Virginia Beach, Virginia is not a place that’s automatically associated with an awesome music scene. Wait; now before I start hearing boos from all of the hard working musicians there, hear me out. It’s the beach, bikinis, suntan lotion, it’s sand and water and a place to go on vacation. I don’t think too many people put Virginia Beach right up there with Nashville or the Hollywood Strip when it comes to a booming music scene. Yet, there is a rumbling going on in the underground music scene and it’s from a band approaching the edge of breakthrough and that band is Pillbuster.
Pillbuster consists of Brett Lloyd on vocals, Chris Kernstock on bass, Joe Festa on guitar and Doug Stanek on drums. Their self-titled debut album is about to be released on their own label, Stonerkill Records, on August 6. These four guys bring four totally different pieces together to help complete a musical puzzle that fuses punk, hardcore, southern metal and classic rock into something pretty special. It’s full of tasty riffs and infectious hooks that draw you in light an insect to a bug zapper. I had the opportunity to talk to three fourths of the band recently as they were laying out battle plans for the upcoming album release.
Johnny/RockRevolt: Hey guys! Wow, it’s actually pretty cool to be interviewing a band from right here in my home state to feature in our publication. I’ve been to Virginia Beach, Virginia many times on vacation and now I have another reason to come check it out. For our readers who may be new to the world of Pillbuster, tells us a little bit about the band.
Joe Festa/Pillbuster: Chris, Douglas and I moved to this area from different areas where we had been playing. I’m from New York, Chris is from Michigan and Douglas is from Colorado and when we got here to Virginia Beach, we just started putting out ads and we found each other. The three of us started playing together on and off for maybe a year or so until we found Brett. We auditioned twenty, although it feels like a million, singers until we finally Brett. I went to his house with my guitar and we jammed for about an hour or two and it just felt like a natural fit and here we are.
Johnny/RockRevolt: Now, did the three of you move to Virginia Beach specifically to pursue music or for other reasons?
Joe/Pillbuster: For me, New York was just too expensive, so I was doing a scenery change.
Chris Kernstock/Pillbuster: I moved here from Michigan and I was in the military at the time and that brought me here.
Joe/Pillbuster: Doug’s a fugitive! (laughs) Actually, his wife is from here so they moved back here from Colorado.
Brett Lloyd/Pillbuster: I was born and raised here.
Johnny/RockRevolt: Coming from all of these different locations, what’s the music scene like in Virginia Beach compared to what you are used to?
Joe/Pillbuster: I was playing with another band here and I wasn’t really feeling it and I saw Joe on Craig’s List and the stuff that he was writing at the time really stood out to me. I’ve played in thrash bands before and that stuff’s fine, but we were looking to do something that not everybody else was doing at the time. There are good bands in this area, but it is kind of different from what we are used to doing. In New York, obviously there are just a lot of people and I don’t think the scene here is that much different as it is less people being here to fight for. It’s pretty much all underground here and you really don’t hear a lot about bands coming out of this area.
Chris/Pillbuster: There are also limited places to play here because a lot of them cater to cover bands instead of original music.
Johnny/RockRevolt: Here’s an original question for you; is there a story behind the band’s name?
Joe/Pillbuster: There’s really no story behind it at all. I was with two other guys playing and we were tossing around band names and that’s one that we came up with. Then, when the four of us got together and started to look at names, it came up again. Pillbuster is just one of those names that are short and sweet, it’s kind of catchy and easy to remember.
Johnny/RockRevolt: Can you tell me a little bit about your self-titled album debut album that comes out in August?
Joe/Pillbuster: I think this is probably the biggest studio that any of us had ever been in. We went into Osceola Studios in Raleigh, North Carolina which is Dick Hodgin’s studio. Dick has worked with some big names including Velvet Revolver, C.O.C. and Lynyrd Skynyrd and a few other guys. I think it was the first time that any of us had recorded on this magnitude.
Johnny/RockRevolt: Was there a reason that you went there to do your recording?
Joe/Pillbuster: There are so many people using Protools and we definitely wanted to do something in a legitimate studio, so I was looking at some of the better studios in the area. I called to get an idea of how much it would cost and if it was available and stuff and stayed on the phone with Dick for about an hour or hour and a half. He made us all really comfortable from the beginning so we went with him. His repertoire certainly didn’t hurt him either. We were aware of the people that he worked with and we were kind of drawn to that.
Johnny/RockRevolt: Now, you guys are putting this out independently, right?
Brett/Pillbuster: Yeah, when you mention label, we are our own label.
Joe/Pillbuster: We opened up our own label just so we could release this record. We will be shopping it around as well, but we didn’t want to hold it up, so we created our own label so we could get it out this year.
Watch “Revery”
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Johnny/RockRevolt: Growing up, did you guys always want to be rock stars? Were you the guys in your bedrooms with the walls covered in posters and you were singing in the mirror with a hairbrush while rocking a tennis racket guitar?
Brett/Pillbuster: It definitely was for me! When I was a little kid, my father introduced me to Led Zeppelin, the Boss, 38 Special, Foreigner and the Eagles. I was listening to that when I was a real little kid, then I had my rebellious phase and I hit the punk scene. When I was 15, I went to this $5.00 show to see the Deftones and at the point where they were performing the song “7 Words” and Chino climbed the rafters. He was right in the middle of the crowd about 20 feet in the air and when he got to the chorus he just let go and dropped into the crowd. The place went fucking apeshit and at that point I looked at my boy and told him that was what I wanted to do.
Joe/Pillbuster: Yeah, I think I was Gene Simmons for Halloween one year (laughs). For me, it was when Reign in Blood (Slayer) first came out. One listen to that and I just knew that playing the guitar was what I wanted to do.
Chris/Pillbuster: For me, it was when I heard KISS Double Platinum; I think I may have been seven or eight years old and then, I moved on to Iron Maiden. I was at summer camp and this kid had a (Metallica) Master of Puppets cassette and I traded him my Maiden Number
of the Beast for his Metallica cassette and that helped me progress into the heavier, thrashier stuff.
Johnny/RockRevolt: It seems that the road is where it all comes together and you deliver the goods to the fans. Do you guys have any touring plans to promote the album?
Chris/Pillbuster: Luckily, the East coast is pretty compact, so it’s a lot easier to hit a lot of major cities without having to travel too far because of that.
Joe/Pillbuster: Yeah, right now the plan is to go as far north as New York and down to Georgia, that’s what we’re looking to book for late summer, early fall.
Brett/Pillbuster: Then, we’ll get back out there in the late winter, early spring after the radio stuff starts to take form and we’ll probably have a better idea where we’re at around that point. Who knows, if we take off in Idaho, then we may have to go there.
Johnny/RockRevolt: I know it’s tough to take it out on the road when you are an indie band because of the expenses. What’s been your biggest obstacle for far with the exception of money to travel on?
Brett/Pillbuster: Our pride! (laughs) Especially when we went into the studio and listened to what we recorded, we realized that we really needed to go back and tweak some stuff a little bit. We even re-wrote the lyrics to six of the songs after we got in there. It was definitely a test of building up our confidence and I think it really shows on that finished product.
Johnny/RockRevolt: Given what I have already heard off of the album, I am pretty stoked to hear the completed project. If I am this excited, I can only imagine how you guys feel. Do you have any closing words for our readers?
Joe/Pillbuster: Thanks so much Johnny to you and RockRevolt for wanting to talk to us. Again, the album comes out on August 6 and it’s available for pre-order on Amazon. We are also having a CD release show on August 10 that’s being sponsored by FM99, the local station here. They’re going to have all sorts of rock girls here and they’ll be doing remote drop-ins throughout the night, so it should be a nice, big rock party. If anyone is anywhere near the area on that night, come on down and have some fun with us!
Connect with Pillbuster on the links above, or below:
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