Metal Series 3rd Anniversary: Memorial Day in NYC

Posted May 14 by nick

Here's a photo (courtesy Deciblog fave Justina Villanueva) of Curran Reynolds doing a "pit check" on Grace Perry from Landmine Marathon. You may know Reynolds as the drummer from NYC noiseniks Wetnurse (coming to a city near you with Lord Mantis in June-July), but he's a man who wears many hats and we're here today to give him his propers for booking the "Precious Metal" series at Lit Lounge. May 25 marks the 3rd anniversary of the series with performances by Deathwish Inc stalwarts Victims and Trap Them + a pair of non-black metal "Black" bands, Black Breath and Black Anvil. Awesome, no? Now just imagine a kick-ass line-up like that every Monday night for three years straight! Now a few quick words from the man (the myth, the legend) on the history of Precious Metal and how to put on a killer show:

Can you detail the secret origin of Precious Metal?
Spring 2006, this bartender was living at my apartment and she was starting a Monday night metal party at Lit, a bar here in Manhattan. It was supposed to be a fun sort of glam metal party but it wasn’t really taking off. She invited me down to DJ there one Monday and gradually turned the whole thing over to me. I started booking bands and guest DJs and turned it into a legit extreme music event. The first full-fledged night with bands was in May 2006. So right now we’re coming up on the 3-year anniversary...

Do you have a particular methodology for booking groups?
It’s always great to get touring bands and build the shows around them. I’ve had bands from all over the US and all over the world --Australia, Sweden, Germany, Italy, England, Canada.

Who played the first Precious Metal show?
An amazing, unknown grindcore band from Worcester, Mass, called Nadir.

Who played each of the "anniversary" dates? And who do you have booked for the 3rd anniversary?
First year anniversary was Mick Barr, Nadir, ASRA, and Black Ships. Second year was Japanische Kampfhorspiele and Keitzer. This year it’s Victims, Trap Them, Black Breath, and Black Anvil.

Have you had any wish fulfillment/ 'bucket list' type experiences, in terms of booking bands you always wanted to see?
In 2006, Steve Austin of Today Is The Day played a set with his rock band, Taipan. Steve dressed up in a black outfit and looked a lot like Johnny Cash. He played covers of Johnny Cash and Skid Row songs and a couple old Today Is The Day songs. That was a big night for me, having been a Today Is The Day fan since 1995. I’ve also discovered a lot of new bands in the process of booking these shows. Here’s just a sample of some of the bands that have made my jaw drop, that I’d never seen or heard too much about before I booked them: Animals Killing People, Cleric, Drunkdriver, Harpoon, Kruciation, Liturgy, Lord Mantis, Maw, Praqtiss, Stats, The Binary Code, Wizardry, Woe...

Can we call you a 'tastemaker,' or will that make your ears burn?
I just try to bring a lot of cool, diverse music under one roof.

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