Evil Army on the Rise: An Interview with Guitaris and Singer Rob Evil

I recently got to sit down with Rob Evil, guitarist, singer, and lyricist of Evil Army, Memphis, Tennessee's answer to what comes next in the world of music. Though they're on bass player number three now, they are still as strong as when I first caught up with them a year ago. Truthfully, their newest bass player just might prove to be a handy asset to the band. Jay the Retard, as he's most well known, for the punk band The Retards, has joined Evil Army as 'Jimmy Blitzkrieg', replacing Sgt. Death, who replaced Bones at the beginning of Summer 2006. He's been in atleast 10 punk rock bands, and has as many as thirty different albums out at the moment; coming off his own tour only a week ago, this week, all the guys, Rob Evil, Jimmy, and Micheal Murder, Rob's twin, on the drums are gearing up to leave Memphis to go on their North American Tour, gracing the Eastern seaboard with it's thrash attack.

I limited myself to ten questions, as I didn't want to take up too much of their time, knowing they were practicing every day until they left, to make sure they had themselves all together. Rob was kind enough to be the spokesman, and answered all questions for me. Which is good, because he seems to have the most patience.

Question 1: How long has Evil Army been around?

Answer: 5 years

Question 2: What instruments do you play, and how long have you played them?

Answer: I play guitar and do vocals. I've been playing guitar since I was 11, so it's been about 12 years. I didn't start doing vocals until I figured out that we couldn't find anyone else to do it in the band, so I've been yelling for about 5 years.

Question 3: How many records has Evil Army had?

Answer: Three records. Conquer Human Life was our first 7", Evil Army/Bury the Living split 7", and our self-titled full-length was released on 12" and cd.

Question 4: What label is Evil Army on now, and how long have you been on it?

Answer: We're not exclusively on any label, but Get Revenge Records released our latest album, which is our full-length.

Question 5: How would you classify Evil Army's sound?

Answer: Aggressive.

Question 6: What "major" bands has Evil Army toured/played with?

Answer: I guess as far as "major" bands go, we've played with EyeHateGod, Goatwhore, Exhumed, and Tragedy. That's the only ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Question 7: How hard was it to book your upcoming tour?

Answer: I hate booking tours, but it's worth it. It's always a hassle having to contact people over and over, and wait for 'em to get back to you, but in the end, it is worth it. I wish we had someone else to do it for us.

Question 8: What are the plans after the tour?

Answer: We're recording 5 or 6 songs for an EP which will be our next full length, and we're pulling one song from that recording session to put on a split 7" with a band from Boston called War Ripper.

Question 9: What is your take on the local Memphis scene?

Answer: I wish there were more metal bands in Memphis. There isn't really a big metal scene in
Memphis, but there's a handful of garage rock/punk bands, but I'm not real big on that kind
of music.

Question 10: Can you see Evil Army reaching the heights of, say, Slayer?

Answer: It'd be nice.

They've definately got the possibilities and potential, that's for sure. I've been a fan of heavy metal all my life, even got tour posters older than me, to preserve the history of metal, and I'm definately saving everything I can from these guys, whom I proud to call my friends. They give a great show every time, and I'm surely going to see them again.