DANZIG Bassist Says He Is The Only Person To Have Gotten In The Band Without An Audition

The official DANZIG fansite The 7th House recently conducted an interview with DANZIG bassist Jerry Montano. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

The 7th House: How did you get the call to join DANZIG?

Jerry Montano: "I had actually been friends with Crazy Craig and Glenn Danzig for years, going back to THE DEADLIGHTS. Johnny Kelly [TYPE O NEGATIVE] had given me the heads up about that other guy quitting. (Johnny is one of my closest friends.... Johnny and I have ALWAYS wanted to be in a band together!) It just all worked out. I had been doing 'ColdWhiteChrist' with my other band (BLESSED/NOTHINGFACE) with the singer from MUDVAYNE and also playing in UNIDA (John Garcia, ex-KYUSS frontman) when I got the call to learn the DANZIG tunes.

"I am pretty much the only person to have gotten in the band without an audition. I told Glenn I wanted to be a part of DANZIG and that was it. He told me he never even considered anyone else for the band. I came in and knew a majority of the music the first day. I had the all the songs down within the week. It was on. Later, after the Blackest shows Johnny had obligations to TYPE O NEGATIVE so I suggested we bring in a friend Bevan Davies on drums.

"It really came easy to me (not because it was an easy gig) because I had been a fan/friend for years. I had opened up for DANZIG years prior during 'Danzig 5'. (ex-bandmate Blasko on bass) ... at The Whiskey on Halloween night! The infamous $6.66 show! 57 CROWN (featured myself.. Mike Savage from PYGMY LOVE CIRCUS, Joey Gold [of] LOVE/HATE and yes… another ex-DANZIG member, Jeff Chambers!) So I guess you can say I've never been too far away from the camp."

The 7th House: Doyle [ex-MISFITS] was special guest in Vegas and LA and then later a couple of East Coast dates. How was it being on stage with both Glenn and Doyle?

Jerry Montano: "Doyle is just an awesome guy and a great friend. I cannot say enough great things about him and his wife, band and soulmate Steph. I remember how excited and thankful he was to be there with us, the guy is the coolest. The rehearsals were insane! Knowing it was really going down and being a part of the legendary reunion of the two of them is something NO ONE can ever take away. It was also cool to see them interact with each other ...it was like they were two kids in Jersey again. And the stories!! All of the REAL MISFITS stories. It is cool to hear how things really were, how Glenn would take the train to pick up the records HE had made, How HE did the covers, how and where and when and who recorded on what and what was going down at the time. Most people don't know Glenn played drums and guitar on A LOT of different MISFITS songs...PRICELESS ...Things most people will NEVER know... Totally insane.

""The coolest thing was Glenn's reaction to the music for the first time — it was haunting. He changed right before our eyes. The old stance came back, and it was as if he were somewhere else. Very, very heavy. Very real. Very violent."

Read the entire interview at www.7thhouse.com.