I had not seen or talked to Peter Steele of Type O Negative for over a decade. In fact I kind of forgot about him and his band the last ten years I guess. Not that I stopped being a fan of his band or of him personally; I dig both (and will always have a special place for both in my ticker). No; it was just I stopped promoting metal shows, managing metal bands and stopped touring all together. Peter was the essence of opposites. He was very dark and private, yet he would always initiate every conversation when I would see him and he had the best and darkest sense of humor. His music and lyrics were also the same. A goth band who were too metal and a metal band that was to goth and punk. Their first lp was "Slow, Deep and Hard" is a classic album in every sense. It broke so many boundaries in the metal and goth scenes; hell the whole music scene and business. They were their labels first gold record; something they accomplished against all odds. So reading he passed away last week was a real bummer and has been playing in my movie theatre in my head since I heard over the weekend. I had some moments with Peter and the band and all that came rushing back into my video player in my head. I promoted a bunch of his shows, toured with him and had some great (intense now I look back) conversations with him. I have met a lot of people (too many?) in my life and .01% ever really impacted my life with their personality and presence; Peter definitely did and some of it has stayed with me in life and business (we both sucked at love then).
I first met Peter....wait a minute, let's back up almost a year to the day in 1991 when Roadrunner Records sent me the promo cassette and lp of "Slow, Deep and Hard". There were metal bands and there were goth bands; but no one had successfully combined the best of both (god knows both genres have some bloated, cheesy types) to really take it up a notch. Well Peter and his long time buddies from Brooklyn were well up to the challenge. They delivered a record that to this day still sounds fresh and boundary breaking; just a really good album from start to finish. It was tongue in cheek lyrics, pounding rhythms, song titles than were mind boggling and Peter's insanely deep vocals. Nothing generic or phony ever seem to enter their realm. They knew it was just music and loved to poke fun at themselves and the ironic world we exist in. The cheese was meant to be way cheesy and the metal was a hard as anyone, some of the songs were a highway that incorporated almost ever musical style you can think of. A Baroque piano solo then a slow funeral chant that takes a right turn into the fasted 4/4 punk rock beat and ends you in a haze of Pete's deep growl, pounding drums and whirling keys. Thinking man's metal and goth? Hell no, real music from a real world with all the escapism you need to cope. I just remembered I had actually first had contact with Peter by phone in the mid 1980's. His first band was Carnivore, a NYC metal band that I had tried to get to come out to Chicago to play one of my shows. As a punk and metal promoter in the '80's I was way into the whole NYC hardcore and metal scenes. I had brought out Agnostic Front, Murphy's Law, Cro-Mags, Ludichrist, Crumbsuckers, Leeway all for their first shows here in Chicago. So I was trying to track down Carnivore as they had no agent or manager at the time. They pretty much only played the east coast as they all had decent, good paying straight jobs. I had somehow gotten a hold of a 718 (Brooklyn!!) number. Someone at their label said call this number and someone from Carnivore will answer. So I called, Peter answered and we proceeded to talk about them coming out to Chicago to play one of my shows at Metro. He explained that he had a good paying job with the parks department of Brooklyn and they could only play locally weekends. But he was hoping they could do a small tour when they all had vacation dates together. Well they broke up before that and all the planning in my head went south.
So we move ahead several years and I am doing shows at a all ages club called Medusa's and I have a Exploited show at the club. Exploited are the consummate knucklehead punk rock act from Scotland. Wattie is the singer and thick as a brick. But he has one of the best mohawks http://www.bandswallpapers.com/img27.htm in music...super dumbass though. I booked the show and then was told they had two NYC support acts; I should say BROOKLYN acts; Biohazard and Peter Steele's new band, Type O Negative. Weird I thought as neither band was punk by any means; but I loved both acts and this will be a packed show. I remember Peter and the boys walking up the stairs at Medusa's; four black and leather clad, black long hair and not a smile in sight as they strode towards me. I said, "Peter?" and with a huge baritone comeback I heard "yes" in a slow Brooklyn drawl. I proceeded to explain to them were to load in their equipment and who was my sound man to check in with. I mean they had long blacker than black hair and they all has black leather trench coats and huge, heavy boots....yeah, yeah BLACK!! They looked awesome and fearless. They looked like they meant business and were all about kicking ass on and off stage. So i figured that this would be a very interesting situation; as they were goth, metal rockers and the vast majority of the 500+ crowd was hardcore punk. I have to say that there was a ton of puzzled looks from the mohawked ones in front of the stage waiting for their Scottish hero, Wattie. Peter stepped to the mic and said something in the vein of where they were from and who they were and that everyone was probably going to hate them. I had to chuckle as they launched into some amazing songs off their first cd. Needless to say the punks hated them, BUT Peter and the boys more than kept their own and his derogatory, self degrading humor disarmed any tough guy ready to step up and challenge old boy.They did a blazing thirty minute set and just said goodnight. I found Peter backstage and said how much I loved the set and thought that he was hilarious and I dug how he handled the adversity of the situation. They hung for Biohazard's set and then left.
Next time I saw and hung with Peter and the band was on their Bloody Kisses tour http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVaHG_QMvNk. I was the promoter here in Chicago and did it at a cheesy metal club above a dinner and pinball arcade. This was the record that went platinum and broke new ground for a lot of fellow bands. They ended up touring over two years to make this record go thru the roof. My show was early on this mega gigantic tour that would see them play every part of the world and open for every major rock act. This was a small headline show that the band seemed into. They were not as nearly burnt as when I saw them over a year later supporting Pantera. Bands seem to blow up over night, but it is a slow, arduous grid at best. It can steal your very soul right before your life. It can be the best of time and the very worst of times. Reality and real relationships seemed suspended in this nefarious area as you drift from state to state and country to country. I did see Pete laugh and joke, but that was mostly the early years. He never really loved touring I felt, but understood the necessary evilness of it. This was also the first time I saw how he had become; "wanted" and "needed", something that I think freaked the shit out of him. They played a thunderous sound check and Pete and I were standing outside the club talking about a lot of stuff; this guy was smart and worldly, something most of his metal compatriots severely lacked. I remember this very clearly, this woman who was intensely striking and even more so goth, walked up to us; or I should say Pete and basically handed him a black rose (with thorns of course) and a bottle of the darkest red wine. She whispered into his ear for a good 30 seconds or so and he said "Goodbye Sean, I will see you in a little while" and proceeded to walk off into the sunset with her. But I wasn't finished Pete!! Dude come back.....(Just Kidding!)
I saw him briefly backstage at a few big shows they were supporting the afore mentioned Pantera tour, Queensryche and some other big rock act that escapes me. The band seemed to be in a whirl, as the record seemed to just gain more momentum a year after it had come out. New radio versions were recorded for single play and the cover of Seals and Croft's "Summer Breeze" was getting a lot of a lot airplay. Brilliant cover version that they completely make their own and make it slow and hard! Skip several years ahead to their nest release "October Rust" and I spend several weeks on tour with him as I get my band I was managing on several weeks worth of Type O dates. The last record went platinum and pressure from their label seemed to be high, as they wanted even more sales. So this record became their most accessible, but still had some awesome moments. Now I must digress here for a moment to give a bit of back history about a girl we both had spent some time with differing ends for each. A friend who had become more than a friend to me had been very taken with Pete and she had gotten close to him over several tours on the previous record. From the beginning Pete was in HUGE demand from the girls backstage or anywhere for that matter. A 6' 8" Goth Adonis; even I was impressed and thought the ladies must have good taste. So we end up going out for a while and I finally ask her about the man and the interludes, her feelings and what happened and I should probably shut up; but kept banging on as I quite liked him and was infatuated out of my mind with her. He was everything I thought, someone deep, considerate and not really into the temporal things life on the road offered up every moment. Plus she said the Playgirl photo's were pretty spot on; OMG!! Ironically our feelings mirrored each other, but for the wrong person. I was into her and she was way into Pete. She had been with other rock stars, but Pete seemed to be the one that struck that special mark. So we went our separate ways and I think she saw Pete one more time and they just had a drink and chat and he was gone. So back to the tour, we arrive in Colorado Springs and it's the first night of the tour and the stage is small; really small. Most acts would have kicked us off the bill, Pete laughed and said there was plenty of room and we played a set in front of a sold out house. This was to be one of many nice things Pete did for me and my band thru out the tour. He had his own tour bus at this point and I hung with him several times on it. The most personal time I had with Pete was in Lawrence, Kansas the night the tour was playing the Granada theatre. The dressing rooms were in the basement in catacombs and we had the smallest one as we were the first of three acts on the tour (Life Of Agony were middle act and there because of Pete also) and he found us as usual and asked us what he always asked us. "You guys ok?” you guys need anything; let me know" and "That was a good set the other night in Colorado". He always watched the support bands every night for at least 4 or 5 songs. I know because he would watch my sad band with me each night of the tour. So Life Of agony are playing inside and I feel like a bit of fresh air and walk out into the alley. On one of the loading doors someone had pinned Pete's Playgirl centerfold to that door. I know it's a college town, but it seemed like a sad and desperate attempt at humor. I took it down trying not to look to closely and have this burned into my tiny mind. He was ripped and he was hung is all you need to know! I walked over to the tour bus area and saw Pete standing by his bus. I walked over and said hey and once again thanked him for being so Pete and cool. As usual he said it was absolutely nothing at all. His pleasure and I truly believe that to this day. I asked if I could check out his ride and I got the tour. It was pretty freakin' cool. His own bus with a small gym, a recording studio to do demos on tour and a kind of master bedroom. The place so many wanted to be, but never made it. We talked for a while and talked about more than the tour and music. He was very philosophical and loved the irony in everything. He seemed way older and wiser than his years and he seems very alone. I know he was a bit bummed about the Playgirl thing, as I think he was misled as how big the female readership was: 25%. Not regretful at all, just felt fooled I think. I told him how our mutual acquaintance had big feelings for him and she was pretty worthy of such undertakings. He said she was very nice, but that he had a hard time with relationships lately and also touring so much leads to nothing but trouble in steady relationships. Seemed so sad and final in his mind regarding that other person of matter. We ended the tour a few shows later and we all returned to our previous lives. Pete went home and from reports had a bit of a hard time mentally and emotionally. He had some issues with the law and lost some close people to him. I truly cherish the time and experiences I had with Pete and his band. Only thing I regret is I could have had more face time, but such is life. He seemed a bit adrift in a packed city and industry. Like that video EBN/OZN (the video, not the song content) where the guy is stationary and everyone is flying by (http://www.spike.com/video/aeiou-sometimes-y/2794312); kind of disconnected. Not really positive what he died of: heart attack they are saying, but I am sure it was a long time coming. The music world will miss a true genre pioneer, but more sadly the world will be one down on the "Good Guy" count. Goodnight Pete and THX again for sharing a moment or two with me: it always rocked in my mind. Peter Steele (January 4, 1962 – April 14, 2010)
