Metal Sludge The Power and the Glory
MORE FEEDBACK ABOUT ZYRIS’ 10 QUESTIONS!
The Zyris/Jester feud continues
Never in the history of Metal Sludge has a 10 Questions interview with a local band caused such a stir of controversy.
Last week, we posted a historic 10 Questions interview with Scott the drummer-guy from Zyris, a band from New Jersey. One of their many claims to fame is that Zakk Wylde played guitar for these guys before he was scooped up by Ozzy Osbourne back in 1987. Scott stepped up to the plate, not only talking smack about Zakk, Baz, Kevin DuBrow, Ozzy and Sharon, but he also slagged on another local band called Jester. Now, Jester broke up a few years back, but the former players still strive to maintain their dignity in the face of a slagging on Metal Sludge!
So the other day, we posted a response from former Jester bassist Rob Ellis, and that stirred the pot even more. Now we’ve got everyone from Quiet Riot’s Kevin DuBrow to Smilin’ Mike (our 2004 Sludgeaholic of the Year) taking sides and sending in comments! So we’ve collected them all and posted them here for your enjoyment.
Here to start us off is a retort from the drummer-guy himself, Scott from Zyris.
sludge,
Yes, its scott again (zyris).. i just read rob’s response to the 10 questions. I’ll clear a few things up right now. yes,i was in penny lane and i have no regrets at all about it. i was into glam and im not the type to forget it when grunge came out (unlike certain people). rob on the other hand went from spandex to cut off jean shorts and combat boots. whats that tell ya? Fuckin poser!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! rob ellis was my bass tech in penny lane (if im such a bitch robert barkley ellis III, why did you carry my stuff for over a year???) california?? if i remember correctley, billy gash (drummer) in penny lane was the one that did not go to cali. why dont you tell the sludge community the truth. i played the drums on the california trip and you filled in on bass!!!!!!! IS THAT THE TRUTH? I THINK SO!!!!!!!!! while i never really had a problem with you (it was your singer that was the one with the holier than thou attitude..) you take it upon your self to air this in public. coooollll!!!!!!!!!!! i’m up for a war bitch!!!! just wondering how it felt to be a hanger on back then and getting our leftovers… the drumming comment about your old drummer fred i will not comment on as i realy don’t know him (although i do seem to remember him a little). you were the one always praising my drumming ability back then remember… you told the sludgers in your email that you played in a band with me after penny lane right? what, do you play with musicians you think suck??????????? the shower thing was funny too. that doesnt even warrant a comment. ask your sister!!!!!!!! you know where to find me !!!!!
i’m out like rob’s lovehandles in a tight shirt!!!!!!!!!!!
Scott (zyris)
stacey kay (penny lane)
Here’s a response sent to us from Kevin DuBrow. When we asked Scott from Zyris the following in his 10 Questions interview, "what national acts have you guys played with, and of those bands, which ones were the coolest to you, and which ones were the biggest bunch of cocksmokers you?ve ever met," this was Scott’s reply (in lime green). Kevin’s comments are in blue because he’s special.
Quiet Riot (well, only Kevin) were the biggest dicks. Yes we have the biggest dicks. Kevin heard the crowd response Zyris was getting and had the club owner cut our set three songs short. We never get to the show when the opening act is on. And I mean NEVER. We always get there 1/2 hour before we go on so this is total fabrication. The fucker had the balls to complain that the yogurt the club provided wasnt the right flavor. I hate yogurt. Rudy Sarzo ate that stuff. Hey dude, lose the bad hair, the Jordache jeans, and stop thinking you ?re still playing Madison Square Garden! I know exactly where I’m playing and where my career is at, and it’s in a far better place than yours is, thank you. If you do these things,you might be an alright guy.Oh yea,stop mentioning Randy Rhoads already. I mention Randy Rhoads every night because we do a song called "Thunderbird" that was written about him. That’s like ZYRIS mentioning Zakk (we never do that, lol) Zyris should mention Zakk. People have heard of him, not you. And if you ever have a chance to do 10 Q’s with Sludge again and you want to go after me, get your info right bigger people than you have at least said something funny. But hey, good luck to ya!
This is from our 2004 Sludgaholic of the Year!
Hey Sludge, whats up.! Scott’s 10 Q’s were so good, you guys should give him 10 more questions to do as an encore.! That would be cool…
Smilin Mike
Here’s some more random feedback from people who had something to say about the Zyris/Jester feud.
hi my name is clint, i was a fan, roadie, nutswinger of penny lane back in the day ! I knew both rob and scott back then . I will tell you i loved rob’s band jester and was more upset than anyone when they decided to call it quit’s and become a cover band by the name of fun bob last i heard. with that said i am here to come to the defense of scott aka stacy kay in penny lane. the time i spent with scott and the other guys in penny lane are some of my greatest memories growing up as a kid. scott always went out of his way to help me out with anything that i need, i will say he was one of the nicest people i have ever met. rob on the other hand was not so nice and did not have anything nice to say about the guys in the band or from what i’m told me too. he’s wrong about the trip to ca. it was the drummer billy gash that stayed behind. i couldn’t go either due to still being in high school. lonnie, justin, stacy and rob made the trip to ca. as far as i know! i do remember one time at a show in nj while the band was up on stage, rob made a b-line for the singer’s girlfriend and was all over her. that was the type of person he was always going behind your back hitting on your girlfriend or saying stuff about you.scott on the other hand was always up front and nice to me . i am not hear to fight about who’s a better band or drummer. i just wanted to add my view on things because i was there to see it first hand what it was like to know both guys. so like the old saying goes there are three sides to every story yours, mine, & the truth thank’s for your time
clint sroke……… p.s. enclosed is a pic of me with second version of the band from about 1993.
Clint and the guys in Penny Lane! Wow.
Well, it’s bad enough you guys gave local NJ band Zyris and their drummer their 10 seconds of fame, but now an EX-member of Jester? Well, as another ex-member (and I am an ex-member because I ended the band, not because I was kicked out!) of another Jersey band, Atello (also reviewed in January 200’s Rock On The Decline) I feel I need to comment on these tools. As a member of both Persia and Atello (anyone from Jersey between the years of 1987 and 2002 has heard of or seen these two bands), I have had first hand dealings with these bands, and I will tell you that it just goes to show that now mater how talent-less you are, and if you are willing to suck the collective dicks of the booking agents and/or club owners, YOU WILL GET FAR! Since we (Persia & Atello) had chops, class, and dignity, we had to fight to get a decent slot at opening for the nationals at places like the Birch Hill and L’Amours. Now before you guys say we must have sucked, well, you don’t get to be featured in Rolling Stone, and Billboard magazines if you aren’t good. So back to my point……. These two bands (especially Jester) were back stabbing little bitches, who cried everytime the other band got a halfway decent slot opening up at the Birch Hill (us included), and while we never got "into it" with any of their band members, I heard the two singers did (don’t they always?), not to mention the lead singer of Zyris doing his best ugly Jani Lane impression (an oxymoron?) in a pair of "smiley-faced" bermuda shorts (or were they underwear?) and three sheets to the wind at the PNC arts Center gig opening for Poison…… Hello, do you guys realize you are representin’, and your singer (the focal point of the band, no mater what the guitarist says!) looks and acts like a jackass? Just my opinion, of course……..What I am getting at is that this is why the New Jersey local band scene is so lame, and why we got out before we became part of the parody of it all…… However, these guys are still acting like they are (were?) somebody, and are still having the "better than you are" pissing contests so common here in NJ…….. If you want a good 10 (or even 5) questions from a band that at least saw the top floor of a real record company, let me know…. I can even send you the second CD we did that my pussy drummer was afraid to let me send to you guys for review, because you said he looked like an accountant the first time around.
God, I hate drummers!
R.A. Heiss,
ex-Persia and Atello bassist
I live in Pennsylvannia and Ive seen both bands many times in NJ at the "Birchhill" and "The Tradewinds" and so forth and while I thought both bands sounded kick ass… I would have to say Jester was alot better musically and performing wise.I have their cd "Tales from the Boogyman" and that cd rocks. I met guys in both bands and they all were pretty cool.
Jerry
Bethlehem,PA
Hello there.
My name is Megan and I reside in Woodbridge, NJ and I unfortunately know Scott from Zyris. He is indeed the biggest bullshit artist that there is today.
He promised to put me and a few of my friends on the guest list for shows that his band did in 2002 where they opened for Kings X at the Starland Ballroom and a few other shows which inlcuded a show at the Stone Pony with Dee Snider.
Figuring it was a free night out compliments from a band that has been terrible since day 1 (thank god Zakk left) I took the offer.So what happens when I get to the show with my boyfriend at the time you guessed it my name was not at the door.At the Kings X show Scott claimed that the list was full and he couldn’t do anything about it so he then promised me free tix for the Dee Snider show which I figured give the guy a second chance. I get there and its the same bullshit again with my name not being at the door. Since this was Dee Sniders last solo show before Twisted Sister was reforming for good me and my boyfriend decided to pay the money to see Dee Snider and that we would deal with this moron later on.
The next day I emailed this asshole and he said that the management at the Stone Pony (that?s the venue in Asbury Park,NJ that hosted this show in Dec of 2002) cut his guestlist.
What an asshole.
I bought tickets from opening acts for select shows that sell advance tickets and even was given free tickets a few times from other local bands and even was put on the guest list without a problem.
Basically Scott Skykopec is a professional liar.
Sincerly,
Megan Baez
Lastly, here’s a response from another 10 Questions band… it’s Pete from Evick!
I’m sorry to chime in, and really don’t expect you to use or do anything with this, But I got to make a point.
Its about this guy in Zyris.
Some of this just doesn’t make sense. I was lucky enough to do your 10 questions and should bat for the same team and not talk trash about another 10 questioner but FUCK some of this is crazy.
First. I will say I have to praise this guy for having the only 10 questions I have ever seen that was able to get people all jacked up. Now, How in the fuck or why would Ozzy or Sharon even think about this band. Ozzy is fried to a crisp and probably doesn’t even know who is in his own band these days (god bless the king of metal). Sharon for as crazy as she is has an incredible sense of biz and the biz of music and would surely be able to see the difference in a quarrel with a money hungry manager or some starving musicians.
Second, Zach is a cool dude and you seem to have love for him in part of the interview. So why take the stabs one second and then have love on the next. Know one cares what he drank at band practice or who he fought 20 years ago. I bet he could kick the fuck out of all of you right now with an Oreo in his mouth and a glass of milk in his hand.
Third, I am not going to by any means disagree with you about Sebastian Bach, He does appear to be a complete dickface. Infact I flew home from NYC during the making of our first record to see him play a club, after it was over, the people I was with wanted to meet him, so we stood out back where his RV was (not a bus). It was raining and cold outside. You could see him sitting inside eating Pasta, looking outside at the fans while they froze.
But the fact is he did sell 10 million records and is the face associated with I REMEMBER YOU. So why shouldn’t he make the money, every biz has a boss and every boss better damn sure be making more then the other guys. thats how it works. I just called a good friend of mine who owns a club and books Sebastian once or twice a year. He just told me the highest figure Sebastian has ever made at his club. Let me tell you this, after 10% to a manager, 15% to a booking agent, 600 a day for a bus, 100 bucks a band member a night if thats really the low figure he is paying his guys (and I imagine there is a per diam also), and two crew guys (minimum). There is no way Bas is pocketing close to 7 grand a night. what a stupid and over dramatic thing to say. But again if his guys agree to work for 100 dollars a night, is that really his fault. The world we live in is based on cheap labor. monkey see and monkey do, ya know.
Fourth, this thing about Kevin Dubrow pulling your set early. I’m gonna go out on a limb here. I can’t imagine Kevin got off his bus and went to the club owner and said, Hey the crowed really likes this band, cut them early. that makes no sense. Kevin is smart enough to understand that everyone on a bill in one night is part of a show, it becomes a package. None of these guys really want to play longer than they are contracted to. Cutting a local opener that probably sold all the pre-tix to the show anyway would only be done if the show was running late or if there was some kind of strange mishap. Further more, I went about ten years ago to see Quiet Riot play and I was one of 5 maybe 6 people in the club and Kevin gave me a show like it was a 10,000 seater that was sold out. To top that off, I don’t want to drop names but in 17 years I have played with,
Danger Danger 2 times
South Gang
Jon Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band
John Taylor (of Duran Duran)
Fuel
Ace Frehely 2 times
Enuff Z Nuff 5 times
Warrant 4 times
Samantha 7
Faster Pussycat 2 times
Firehouse
Some guy from the Black Crows.
Vivian Campbell
Dee Snider Solo
Twisted Sister
Ratt
Dokken 3 times
White Lion
and Bret Michaels several times.
On many of these shows, we have sold hundreds of presale tix, on a few of them the entire draw was our presale tix, with no walk up sales or anything and these bands have all been grateful that we were able to bring the people into the clubs. At the fucking House of Blues one night on the tour with Bret in Orlando we all found out collectively, including Bret that the show had to be cut early due to another late night show. Bret didn’t even cut our set time that night, he cut his set up and change over time and literally walked on the stage and Hi fived us as we were walking off.
The worst thing that ever happened is that CC Deville told me "You got them here in your home town, come to LA and see who draws better"
My point is that These guys as bitter as they may get at times all pretty much remember where they came from. and know that it takes local support and team work to make these shows a success. It must take a huge ego to think that Kevin Dubrow even thought enough about you to consider pulling you. It just doesn’t make sense, but it goes along side with your story about Sharon, the Osbournes can barely keep there shit straight, they are so busy with positive and money making things in there own life, why in the fuck would they care at all about keeping someone else from making a few bucks.
Finally on your word association
Jon Bon Jovi – while he is one of my top three favorite performers and song writers of all time, he is not responsible for jersey landing on the rock map. Jersey is legendary for its blue collar rock and roll and I cant even claim that I know where it started but his hero’s like SOUTH SIDE JOHNNY or SPRINGSTEEN put the spot on the map, Jovi just made it bigger.
Again Kudos to the first controversial 10 questions, but you appear to be an unappreciative egocentric douchebag.
Love Live Rock and Roll
Now who doesn’t love a good feud? Whether they’re big-name rock stars, washed up rock stars, or even local bands from New Jersey, we still enjoy bands talking smack about each other. Judging by the amount of e-mails we’ve been getting, a lot of Sludgeaholics do too.
We’ll keep an eye on the Zyris/Jester feud as it develops, if that’s what happens. Or maybe Scott Skypokec and Rob Ellis will end up sharing a hug and go out for drinks at Satin Dolls on Rte. 17. You never know — stranger things have happened around here.
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