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Cold Slither Takes Over NYCC Feat. Ross Sewage
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Cobra Commander wants to take over the world—his next attempt comes THIS WEEKEND at #NYCC as #ColdSlither takes over the famous Gramercy Theater! Ahead of their big gig, we're talking to Torch — AKA Ross Sewage — all about the show and how the band got together.
Get your tickets to Cold Slither LIVE in NYC on October 11th!
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Intro and other voices by Joe Azzari
https://www.instagram.com/voicesbyjoe/
Theme Music is "Game Boy Horror" by the Zombie Dandies
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Transcript
Introduction to Adventures in Collecting Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Are you ready, kids? Get your parents' permission, check your mailbox, and grab your shopping cart. It's time for the Adventures in Collecting podcast. I'm Eric.
00:00:15
Speaker
And I'm Dave. Welcome to Adventures in Collecting, where we talk toy news, culture, and hauls, along with our journeys as collectors.
New York Comic Con Week Memories
00:00:27
Speaker
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Adventures in Collecting. Hello, Dave. It is New York Comic Con week. It is. And I am at the theater, the theater.
00:00:42
Speaker
um You were at the toy version of the the theater that we're actually going to be at later, later this ah this weekend, except instead of, I think, the Springfield Theater behind you. And we're going to be at the Gramercy, which is super cool.
00:00:58
Speaker
But um before before we what was the Gramercy before it was the Gramercy? I feel like ah i used to we used to call it something else like when we were younger. Was it like. a
00:01:11
Speaker
It's been Gramercy for a long time. Roseland or something like that. No, Roseland doesn't exist anymore.
00:01:19
Speaker
We've been to so many of those venues in New York, it just feels like I don't feel like it's been there. I did have another name back. But I think that was more before our time.
00:01:31
Speaker
Okay, fair enough. But um yeah, we will talk about that in a
October Giveaway Details
00:01:35
Speaker
little bit. Of course, we do have a special guest on on today's show, so we'll bring him on um shortly. But first, as ah is usually the case, little bit of housekeeping.
00:01:46
Speaker
um So we did announce the winner of our September giveaway. But ah our October giveaway is live. And I know on the last ah episode, I did say that um we were going to do like a trick or treat version of this. We're like first come first served in terms of who picking the prize.
00:02:09
Speaker
it just it was too complicated to put it all in one post. So instead, we have a horror double feature giveaway this month. You pick the post to try to win or when try to win both.
00:02:22
Speaker
Yeah, you could try to win both. um So first, first up, our the first part of our October giveaway is this amazing three and three quarter inch Night Demon axe wielding Eugene figure um from the album Cursed of the Damned. Of course, this comes ah from the wonderful folks at Carver the Five.
00:02:42
Speaker
a friend of the pod, Kyle Wadaga and ah Brian Lou, formerly of Super 7. um This is their their fun little ah side hustle, their side side project.
00:02:54
Speaker
Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing this. So ah really, really cool figure. um Yeah, i've I've got I've got an open one right now.
00:03:05
Speaker
But yeah, it's it's an awesome, awesome figure. I keep forgetting I'm reversed. ah Yeah, just a fun little, you know, Kenner style three and three quarter inch axe wielding Eugene.
00:03:17
Speaker
and And I've been listening um been listening to some Night Demon and they're very much so my jam. Yeah. Yeah, really, really cool. So that is the
How to Enter the Giveaway
00:03:27
Speaker
first giveaway. And of course, in order to win this giveaway and the giveaway I'm about to show you for part two, um you're going to want to make sure that you follow us at AIC underscore podcast. Look for the pinned posts in this case.
00:03:41
Speaker
And you have the entire month of ah of October ween. to enter enter to win um our our horror double feature so the second uh the second part of the double feature giveaway is the retro realms double feature itself of halloween and ash versus the evil dead for the nintendo switch very fun um side scrolling kind of action platformer.
00:04:11
Speaker
Yeah, I've played it yet. I beat the Halloween side first and I am now playing the evil dead's Ash versus evil dead side, which is significantly more difficult. Yeah. um The Ash versus evil. debt It's like one. And I thought the Halloween one was was challenging, but like the Ash versus evil dead is punishing, punishing. yeah if And I believe the game has all the DLC, too.
00:04:35
Speaker
Yes, yes, it does. um I also like the first person perspective part where you get to like walk around the the arcade and unlock all the different like relics and stuff.
00:04:46
Speaker
Yeah, the rumor is there. So there were supposed to be more games coming and maybe there will be. But I know this developer is making the upcoming Hellraiser game.
00:04:58
Speaker
Okay. All right. That's good to know. um So we've partnered with local NJ video game store, Electric Town, i to shouts to town.
00:05:11
Speaker
So again,
00:05:15
Speaker
ah same same thing as ah as before. Make sure you're following us at AIC underscore podcast on Instagram. Look for the pinned post um and
00:05:26
Speaker
you have a chance and horror themed uh giveaways this this month so um again shouts to our friends at carve the five for sending over the figure to give away and uh and for electric town uh for helping us give away the game also comes with like a really fun pack of cards it does i think just um giveaways are officially posted.
00:05:54
Speaker
ah You can go and and enter to win them. so ah yeah Winner will be announced on November 1st. I can't believe we're talking about November already.
00:06:05
Speaker
yeah um But yeah, so... ah And then, obviously, you know you're if you're watching this, listening to to this episode, um when it airs, ah it is the week of New
Comic Con Live Coverage Plans
00:06:19
Speaker
York Comic Con. So this coming starting this coming Thursday, ah we will be covering Comic Con live and in person. We'll be there.
00:06:29
Speaker
We are jam-packed. and And I said that last year, that like we were jam-packed. We are... if last year we were jam packed this year, we are we are like, I don't even know how to put it in towards, to be honest with you. Cause like with Hasbro being there this year, there's two more toy panels to attend.
00:06:50
Speaker
um We've got interviews lined up with i Todd McFarlane. We've got interviews lined up with the GI Joe Transformers, Star Wars and Marvel teams, all at Hasbro.
00:07:01
Speaker
We've got an interview all at the same time. We've got an interview lined up with the the folks at Mondo. um Brian Volk Weiss from ah from Nacelle.
00:07:13
Speaker
Just ae Justin from from Bandai Tamashi Nations. Like there's some more friends that are going to be there that we may be able to get a word with. We don't know. Yeah, but it is it is going to be slammed. And then, of course, ah tying in with today's ah this week's guest, ah we will also be attending the ah the Cold Slither concert ah at the Gramercy, which is going to be at 8 p.m.
00:07:41
Speaker
on on October 11th. So the the Saturday of New York Comic Con. Comic Con Saturday. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's just it just we we are going to have a lot of things, fun things to show you. wrap At seven, you can get to Gramercy by eight.
00:07:58
Speaker
Yeah, and the tickets are available right now on Ticketmaster. But um as I mentioned, this week we've got a special treat ah straight from from the ah the the proverbial snake pit, Dave.
Introducing Ross Sewage and Cold Slither
00:08:10
Speaker
ah We're joined by none other than Ross Sewage from the heavy metal band Cold Slither. If that name rings a bell, ah it should. Cold Slither's got strict orders from Cobra Commander to take over the world and corrupt the youth at New York Comic Con.
00:08:26
Speaker
They didn't he Cobra Commander didn't quite get it done at San Diego. Well, it's a different set of youth. Yeah. So he's were wherere we're we're we're headed to New York. Yeah, we need to get the East Coast youth now.
00:08:38
Speaker
ahead of their second performance, we're set to dive into how Ross got involved, what it's like to blend metal and toys. um And I mean metal music, not not like metal and toys, because that's just we we know what that is. like could You could go play with some Hot Wheels um and what fans can expect.
00:08:56
Speaker
Yeah. ah What fans can expect at the show ah with that, Ross. Welcome to Adventures in Effective. have my own head to join you in this lovely interview about Toy, okay?
00:09:11
Speaker
Perfect. Come see, come see.
00:09:17
Speaker
Nailed it. Nailed it. Welcome to the show, Ross. No Frank Walker, I'm trying to do my best here. so Hey, it's pretty damn good. pretty Yeah, not bad. So ah listen, before we dive in and get into all of the amazing things going on with the Cold Slither Project, ah this is a show about collecting, and I see ah you have quite the collection behind you.
00:09:39
Speaker
um But ah but tell tell our listeners, tell our viewers, what what do you collect, and maybe what are some of your recent pickups? Um, what have I been?
Ross's Collecting Journey
00:09:48
Speaker
I mean, okay. When I was a kid, I started out with Star Wars before I can even remember.
00:09:53
Speaker
My first memories are just of having Star Wars toys. So apparently I saw the movie and the re-release schedule in 78 because I pointed at the TV screen, not even able to talk really. I was like that, that, that, that.
00:10:07
Speaker
So I still have Star Wars toys from my youth. Then, you know, other things came along. He-Man came along. i I remember He-Man as a barbarian before he was Prince of Eternia from the old mini comics from when I started on that one.
00:10:24
Speaker
Then we moved on to like, and then, you know, Transformers were around. And then... G.I. Joe was a little bit later for me than I think it was after Transformers, if I remember correctly.
00:10:34
Speaker
um So I went on through collecting all that stuff. I've been collecting my whole life through the 90s. Of course, McFarlane started up with like horror figures. I was big on that for a while. like want Basically, any Gen X toy collector would probably say.
00:10:49
Speaker
And at some point, I went through. as like My parents were like, you've got to get this crap out of the attic. You live out on your own now. and Get your crap out of here. So I went through a lot of stuff and some of it, some of it, uh, found, you know, helped me pay rent on eBay.
00:11:03
Speaker
Um, and I went through things and I kept treasures. still have like, like said, a lot of star Wars, but the one thing I kept coming back to was like, these G.I. Jones, things these were so fun. And, you know, i was able to pick up tiny little bits from my friends who were dropping off. Like, Hey, I got a shoe box of those old things. And,
00:11:19
Speaker
Then sometime in the 2010s, I was on tour and we played next to a toy shop. And I was like, I'd like to pick up a few more. and And then that just that went out of control.
00:11:32
Speaker
So we've we've got a lot more now. This is some on bookshelves, because why bother with books when I can have toys and just have my own adventures and stories?
00:11:46
Speaker
Recent pickups, Super 7, I'm waiting for my dang shipment of, I think it's Wave 3 of their new O-Rings. yeah So yeah, I'm waiting for Wave 3 and then plus the Universal Monsters, which I'm really excited about. I have the old Remco ones from 81, want to say along with their haunted mansion.
00:12:11
Speaker
And they're great, but they're 5POA and they're not as fun to take photos of. So they are our classics and I love them and i'll never get rid of them, but I'm really excited about, especially about Super 7, delving into O-Ring for properties that are not G.I. Joe because I like taking a lot of play photos, but I like making my G.I. Joes do weird things and meet weird characters that aren't necessarily part of the G.I. Joe universe. So that's where I'm at.
00:12:38
Speaker
Yeah, I could totally see, ah you know, ah the the Gilman showing up in some battles against Joe's. Oh, yeah, he already has. But now he's going to have elbows and a small arm battle grip, which is amazing.
00:12:53
Speaker
Well, that's Brian Flynn for that. Like, I've been waiting for a long time for that. That's definitely an animated crossover that would have happened, though, at some point. I figure I mean, you know, a Scooby Doo villain of the week type of deal.
00:13:05
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. you know like I mean, G.H.L., it's this military organization, but like why couldn't they go after some like corrupt um landlords of an old roller coaster park that are trying to scare off real yeah real estate investors or whatever it is?
00:13:21
Speaker
Hey, listen, Cobra commanders got to get money from somewhere. It's absolutely true. I mean, they fought Zartan in Amusement Park, so like it's like... See, like Dung Ho and Shipwreck rolled around in a mystery machine.
00:13:34
Speaker
I'm for it. and And like, you know, that the toys, G.I. Joe toys like well into the 90s. Like, I mean, I remember some of my favorite toys when I was when I was really little were the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat O-Ring figures that came, you know, in the G.I. Joe line later. And those definitely cross played. Like, you better believe Snake Eyes was throwing it down with like Sub-Zero and and and ah Scorpion and Smoke and all those guys. Yeah. Shang Tsung sometimes he has to call the GI Joes into, you know, the outer realm for some good battles. so Yeah.
00:14:09
Speaker
Amazing. think There's too many ninjas in GI Joe for a normal, like, plane of existence. They have to have an outer realm as well. ah Way too many ninjas in GI Joe. There's so many ninjas.
00:14:21
Speaker
Yeah, it's just more realms. And then, you know, you could have the the Mortal Kombat crossovers when they have like the guest characters and all that. Like it's, I mean, doors can be open aplenty.
00:14:33
Speaker
That's right, Ford. If Robocop can fight Raiden, then so could and so could Storm Shadow. Why not? yeah Yeah, exactly.
00:14:45
Speaker
So... um How did this whole cold Cold Slither project come to life? Like what brought kind of the genesis of it to kind of jumping off the, out of the box and onto stage?
00:14:58
Speaker
So it was, it's, I come in late in the story, sort of, but sort of early. So I'm like a little foreshadowing.
Birth of Cold Slither During Lockdowns
00:15:06
Speaker
So, you know, we're all in lockdown. we're all, you know, I've known Gus.
00:15:11
Speaker
Gus, who is basically the genesis of Cold Slither as an IRL band. We, you know, we had met, we have a bandmate in, in,
00:15:23
Speaker
a and but we have a bandmate together, Matt Harvey from Exhumed. He also plays in Gruesome with Gus in common. And we had so we had met and there was like, at some point I had gotten a bunch of mask toys and I'd send them off to Gus because he really likes masks. And I was like, i don't really collect masks. Here you go. Here's a bunch of like, I don't know, even condition these are in. He was excited. You know, we would talk occasionally. If I went to tour and got as far as Miami, we would hang out.
00:15:49
Speaker
And then everyone gets locked down then you have, um In your cups, you'll have lots of calls with friends because you had nothing else to do.
00:15:59
Speaker
Dustin and I talked a lot. And you know and there was actually the during the ah height of the pandemic as it was going, and everyone was locked down and I was getting some nice government checks from not being able to work in person anymore.
00:16:12
Speaker
um there was like actually kind of a ah boon in toy collecting in general and that kind of pop culture and i think all the companies have been waiting to roll out a bunch of stuff that just coincided so we were on the phone a lot talking about like as hasbro relaunched gi joe basically we were both so so excited about that because they it just started the retro they had restarted the retro line classified was really getting going and you know you're going to like a target with like a mask on hunting for things and put all the sanitizer on your hands.
00:16:42
Speaker
And so we were talking about that a lot. And he was like, you know, we should we should just do it. We should just do cold slither. We should just do it. Like, why why is anybody doing it? And I was like, you know, and I think some people have like done some videos, but nothing really is solid. I'm like, sure, let's do it.
00:16:58
Speaker
Whenever, give me a call. Well, he waited about like four years and he gave me a call. because he had actually with uh gerardo who was an old friend of his from working at nuclear blast um they had concocted a scheme and Gerardo had somehow convinced Hasbro that he's like, look, if you just let us do this.
00:17:21
Speaker
And I'm not sure if the toy line, if the toys came first or the record came first, I think it may have just been like, you're doing this. We were thinking of doing this. And it just kind of magic happened. And it was kismet and, you know, a relationship was born and Hasbro said,
00:17:37
Speaker
sure go do whatever you're gonna do um it's a license technically so it's like they don't have to do a lot of work for it they get the toys out we're we get to put out a record Gus calls me he says by the way you're a dreadnought now and was like what what are you talking about like no it's a done deal like we're doing this and we're gonna play a show and the record's coming out and we got the songs and you're you're good you're gonna be in the band and you're gonna be a ripper And that lasted until the first toy reveal where Ripper was a lead guitar player and I can't play guitar with a crap. So I said, I can't be Ripper.
00:18:12
Speaker
Okay, you'll be Torch. You'll be Torch. No problem. We can switch characters. No problem. So that's that's how it came about was, yeah, Gerardo has been showing at San Diego Comic-Con forever with Raining Phoenix Music.
00:18:25
Speaker
He knew some of the guys. He knows people. He knew Gus. He said, you come in you make the music, you know, the players put the band together. and here we are. That's awesome.
00:18:37
Speaker
So so what's a great story? What's been the most surprising part of of bringing like a a fictional band to life and and and really in the iconic dreadnought
Backstage Excitement with GI Joe Team
00:18:48
Speaker
torch? Like, you know, you you you get to be this character and you get to help bring this band to life. What's what's that been like?
00:18:56
Speaker
I mean, one of the funniest things was my bandmate in another band, Sean sean McGrath, um he ah he was like, he found out I was playing Torch finally, because we had to keep it a secret. This was like some NBA kind of stuff.
00:19:08
Speaker
Yeah. time it was now And he was like, wait, you're playing Torch? He's like, that was my favorite. was like, ha ha. So that was fun. Surprising, i mean... It's always anytime I'm going into any kind of tour or any kind of release, people always ask me, like, are you excited? I'm no, I'm not excited.
00:19:26
Speaker
I'm just down to business. Once it happens, I'll be excited. Like, we'll see the reality of it. So all, like, going into it, it was just like, all right, I gotta you help get costumes together. gotta get my costume together.
00:19:38
Speaker
gotta learn to sew better because that's a weird shirt that that guy wears. Like, it doesn't exist in real life. And then, you know, trying to, like, help outfit the other guys and get ready...
00:19:49
Speaker
you know, to do like Zartan makeup and all that stuff. So it's just kind of like I'm going down the checklist. It's not, but then the exciting part happens even up to the show. I don't know.
00:20:00
Speaker
We get up on stage. I start getting a little nervous and then the show happens. And then and the most surprising part is every part after that was having the entire GI Joe team that I've been watching on Pulse for years, like, well,
00:20:16
Speaker
come crazed into the backstage after we're done and just like surrounding us and cursing like sailors and being excited and being like, whoa, were you made you man our toys come to life. This is a dream. I was like, you make my toys come to life because you're actually literally making the toys. But to have that kind of like excitement go back and forth between people I'd seen like kind of creating this stuff and, you know, and then like meeting even like you know, at the show, like meeting Michael Charles Hill, the guy who like wrote the Cold Slither episode and the Cold Slither song. and I'm like, was like, I don't think you realize how many times I've watched this like TV show. and this And like, I know you're, I know all those guys. They're all like jobbers. They're just like kind of writing.
00:21:02
Speaker
They probably all wanted to write the next great American novel, but it's like to us and like, at our age, we're like, no, you did write the great American novel, and it was called Cold Slitter, and it was a sick episode.
00:21:14
Speaker
Yeah. You know, and, like, and it's kind of funny to watch those guys kind of react to that and, like, fan reaction, but to, like, have that kind of interplay where I was, like, with them, that that was, like, the most surprising part, and, and, like,
00:21:27
Speaker
The next day at Comic-Con, meeting a bunch of fans and being in character and like, just seeing, it just brought lot of joy to my heart that like, I've always enjoyed this stuff, but like I was helping now to like present it.
00:21:43
Speaker
and be that joy to someone else and be whatever, you know, in real life character. And like I said, I'm no Frank Walker, but I talked in that voice for about four hours and I lost my voice after
00:22:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's it's crazy, right? Like i we're super excited to to see this in person. Yeah, yeah I did watch, you know, I watched a couple of clips, you know, on social media from the performance and it looked fantastic.
00:22:12
Speaker
But, you know, even just listening to the the album, right? Like I I remember the, you know, especially the the main song, right? Like from from the episode. But just to kind of hear it.
00:22:24
Speaker
performed by, you know, like professional metal musicians and like have that kind of the modern recording and, you know, the just all of the the technology that has progressed since that episode came out, like just hearing it in kind of that full fidelity.
00:22:40
Speaker
was like a, you know, frankly, it was like an oh shit moment. It was like, oh, this is real. Like, this is really real. They're doing this. And, and you know, i I can flash back to ah when we first saw the box art, which is behind Dave there ah for the San Diego Comic-Con exclusive toys. When we when we were talking to to Lenny and and Tony back at at New York Toy Fair, God, like, you know, earlier the year, right? Like February, January, February.
00:23:07
Speaker
Um... ah saying to them like oh wouldn't it be something like if you guys actually put you know a band together for this and they're like uh-huh yeah yeah for sure what you have for sir And, you know, and like, you we like we gave them like funny looks and they're like, OK, next question. You know, you know, so I mean, it's just it's it's so cool as a as a fan of G.I. Joe and, you know, a fan of metal music and rock music in general. Like it's it's it's so cool to see this kind of like marriage between the two happen.
00:23:45
Speaker
it's it's it's it's It is really neat. And you know and like getting to like yeah hang out with Lenny and Tony and like and and talk about you talk about obscure G.I. Joe facts with them was like super exciting for me. Because I was kind of always like, well, I don't know. like you know They're probably just... work No, they they know this stuff. They were collectors just like me growing up. They know everything. And it's it was a lot of fun to like experience that.
00:24:11
Speaker
And yeah, I mean... I had something i was going to I totally forgot. Move on, next question. Well, all right. So you talked about um you know going you the feeling of like kind of recording and going on tour and having like that package
Performing as Cold Slither vs Other Projects
00:24:27
Speaker
together.
00:24:27
Speaker
um you know You've got a deep background in the metal scene. So how does performing as Cold Slither compare to some of the other projects that you do? I can't swear as much.
00:24:39
Speaker
there That's a big one. right I'm just going to enjoy a nice, polite grape, dreadnought grape soda. Comics code approved, right? like it Perfect.
00:24:52
Speaker
So it is a little bit different than some of my other bands. There's going a little bit more gory, risque. um You know, it's still like, and even even the bands where I'm not dressed up that much, I still always kind of feel like I'm playing a character.
00:25:07
Speaker
Yeah. like it's you're just trying to be over the top you know like i look up to bands like kiss and stuff and like and guar and bands like that and and those are the bands that i i grew up like idolizing more than you judas priest who was like they dressed up and that crazy stuff going on iron maiden that over-the-topness is what I want to see. I want to see big theatrics.
00:25:32
Speaker
So, not that Colt Slyther can afford that yet, but... Yet. Keyword is yet. Yet. Yeah, but but but we try, like with my other bands, like Exhumed and a band associate with Ghoul, we try to bring, even with small budget and on tiny little stages, we try to bring a big show and we're trying to do that. And so it's not entirely dissimilar from my other heavy metal experiences, especially I'm playing with like, you know, two guys I've known for a long time, Gus and Matt Harvey, who I've played and play with in Exhumed since the And
00:26:08
Speaker
and So we kind of have some chemistry already going. We kind of know what we're going to These are just kind of new characters that we're still understanding and fleshing out.
00:26:19
Speaker
I think there was like some rough patches where we're like, you know, like, wow, I don't really know what Torch would say in this moment. I know what this other character would say or what Ross Sewage would say, but like just kind of sorting it out. But like,
00:26:34
Speaker
it's still we're just playing rock and roll at the end of the day. That's all. it it You can call it heavy metal, but you're still just like playing rock and roll. And it's there. There is, don't want to say a formula to it, but there's patterns you can get to and, and you can kind of fall into that vibe when you've done it enough. And you was like, you know what? I'm just rocking out on stage. I love this music.
00:26:54
Speaker
I love what we're doing. And we're just going to go forward. And so also there's not entirely dissimilar that we might have some better one-liners next time. We'll see. All right. all right. And now, a word from our sponsors.
00:27:12
Speaker
This segment is brought to you by our friends at Chubsy Wubsy Toys. A traditional mom and pop toy store in Little Falls, New Jersey, Chubsy Wubsy Toys brings you the best new toys from the brands you love without the hassle of pounding the pavement searching for them at larger retail stores.
00:27:28
Speaker
Visit them in person at their brand new home at 101 Newark Pompton Turnpike Suite 1 in Little Falls, New Jersey, or online at chubzywubzy.com.
00:27:41
Speaker
That's
00:27:47
Speaker
And tell them Adventures in Collecting sent you.
00:27:53
Speaker
And now, back to the show. So, funny story, my first concert ever was Kiss. Mine too, actually. And my daughter's first concert ever was Kiss.
00:28:05
Speaker
Nice. Yeah, big big Kiss fans in the house. ah we we love We love all that kind of stuff too. like I mean, that's part of the show, right? like Yeah, I brought my mom to see Kiss on that on that first makeup reunion tour in ninety s Yep, that's when I saw them first.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yep. And i very I technically saw them on the first farewell tour. You saw the original farewell tour. That's what you say. I saw the first farewell tour. Yeah, yeah.
00:28:31
Speaker
The first time they couldn't say goodbye. Lots of people in San Diego would say, I saw the first Cold Slither one-time-only night show. Now we're going to see the second Cold Slither one-time-night-only show in New York City.
00:28:45
Speaker
That's what you got with Cold Slither. Yeah, it's perfect. It's perfect. um So I heard ah from from a little birdie shouts to a friend of the pod, B Mac Ben, ah that ah you were also involved outside of you know performing in the band, some of the stage design and and
Stage Design and Visual Creation
00:29:03
Speaker
presentation. Can you tell us a little bit about the visual elements that ah you've helped brought it bring into the show? Like, ah for instance, the Ballad of Buzzer video and and how you approach that side of things. Yeah, I mean, I love that crap.
00:29:16
Speaker
I'm a theater kid. I'm a dork. Like, that' is you know, I did like children's children's play. Like I was I was the king in in Rapunzel. I played, you know, Frog. yeah I'm a theater kid. I'm a dork. I love all that stuff. I love theater.
00:29:33
Speaker
So heavy metal is just like an extension of that. So part of what I had to do was these other guys, I've done costuming for different bands I've been in. and Like I said, there's a band I'm associated with, Ghoul, that and does a lot of monsters and costumes.
00:29:48
Speaker
I've performed with Gwar. was on tour with them for like two months and was actually part of the show. I had to put on costumes and stuff like that. And, you know, and so... The first step was making sure everybody looked as accurate as me, a G.I. Joe fan, thought was, you know, correct.
00:30:08
Speaker
Me and Gus both like, you know, we both, we're the G.I. Joe collectors. Everybody in the band is a dork, don't get me wrong. It's just like Matt Harvey's more into, you know, secret wars and superpowers. So he he defers to us with G.I. Joe.
00:30:21
Speaker
But I was like, yeah, making making sure that stuff was ready it was ready. So I was getting my costume together. I was sewing, like I said. It's fun to think of a metal head sitting it around, like, you know furiously going at a sewing machine.
00:30:35
Speaker
And like making sure everybody had the right parts for their costumes. You know, I had to make sure... And Andy, who's Buzzer, I had to make sure, I was like, we got to get you a pearl necklace, a really big pearl necklace, because that's the hat.
00:30:46
Speaker
That's very important. And, you know, and then some of the antics, some of the gimmicks, I was actually with Matt, I was like, you know, we have some of these gimmicks already in Xoom. We have these video screens that we use.
00:31:00
Speaker
that are above our our guitar cabinets and we have a chainsaw that won't actually harm anybody that can be set off in a club. So we're like buzzer. yeah had to show Andy how to start a chainsaw because he's, Andy's the most dreadnought of all of us. He's actually like a jerk from England.
00:31:19
Speaker
So like... You know, he's been he's got he's got the biggest high status. He plays drums in KMPM, which is awesome. But he is actually like a British guy. So he's the only one not faking an accent.
00:31:32
Speaker
He's for real. He's a real dreadnought. That Mohawk is real. He wears that all the time. So... He was born for the park, but he didn't know how start a chainsaw, because why would you know how to start a chainsaw coming from England?
00:31:42
Speaker
yeah So, ah generally generally speaking, I know there are there are people there in England who have to cut down trees, but it's not as common as a bunch of campers in America. Anyways... um so there was getting the costumes together to make sure everybody had the right stuff people were kind of out on their own to get that but you know i had to to source a lot of stuff myself and make sure people had the right leather vest stuff like that um the videos was a lot of fun because then i got to re-watch a bunch of gi joe cartoons of course i've seen them a bunch of times i was like i know what clips i want so i'm gonna like go to the gi joe cartoons we're gonna like match the videos so i got to like edit
00:32:19
Speaker
you know, the cartoons to the songs where i thought they would fit. i also got to do a lot of fun stuff, like go through all G.I. Joe Fox art. And I wanted to, you know, um, Hector Garrido, really wanted to pay tribute to like his work with G.I. Joe and the different artists that had like you know done all the box art that all of us, like we stared at the box art. If you collected it as a kid, we're just like, wow, look, this really fires. Of course, it didn't fire. It it said that in the fine print, but we didn't read that.
00:32:46
Speaker
But we just looked at the art and like, this is so exciting. So there was like a whole segment show like showcasing the art. And then there was stuff like the bow of the buzzer, which was like, I wasn't sure was going to fly, but I was like, okay, how action figurey can we get?
00:33:00
Speaker
And at first I was going to do it with a three and three quarter buzzer, but I was like, okay, maybe Hasbro won't like that. They're not pushing the three, you know, they don't care to have a figure from 1984. So I was like, I got to pull out classified buzzer. Plus he's more posable.
00:33:13
Speaker
um And I just put him in the most dramatic, thoughtful, pensive positions I could. He went camping with me over the summer. Like I took him out, yeah, I took him to Kid Lake up near Donner Pass in California. And like i had him posing next to the lake so sad and I was like, okay, I'm gonna put this together. We're gonna see what everybody thinks of it. And people just could not stop laughing.
00:33:39
Speaker
And in a good way, in a good way. It was like fun. I was like, so I was like, okay, cool. This video in there. Cause I, I love posing my action figures in like ah goofiest poses.
00:33:51
Speaker
making fun adventures for them that are like unexpected and you know weird stuff so that was like a real pleasure for me to be able to do that and it was noticed by ah but it was noticed by the G.I. Joe team they're like wow they're actually playing with our toys so was like yes did you we we are fans
00:34:11
Speaker
that that is what we are and that is that is why we're doing this like You know, so I don't think you like would like jump into a project like this unless you really loved it or we just were like into punishment because to do it right, you've got to have love for it and put in a lot of that extra that extra work that's like, you know, that that unpaid work, that that that work that just comes from the heart.
00:34:36
Speaker
yeah Yeah, absolutely. So this is since this is the second time around performing as Cold Slither, um but like we said, different coast this time for New York Comic Con.
Reflections on San Diego Performance
00:34:47
Speaker
What did you learn from the first show in San Diego that you're bringing into this one? That we need to practice our lines a lot better. Yeah. No, I mean, it was great. and A lot of it was confusion because we weren't sure where to be or what we should do. I know what I do normally as a band, I hang around at the bar.
00:35:06
Speaker
i you know, I talk to some people before the show. i go backstage, warm up a little bit and go play. but This is like totally different experience where it's like fully immersive, fully in character.
00:35:17
Speaker
i didn't know if I should be at the show. We snuck into the backstage to like, you know, and Break My Break has a backstage is about this big it's about this you fit like three of these guys backstage so we're like all huddled back and' like what do we do what do we do okay uh we know what time we're supposed to start and then like we' we're just like sitting there like after the show we're like i think that went well um it's it's really hard to tell because it was that different kind of crowd than like you know a death metal band but like So we just sat backstage and then like we're like, well, should we go out now? We talked to some people backstage and you know we had hung out with Jem, Britta Phillips, and had our taken a bunch of photos backstage. We walked out and like everyone's gone. like, was the show good?
00:36:02
Speaker
not sure if the show was good. Everyone's gone now. like Maybe we just hung out too long, but then the next day I saw videos and the fan response like at the table as we were like signing magazines and toys.
00:36:15
Speaker
like I was like, okay, the show went very, very well. Like, it's just a very weird experience. So I think just this time, it's going to be just, we're kind of We've played together.
00:36:26
Speaker
you know, like I said, I've played together with some of these guys, but we've played together as a unit before. We're jumping into it, knowing exactly what's coming. I think it's just going to feel more like a well-oiled machine and natural.
00:36:38
Speaker
Hopefully everybody in San Diego thought it looked natural too, and we faked it until we made it, you know, like, I don't know, but I'm feeling much more like confident about it. that we got to where we wanted to be.
00:36:52
Speaker
Say like 95% of where we wanted to be is where we got in San Diego. And i'm i'm hoping for 100% in new York. That's awesome. set on Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the fan response that we've seen, know, just from from our our couches and computer chairs here over in New Jersey has been nothing but just kind of like gangbusters in terms of how much people enjoyed themselves, how much they were talking about it so much so that, you know, I, you know, personally, I can say I was super jealous at the end of Diego Comic-Con. Yeah, I was kind like, I hope they do that here.
00:37:26
Speaker
I was hoping at San Diego Comic-Con that we were going to do in New York Comic-Con and I kept my fingers crossed and here we are. Yeah, so i'm i'm I'm super excited. So much so that, i you know do you think, do you see Cold Slither continuing past these two kind of
Future Performances and New Music Hopes
00:37:42
Speaker
appearances? Maybe plans for more shows or or even ah a follow-up album with some some more original tunes from ah from Cold Slither?
00:37:51
Speaker
I
00:37:53
Speaker
home so um A lot of that is going to be based on fan response. It's... do Do people want it? Is this a one-off because the toys came out this year? Or, you know, like I'm hoping at least we could play some more cons because I would love an excuse to go to like Dragon Con, which I've never been to.
00:38:14
Speaker
I've never been to like a Joe Con in Atlanta. Like we're always wanting to go to, it's never worked out financially for myself. I want, it that's my main goal is like, I want this band to play a bunch of comic book conventions and like, and do that. And it would be a lot of fun.
00:38:28
Speaker
And, you know, I have, like I said, oh, that was, I remember what I was going say earlier. Like the excitement I saw, one of the first live shows I saw as lockdown ended was, you know, Cybertronic Spree.
00:38:41
Speaker
Yes. okay Yes. I love them. I love them. I've been a big fan ever since I first saw them on the internet. And I never thought I'd see them because they're they were just playing cons.
00:38:53
Speaker
They were just playing conventions and doing all these conventions, especially, on you know, they they're based out of Cybertron, but, you know, they they have a home base in Toronto as well. And um so they were playing just conventions on the East Coast and i and then they they actually went on tour and I got to go see them in, that was 2021, believe.
00:39:11
Speaker
twenty one i believe um and they were one of the first live shows I got to go see again as things like started to ease up. And I was so excited and thrilled, and that was kind of the what I was hoping I brought with Cold Slither. like And, you know, I became, eventually I harassed those guys enough to become friends with them.
00:39:32
Speaker
And it was just, like, so exciting. I was like, guess what? yeah Actually, they said, like, if you're not part of this G.I. Joe. They saw the notice there. You're not part of this G.I. Joe band. It's BS. And i was like,
00:39:43
Speaker
I'm not supposed to say anything. And they're like, what? So there, I was like, all right, they guessed. But like, they built a following off doing conventions.
00:39:54
Speaker
I would love to do that. And then who knows, go out with Max Sabanis. Like they go out with, you know, some other, some some gimmicky fun bands that are bringing fun into heavy metal and do that. I would love to do it.
00:40:08
Speaker
Certainly I know, know zartan is working on some more tunes um there's more than just there's more than just the ones on the record i've i've heard some really good tunes coming out there's there are ideas and plans and if people want to hear it you know make sure especially that hasbro here is that you want to hear more of it so i just saw i just saw them in chicago that was they're fantastic yeah they're fantastic I was going to say, you know, that the the comic universe, you got the Energon universe with the the Transformers and Joe worlds blending together. So that's got it that's got a ah tour written all over it. just i mean...
00:40:48
Speaker
You know, it's not a lot's up to me. and I'm kind of a little, you know, I'm just a dreadnought. I'm not an a leader. I'm not the leader Cobra. I'm a mercenary. I'll go where I get a giant ruby that is like the size of my head.
00:41:00
Speaker
So, but I would love to see stuff like that happen. I would love to see those kinds of things happen and have it continue because it's a lot of fun to do. And I love working with the people that we're working with, the band, the people I've known for years as friends before we were ever doing this, so.
00:41:17
Speaker
So this one kind of like, um I'll say this is a little bit of a music alteration to something that we would ask normally.
Imagining Inhumanoids and He-Man as Metal Bands
00:41:25
Speaker
But um if you could pick any other toy line from the 80s or 90s, but turn it into a metal band, what toy line would it be and why?
00:41:34
Speaker
I have two answers for this. Inhumanoids would be a sick music musical project. Inhumanoids is such a weird, rich, amazing...
00:41:45
Speaker
like crazy hp lovecraftian like you could have like a really symphonic dark metal band doing so many humanoid songs ah but you know about uh about uh metlar and decompose in fact there's actually a band a band if you like into some thrash metal band and gorge wrote a song about decompose and it's about one of the best thrash metal songs i've ever heard in my life so it's band and gorge check it out decompose that song um The other one it's obvious and I've been was talking about with friends for years and then I started.
00:42:20
Speaker
kind of middling around with the project was I thought he man or would be a great project and If you look up He-Man-O-War on YouTube, you might find a couple videos that I may have done kind of karaoke style, but singing about, you know, man-y faces and man-at-arms and trap jaw.
00:42:45
Speaker
um I didn't write any tunes, but karaoke is a fun vehicle to work with, so, and put some cartoons together. But if anyone comes, puts out He-Man-O-War, it's already copyrighted trademarked me if I ever get around to it, so.
00:42:59
Speaker
See, and I was hoping you were going to say rock lords, just because it's a little off the nose. but Rock and roll lords? Like, i mean, what are you talking about? They turn into rocks. Like, I am so sorry.
00:43:10
Speaker
I was just watching the trailer for Challenge of the Gobots with the rock lords movie, and I was just like, what were they thinking? They turned into rocks.
00:43:20
Speaker
Yeah. I always just think it's that scene in big where Tom Hanks is like, I don't get it. The robot turns into a building. What fun is that? It's just. Yeah. Yeah. they They just turned into rocks.
00:43:33
Speaker
I always just think Battle Beast is a good answer for any question. Battle Beasts are great. that would That would be a cool one. i don't know enough of the lore around Battle Beasts. I know originally it was connected to Transformers, but I never watched like the Headmasters cartoon.
00:43:47
Speaker
I keep meaning around to it, but I have to find a good good translation of it or whatever. But they're pretty cool. i don't know. Inhumanoids is the one. Yeah. i think' It's just like...
00:43:59
Speaker
And then I'll say, oh another good, a couple good, Mask is a great theme song, but i don't think it would be a good band, but Spiral Zone. feel Spiral Zone.
00:44:11
Speaker
Spiral Zone, and it has a rock and heavy metal theme song. And it's ah it's like it's basically like these different zones. They're kind of they're zombies, not zombies, kind of like- oh Yes, I remember this now.
00:44:26
Speaker
And it it's it's very it would be very post it's a very depressing cartoon, honestly, because the world is in shatters. But it's really cool. And it has a really like awesome theme song.
00:44:41
Speaker
So yeah, Spiral Zone would be a good one. Yeah, shouts to ah to friend. Yes, I remember this. Dan Larson, who actually did an amazing video on this on a Secret Galaxy. So yeah spiral yeah, yeah. If you if you've never watched this video on Secret Galaxy, highly, highly recommend it. Also, all of the stuff on Secret Galaxy.
00:45:03
Speaker
Dan is definitely worth watching. Dan is the best. um OK, so we have a little tradition on this show.
Favorite and Strangest Collection Pieces
00:45:11
Speaker
where we have a final question that we ask all of our guests.
00:45:14
Speaker
ah Dave, would you like to fulfill your role as this podcast, James Lipton and ask Ross our final question? Why? Yes, I would.
00:45:26
Speaker
The final question that we ask all of our guests, what is your favorite and or strangest piece in your collection? It can be one of each or it can be both.
00:45:38
Speaker
I'm prepared for this. This is my GI Joe wall, but prepared for this. um One of my favorite pieces is is this guy. It's my LJN Roddy Piper that I've had since I was a kid.
00:45:53
Speaker
um Roddy Piper is one of my heroes, especially for all of his smack talk. and And, you know, and I watched that. I remember watching on pay-per-view to see. yeah i had to make sure that he beat up adorable Adrian Adonis so that he could get the movie contract.
00:46:10
Speaker
And at that point, was a little bit young, but I was so excited. I was like, Roddy Piper's going be in movie. It's going to a movie. I can't wait to see this. And then it was such a formative movie. They Live was the movie that was after that.
00:46:23
Speaker
And that's when I became a fan of John Carpenter and really started to understand more about horror and get into that. so But Roddy Piper was also...
00:46:35
Speaker
RIP seemed like such a cool person. Also, i mean, he's so tough, he beat cancer. a got shot and got through that. and And he still talked the best smack of any wrestler ever.
00:46:49
Speaker
And so I had this for a long time. and And if you watch WCW Superbrawl 97, you can see me waving this around second row for like about 10 seconds when they show me on the camera.
00:47:05
Speaker
So I took this with me. wore a kilt and I was so excited to be second row. And then ah after the show ended, I went and played a show with Exhumed wearing that same kilt and they were not happy about it.
00:47:17
Speaker
but They didn't understand the love I have for Roddy Piper and what an amazing person this was. So that's one of my favorites. One of my strangest, it's not like super duper rare, but but My inner alien.
00:47:36
Speaker
Nice. So the strangest thing about this is that this was marketed to children. That is the strangest thing. um This is not the one I had as a kid. The one I had as a kid, though, I still have photos of it.
00:47:48
Speaker
I would dress it in my Darth Vader pajamas and other kids would sleep with teddy bears. i slept with the alien. Perfect. So I don't know. I was at a toy store. I pointed. i said, I want that.
00:48:01
Speaker
And my parents were cool. They got it for me. I grew up with this thing. He used to, you know, he used to munch on Luke Skywalker and stuff. um My original, I played with it hard. And eventually this is kind of a bad joint right here. And it broke. And my parents threw it away. And I talked about it for 20 years until one Christmas.
00:48:22
Speaker
i think it was 2002. I woke up and they had bought me another vintage alien doll because they were sick of hearing me talk about it. And they loved me. So this is the weirdest toy because it is profane as all get out and weird and bizarre.
00:48:41
Speaker
um But it also holds a special place in my heart because it reminds me that my parents love me very much and that let me be a weird kid and let me be a weird adult.
00:48:52
Speaker
That's amazing. What a story. What a story. What an answer. um And yes, also one of the strangest marketing decisions ever made by Kenner. um Here's an R-rated movie with people getting their brains splattered. Let's make a toy.
00:49:07
Speaker
Yeah, ye yep, yep. But, like, imagine being, don't know, seven, eight years old and seeing the chestburster scene, like like like that. I'm not sure any seven or eight-year-olds were allowed to see that. That's like another one, like Alien. I have no memory of the first time I saw it. I just eventually saw it.
00:49:26
Speaker
But I was already so familiar with the toy and knowing the character became i also a lifelong fan of like H.R. Giger and like i've been to the museum and in Greer, Switzerland. And just like it started me. Very cool.
00:49:41
Speaker
Yes. Hanging out with that thing as like a four year old really set me on a strange path in my life. But a very amazing fun path. Well, it's like when, you know, I'm playing like the Predator NES game as like a seven year old.
00:49:56
Speaker
Yeah, right? Yeah, that was, that was yeah, the Predator, when the Predator Aliens game, that one was so good. I love side-scrollers like that. That was a lot of fun. yeah theyre like are they Yeah, they did make Kenner Predator toys for the kids in the 90s. Yeah, I had all the i had the Kenner 90s alien toys, like the, the like, gorilla alien. Yeah.
00:50:18
Speaker
yeah so I still have a few of those, um and God bless Kenner for trying to corrupt young minds. Yep. Mm-hmm. They did a great job. They did a great job. um So with that, that brings us to the end of our end of our chat here, end of our interview. But before we let everyone go um one last time, let's talk about this show.
00:50:36
Speaker
So I cold Slither Gramercy Theater, October 11th doors at 8 p.m. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster. And and if if you aren't excited already, ah the first hundred folks through the door Get an iCobra New York shirt.
00:50:56
Speaker
I'm so excited about that. i It was like in the chat. I put like iSnakeEmojiNewYork and i was like, wait, can we please make this? Can we please make this shirt? And and lo and behold, it got me. I'm so excited about that shirt. I hope I'm one of the first hundred who makes it.
00:51:13
Speaker
You know, everybody everybody always wants to get there early for merch. here's Here's the chance. Yep, yep. And it's free merch. Yeah. yeah yeah I mean, you can't think of a better deal than that. Exactly. In this economy, a free shirt.
00:51:27
Speaker
Come on. And and and help us. We have to save New York from Andrew Cuomo. We have to save it from Eric Abbott to save Zora and Donnie. We have to save Cobra or save New York for Cobra.
00:51:39
Speaker
So be a part of the cause. Yep. Cobra commander. that's he look i mean, look, he's he wants you. He wants... I want you.
00:51:50
Speaker
Yes, right he's he's he's going to make the subways run on time and fix everything. He's going to take care of the rat problem because Croc Master is going to come in and get the crocodiles to eat all the rats.
00:52:05
Speaker
And then we'll have a crocodile problem, but we'll deal with that later. Yeah. Yeah. like He's got, he's got an operative for every issue for every, every single issue.
00:52:16
Speaker
ah Um, well, Ross, thank you again, man, for, for joining us. This has been awesome. We're super excited to, uh, to see you in person and, uh, experience cold slither.
00:52:29
Speaker
Uh, and, uh, yeah. Uh, and, and also just, uh, remind our, our listeners, our followers, where can they, where can they keep up to date with you and everything that's going on with you on the internet? Oh, um on most platforms, I am sewage666.
00:52:46
Speaker
Like on the Twitters, the blue skies, on the Facebooks, whatever. um If you want to just, if you don't, if you're sick of my face and you want to see my toys, you can follow me on Twitter or Instagram at Doc Sewage, D-O-K Sewage. That's where I put all my toy photos. Keep that nice and separate.
00:53:07
Speaker
little serotonin boosts and um dr sewage with a k that's my website where i occasionally still blog about show experiences and fixing electronics and crap like that awesome right on well dave with that i think uh it's time to send us home yeah so uh we'll see everybody on the 11th see y'all there october
00:53:35
Speaker
Thank you, dear listener, for hanging out with us today. Subscribe, rate, and review us wherever you listen, and then tell your friends to do it. Thanks also to Joe Azari, the golden voice behind our intro. Our music is Game Boy Horror by the Zombie Dandies. Find more about them both in our show notes.
00:53:51
Speaker
Follow us on social media at AIC underscore podcast on Instagram and Twitter. Stop by and say hi. Show us your toy hauls and share your toy stories. Maybe we'll talk about it in a future episode.
00:54:06
Speaker
Don't try this at home. Voidware prohibited. in Some assembly required. Each sold separately. Not a flying toy. Consult a physician if your toy run exceeds more than four hours.
00:54:15
Speaker
This has been a non-productive media presentation. Executive producer, Frank Hablaui. This program and many others like it on the Non-Productive Network is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License. Please share it, but ask before trying to change it or sell it. For more information, visit non-productive.com.
00:54:37
Speaker
i