Former Fates Warning member Steve Zimmerman & Metal Fortress Radio’s Tommy Blardo joined forces in Enemy Remains. Fueled by vocalist Frank Morin, bassist Jeff Curtis and guitarist Scott Kadish, they are a Global Music Award winning heavy metal group that was featured in the Rock Band for Xbox for their song “Live for Today.” Their latest “No Faith In Humanity” was just released, so be sure to check it out.
Author Marisa Williams: You changed the lineup of the band in 2014. How do you think that is working out so far, and is this seemingly the magic combination of musicians?
Enemy Remains: We’re very pumped for the new line up; everyone seems to have the same goals, which was hard to find in past line-ups.
Marisa: How did you get started in music? Did you come from a musical family? What were your biggest musical influences?
Enemy Remains: We all started young, seems most of us have family members that either influenced musically in one way or another.
Marisa: What instruments do you play, and how old were you when you learned to play them?
Enemy Remains:
Steve Zimmerman: I play DW drums and have played drums since middle school while I was 15. My father was a drummer; I used to fiddle on his kit playing beats.
Marisa: What was your first concert that you attended, and how did that compare to the first concert that you played?
Enemy Remains: Tommy "Beast": The first show I attended was Iron Maiden and Judas Priest at Hartford Civic Center. I can say that nothing in the music scene can even compare to Iron Maiden; I was just playing out to our friends in the scene.
Marisa: What was the first album you purchased?
Enemy Remains: Tommy “Beast”: Van Halen.
Steve: Black Sabbath.
Marisa: How do you go about writing music? What comes first for you: drums, guitars, vocals or something else? Has the process of writing changed for you over the years at all?
Enemy Remains: Steve: Before it was more like me and Tom would sit down, and he would have a guitar idea, and I would put drums to it, and then we’d slowly elaborate and mold the song to what we want. We did do that with "No Faith in Humanity," the song, but the rest of the songs on the album, we started to incorporate some of the new members, including the singer. We took everybody’s opinion, and we worked with everybody. The outcome is what you hear. I think it’s a nice blend. I am 100% involved in the writing process with each album since.
Marisa: How did you decide on working with Jeffery Wedd (Trivium, Korn) and Maor Applebaum (Faith No More, Sepultura, Halford) for pre-production, Nick Bellmore (Toxic Holocaust, Jasta, Kingdom of Sorrow) for engineering and mixing, and Chris Zeus Harris (Rob Zombie, Queensryche, Hatebreed) for mastering at Dexters Lab Recording for the new album?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: We wanted to really make a statement with this production, seeing the first Album we were not happy at all how it came out, so were brought in the “Horses,” as they call it in the game, and we are beyond happy with it.
Marisa: Can you pick a track or two from the new album and share a story of either the inspiration behind it, or perhaps something that may have changed during the recording process?
Enemy Remains: Tommy “Beast”: Empty Inside was the second track that was written for the Album; that’s the song we really wanted to experiment with productions sounds, and that song was very personal to us on how it relates to everyone in the band on different levels personally.
Marisa: Besides Steve leaving in 2013, what is the difference between Divided Silence and Enemy Remains musically in your opinion, and will there be a revival of Divided Silence in the future?
Enemy Remains: Wow, great question. Divided Silence is really Enemy, shhh... It's the Acoustic side of Enemy with Tommy and Frank.
Marisa: What is your favorite musical technique?
Enemy Remains: Tommy “Beast”: Really, don't have one; I write to what I like to hear myself.
Marisa: What's the coolest musical technique in your latest project, or what is something people might not expect?
Enemy Remains: Tommy “Beast”: We brought a lot of the more currents sound that everyone is using today to our music, production tricks I would say.
Marisa: What is the scariest thing about being on the road?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: Nothing, I would never come home if it was up to me, love seeing the fans.
Marisa: Best or worst tour moment?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: I think the only thing that sucked was on the Fate's tour. We lost reverse and air conditioning going through the desert. Oh my god, was it hot!!
Marisa: What's your favorite way to travel and why?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: Either Bus or Fly, just very relaxing to me.
Marisa: What's your favorite place to travel to, and is there anywhere you have not been to that you would like to go to?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: Europe is lots of Fun. I'd like to go to Japan; actually, I have family there.
Marisa: What's your biggest musical fantasy?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: To see Enemy Remains get as big, if not bigger, than when I was with Fates.
Marisa: I have three personality questions that I ask everyone. They might sound like hogwash, but I promise, there is a psychological basis to the answers ;-) First, if you were an unicorn, and you could be any color but white, what color would you be and would you have any special powers?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: Purple, and I could see in the dark.
Tommy “ Beast”: Black, and I would be able to see into the future.
Marisa: If you were yogurt, what flavor would you be (feel free to be creative, as this does not have to be a traditional flavor) and how would you be served?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: “Black Cherry,” I would be served Free and Frozen.
Tommy “Beast”: Pineapple. I would be served Prickly and Hard.
Marisa: Describe yourself as either a dog, a cat or a cartoon.
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: Dog.
Tommy “ Beast”: Cat.
Marisa: Do you collect anything?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: Yes, many things lol.
Tommy “Beast”: I do not.
Marisa: What's your biggest guilty pleasure?
Enemy Remains: Tommy “ Beast”: love the New Jersey Housewives show.
Steve Z: Enemy Remains.
Marisa: Do you have any hidden talents or special skills?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: I'm an excellent dancer.
Tommy “Beast”: I was a huge sports player back in the day - Football, baseball - and I was pretty good.
Marisa: What's the most important thing to remember?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: Take care of your Pets.
Tommy “ Beast”: Karma is a F***** Bitch.
Marisa: What was your most influential moment?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: Hearing some of my favorite bands on the Radio, and said, “I wanna be that band on the radio.”
Tommy “Beast”: Seeing Fates Warning for the first time play in the same practice room as my band !! And touring with Fates Warning as a tech, said, “this is the only thing I ever wanna do in my life.”
Marisa: If you were not doing music, what would you be doing?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: Nothing.
Tommy “ Beast”: Owning and running a Huge Company.
Marisa: What are three things you must have with you when you are on the road, and when do you plan to embark on the next national tour?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: A fan, money and my band mates. Plan to tour 2017 spring summer.
Marisa: Any advice for musicians starting out?
Enemy Remains: Steve Z: Always respect the bands; they paved the way for you to be standing on that stage.
Marisa: Where can people find your music? Is Enemyremains.com a blog that is associated with the band at all, as some websites link it to you?
Enemy Remains:
Marisa: Closing thoughts and additional comments?
Enemy Remains: Probably one of the best interviews thus far! Thank you to Marisa, who really did her homework on the band.
The author of more than 100 books, Marisa Williams earned her Master's in Writing from the Johns Hopkins University; for more on Marisa, visit www.lulu.com/spotlight/thorisaz and www.twitter.com/booksnbling.
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