Flotsam and Jetsam has spent the better part of their career as the underdog of the thrash metal scene. Just as the band was beginning to take off, bassist Jason Newsted left the band in 1986 to join Metallica and the band has gone through a series of lineup changes ever since then. In 2015, new guitarist Steve Conley and drummer Jason Bittner joined vocalist Eric “A.K. Knutson” and guitarist Mike Gilbert. Along with the return of bassist Michael Spencer, this marks a start of a new Flotsam and Jetsam era with one of the strongest lineups yet. As the band celebrates its 35th anniversary and 30th anniversary of their debut album “Doomsday for the Deceiver,” they have released an all new self-titled album. The new record is old school thrash with a real, modern edge, a perfect statement for where the band is today. BackstageAxxess.com had the chance to chat with drummer Jason Bittner to discuss the making of the new record, the possibility of an upcoming tour, and what the future holds for Flotsam and Jetsam. Please join us to find out all the details.
KE: Hi Jason! Welcome to BackstageAxxess.com and thank you for taking the time to talk with us today.
JB: Sure!
KE: Before we get into the new album, let’s talk about the lineup for a moment. You’re the drummer now, you’ve got Steve Conley on guitar and of course the return of Michael Spencer. How is the lineup working for the band as a whole and do you forsee this being a long term situation?
JB: Yes to the second question. It’s been working great. I pretty much kind of feel that for the most part once I came into the fold after Kelly left and asked me to come in and fill his shoes, pretty much right after that happened and we started writing and rehearsing, everything just started gelling. Now, it’s kind of been, I’ve feel we’ve kind of proven that with the record. We’re pretty much a well-oiled machine and that’s what we tried to convey on the record. As far as I’m concerned, as long as we can keep playing and touring, I would think this one’s here to last a little while. (Laughter)
KE: I hope so because the new record is an absolute beast of an album. It’s like new, old school Flotsam and Jetsam. What type of sound did you have in mind going in?
JB: Well, first of all, I was a fan of the band first and foremost before I ever played in the band, you know for years. You know all of us have different, when you start bringing different people into a band, you have different songwriters and different songwriting characteristics that when you put them in a collaborative room together can make magic happen here and there. So I think the idea was to keep the classic Flotsam sound absolutely. But when I came along, I kind of said look guys you really need to make a balls heavy record like back in the day. I said I really think at this point if there’s a chance of this band continuing a career, it’s got to go that way. And I think everybody agreed that was the way we were going to go. So that’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to just make a good, heavy thrash Flotsam album that has all the good characteristics of a Flotsam record and of the Flotsam sound but with a little more modern day twist to it. You have guys like Steve who was playing five years ago with Dave Ellefson and you know me with a 15 year history with Shadows Fall has been kind of in more, modern metal bands as of late. So I think it’s just more of a mixture of everybody’s style getting thrown in and just keeping it kind of like Flotsam and Jetsam 2.0.
KE: That’s a great way to describe it. The record has some tracks that were originally written in the 80’s and kind of revamped for this album. Can you tell us how those tracks came to be included?
JB: Those are two of Michael Spencer’s ideas way back in the day. “Legion of the Damned” came out of some ideas that he had years ago and we kind of took the ideas, revamped them, added some parts, changed the tempo and made that song. “Forbidden Territories” I think almost made it onto “No Place for Disgrace” but wow that’s odd. This is the second time I’ve been doing an interview and Kelly’s (editor’s note:Kelly David-Smith, former Flotsam and Jetsam drummer) been calling me at the same time. (Laughter) Maybe he’s trying to chime in.
KE: (Laughter) He might be! Maybe he wants to voice his opinion on the new record?
JB:(Laughter) Exactly! Anyway, so “Forbidden Territories” would have made ‘No Place” I believe if Michael Spencer had stayed around the first time and didn’t leave before Troy Gregory came in. I think that song would have made the cut back then. Due to him not being in the band anymore, that didn’t happen. It got thrown into the pile of songs to choose from for the record and it made it this time.
KE: What about the first single “Iron Maiden?” This may be more of a questions for Eric but did that start out as being a Bruce Dickinson, Iron Maiden tribute? How did that song come about?
JB: The impetus for that was when we started jamming the song in demo form as a band. Someone had mentioned some kind of Maiden, well we already knew the demo was Maidenish you know. We just kind of made comments like Oh, it’s Maiden on steroids and it just became why don’t we tailor this song to be a kind of Maiden tribute song because they are like the greatest metal band that ever lived. So I think that that had a little bit to do with Eric’s choice of singing style let’s say because you could tell it’s him but it’s more tailored I think to sound a little reminiscent of Mr. Dickinson.
KE: You also have a video out for “Iron Maiden.” I liked the old time drawings with the lyrics video. Who comes up with the ideas for the videos?
JB: Well, it’s a lyric video. It’s not a traditional music video. What they are is usually just artwork things where the band isn’t in the video playing or anything and they have all the lyrics hence the term lyric video. It was the first choice to do that song first because we had the idea. Andy Pilkington did the video for us. He actually just finished our second one which will be releasing I think maybe next week. We’re actually going to shoot the first real music video this weekend in Phoenix. That will be for “Life’s a Mess.” So, getting back to the lyric video, I think once Andy read the lyrics and everything else and knew the whole idea of the Maiden torture device, etc. I think that’s where he got the idea to start layering those visual aspects together.
KE: Chris Collier was on board to produce this record. What did he do specifically to give this record that modern feel?
JB: He just mixed it like you should mix a record in this day and age you know. There were some people who came to the table and some big names, some bigger names, and some well known names who sent us test mixes and we’re like Dude it’s not 1987, take the reverb off the snare or we can’t hear this, the guitar’s too muddy. It was just one of those things where we got a test mix from Chris, once we got a test mix back from Chris, everybody really liked what they heard. I’m really picky about the drums obviously and it was one of those things where I didn’t even have to say anything to him about what I wanted it to sound like. It was almost spot on from the beginning. So I thought this guy’s got it right, right out of the gate and everybody else started saying the same thing from their perspective sounds and everything else so he became the benchmark for other producers. So when it came down to other producers, he was the benchmark. When we started getting mixes from other producers, we had some that were good but it was like no, it hasn’t beaten Chris’s yet. So finally we were just like, he’s the dude and that’s how that decision came about. We first started working with him as a combination of Jeff our manager who knew of him and I had mentioned it to the band because I’m really good friends with the guys in Prong and Tommy and Art were telling me what a really good job he did on their new record “No Absolutes.” They just kept telling me how good of a job he did and I was like yeah I think our manager mentioned his name so they were like get him to do your record. He’ll do a great job and he’s not really expensive either. That was another thing to. He was super affordable and hands down he did an excellent job.
KE: This record is also the first with your new label AFM. What has the experience been like with AFM so far?
JB: Absolutely great so far. There hasn’t been any problems, any snafus, any normal regular bullshit that usually happens has not happened. So knock on wood, it’s been awesome. They came to the table with a really good deal. We had some really good deals from some other labels as well including a long time friend but in the end they offered us what we thought was going to be the best position for us as a 30 year band still trying to you know regroup and regain some of the fan base a little bit.
KE: What about tour plans for this record?
JB: Yeah, we had a potential thing that was supposed to happen in May but that unfortunately fell apart due to the other band that we were supposed to be going on the road with. They were getting a bigger tour and it’s understandable but unfortunately it put us in a spot where we have to scramble to get something together for hopefully July. We really need to be on tour this summer. That’s the way I feel but it’s really hard. As I said, we’re trying to do a run from July to August because we leave for Europe the first week of August to do festivals. The longest we can play to is August 7th because we head off to Europe a week or so for some festivals and then we come home for a couple weeks and then we go back for a month long tour from September to October and then November it looks like there’s a potential for South America. So if this doesn’t come through for July and August, the earliest we could be in the States unfortunately would be the middle of November.
KE: This is an important year for Flotsam and Jetsam with the new lineup and the new record. But it’s also the 35th anniverary of the band and the 30th anniversary of the debut album “Doomsday for the Deceiver.” Now, you haven’t been in the band that long, but you’ve been in the industry. How has the metal scene changed musically over those years and has the industry changed the way you approach the music?
JB: I could respond to that question for about an hour but it’s changed dramatically. The first time that I met the guys in Flotsam, my future band mates, it was September of 1988, it was right before I headed off to Berklee. They played in my area for a Sunday or Saturday matinee show. At that time, the band was traveling in two vans. One van for the band and one van for the crew and the gear. Here we are in 2016 and we’re still in a van and a trailer. When money runs out and industry things change, everything is affected. Back that far maybe 90’s to make a record and go on tour for a few months, maybe if you’re lucky you get a European tour and you sell some records to get some royalties so you didn’t have to tour, tour, tour. It was more affordable and bands could be on the road and have multiple shows in different cities each week because people had more money and could afford it. Things were cheaper. Nowadays, that’s not the case. People don’t have the disposable income that they used to have and shows are so expensive nowadays that tours are few and far between. You see the bigger bands that’s it. That’s why you see Flotsam looking for a headline tour and can’t get one because we can’t get enough heads to fill a room where a promoter is going to feel comfortable enough to book the show or whatever it is. It’s tough, you know. Technology has changed things. Some of it good, some of it bad. From my standpoint, there always needs to be an avenue for live music. Live music hopefully is never gonna go away. It shouldn’t. I don’t care what camera angle you’re watching on your You Tube video of the concert you wanted to go to, it’s never going to replicate actually being there. You can sit at home in front of your wide screen tv and watch a front row camera but it’s not going to replicate actually being there and seeing it happen and hearing it.
KE: I agree, I hope it never goes away. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. I hope that everybody checks out the new record and buys a copy of it because it really is a killer thrash album. Please keep us posted about the tour.
JB: Thank you so much and we definitely will!
We would like to thank Dustin Hardman from AFM Records for setting up the interview with Jason. For more information on Flotsam and Jetsam, please go to: flotsam-and-jetsam.
