Richard Christy

MM: How great is it to put out Charred's first album on such a well- respected label as Metal Blade?
RC: I am so psyched! I'm friends with Brian (Slagel) and have been a huge fan of the label for a long time. When I was 10, I'd get these catalogs of Metal Blade releases and I'd get the "Metal Massacre" releases in the '80s. I was a huge Lizzy Borden fan and Slayer fan, so I was just a huge fan of the label. They've done so much for metal, they've stayed faithful to metal, and it's an honor to sign with them. Everyone who works there is so nice, it's just comfortable. I'm so psyched to be part of the Metal Blade family.

MM: I've always been a fan of Powermad since I saw their video for "Terminator" from their first demo on MTV. Explain why you chose to cover their song "Nice Dreams."
RC: I was a huge Powermad fan in ’88-89 when I saw "Nice Dreams" on Headbangers Ball and it was just killer. The singing, the drumming … so I went out and got "Absolute Power." Tt's a very great album that not a lot of people know about it. I think it's out of print, but it was a huge opportunity to play a song I love and have a new take on one of the songs. I love ’80s thrash metal, and I just wanted to play a song that I love and make it for people to maybe check out Powermad after hearing our song.

MM: What do you hope to achieve with the official release of Charred Walls of the Damned in February?
RC: What I hope to achieve is, making a great metal album. I'm a huge metal fan, and as a fan, I just want to make something that I would want to listen to. I had the feeling passing inside me to write songs, they were in my head, I wanted to get back into the metal scene to make something people can enjoy and to just play. I want to give back to the metal community because it has given so much to me.

MM: Since Howard Stern went to Sirius XM Radio in 2006, I haven't had the chance to listen to him. Explain when and how you got the gig with Howard.
RC: In 2004, Stuttering John left, and I was touring in bands and worked as an electrician for eight to 18 hours a day, and I would listen to Howard. It was a cool job, but got monotonous. You just want to listen to something that will make you laugh in the morning, so I’d listen to Howard to get through the day. So I started writing bits for songs and started sending them to Howard, and he started playing them on the air. It was the greatest feeling in the world to hear my songs on the radio. I just really wanted to work for him. So I heard about the contest for a job on the Stern show and thought it was the perfect opportunity. I was in Iced Earth at the time and there was a lot going on, and there was a conflict for the rehearsal for the tour and the Stern audition. I wanted to stay with Iced Earth but I quit to try out for Howard. It was a tough decision, but this was my dream job, to have a day job where you go have fun all day. So I was friends with Bobby (Jarzombek) and I got him to rehearse and join Iced Earth in my place. So I had the audition and the audience voted. I was one of the 10 finalists out of thousands for the weeklong audition on the show and I won. It was supposed to be a three-month job, but they liked what I did in that time and hired me permanently.

MM: You’re 35 and you landed the Howard gig. Do you feel that you're finally making a decent living?
RC: When I joined Howard, I was 30 and I played music and was an electrician, but I never made much money off music. People think that if you have a CD in the stores and you're touring, you should be making lots of money. Even after tours I would still have to have a day job. Music was pretty much my life. I used to live in a metal storage unit in Florida that didn't even have a shower. The good thing was, I could play the drums all day and it was cheap rent. I made a lot of sacrifices to be able to live in New York, and I'm very thankful. I have a good job and a nice apartment in New York City. It's the greatest place to be. I'm very fortunate, but it's a lot of hard work at the same time. But at even 29 years old, I always knew I was doing it for a reason, playing drums and touring the world. To me it wasn't work, but I was very fortunate and always loved doing it.