Get Thrashed – History Of Thrash

Get Thrashed is probably the ultimate documentary ever made about Thrash, the genre I grew up on and was probably the most important sub-genre in Heavy Metal during the 80's and early 90's. Featuring interviews with such classic acts such as Metallica, Megadeth and Exodus, the film also includes previously unavailable footage from classic shows from some of thrash's greatest names. Creators Rick Ernst and Rat Skates won several prizes for this labor of love, which is now finally available for purchase on DVD. Ernst was kind enough to walk us through this film while explaining what is it that drove him into making it.

I’d like to start with where are things now with the films – has it been released? Is it screened? Sold on DVD?

Yes, the film is out and available on DVD in select stores, on Amazon. We spent 1 year (2006-2007) screening the film in over 25 film festivals around the world and it was amazing screening it for metal fans – and of course, non metal fans as well. We picked up several awards (best documentary, best soundtrack etc) and packed most of the theaters we played in. It was an incredible experience and I’ll never forget the friends I met on the "film festival tour"

I understand it won several prizes already, can you tell us which, and what were the reasons given to it winning these prizes?

Yes, we won the "best film in the festival" award at the San Antonio Underground Film Festival. We took home awards for "Best Documentary" and "Best Soundtrack" at the Backseat Film Festival in Philadelphia. We won "Best Documentary" at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival and also at the New York International Independent Film Festival. I think the awards are self explanatory and of course, we were flattered to receive them but the incredible fan reactions and reviews have been the best "REWARDS", so to speak.

Let’s get back to how it all started out, can you tell us about yourself? I understand you spent a long career in MTV, how did you start out?

I started out at MTV in New York in 1993 as an intern and assistant on Headbangers Ball. When the show was cancelled, I continued at MTV and eventually worked my way up the ranks to Supervising Producer of several shows, including the new version of Headbangers Ball which airs on MTV2 in the States. Currently, I’m at Roadrunner Records as their Director of Video Production. Essentially, I coordinate the making of the label’s DVDs, music videos and other video productions.

Was Metal, and thrash in particular, your favorite music when growing up?

Absolutely, I loved thrash metal. It was – and is – by far my favorite type of music. Many of the photos from the 80’s feature me wearing thrash t-shirts, high top sneakers, leather jackets etc. Grwoing up, it was thrash metal, 24/7 for me!

How did you combine your love for the music with your work in MTV? They’re not known for being overly Metal-friendly…

True but I always figured it was better to have a fan on the inside fighting to play more metal than at home sitting back and yelling at the TV because they were playing another Bon Jovi video! I was fortunate to work on many hard rock and metal shows and had the opportunity to advance the genre by booking bands like Anthrax, Fear Factory, Bruce Dickinson etc that would have never been booked on an MTV show in the mid-late 90’s. So in some small way, I feel that being an insider at MTV helped the metal cause.

How did the whole idea of doing the ultimate thrash documentary start out?

I had hoped that after all the years working at MTV, a TV special or documentary would have come along and that would have satisfied the urge to make a thrash metal piece. That never happened so I thought I’d take the bull by the horns and do it myself. In 2003, I began interviewing bands and piecing the film together. About a year and a half later, I had the basic storyline in place and then some guy named Rat Skates emailed me. Of course, Rat was the founding drummer in Overkill and an important part of the thrash movement. We met and figured out a way for him to get involved in the film, mainly though his graphic design abilities.

How does one go forward in making such a film? Contacting so many bands, deciding who to interview, gathering all the rare footage and info?

I started out interviewing all the old school thrash bands that came through NYC. Eventually, I added new thrash influenced bands to the interview list and I selected them mainly by reading interviews, listening to the albums and reading their liner notes to see if thrash was important to them. My background at MTV helped in booking the bands, it was just a matter of scheduling it all and making time for it. At the same time the interviews started, I started a website and put the word out that I was looking for thrash fans to contribute materials to the film. Flyers, photos and videos started coming in and as word spread, I was put in contact with photographers and other people who all helped contribute to the movie. It really was built step by step, section by section, interview by interview until we wrapped production in August 2006.

How would you describe the way the film is made, is it a chronological voyage through thrash history? How much of it is interviews and how much is music clips?

It’s pretty much in chronological order. It starts out with the early days, the differences between the scenes, the bands and everything builds until the Clash of the Titans tour (Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Alice in Chains), which was kind of the apex of the thrash metal scene. It is driven by the interviews with the bands, DJs, label folks, fans and thrash inspired bands – there is no voice over. It’s all told by the artists and fans themselves. There is a large amount of music in the film from bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer, Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies, Kreator, Pantera and so many more.

Thrash was big almost everywhere during its peak; did you concentrate on the American scene, or spend equal time on the German and British scenes, and others as well?

The German scene is given equal billing with the American scenes and we touch on the worldwide scene – namely Brazil (Sepultura), Switzerland (Celtic Frost) and Canada (Voivod). The DVD features over 90 minutes of additional footage and features bands and scenes from around the world – the UK, France, Scandinavia, Japan etc

Now to your own views on the subject, do you have a single, clear explanation on why did Thrash become as big as it did?

I think thrash and the mainstream met in the middle. In the early 90’s when thrash peaked, most of the thrash bands had slowed down a bit and were not as extreme as they were in the early-mid 80’s. Metallica’s "Black album", Testament’s "Souls of Black" and other albums were more radio friendly than their earlier albums. On the other side, the mainstream was ready for something heavier than Poison and Warrant. I think the mainstream were more receptive to the less extreme form of thrash that was put forth in the early 1990’s. Combine that with Metallica crossing over into the mainstream with the "Black Album" and thrash kind of rode that Metallica "wave" for a little while. For a short period of time, thrash seemed almost mainstream!

Rick with Exodus members

I’m someone who also grew on a constant thrash diet during the 80’s, and is still a fanatic of the genre, to what do you attribute that fanaticism about the genre that people like me still display? Is it just nostalgia?

Its not just nostalgia – it’s the fact that the music was groundbreaking and it was good. If the music wasn’t worth a lick, we wouldn’t have a new generation of fans discovering thrash metal and wishing they had lived through the glorious thrash scene of the 1980’s. Those of us who lived through the thrash scene are very fortunate to have been part of a scene and time that is unique, special and probably will never happen again.

Do you have a reason for why did the genre die out so completely and abruptly?

I think grunge took away any mainstream attention thrash looked to attract. The media really turned its back on the genre and didn’t support thrash or metal in general, at all. In addition, death metal simply kicked the legs out from under thrash metal and became the new, most extreme form of metal. I have to say that by 1992 or so, thrash had been around for at least 10 years and the genre had just burnt itself out. In some ways, the bomb needed to be dropped to clear the way for new genres of metal and to kill off the crappy thrash bands and to allow the scene to go back underground for a while.

Why do you think some bands managed to continue and succeed, such as Metallica and to a lesser extent – Slayer, while most simply disappeared?

I think you almost have to remove Metallica from the equation as they evolved into a hard rock band that surpassed any thrash metal tag. Most of what they did after "And Justice For All" was not thrash in my mind. Slayer survived by staying true to their roots and staying heavy. I think a lot of lessons could be learned from what they did in the 1990’s because when the scene started to collapse – Slayer got heavier and angrier. I think a lot of bands went the other way and turned to a less aggressive sound which may have helped them in the short term, but in the long run, it hurt their careers and their standing with hardcore thrash fans. Many fans, myself included, got turned on to death metal around this time – bands like Death, Obituary, Carcass, Pestilence etc

Some experiences from making the film, what were your impressions from the bands and musicians you spoke with? Do they view those days with regret? Longing? Anger?

All of the bands, every single one, spoke with love and affection in their voices. They all seemed genuinely happy to have been part of the scene and missed the "good old days!" From the biggest bands like Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth to the smaller ones like Nuclear Assault, DRI, Sodom – they all seemed to have loved the scene and loved the music – most of them still love and live it today as well.

Any funny anecdotes that you can tell us about the making of the film?

Frank Bello from Anthrax lives in the same town as me so we did the interview at my house. My dog (a Chihuahua) loves to bark when guests come over and of course we needed silence to do Frank’s interview. So I gave my dog one of the "stress pills" we give him during violent thunderstorms. This quieted the dog down but he kept walking in and out of the shot, stumbling around, drunk after taking the pill. We had to stop the interview several times until the pill wore off. We couldn’t stop laughing!

Which musicians were the most interesting to talk to for you personally?

I was very excited to meet and interview Dave Mustaine who I had never met before. That was very cool! I met Lars and Kirk while working at MTV but sitting down with them in such a personal setting and to discuss a topic so near and dear to our hearts was amazing. How many people get to talk at length with Metallica about the early days of thrash metal. Very, very cool!

What kind of "hidden gems" did you encounter during the making of the film? Any interesting memorabilia or video footage?

Walter Morgan is a Bay Area thrash fan who filmed many thrash shows in the 80’s and when we met up, he loaned me a bunch of his home videos and they were incredible. To see hours and hours of thrash metal shows from bands like Vio-lence, Forbidden, Testament, Death Angel in the Bay Area in their prime was very special. Seeing Paul Baloff with Exodus in the early years on videotape – wow – that was incredible! A lot of that footage ended up in the film but there was much more that didn’t and I feel fortunate to have been able to see it.

You also interviewed some successful current bands, such as Lamb Of God and Killswitch Engage, why do you think these bands still manage to sell as much as they do while classic thrash bands as Testament for example, sell perhaps half that today?

Very tough to say but it certainly has something to do with marketing, media exposure and what is deemed "cool, new and relevant" versus what is deemed "old, cool and nostalgic". I think the older bands don’t tour as much either because they have jobs, families etc and cant be on the road as often as the younger bands. Constant touring is the #1 way most metal bands spread the word and build album sales.

To what extent do these bands acknowledge the influence of thrash on their music, and how do they explain the large differences between 80’s thrash and the music they make today, which some old school metalheads regard as "poser" metal?

Some bands like Merciless Death, Fueled by Fire and others have created an almost exact replica of the old school thrash sound. Some think its cool, others slag them for being copycats. Other new metal bands that were influenced by thrash take it, twist it and make it their own unique form of metal and they are considered "posers". So you can’t really win. I think the important thing is that thrash was incredibly influential and it affected so many bands and inspired so many different styles and offshoots of the genre. That is the coolest thing – to see thrash passed on from generation to generation.

With quite a lot of thrash bands reuniting and releasing albums these last few years (Death Angel, Onslaught Etc.), and new ones popping up (Evile, Bonded By Blood), and your film as well – do you expect a resurgence in genre – anything like it had in the past?

I don’t think you’ll ever see a thrash scene like the original one because part of the charm is lost the second time around. I hope we get 5-7-10 years out of the thrash revival but I’d venture to guess we all should enjoy it while it lasts because in 3,4 or 5 years, something else will have pushed thrash back into the underground – and that’s ok, that’s where thrash metal always seems most comfortable!

That’s it, any parting words for those planning on buying the DVD?

Get Thrashed has been a labor of love. Rat Skates and I poured our hearts and souls into making the movie and it was all done simply to honor the music we love so friggin much – thrash metal. I hope you guys will check it out. If you’re a thrash fan you’ll love the film + over 90 minutes of bonus features. If you’re not a thrash fan or a hard rock fan – check out the movie for a glimpse at an incredible music scene that was often violent, bloody, brutal and a bit scary – but it was also a whole lot of fun!