MOTLEY CRUE: “Saints Of Los Angeles” – CD Premiere June 16th!

Rocket: Where were you born and raised?

Nico: I was born in Tulsa and grew up in the boonies of Broken Arrow/Coweta.

Rocket: What first drew you to music?

Nico: My dad gave me my first push into music by signing me up for trumpet lessons when I was in the sixth grade. I liked music a little bit at that point, but lessons felt more like a chore to me. My musical taste grew from that point on though. My favorite bands started off as “Weird Al” Yankovic, to Rafael Mendez, to The Presidents of the United States of America, to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, to Weezer, then to my breakthrough influence, System of a Down in eighth grade. From then on out, I had metal in my blood. But I still love all those bands, which definitely contributes to our diverse style.

Rocket: Killer. When did you start playing the guitar?

Nico: I began playing guitar as a result of the “process of elimination” actually. In the summer between 8th and 9th grade (2002), Justin Espinales and I were so drawn towards System of a Down that we were inspired to start playing an instrument. Ironically, we both wanted to play bass. Justin beat me to the punch and bought one first, and I was doomed to be a guitarist. My dad, who taught himself to play the flaminco guitar as a hobby, gave me some of his equipment, and I was on my way. We both started out playing simple bass riffs though, despite my guitarist status.

Rocket: Who are a few of your biggest playing influences?

Nico: If you can’t tell from my riffs, Daron Malakian, of System of a Down, Mark Morton/Willie Adler, of Lamb of God, and Head/Monkey, of Korn, are my biggest playing influences. I try to soak in everything that I enjoy from the many artists I listen to and incorporate the emotions and styles from all my favorite genres. I figure that if I don’t expand my horizons, I might as well quite now.

Rocket: Did you ever take any formal guitar lessons?

Nico: Besides the trumpet, I haven’t had any musical lessons. I don’t know if lessons would have served me as much as I want to believe they would. For me, it’s always been the passion of playing and creating music that has inspired me to learn. If I want to learn to do something on the guitar, I’ll figure it out. I don’t need a teacher to break it down for me. My only regret is that I wish I had a better concept of music theory, but it’s never too late to pick it up.

Rocket: What guitars are you playing currently live and in the studio?

Nico: I only have three guitars of my own: a green ESP Viper-100 (my first), a black Ibanez Iceman ICX, and a black ESP F-50 (which I use live and in the studio). And backing me up is a Crate 3500H with a Crate Celestion 4×12 cab.

Rocket: Briefly, how did you join up with TWO MINUTES HATE?

Nico: There was no joining up, really. Justin and I began playing our instruments, and a year later we added our childhood friend, Ryan Rase, on drums. After I grew tired of playing SOAD covers all the time, I started to write songs of our own and our little three-piece hit the ground running. We eventually added our vocalist, Cody Burnett, because I never intended on being a vocalist for the band, but I was stuck with the position in the earlier days.

Rocket: You guys just released a new album, correct? How has the reaction been so far and how can fans pickup a copy?

Nico: In the summer of ’07, we released our third band installment, which was our first full length 13 song album. People seem to be digging it, I won’t speak for everyone, but I’m very proud of it. It’s our first recording with Cody, so it is definitely the most aggressive and rhythmic music we’ve recorded so far. Somehow, each year that we record, our sound continues to become heavier and sexier than ever before. I just don’t know where it all comes from. But currently, the best way to get a hold of the cd is to see us at shows and visit our merch table, but we are also in the process of creating an account with CD Baby so that our long-distance fans can feel the love.

Rocket: I like to have fun with this next one. What's the funniest thing that ever happened to you on stage while performing?

Nico: We had a farewell show awhile back for our favorite Tulsa band, Citizen Zero. On our very last song of our set, my E string decided to break on me. But I didn't let that stop our set, so I threw my guitar down and picked up a backup I had. The band kept going with the song, Filthy Lies, while I got myself situated. When I came back into the song, instead of playing the song, I played the thrashy bridge riff from Hourglass by Lamb of God. Then we all broke back into Filthy Lies for a minute, when I jumped out into the crowd and my instrument cable came unplugged. Then I plugged back in and we finished the song again for the third time. But we never stopped the song, which I'm pretty proud of.

Rocket: It was another great year for metal in '07. What one album was your personal favorite from last year?

Nico: My favorite album was The Last Kind Words by Devildriver. I've seen those guys 6 times and they are constantly getting better. Their live show is amazing too.

Rocket: What are some of the upcoming shows for TWO MINUTES HATE?

Nico: We don't have anything major lined up right now. We're just taking any shows that come our way and trying to build our fan base as best as possible.

Rocket: Thanks for rockin this out with me. Go ahead and give a shout out to your biggest supporters?

Nico: We can't thank the crazy Tulsa and OKC fans enough for all their support. And we appreciate all the bands that have given us shows and given us a "leg in the door".

http://www.myspace.com/twominhate