Funny enough, it was a record store!  My brother, Tom worked at a local record store and one day a guy came in and started talking to him about obscure thrash metal bands.  That guy was John Healy.  They became fast friends.  At the time (early 1992), Tom and I were trying to find a singer to complete Tom’s audio engineering class project; an early version of our song, “Twisted Vision”.  We went through a few singers having no idea John could sing.  John came down to the studio, sang it and killed it.  It was instant.  The band was born. 

When you had you album prepared, you decided to pull apart, in 1994? Intern or extern causes?

It was a combination of both.  Internally, after the original line up, we were never able to secure a permanent bassist.  It was very difficult in such a small town/area to find someone who had the ability and drive to play thrash metal music.  Most of 1993 was spent auditioning many bassists.  We even auditioned the bassist of the band, Slaughter House.  Eventually, John’s friend Ted filled in, but when we recorded the album, my brother Tom played bass.

Externally, the style of metal music we were making was considered out of date.  Music trends mattered a lot more back then, especially in an era without the internet.  On top of this, we were limited geographically by our home town where, at the time, metal was either slowing down (hardcore/metal mix and groove metal) or speeding up (death metal).  What both trends had in common was the demise of melodic metal vocals.

For me, when I discovered this album was like finding a 300 years old barrel of rum behind a wall, a treasure, am I exaggerating? Hehe.

Ha!  I love it!  I’m glad you think so.  When you make an album, you never know if the music will connect with anyone.  This whole process has been an incredible surprise.  I just figured we would release the album online and that would be it.  I had no idea anyone would like it.

Is it true that during these years all the original recording work was lost? 

Yeah, it was all a distant memory.

What was the first thing Tom thought when he discovered in his house, after cleaning his basement, an original copy of Crucial Fix?

Tom was beyond excited.  This was the summer of 2014, exactly 20 years from when we recorded it back in 1994.  I had been working on some other records at the time so Crucial Fix was literally the last record I expected to be thinking about.  Tom talked to me about wanting to release it.  I knew it was the right thing to do, but I had to start taking the necessary steps to make it happen.

Was it clear that the band had to be reborn and try to launch the album again? 

Not exactly.  We hadn’t spoken with John since the band split.  We needed to connect in a personal way first.  I reached out to John by email and then we had a long phone call, which was great. 

That process was simple or the opposite? (Was it complicated?)

Overall, the process was smooth, but a journey.  I did try to locate the master tapes and reconnected with Ron Kuhnke, who recorded/engineered the album.  Yet again, we hadn’t spoken in roughly 20 years.  The tapes had been destroyed in a flood that hit the studio a few years ago, which ended any chance of remixing the album.  After that, I asked Jon D’Uva (we worked together on several records) about remastering the album.  He’s a great guy and brilliant producer/engineer with metal experience (Overkill).  He agreed and did an excellent job.

How Heathen Tribes discovered you? Or did you discovered it?

You know, I always make sure to check my spam folder.  I cannot tell you how many times important emails have been sent there.  One day, checking my email, I went into my spam folder and saw a strange looking email, slightly different than the usual spam.  I almost deleted it, but figured it was at least worth opening.  Sure enough, it was from Heathen Tribes sent through the Crucial Fix (NY) Bandcamp page.  The message was from Nikos and he explained how they were looking to start a new metal label and wanted to release the Crucial Fix (NY) album in physical form.  I could tell that he genuinely liked the band and was serious about doing something great.

I like numbers, can you tell me how many copies has been edited?

I know 100 cd digipaks and 100 cassettes have been pressed.  I love the idea of strictly limited edition pressings.

I think you have recorded it analogical, is it to remember old days?

It was the old days.  Ha!  Back then, given our situation, analog was the best way for us to record.  Digital recording was still relatively new and a bit unproven.

With influences of Slayer, Overkill, Metal Church, Kreator, Coroner, Demolition Hammer,.…. your Thrash Metal style is quite aggressive and tough, like sulfuric acid, how do you define it?

We definitely love the bands you mentioned.  No matter how aggressive the music gets, there is always some sense of melody.  I think the contrast between aggression and melody creates a great tension in the songs.  I can’t say we’re savvy enough to define or strive for a certain sound.  We just play what interests us.

The world of Metal has behaved correctly with the return of the band?

I think the world of Metal and the technology available today has made it possible for our album to be heard in a way that was not possible back when it was recorded.  There are a lot of aspects I don’t like about the internet, but the metal community has harnessed its power to create a genuine voice for the music. 

Do you think play in live before long? It has to be brutal.

Getting back to playing live is the next goal.  The biggest hurdle is overcoming the geographical barriers for rehearsing, etc. since we live farther apart than years ago.  Yet again, technology can help.  Also, we’re trying to join the right bill.  We want to be a part of a great show with other bands we enjoy.

Are you composing new songs for another album?

There are ideas floating around.

Any dream to fight in the future?

Yes!  Ideally, we will play a show soon and then discuss some new songs afterward.  We have to take it one step at a time.

Well, we have finished, you can say whatever you want to your followers, wish you the best and count with us, web Dioses del Metal, for support you, a steel hug.

Muchas gracias a los Dioses del Metal y a la comunidad del Metal para el apoyo!  Un abrazo!. You guys have given our album and band a new life!.