And what the hell is going on today?

Its simple-this town has produced some of the biggest names in the heavy music scene and continues to do so. Vets of vulgarity GWAR continue on their bloody path, churning out albums and tours with unceasing regularity, all the while drawing closer to the amazing anniversary of 25 years as Kings of the Underworld. The elusive AVAIL (who at the writing of this article were on the road, or maybe just wouldn’t return my phone calls…) continues to satisfy and astound the punk community with their singularly unique vision—a vision that perhaps typifies the spirit of Richmond more authentically than any other. LAMB OF GOD, after enjoying a brief respite from their arduous and world-wide tour schedule, are currently finishing up their new record, which promises to be yet another addition to a catalog of music that has consistently defined the cutting edge of metal music.

Richmond’s underground scene continues to mutate and astound, with bands like SUZUKI TON and MENSREA setting a new standard of masterfully self-indulgent, brain-splitting musical mayhem. And finally, the latest local success story and thrash masters MUNICIPAL WASTE have established themselves as the latest successful addition to the stellar pantheon of hard rock heroes that this amazing, crappy little town has produced.

Tony Foresta, lead singer of MUNICIPAL WASTE, reflects on why Richmond was and is such a excellent place to rock. “A lot of the older bands, like GWAR (thanks for the reminder, I already said I was old…), had this work ethic that other bands can’t touch. It’s inspiring. You do whatever it takes because you love it. Then you see these same people hanging out at the bar, and nobody cares, because everybody is the same.”

He continues. “Richmond, it’s great to come home to. Your friends are always there to support you. It’s different everywhere else. Maybe it is a southern thing–southern hospitality is the truth.”

Perhaps it was gratitude to the city that spawned them that drove Tony and a small group of co-conspirators to organize an event that both celebrated the music of this town and gave people from all over the opportunity to fucking party like mad. “Best Friends Day” has grown from humble beginnings to a mammoth event that attracts people from all over the world.

Says Foresta, “Richmond is a melting pot of bands, and a lot of the bands play together. Best Friends Day is basically that. Let’s get a lot of different bands together, get a lot of different events together, to show everyone else in the country that you can come to Richmond and see all the amazing things that Richmond has to offer. Last year was 1200; this year will probably be 2000. People flew in from Australia!”
Though Richmond is still off the radar of most people, there have been indications that the more “professional” musical community have noticed that something significant has been going on here. Both GWAR and LAMB OF GOD have garnered Grammy nominations for their efforts, and MUNICIPAL WASTE has been nominated not once but twice for the Metal Hammer Golden Gods “Best Underground Band” award. Not surprisingly, nobody seems to give a rats-ass.
“Fuck a bunch of Grammy’s,” says Blythe, “If I go out there I’m gonna get drunk and punch some fucker from American idol in the face.”

“We got nominated for best underground band twice and lost both times,” says Foresta, “I guess we’re stuck there.”
As of today, nobody has won shit, and that suits everybody just fine.

So where’s the scene headed? I sat down with Erik Larson, one of those inherently prolific Richmond artists whose ties to the city and the music it creates run deep. Erik played drums for AVAIL for many years and more recently was the guitarist for ALABAMA THUNDER PUSSY, whose brand of southern-fried metal wowed audiencs all over the U.S. and Europe before their recent demise. Erik is currently working on at least five different projects, including metal outfit PARASYTIC, as well as his solo stuff, so be on the lookout.

“There are a lot of new, cool bands, but there isn’t an all-ages venue for them to play at, and it seems as if a lot of the old guard is dying out. There’s a lot of potential, but the scene is in a state of flux.”

Unfortunately, the corporate beast is rearing its ugly head in this town. The last decade has seen V.C.U., the entity that had so much to do with drawing all of these artists together, grow from a mid-sized liberal arts school to a hulking education monolith, gobbling up property and destroying historic architecture only to replace it with sterile and charmless education-hives. The emphasis of the college that has been the magnet for so many creative individuals seems to have shifted away from its art school origins to a more conventional, profit gaining formula with the expanding sports program as its centerpiece. Undoubtedly the “corporatization” of V.C.U. will trickle down to the students who give it life, and the end result may well mean a dilution of the creative pool that has made this town so singularly unique. The dudes seem to agree.

“There are too many bands with access to digital recording equipment,” says Shark, “things have gotten too easy. The work ethic just isn’t there.”

“Instead of getting a demo tape, somebody hands you a piece of paper with a MySpace address,” agrees Tony.
“My band doesn’t have a practice space, we’ve never played a show, we don’t have any members or songs, but we have a MySpace page. Can we get on your tour?” says Brockie…oh wait…I am Brockie. Can you quote yourself if it’s your own article?

And there you have it, the inside scoop on one of rocks least known but most heard breeding grounds. Not a bad turn-around for a city that once fought to keep people enslaved and was originally settled by the exterminating the local native population. For Richmond has risen above a it’s dark past, rebuilt its burnt and shattered structures, and become one of the best places in the world for up-and-coming bands to hone the skills that pay the bills (which are cheap as hell). And the best part about it is that nobody really seems to realize any of this. And this suits the denizens of this bastion of bestiality just fine. Because it was never about the attention, the fame, the phony awards or the funny money. It was never about the drugs or the sex (well, maybe a little about the sex), it was about…amazingly enough…THE MUSIC, and it always was and hopefully always will be. Richmond is nothing less than a cultural treasure, and to imagine the world where the bands in this article didn’t exist is to imagine a world that quite frankly, SUCKS. So let’s throw on “Sacrament”, and follow it up with “Dixie”, “The Art of Partying”, and finally “Scumdogs of the Universe”, and while your friends are trashing your room, let’s hope the future of this once-cursed town is as bright (and loud) as it’s recent past. We’ll let local loudmouth Chris Bopst wrap this up…
“The best thing about Richmond is that it has no defined scene. We are not known for any one thing. We weed out the assholes and play to entertain ourselves and please your friends. We get to operate in any capacity that we want to and its always evolving and it’s always different. People don’t understand what’s happening here…and I hope it stays that way.”

So do we Chris, so do we…

(Catch Chris’s radio show, “The Bopst Show” on the world wide web, and support anything and everything from Richmond by buying the cd’s and going to the shows. Hail Metal!)