Here is a new interview with the Ohio death metal band Ton who recently released their newest cd "Bow Down To Extiction" through the mighty Ossuary Prod. If you are a fan of this long-running death metal band then defintly give their new cd a listen.
Regards
Patrick
fiendformetal@live.com
Interview with Dan G. Guitarist of Ton and owner of Iron Gates Entertainment done by Patrick
1. Hello Dan how is your summer going?When did you first discover metal music?Who were some of the first bands you listened to?
Summer has been going great. I discovered metal in the eighties. I was in high school in the mid and late eighties. That was when a lot of the great thrash bands were active. I was into all the classic thrash bands. Metallica, Slayer, Dark Angel, Death Angel, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Suicidal Tendencies, DRI, Sepultura, Nuclear Assault. Anything that was heavy none of that glam shit.
2.Ton originally formed in 1993 when did you first meet the other members of the band? How did you all come up with the name Ton for the band?
Kevin and I went to high school together. We weren't really friends then because he was a couple years younger than I am. I met Jeff in about 1990 I think. His cousin gave him my phone number because she knew that I played guitar and Jeff was looking for someone to jam with. Jeff and I started jamming together and played with another drummer for a while. Just by chance I ran into Kevin and he was looking for some new people to play with. Kevin had a practice spot so the 3 of us got together. Very shortly after that Paul Bennett started playing with us too. We knew Paul from another local band and Jeff and I also played with him for a short time before TON. We called ourselves TON just because it sounded heavy. We weren't really a death metal band when we started we just wanted to play heavy music.
3.Why did ton break up in the first place? did you all stay in contact with each other?
In late 2000 and early 2001 I guess there was a little tension between us and we lost focus of what was important. Having fun is the most important thing. I have been playing with Kevin pretty much non stop since 1993. We had several different bands over the years. Jeff formed Fully Consumed in 2003, I think. He has played in FC since then. Jeff played bass in a couple of the bands that Kevin and I had and I later joined Fully Consumed. After our Blind Follower/Point Of View cd was re-released by Fresh Blood Management we decided to reform. The 3 of us were playing together already in another band anyway. We got a lot of positive feedback after the re-release so we decided to give it another go.
4.Ton reformed in 2014 what made you all decide to give ton another chance? How has it been going so far?
With the positive feedback we were getting I guess we just felt the time was right. We started learning some old songs and writing some new ones. It just felt great to do it again and we were having a lot of fun. Things have ben going great. We signed with Ossuary Industries when we only had about half of the songs written for the cd. That really motivated us to keep writing. To have a great label behind us and the opportunity to do our cd release at the Las Vegas Death Fest was such an amazing experience. We have played quite a few shows already and plan to do plenty more. We have a couple of big fests booked for 2016.
5.What is the current line-up of Ton? How would you say Ton's music has changed over the years?
Jeff Shepler-Bass/Vocals, Kevin Kraft-Drums/Vocals, Dan Gates-Guitar/Vocals and Paul Bennett is working on songs to rejoin the band. All 4 original members and its awesome. I really look forward to stepping on stage with Paul being back in the band. Paul left the band in about 1998 so we did shows for a few years without him and to this point we have been a 3 piece. Paul should be ready by the end of the year or the first of next year.
3.Why did ton break up in the first place? did you all stay in contact with each other?
In late 2000 and early 2001 I guess there was a little tension between us and we lost focus of what was important. Having fun is the most important thing. I have been playing with Kevin pretty much non stop since 1993. We had several different bands over the years. Jeff formed Fully Consumed in 2003, I think. He has played in FC since then. Jeff played bass in a couple of the bands that Kevin and I had and I later joined Fully Consumed. After our Blind Follower/Point Of View cd was re-released by Fresh Blood Management we decided to reform. The 3 of us were playing together already in another band anyway. We got a lot of positive feedback after the re-release so we decided to give it another go.
4.Ton reformed in 2014 what made you all decide to give ton another chance? How has it been going so far?
With the positive feedback we were getting I guess we just felt the time was right. We started learning some old songs and writing some new ones. It just felt great to do it again and we were having a lot of fun. Things have ben going great. We signed with Ossuary Industries when we only had about half of the songs written for the cd. That really motivated us to keep writing. To have a great label behind us and the opportunity to do our cd release at the Las Vegas Death Fest was such an amazing experience. We have played quite a few shows already and plan to do plenty more. We have a couple of big fests booked for 2016.
5.What is the current line-up of Ton? How would you say Ton's music has changed over the years?
Jeff Shepler-Bass/Vocals, Kevin Kraft-Drums/Vocals, Dan Gates-Guitar/Vocals and Paul Bennett is working on songs to rejoin the band. All 4 original members and its awesome. I really look forward to stepping on stage with Paul being back in the band. Paul left the band in about 1998 so we did shows for a few years without him and to this point we have been a 3 piece. Paul should be ready by the end of the year or the first of next year.
6.Ton recently released their new cd "Bow Down To Extinction" through Ossuary Prod. how did you all come in contact with this great label?
I was talking to Chris Williams on the phone and mentioned that we hoped to get a label to release it. He hung up with me called Brian from Ossuary Industries and asked him if he was interested in releasing our new cd. He said yeas and he was completely on board with doing the release in Vegas. We had a few labels express interest but Brian was the first to actually send us a contract and tell us exactly what he intended to do. We are very happy to be a part of the Ossuary Industries family.
7.Who usually writes the music for the band does the whole band take part or does one member usually write everything?
It is a group effort. Jeff and I write the riffs and start getting an arrangement together. Obviously Kevin writes his drum parts and he also contributes arrangement ideas. Once Paul is back in he will be contributing too. We put everyones ideas into the songs instead of each of us writing complete songs.
8.Who usually writes the lyrics for the band I know even back in the 90's you all wrote about real-life news or situations. Wheat are some topics/subjects you all have covered over the years?
Jeff writes the lyrics. He has always been very good at it and always has good ideas. The lyrical topics are still pretty much real life stuff. We've written about everything from greedy politicians, suicide, execution of a child molester and lots of other stuff.
9.Does Ton have any plans to make a video for any song{s} off of "Bow Down To Extinction"?
We would like to make a video. We tried a while ago but it didn't work out. Hopefuly sometime soon we can make that happen.
11.Do you all have any tours or shows coming up for the rest of the summer or fall/winter? If yes where are some places you will be heading to?
We will be Playing Full Terror Assault in September, we have one local show with Necrotic Disgorgement in October and we are playing the South Jersey Metalfest in December. We will be playing Foothills Gutfest in Colorado and one other big fest we can't mention yet next year. I'm sure we'll be lining more stuff up too.
12.Besides the new cd "Bow Down To Extinction" does Ton have any other merchandise available for the fans?
Yes we have shirts, hoodies and our previous releases available at www.tonohio.bigcartel.com. We will have album art shirts available very soon. They might be done by the time this is published
13.Dan besides Ton you also own and run the distro/label "Iron Gates Entertainment" when did you start this label?
I basically started it because was trading our previous releases and I knew that I would be trading the new cd too. I figured since I would be accumulating other releases i should start a distro. I did do a joint release with Fresh Blood Management. We released the new cd from Indonesian Death Metal band Obeisance. I was selling guitar strings and guitar related stuff but I'm pretty much done with that. Just going to deal with Metal.
14.What have you released so far?Any upcoming releases the fans should watch out for?
Like I said I did the joint release with Fresh Blood Management. I am thinking about releasing an ep from another project that Kevin and I are working on. We had a band called National Collapse that we played in together for a few years. I wrote a few new songs and may re-record a couple of the old ones. www.facbook.com/nationalcollapseband
15.If any bands or labels are reading this what styles of metal/music do you carry in your distro just death metal or do you carry other styles as well?Where can they reach you at? Do you have a web-site?
Pretty much just Death Metal right now but I'm open to anything as long as it's heavy. You can see whats for sale at www.irongatesentertainment.bigcartel.com and look us up on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ irongatesentertainment
16.Thank you Dan for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final words for the readers?
Thank you very much for the constant support. We appreciate you helping us get the word out about TON and our new release. Check us out and support Ossuary Industries.
10.I know the band has played some fests and shows over the summer how have the shows gone? Any wild or crazy stories from the road?
Vegas was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. We had a total blast and the show was amazing. While in Vegas we got stuck in a hotel stairwell briefly with Jimmy Javins, Bob Buchanan, Dylan Gordon and John Blose. After we got out we started thinking about how many Ohio bands we were all in and how a good portion of Ohio Death Metal could have died in that hot stairwell. Seriously though we weren't really near death but it was funny to think about because the guys in that stairwell were members of about 8 or 9 Ohio bands. Of course there are a few stories that are gonna have to stay in Vegas.
11.Do you all have any tours or shows coming up for the rest of the summer or fall/winter? If yes where are some places you will be heading to?
We will be Playing Full Terror Assault in September, we have one local show with Necrotic Disgorgement in October and we are playing the South Jersey Metalfest in December. We will be playing Foothills Gutfest in Colorado and one other big fest we can't mention yet next year. I'm sure we'll be lining more stuff up too.
12.Besides the new cd "Bow Down To Extinction" does Ton have any other merchandise available for the fans?
Yes we have shirts, hoodies and our previous releases available at www.tonohio.bigcartel.com. We will have album art shirts available very soon. They might be done by the time this is published
13.Dan besides Ton you also own and run the distro/label "Iron Gates Entertainment" when did you start this label?
I basically started it because was trading our previous releases and I knew that I would be trading the new cd too. I figured since I would be accumulating other releases i should start a distro. I did do a joint release with Fresh Blood Management. We released the new cd from Indonesian Death Metal band Obeisance. I was selling guitar strings and guitar related stuff but I'm pretty much done with that. Just going to deal with Metal.
14.What have you released so far?Any upcoming releases the fans should watch out for?
Like I said I did the joint release with Fresh Blood Management. I am thinking about releasing an ep from another project that Kevin and I are working on. We had a band called National Collapse that we played in together for a few years. I wrote a few new songs and may re-record a couple of the old ones. www.facbook.com/nationalcollapseband
15.If any bands or labels are reading this what styles of metal/music do you carry in your distro just death metal or do you carry other styles as well?Where can they reach you at? Do you have a web-site?
Pretty much just Death Metal right now but I'm open to anything as long as it's heavy. You can see whats for sale at www.irongatesentertainment.bigcartel.com and look us up on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ irongatesentertainment
16.Thank you Dan for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final words for the readers?
Thank you very much for the constant support. We appreciate you helping us get the word out about TON and our new release. Check us out and support Ossuary Industries.
