culprit

During my roadtrip with Mr. Jon Cyriis and the guys from Holland, Brasil and the U.S.A, (my friends) who actually were part of the American Speed Metal band Agent Steel in the spring of 2019. I have met the Culprit guys at the hotel where we also stayed with the band Agent Steel, after our gig at the German Keep It True Festival. I was their tour manager at this date. No more Agent Steel shows followed and I guess there will be no more future gigs coming up either. Nevertheless, at the hotel I met the guys of Culprit and spoke to them. I contacted them later on Facebook and bass player ‘Scott Earl’ was so friendly to answer my boring questions, haha…

-First of all, welcome to my dirty paper! How did you guys meet up in the beginning, around the year ’81?

I met the drummer Bud Burrill in high School and I was dating the guitar player's sister. We started a band called Orpheus with a different singer. We did a gig with a band called Amethyst, that band had Singer Jeff and guitarist Kjartan in it.. After that show we decided to join forces and create CULPRIT.

-Was Culprit your 1st band? And was it your only band?

No, lol, but it was my first serious band. I then joined a band called TKO, then I formed a band called The Bang Gang that both did records. I also played with my buddy Adam Bomb off and on over the past few years.

-What was your age back then, which bands influenced you at the time and how was it to be a headbanger in the Seattle area back in the glorious eighties?

I was 17 when CULPRIT first started. It was a great time in the 80’s to be part of this new movement of Heavy Metal music. I was influenced by many bands but I would say the most influential at that time were obviously RUSH. Also Rainbow, Sabbath with DIO, Judas Priest and Scorpions

-What was, or still is, your opinion about the big size of Grunge bands that popped up in your Town at the end of the eighties and early nineties…

Well its kind of Ironic that my town killed my career lol. I moved to L.A. in 1986 and then Seattle exploded about 5 years later. I think those bands are really good especially Sound Garden, and I love the first Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. I thought those bands were more in line with my roots than what they were doing in L.A. at the time.

-How was, and still is, the feedback on your releases and live shows? Do you have some touring stories for us? How was it to play at the German ‘Keep It True Festival’ in 2019 and so on?

Well, the people that have actually heard Guilty as Charged Live!!! All seem to dig it. I wanted to put that out for years and I thought it would be cool for people to hear an updated version of songs that were done in 1983. Also because the line-up was different. All the original guys in the band were asked to take part in it but it just didn’t work out. I put these new guys together and Patrick Abbate is my best bud for a long time so it was fun to do it.

We had to replace the drummer weeks before the KIT so it was really a nightmare for me lol. I think the response was really good. We only did 3 shows last year so we will get better for sure.

-Recently you released a live album by your own, Guilty As Charged Live! How is the feedback on this album?

I’m really proud of the record but without label support not many people would have really heard it yet. It was only available at our live shows up until a few weeks ago. Now it’s streaming and you can download it along with getting physical copies. We just signed a distribution deal with Hellion Records in South America. So that will be cool, Culprit has never been down there. If anybody wants to check it out go to www.culpritonline.com for all the info.

-Are there any plans for a complete new ‘Culprit’ album? Please tell us about it!

We are almost finished writing the record. It’s very late 70’s/early 80’s classic Metal. Staying true to what Culprit was all about. The plan is to record in the spring and hopefully someone will want to put it out and we can do a cool video. We have been working with producer/guitarist Kelly Gray from Seattle.

-Your personal album top three please!

That’s impossible but the first 3 that come to mind are:

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

Genesis Selling - England by the Pound

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell  

-Last words and future plans please!

If you’re into old school classic Metal please check out our new Live record and I’m going to go watch American football, go RAIDERS!!!

-Patchman Marco-