Sluggfest 
An interview with founder Skillet of Lord Slugg

Any metal head in the Dallas/Fort Worth metal scene (and many of the metal heads in the Texas metal scene), can tell you about Sluggfest. It’s this big-ass event that brings together a couple of dozen of the finest metal bands the area has to offer. What’s more- the bands actually treat each other like family. It’s bands taking care of bands… a concept I think we should see more of. So we thought we would get a word in with the the founder, "Skillet," of Lord Slugg, and see how it all got started...

DallasMusic: How did you come up with Sluggfest?

Skillet: We didn't know what to call it at first, then I said "Hey what about Slugg Fest" It kind of had a cool ring to it and was named after us at the same time.

DallasMusic: Tell us about the very first ones.

Skillet: April 17th 2004  at the Lone Star club in Coppel was the very first one we had Midian, PitCrew, Ultrasonic Guillotine, Sacred Lynch, Sinnocence, As She Dies, Phalter, Beneath The Black Sky, Short Life Crisis, 5 Point, En-Ami, Second Death, KwikBuddha, & Lord Slugg. A show that might have brought 50-60 people (not counting the people in bands). Everyone said they had a good time and wouldn't mind doing another one. We said, "Alright, lets do it".....................and that was the birth of Slugg Fest. Then it started to grow. We had more bands that wanted on and the crowd was growing to around 300+. By the time we had our last one at the Lone Star Country Club it had out grown that place so we had to find a club that would hold everyone. Dream World and some other clubs had heard of the show and asked if we would like to have it at their clubs. We thought about for a while and figured if we have it at Dream World it would be kind of in the middle of Dallas & Fort Worth and it`s a pretty big club, and it`s all ages. So that was the spot for us.

DallasMusic: How do you organize it?

Skillet: The first thing we do is make a post about it in Dtsunderground.com and the emails start flowing in. Every band that asks to be on is written down on the list. We make sure we have a date set in stone, and it`s 3 months ahead of time so everyone has plenty of time to promote, take time off work, or anything they may have to do. And we keep some bands on reserve in case a band can't make it. That way we have someone that will fill the spot.

DallasMusic: How do you decide who goes when on what stage?

Skillet: That is the hardest part of the whole thing! The time slots.........*whew* We get a butt load of bands from all over Texas that want on but the bad thing is we can only take 23 of`them. (We`ve even had bands from Mexico that wanted in. ) I wish we could bring them all in but that just can't happen. We were going to try to keep it mostly for the local bands around here. But we believe some out of town bands would be good for the show as well. So we pick the bands that havent played the show before and give them a chance to get in , then we pick the bands that have stuck around and supported all the bands and promoted for the show. (We like the bands that work their ass off for the show- that way everyone has a huge crowd.) The bands that have worked and promoted the show will have the later slots, and all the bands that are new to it will have early slots. But, if the new bands show they have worked hard for the show, they`ll be back at a much later time slot. And when you have a line up like this one and know each band is going to bring a huge crowd, well thats when it gets hard to say who will get what time. So we try to make sure all the bands are cool with what ever they get, and they are. I have to tell ya, the bands we have around here are great, they just want to get out there, have a good time, and rock their ass off ! And that`s what we wanted Slugg Fest to be about in the first place. To say who will be on the 1st or 2nd stage isnt that hard cause both stages rock. The sound & Lights from DallasMusic.com on 2nd stage is GREAT! We couldnt ask for any better, those guys know what their doing, and they are bad ass at doing it.

DallasMusic: What are your future plans for Sluggfest?

Skillet: We would like to take it on the road some day. And bring some of the great bands we have with us. It would be GREAT to have a Slugg Fest tour.

DallasMusic: Where do you plan to have future Sluggfests?

Skillet: We have some people working on some big things for us, but I`m going to keep that quiet for right now. I wouldn't want a lot of people saying "what ever, that`ll never happen" we`ll just have to wait and see..........stay tuned.

DallasMusic: How did Daimonion and Lord Slugg come together to work on Sluggfest?

Skillet: We love Daimonion, they are some of the best people out there. Gerad has been there from day one trying to help out any way he could, and not asking for anything in return. He is a big part of the whole thing, with all the DVDs , live recordings, running sound (back in the day), hooking us up with DallasMusic.com. The list goes on. And the other guys in the band are great people, they are always there supporting us and the show any way they can. You will see Daimonion & Lord Slugg on every fest.

DallasMusic: Do you make any money off of it?

Skillet: Back when we had it at the other club yes. We got paid a big part of the door. And we gave that to every band that stuck around for the whole show. But now no. To us it aint about the $$  it`s about the show- it`s good to get paid dont get me wrong- If we do get paid everyone gets paid, thats just the way we see it. We will split what ever we make off the show with everyone. The truth is we lose A LOT of money each time we have one, but that's ok with us. Cause all the people that come up to us and say........ "Man, this was the best time I`ve had in a long time, I LOVE IT " That's what makes us keep doing it, that and the love for the music.

DallasMusic: What bands have you had?

Skillet: That`s going to be alot of bands, but here ya go. April 17, 2004 bands: Slugg Fest 1( Lone Star ) Midian Pit Krew En-Ami As She Dies Second Death Sacred Lynch Phalter Beneath The Black Sky Lord Slugg 5 Point Kwik Buddha Short Life Crisis July 10, 2004 bands: Slugg Fest 2 ( Lone Star ) Gallows Eve Death Of Me Short Life Crisis Sacred Lynch Kaelum Daimonion Scarline Psylo Beneath The Black Sky Lord Slugg (In Theory) Asarea En-Ami September 18, 2004 bands: Slugg Fest 3 ( Lone Star ) Nothing Remains Mud Flap Daimonion Lord Slugg Mojque Death Of Me Expletive Rivethead The Flesh Pilgrims Morguetology Midian Sinnocence Die-Cast VIllain Through Her Eyes Sacred Lynch November 13, 2004 bands: Slugg Fest 4 ( Lone Star ) X-Mobius Death Of Me Sacred Lynch Nothing Remains Necrogazm Azarea Dementia Die-Cast Villain Lord Slugg Mad Castle Gallow's Eve RivetHead FaceDown FTW Daimonion January 29, 2005: Slugg Fest 5 ( Dream World ) Stage 1 Gallow's Eve Negative 263 Mugzu Death of Me MadCastle Die-Cast Villain Lord Slugg Daimonion Jacknife LaME. Stage 2 Dementia Lost FaceDown FTW T rounce Primative Return (In Theory) Shadowed Beneath Sacred Lynch With These Words Necrogazm Jolly Lhama April 30,2005 : Slugg Fest 6 ( Dream World ) Stage 1 They Call HIm Destroyer Kromium RivetHead Death Of Me HaloDown Deviant LockJaw Kwik Buddha Lord Slugg Daimonion Jacknife Element Eighty Stage 2 Because Of Her Mugzu Primitive Return Lost Myplasticfriends Rhome Die-Cast Villain Necrogazm Scarline Shadowed Beneath Grain
Aug. 6th 2005 Slugg Fest 7 ( Dream World ) 1st stage ------------------------------2nd Stage 1:00 Strangle Wire ---------------------1:30 Delusion of Grandeur 2:00 Psylo -----------------------------2:30 Hope Has Failed Us 3:00 Jack Quick------------------------3:30 Kromium 4:00 My Plastic Friends ----------------4:30 Halo Down 5:00 Lost ------------------------------5:30 Face Down 6:00 Totem ----------------------------6:30 Kwik Buddha 7:00 Grain -----------------------------7:30 When Life Has Ceased 8:00 RivetHead-------------------------8:30 ( In Theory ) 9:00 Lord Slugg ------------------------9:30 The Destro 10:00 Daimonion -----------------------10:30 Hope Dies Last 11:00 Jacknife --------------------------11:30 Element 80 ( TBA ) 12:00 Losa

DallasMusic: What bands would you like to have?

Skillet: Anyone that would like to be in is welcome. But we would like to some day have.............. Corrosion of Conformity, Drowning Pool, A dozen Furies, and a hell of a lot more! Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I would like to say a huge thanks to all the fans that make it to the show, cause if it wasnt for them the show would be nothing. And i would have to give a  BIG thanks to all the bands that play in the show, you guys are what makes it kick so much ass ! Skillet. www.lordsluggmusic.com