If you want to send promotional stuff to me email
me and ill send you my snail mail address!
|
Yes...even Prof.ManiC the
self proclaimed Metal Scientist has to answer to someone
else. That someone else is Damian Smolko, whose mind and
body the madman Prof.ManiC inhabits. Being two different sides
of the same coin these two beings are aware of each others
existence and can interact with each other and at rare times
when Prof.ManiC can put up with Damian's loser mentallity.
So leave it to someone as crazy as Prof.Manic to interview
himself and let the whole world witness it!
|
| Prof.ManiC: |
So geekboy what got you
into metal in the first place! |
| Damian
Smolko: |
hmmm..well
you'll laugh but back in the day I was into rap..stuff like
RUN DMC, Ghetto Boys, NWA and Ice-T but my favorite songs were
always the heavy guitar based ones. But even before that when
I was little brat I would always listen to my mom's Pat Benatar,Queen
and Alice Cooper 8 tracks! But it wasn't until I was abit older
that I found out what real metal was. One day a friend of mine
ended up with a case of stolen tapes no one wanted cause they
were all heavy metal stuff like Helloween, King Diamond, Metal
Church and Hallows Eve. There was other stuff too but I'm too
senile to remember. Around the same time as I started to dabbling
with those tapes I heard Manowars "Fighting the World" tape
and saw the King Diamond Video for "Them" on USA's
Night Flight. I was hooked. |
| Prof.ManiC: |
RAP huh? Gee you must
love the Nu-metal scene then you poser!!! |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Nope,
its not new metal it's RETRO RAP just instead of black guys
doing it, its white kids from rich neighborhoods. Hell Run
DMC's Rising Hell and Ice- T's "the Bitch tried to kill
me" is heavier then half that nu metal crap out now. |
| Prof.ManiC: |
So was the Fat Boys your
first concert ever then? |
| Damian
Smolko: |
No
Smart Ass, my first concert ever was Manowar in 94 even though
I was listening to metal for years before that. |
| Prof.ManiC: |
What kind of bands did
you get into at first? |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Stuff
I could track down in normal stores, before I understood that
mainstream stores didn't sell all the CD's they should and
that they corner the market on crap! I mostly got into stuff
like OVERKILL, METAL CHURCH, KING DIAMOND, WRAITHCHILD AMERICA
and IRON MAIDEN. I hated Judas Priest cause I thought the singer
sounded gay compared to King Diamond. I was kinda right huh?
lol |
| Prof.ManiC: |
HAHAHA..NOT! What do you
think are some of the most important METAL (not rap!) CD's
that helped in converting your ass to real MUSIC! |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Manowar's "Fighting
the World", OverKill's "Years Of Decay", Helloween's "Keeper
Of Seven Keys" all of them opened my eyes alot. Plus the
first Century Media sampler opened up a new world of metal
for me. Thats when I went out and started my Iced Earth, Nevermore,
Stuck Mojo, Tiamat and Sentenced collections. So honestly I
have to say that was the best 3 bucks I ever spent. Also I
traded a couple tapes with songs from different bands with
some guy I met at a concert at the Agora in Cleveland, the
stuff he sent me was stuff like Rage, Grave Digger, Skyclad,
and Blind Guardian, after that I then realized that the metal
world was much bigger then I ever thought. |
| Prof.ManiC: |
Since you started into
metal late you missed the glory years of Heavy Metal? |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Yea
kind of! Metal was going into a decline once I really started
to like it. Just my luck! I only got to see a couple HeadBangers
Balls before it started getting lame. Never really got to enjoy
it in it's heyday. |
| Prof.ManiC: |
So how did you end up
learning so much about metal, if it was in its decline by
the time you got into. |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Well
before I remembered that computers existed, I used drive people
crazy trying to find my Metal Maniacs and Brave Words & Broken
Knuckles. Then once I remembered that computers existed and
I adapted to using something besides my old trusty Commodore
64 (R.I.P) I would research stuff on the internet. |
| Prof.ManiC: |
Research Metal? I thought
only Doctors, Scientists and Nerds did research! |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Maybe
so! But remember your a so called "doctor" and a
Metal nerd those ideas had to come from somewhere! It was that
logic that I used to come up with the idea of that would become
Prof.ManiC. At first I was gonna use the name Prof.Mosh but i found
two other uses of it. One a metal site and the other some gay
ass Brit in a lame ass band. So I figured I would mix the Doctor,
Scientist and Nerd idea and the psychological aspects of how
metal makes me feel most of the time, and I came up with Prof.
Manic! |
| Prof.ManiC: |
Dude you are so full of
it! You didn't come up with me! I came up with you! Everyone
one knows that every Superman needs his nerdy Clark Kent! |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Think
what you will! What came first the chicken or the egg!? |
| Prof.ManiC: |
Ok assuming that is true
then how did I come up with the idea to do a website about
Heavy Metal! |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Well
you didn't come up with the idea! I did cause I was bored in
Sandusky after most of my Pallbearers had left and I was sick
of working meaningless jobs.Since I did my metal research on
metal websites I started trying to learn how they worked. So
maybe I could one day have one too! So I thought up the identity
of Prof. Manic and wanted to name my page the Mental Moshpit
cause it reflected both my mental state and the fact that I
liked bands that had intelligent music and lyrics. Instead
of the boring old SATAN bands with Cookie monster vocals! But
since I really didn't know what I was doing when I first started
I didn't want to give the "Mental Moshpit" a bad
name so I came up with the name "Heavy Metal Psychosurgery" and
later changed it to "Heavy Mettle Psychosurgery" cause
the definaton of Mettle fit Heavy Metal to a tee! The name
grew on me so much that I decided to stick with it, so I named
my interview section Mental Moshpit instead. |
| Prof.ManiC: |
Yea whatever....So since
you claim to know so much about metal what are the best kept
secrets when it comes to metal bands!? |
| Damian
Smolko: |
I
would have to say bands like Skyclad, The Wierd Lord Slough
Feg, Bronx Casket Company, Overlorde, Cauldron Born and the
now defuct Hollow are the hidden gems in my collection. |
| Prof.ManiC: |
I also thought they were
the best kept secrets in metal till now..thanks for nothing!
Now everyone knows dumbass! |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Thats
ok, I love their music and would gladly spread the word to
metal masses. I'm in this for the metal, not for the chicks,
being cool or getting free demos. Most of the work I've done
for others in scene has been for free so I'm surely not doing
it for the cash! |
| Prof.ManiC: |
What a kind soul you are!
SIKE! I think your just jumping on the bandwagon since metal
is getting noticed again! |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Nope,
I'll was there during the lean years and I'll be there through
the good ones until the next time metal has to retreat from
view again. Im on this ship for life! I'm loyal to the music! |
| Prof.ManiC: |
Sure, Sure! Is there anything
about the metal scene that doesn't give you a hard on? |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Well
the overuse of the GENRES nowadays suck...I miss the old days
of just plain old heavy metal. Now we have Black metal, Death
Metal, Power Metal, True Metal, Progresive Metal, Doom Metal,
Stoner Metal,and the Gothenburg Sound, what will labels think
of next? Will they give a genre to hybrids of the other genres!
It's getting out of hand! I used to love the stuff that is
now called Power metal but I'm so sick of all the copycat bands
out that sound just like Helloween back in the day! Thanks
for nothing Hammerfall, no wonder most of the members went
back to their REAL bands! Thats why I'm researching bands that
have intelligent lyrics and music cause I'm so sick of the
cheese! |
| Prof.ManiC: |
Nice soapbox lecture preacher!
So besides metal what do you waste your existance on? |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Lots
of stuff...Mythology, Cryptozoology, Philosophy, Astronomy,
Dinosaurs, Horror Movies, Discovery Channel, ESPN, Football,
Basketball,Self-loathing, Fantasy Movies, Cartoons, Farting,
Computers, My Pallbearers, Learning From my mistakes, Martial
Arts, Egypt, Australia, Nature, Walking and lots of stuff I
haven't even found yet. Plus I been working on Web design stuff
and learning how to play the guitar. I just got a metallic
blue B.C Rich Bich to fart around with. |
| Prof.ManiC: |
What are some of your
influences?? |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Lots
of stuff...
PEOPLE: Bigfoot, Carl Sagan, Stephen
Hawkings, H.P Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, Todd Macfarlane,
Travis Smith, ThomasWelch, Bart Sears, Jackie Chan, Hill
Billy Jim, The 3 Stooges, Godzilla, Bruce Campbell, Bill
Paxton, Jeffery Combs.
MOVIES: Red Dawn, Aliens, The Drunken
Master, From Dusk til Dawn, Army Of Darkness, The Toxic Avenger,
Hawk The Slayer, The Frightners, 13th Warrior, Mystery Men,
Conan The Barbarian, Fearless Hyena
|
| Prof.ManiC: |
So what do you plan on
doing with your life and this website?? |
| Damian
Smolko: |
Well
Im trying to get a degree in Computer Science so I can use
my hyperactive imagination to my advantage in the video game
world.If I do I'm sure heavy metal stuff will be hidden through
out the stuff I work on,kinda like the anime guy did with BASTARD.
Perhaps I'll come up with some Heavy Metal games for the site
in the future! Once I get my loans paid off I would like to
prehaps promote a show or something. Only time will tell! |
| Prof.ManiC: |
Do you have any advice for people who want to be
part of the metal scene? |
| Damian
Smolko: |
No
not really I don't give advice cause we all have to follow
our own path and not someone elses. But do I do have some
wacky sayings that I use almost daily!
"SHIT ON ME!",
"Can't hurt steel, can't move moutains and you can't catch lightling so you lost
the battle before it began!",
"Thoughts are like zits the more you fuck with them the bigger and uglier they
get"
"The bait hides the hook",
"If god exists he has a sense of humor and farts prove it!",
"As long as I'm miserable I'll live forever but as soon as I'm Happy, I'm screwd!",
"Pain builds character!!"
"Metalhead is the best head baby!"
|
| Prof.ManiC: |
Well you have bored me
enough...got any final comments? |
| Damian
Smolko: |
yea,
but since I don't have anything nice to say I wont say anything
at all! |
