Gary Holt (Slayer & Exodus) Discusses His Wild New Book "Fabulous Disaster"

Gary Holt discusses his new book "Fabulous Disaster," detailing his wild journey in music, including his time with Exodus and Slayer. He contrasts his story with Motley Crue's, highlighting his ongoing struggles despite success. Holt emphasizes the emotional impact he aimed to achieve through the book, recounting tales of methamphetamine abuse and personal redemption. He mentions collaborating with co-writer Adam Tepedelen and the support from bandmates and friends. Holt also touches on his current work with Exodus, recording two albums, and his reflections on sobriety and career milestones.

00:00 - Intro

00:20 - New Book "Fabulous Disaster" 

04:30 - Kirk Hammett From Metallica  

06:18 - Getting Slayer Job & Jeff's Reaction 

09:14 - Slayer Fans 

11:10 - Slayer Reunion & Live Shows 

13:40 - Story of Redemption 

17:11 - Becoming Sober & Creating Music 

21:55 - Two New Albums with Exodus 

23:50 - Vacation & Cruises 

25:55 - Exodus Tour Plans 

26:55 - Metallica, Judas Priest, Megadeth & Overkill

30:05 - Close Calls, Luck & Health  

31:33 - Best Drummer for Bands 

33:42 - Drunken Stories, Celebrities & Heroes 

37:50 - Relationship with Fans 

40:55 - New Fans for Exodus & Social Media 

42:05 - Force of Habit & Exhibit Albums 

44:10 -  Break From Music 

45:20 - Teaching Guitar 

46:00 - Book Pitch 

46:43 - Outro 

Exodus band website:

https://exodusattack.com/site/

Slayer band website:

https://www.slayer.net/

Chuck Shute link tree:

https://linktr.ee/chuck_shute

Transcript

speaker 1  0:04  
Down the heavy stars rock and rolling through the cool guitars. Chucks. Got the questions digging so sharp, peeling back layers, hitting the heart.

Chuck Shute  0:19  
But yeah, I was just saying the book is so good. I finished it in less than 24 hours. It was amazing. I just flew right through it. It's fascinating. Thank

Gary Holt  0:27  
you very much. Yeah, it was, it is, yeah, you know, it's kind of exciting. You know, it's finally about to come out, you know, pretty soon here. So I've been in the midst of recording a new album. I'm in this Airbnb right now, so, you know, I haven't had a whole lot of time to think, to really think about it. You know that, yeah, the book is about to come out. Every day I'm preoccupied. So, yeah, it's pretty exciting. When I stopped to think about

Chuck Shute  0:49  
it, was it as fun to write it as it is to because this reading, and I'm just like, oh, I mean, you look at like Motley Crue, the dirt. I feel like that almost makes it look like milk and cookies compared to this thing is insane,

Gary Holt  1:02  
you know, I mean, my story is different than most. For one, you know, like, you know, just you mentioned Motley Crue, you know, those guys, their wildest tales happen after they exceed, achieved massive success. Um, my successes came with, like, periods of working shit, menial jobs in between. And I'm still not rich and famous, you know, I'm still a working musician, yeah, um, but, you know, yeah, we went through a lot of crazy shit this band, you know, we lived and behaved like animals, you know. I mean, I left a lot of stuff out, like, to tell the truth, you know. I mean, you know, if there's ever a second book, you know, I need something to tell,

Chuck Shute  1:45  
oh geez, I can't imagine what's left out. There's so many crazy things where I was like, I can't believe you put that in the book. And there's so many moments

Gary Holt  1:52  
like that. Well, you know, I wanted the book, you know, because I've read a lot of rock books, and, you know, a lot of them, you know, that's a fine read, you know, but it didn't affect me, and I, you know. And I hope this one, did you know, I wanted, like, you know, the tales of the methamphetamine abuse to make your skin crawl, you know? I wanted people to laugh, to crack up. I wanted people to cry, you know. I think the book achieved it, you know. I mean, had to pull a lot of scabs back, you know, to to write this book, along with, you know, Adam tepellin, my co writer, you know, which, for me, part of the battle was just, you know, because I want to do it for a long time. And Adam approached me about it, and you gotta be comfortable with the guy you're telling all this stuff to, you know? And with Adam, I found someone that I could open up. And the funny thing is, preparing for the book, I would just send him a list of phrases, and, you know, they're meaningless to anyone else, but it'd be a one sentence phrase that would trigger an entire story, like a three word phrase, but, you know, because that's what we've used, you know, to describe this fucking insanity for so long, would just be some nickname we gave it. So I just sent him a long list of stuff, and he'd go down the list and just, you know, well, what about this? And like, Oh, okay. And next comes this huge story, you know, out of that one little phrase, did you

Chuck Shute  3:23  
get help from some of your bandmates or friends remembering some of this stuff? Because, like, I'd imagine, if you're that fucked up on, like, all the shit you guys were doing, like, meth and getting drunk. Like, how do you remember some of these stories? Like, is it something like, you're putting the pieces together with other people helping you?

Gary Holt  3:38  
I have a really good memory, you know, like, even during all the, you know, the the drug use and all that you know. And there's a couple of moments where it might have, like, hit someone else up for, like, you know, just for to double check something you know, a particular date or era or whatever you know. I mean, not necessarily era, because, you know, if it's in the 80s, it's in the 80s, but, um, I've always had a really good memory, like, I have a huge photo collection and of live photos back in the day when fans would come up and give you, like, a thing of developed photos. You know, now it's digital, and, you know, I could pretty much look at them and tell you where they were taken to this day, but, you know, like, some of these stories that are, like, ingrained in my head, you know, so it wasn't hard to remember them. Yeah,

Chuck Shute  4:28  
well, and so you got your buddy Kirk from Metallica, doing the forward. And for people who don't know, I mean, you were his guitar tech in Exodus. Then, then you guys played together. Then, of course, he left for Metallica. But he talks about how, you know, compliment, she was a very funny guy, but very intelligent with really good observations. What kinds of conversations do you have with him? Do you guys get really deep into, like, philosophical things about meaning in life and all that stuff occasionally?

Gary Holt  4:54  
Yeah, especially Kirk, you know, because, you know, I mean, I appreciate everything he said, you know, like. No, I was not a guitar tech. I was a roadie, you know, back then you're a roadie. You're never tuned to his guitar, not one time. You know, we carried it in to the backyard party. Oh, you know, and I might carry his little galley and Cougar combo amp.

Chuck Shute  5:19  
Oh, I lost your vocals. You muted. I can't hear you. Hello,

Gary Holt  5:28  
hello. We try it.

Chuck Shute  5:29  
Can you hear me? Yeah, yeah. I don't know what happened. That was weird. It did

Gary Holt  5:33  
and then unmuted it. Oh, yeah. You know you can't call me a technician back then,

Chuck Shute  5:38  
but yeah, you said you just smoked weed. And I think that's what you even said the book. Yeah, we smoked

Gary Holt  5:42  
weed and drink. Drank off the kegs, you know, um, it was fun, though. We had a good time. And, you know, this book brought back a lot of memories for for Kirk and I, you know, just like Dude, we met a while. It was so crazy, you know, he called me up one day after reading it, almost in tears, you know, because it's our childhood, you know, at least for a brief period of my career, you know. But I owe it all to him, you know, because he's the guy one day said, you want to learn to play guitar, you know, six months later I was in Exodus. Yeah,

Chuck Shute  6:12  
it's crazy. And then, like, reading too about how, when you got the the Slayer job, and then you, you later found out that when Jeff found out it was you taking over for him, he said, Fuck yeah. Like he was, he was kind of down that they were going to tour without him. But when we found out it was you replacing and he was like, fuck yeah, which gave a seal of approval, yeah,

Gary Holt  6:33  
absolutely. And I didn't know that until his memorial. You know when Kristen from slayers management, read a statement from Cathy, you know, Jeff's wife, and you know, that was kind of the thing that was always kept private between themselves, you know. And and hearing that, you know, I brought, you know, I'm not going to lie. I broke down quite a bit, you know, because it was an emotional day. Anyway, you know, I always said, you know, you know, in a perfect world, Jeff would have never left the band, not even for a minute. In a less than perfect world, I would have filled it in a little bit while he recovered. You know, because I always wanted Jeff to come back. You know, it's, it's the world need, needed him. And you know, I was just honored to, like, hold this. Keep his seat warm, you know, yeah.

Chuck Shute  7:23  
Well, he must have been a fan of yours, like they chose you, maybe because he they knew Jeff was a huge fan. Because I think you said too in the book, that someone had told you that Jeff never watched band side stage, but he watched Exodus.

Gary Holt  7:37  
Well, you know, I mean, we toured together as children, you know, I'll use that term, you know, young animals. And we were really close friends, you know, from, you know, during that period, you know, years go by, and Slayer went to world dominant, conquer the world, you know, you know, we didn't see each other much, but we played hell fest one time, and it was one of the it was like the only time we ever accepted the offer to like play, bonded by blood in its entirety. We rarely do it. We have two shows coming up for the 40th anniversary, and he came up and watched the show, and it was Carrie's late tech Armand Crump who said, Jeff, watch the show, and he never comes up to watch anybody play. But you know, we're, it's, we're friends from the heavy metal infancy, you know, and of our infancy. And you know, that friendship was always there. And I think I got the call because I was made the most sense for one, you know, like, I guess I stood the best chance of not having Slayer fans throw shit at me, you know? I mean, you know, there's a thrash metal connection. And you know, the OG of all of it, you know, one of them myself. And so, you know, it made perfect sense. You get some new kid, you know, what's he doing here? What? Where was he when show no mercy was recorded. You know, I was listening to it with Paul Baloff. So, you know, we loved it too, by the way, yeah. So, you know, yeah, we there was an OG connection and old friends, and it made the most sense, you know, I guess for them, I thought it was cool

Chuck Shute  9:15  
too, that you said, Though you talk about Slayer fans throwing shit, there were some fans that were like, flipping you off and stuff. A couple in the book, you know, you got up, up in their face, right?

Gary Holt  9:25  
Well, one of them because he was a real fucking dick. And, you know, he was front row center in Milan, Italy, and he was down there just, you know, just flipping now, fuck you. The whole show, you know, in the stage wasn't that high, and you're able to hop on to the subwoofers, you know. And next thing you know, the guys looking and I'm like two feet from his face, and like, You got something to say now, just fucking say it. He had nothing to say. And one other time, this guy with a really bad skull in. I was, like, flipped me off and shit and, and I'm, I'm not thin skinned, you know, like, I'll just ride it out, you know. But one guy can ruin a show in front of 5000 easily, if you let it. And that guy, you know, I finally pointed him out to our production manager, and the talking on the radio was being done. And I think the guy realized he was about to get thrown the out, so he fucking vanished back in the crowd. And other than that, I had one other guy who was flipping me off but smiling, and I was flipping him off back. And at the end of the show, he goes, we love you. We just missed Jeff. And I said, I miss Jeff too, you know, because, you know, he was down at the front as well, but we were kind of having fun with it too, like, you know, on Angel of Death, when I do the big whammy bar scream and I hold the guitar up ahead, I was just like, fuck you. And he was laughing, and he's going, like that, you know, it was a little game. Games been shipped. Yeah, that one was, but, yeah, I mean, you know, it's like, when I first did it, people, you know, a lot of people like, wow, this sucks about Jeff, but this is going to be something cool to see. None of us knew it would be 10 years running, you know, yeah,

Chuck Shute  11:09  
and you're back now doing some more shows, even after that, you guys had retired. Now, that's kind of, is there a two? There's not a tour set up, though. Is there?

Gary Holt  11:17  
No, there's never going to be another tour. Um, you know, I was as surprised by this as anybody, you know. Like, I know people think, oh, you know, they knew all along. Like, I had no fucking idea, none until I got a call. So in Slayer, would like to do a couple of shows. And like, of course, I'm down for it. But you know, I mean, if Slayer continuing with a couple of shows yearly, if it you know, and every year, I think it's a wait and see if we do it again. We're doing it again this year. Um, but keeping it limited like that makes it special, makes it cool, and it allows me to focus on Exodus, you know, just slayer of my childhood friends. These are my kindergarten friends, you know, in a virtual sense, you know, I mean, in then, this is where I should be right now, is making music with Exodus. I'm a songwriter and Slayer, you know, that's Carrie's jam. And, you know, that's perfectly fine and fair. But I want to write riffs, I want to write songs, and I want to do it with Exodus, and go out and play some Slayer shows. Is awesome. The last last year, we were really good. We did not suck. We're killing but we also worked really hard to get to overcome five years of no activity. You know, we practice really hard.

Chuck Shute  12:41  
Yeah, I mean, I've still never seen slay. I gotta see you guys. I'm gonna have to, like, do a travel date and come and see one of these. You're

Gary Holt  12:46  
gonna have to, you're gonna have to rectify that, because you now have a golden opportunity to actually do it, yeah.

Chuck Shute  12:53  
And I think that's so cool that you're, you're doing some selected shows. So for people, because there's some people weren't even born when some of this stuff came out, and they want to see you guys, yeah. I

Gary Holt  13:02  
mean, if you, if you weren't born when we were still functioning, and you are now, you're really young. Yeah, it's been five years. But yeah, you know, a lot of lot of people, maybe at the time of the band's retirement, maybe you were 10 years old. You know, now you're 15 and can go to a show, so it gives you a chance to see it in the show we've put forward as sick. It's awesome. You know, I'm living out my childhood dreams of fire everywhere. It's awesome. I love it. Yeah,

Chuck Shute  13:35  
that is so crazy. The book is so, I mean, you just tell the whole story. It's weird to say this, but is it fair to say it's kind of inspiring, like, you, not only is it kind of like a rise to fame, but then there's this, like, epic comeback, because you really, I mean, you hit rock bottom, basically, in this book, like, and then you come back, you know, like a phoenix from the ashes rising. It's amazing.

Gary Holt  13:58  
Well, it is a story of redemption, you know, like and like, I like the stress. It's not a story about rags and riches, because I still don't know what riches are like, you know, like, I mean, do I own a house? Yes. Is it a California expensive house? Fuck no. You know, the living the country. You know, I live in the woods, and it's awesome. And, you know, I have to look at my budget and my bills like anyone else, you know, I drive a forward explorer. I don't drive a fucking Corvette or fucking Porsche or like that. You know, I'm still working, and have to, like, look at, like, gaps of time off, like, figure out, well, alright, I need to work here because I got bills to pay. But, you know, it's a redemption story of how you can, like, squander it all. And, you know, and even without, I always like saving without the Slayer arc of the story. It was a redemption story. I got sober and started making really fucking awesome metal albums again and making a living at it, you know, for your musician and. You can make a living, you're winning the battle because it's hard to to to do this because, you know, you can't have a day job when you look, gotta leave all the time on tour, and a lot of musicians fall to the wayside because of that. You know, they just can't keep looking for new jobs. But you know, it does show that you can come back from, like, you know, the perils of drug addiction and and so forth. Yeah, it

Chuck Shute  15:26  
was interesting that the crazy part, I mean, where you talk about in 93 basically, the band ends, and zetro is working as a four minute a roofing company, and gets you and Rick jobs there, and they then Kerang wrote an article about it, like called riffing in 83 roofing in 93 Yeah,

Gary Holt  15:42  
fuck you craring. No. But actually, you know, it's all because the motivation, funniest insult ever. It's pretty classic. I mean, yeah, hats off to them. You know, that's pretty good. But was

Chuck Shute  15:55  
that part of the motivation? Because you also said you'd go to shows and you get angry because you'd see dudes with less talent than you who are doing better, and then your wife, at the time encouraged you to pick up the guitar again. Yeah?

Gary Holt  16:07  
I mean, you know, yeah, I go to a show and like, these guys fucking suck. I'm not going to be specific, not even necessarily suck, but when you're not doing anything, everybody sucks because they're doing what you should be doing and what you did for, you know, so much of your youth. And it wasn't until I got sober and quit doing drugs that all of a sudden,

Chuck Shute  16:33  
oh, I lost you. Your mic again.

You got muted. I can't hear you.

Gary Holt  16:44  
Hello, you got me back. Yep, yeah, you're back now. Sorry. Can you hear me? Yep, I don't know what happened. Okay, you know, I was just saying, um, you know the drugs, you know, that buried any creativity I had. And it wasn't till you know, I, like, quit doing speed that all sudden, like, riffs were flying out, you know, like, all right, I can still do this.

Chuck Shute  17:06  
Yeah, the craziest part about the meth, I mean, there's some crazy stories about doing meth, but the weirdest part is that you just, like, how you quit this, the way that you quit was, like, you didn't go to rehab or 12 step program. You just, you ran out. You couldn't take it to Europe, or you used it all up in Europe, you couldn't find any two days, yeah, yeah. So then you just kind of like, had to, you were dope sick, and you just you couldn't find any mess. So you became sober, and then you just didn't, never tried it again after that. Hello, I missed you. Uh, you're mute again. Hello. Oh,

hello, yep, there. You're back. Sorry, yeah,

oh, you're muted again. I don't know, muting that there, yeah, yeah,

Gary Holt  17:51  
okay, yeah. We got dope sick as fuck. And just, you know, we just went to heavy metal rehab, which is, like the typically, history would prove its least successful rehab on Earth, you know, like tour, you know, like, you know, who goes on tour to get sober, but meth was not prevalent in Europe, you know, I mean, maybe in certain spots, if you're well connected, and it was shitty, but, um, we just, you know, I started gradually Feeling better every day. And you know, then I got home and traded that huge rock of fucking speed I had for a ride home. You know, the last The only good thing it ever did for me is it got me home

Chuck Shute  18:32  
and you quit drinking cold turkey too, right? You didn't do a 12 step program for that either.

Gary Holt  18:37  
No. I mean, I was never an alcoholic at the time. When I quit drinking, it was more about a depression thing that was setting in in the middle of a pandemic. I can barely play because my elbows are so fucked up. My drummer and long time collaborator and best friend Tom, is battling cancer, and so I was sitting alone out in my place, I live in the country, and just sitting there getting hammered, you know, by myself, you know. And some days I wouldn't drink at all, you know, most days I wouldn't, but then I wouldn't, I'd get super passive aggressive with my wife, because I was just super depressed. And I just decided, you know, after being a real dickhead one night, so like, just quit. And, um, I don't regret it. You know, I know what most liquors taste like. You know, it's like I'm okay if you know, not pounding anymore, Jagermeister. But you know, at the time, prior to the pandemic, I was a teetotaler in the world of heavy metal drinkers. You know, I drank a lot of beer. I was a beer drinker. I you know, I rarely had a hangover. I was the first guy to go to bed. But, you know, it was during that time of the world down to shit that I was just sitting there, and I I go to the store and buy like these 11% alcohol triple IPA bottles that big and and I drink three of them, you know, and I get hammered, and I just sit. There and and foot consult. And, you know, it wasn't doing anyone any good. So, you know, I decided to quit. But, you know, it's the best thing I ever did, you know, short of quitting drugs in the first place, yeah, because

Chuck Shute  20:12  
you mentioned, when you quit the meth, all these like riffs came pouring out of you. And it was the same thing when you quit alcohol. It was like you had all this built up, like musical energy that just came out. Well, it

Gary Holt  20:21  
was actually create creatively. It was the opposite. I was worried about how I'd be able to create without alcohol, even though I didn't drink when I wrote, you know, so that made no sense. But like during the last album, we'd work during the day, and the second the the day's work was done, I crack a beer, you know, like, and several, you know, one point Tom hunting says your ability to consume beer is impressive, you know, because I'm just, you know, big mug and just pounding them down and but that was my unwinding. And, you know, so everything affects you mentally and like, Alright, can Can I write sober completely, even though I didn't drink when I wrote those songs and I drank later at the end of the day when I wrote the riffs, I was sober, you know? I wasn't. I don't get up in the morning and start playing guitar and drinking, you know, but you start worrying about like that, that you shouldn't even have to concern yourself with, you know, because the two weren't mutually dependent on each other.

Chuck Shute  21:29  
Yeah, do you find yourself? How do you occupy that time now that that used to be with drugs and and alcohol? Is there something else, other hobbies that you've taken up now, or ways to de stress, or whatever.

Gary Holt  21:40  
You know, just my spend as much time as possible with my grandkids and my family and my my kids, and just play guitar. You know, I play the hell out of the thing now and and Exodus, it keeps me fucking busy, that's for damn sure.

Chuck Shute  21:55  
Yeah, what's the update with Exodus? I know you guys. Zetros out now, I think is Rob back in. Rob's

Gary Holt  22:02  
back, yeah, we're, we've been in the studio for two weeks now. Tom's wrapping up drums. We're, we've set ourselves an ambitious goal on this record. We're recording two albums right now. Oh, really, yeah, we, we a couple of songs shy from hitting our total goal of having two albums of, like, crushing material, no filler. You know, we figured, like, if we have the songs, let's record them, and when it's time to release a follow up, what's done, it's in the can. I mean, the chances are by the time we get to that point, and I'll have new stuff that has to be included. Oh, this is so good, but then we go in the studio for two weeks, not two months, you know.

Chuck Shute  22:43  
So you'll release the first one, and then you'll hold, you'll wait for the other one.

Gary Holt  22:48  
Yeah, we'll, we'll keep it in the can, you know, ready to go, and won't have any downtime, you know, we're not getting any younger. We might as well work a little extra hard now while we can.

Chuck Shute  22:58  
And then Is there plans to tour once that's released.

Gary Holt  23:02  
Oh, yeah, yeah, of course. Um, we're shooting for a Spring release the next year, like late winter, spring. We were hoping to get it done this year, get it out this year, but we would had to rush it. And, you know, since we're trying to record, like, you know, 20 to 22 songs, and we needed the time, and it's, it's going to be worth it in the end, and this shit is fucking phenomenal.

Chuck Shute  23:28  
Okay, wow, nice. Well, people, fans will definitely look forward to that for sure.

Gary Holt  23:33  
Yeah, you know, why? Just work hard? You know, we're definitely a hard working bunch. We're not afraid to, like, bust our ass, you know, and, and it'll save us some work down the road, you know, the in between, that little break between albums, we'll be able to relax a little. Maybe I can finally go on a vacation. I've never had one. What are you serious? I've gone on vacations where I played guitar to get there, yeah, you know, like, you know, fly my wife out and we play somewhere. And, okay, you know, she's been to Rio, but, you know, I had like, two days off there, you know, like, you know, have I ever gotten on a plane and gone someplace, you know, without a guitar? Not once in my life, ever,

Chuck Shute  24:17  
wow, yeah, because that is very, I mean, that's like you're working when you're traveling and touring. That's not the same. It's

Gary Holt  24:24  
not the same and but I'm kind of workaholic. I probably have a hard time shutting it off when I got there, but you know, at some point I'm going to do it. I have a fuck ton of freaking flyer miles. At some point,

Chuck Shute  24:37  
where would you go? If you could go anywhere in the world just for like, a week to relax.

Gary Holt  24:42  
Oh, God. And, I mean, I don't know, um, someplace tropical, but, you know, I'm not a sun guy. You know, it's like, um, pale skin, and I burn easily. But, you know, I've been New York so many times. That's off the table, you know. You know, I've only been to the whole. Why you once, and that was with Slayer, and I never left my hotel except to go out to dinner one night. So, yeah, I don't know, you know, it's like, you know, the closest I've had to a vacation is Exodus loves to play the cruise ships. You know, we have fun. We embrace it. You know, a lot of bands, you know, don't like it, you know. So we've done a few of those, and so been to, like, you know, the most recent, to Dominican Republic, and, you know, Bahamas and stuff like that. And it's always fun, but I'm still playing to do it, you know,

Chuck Shute  25:32  
right? Yeah, I just did my first cruise. I'd never been on one. It's, it's crazy how big those ships are and how much stuff there is. Oh, there,

Gary Holt  25:39  
there's floating shopping malls are crazy, but I don't know, sit down with my wife, Lisa, and we'll figure out where we're going to go, but at some point we've got to use those models. Yeah, I know totally

Chuck Shute  25:50  
well. And then so when you did, when you do tour with Exodus, is there any bands that you is it going to be maybe bands you've already toured with? Or do you think you'll try to reach out and do something different this time. Could you repeat that? Would you try to tour when you set up the tour with Exodus? Would you try to tour with bands that you haven't toured with before? Or is it going to be maybe some of the same packages we've seen in the past? Now

Gary Holt  26:15  
we're always looking for for new bands to tour with, or new bands for us to support. You know. Like, yeah, I love supporting, you know, because less pressure on me to carry the tour. And like, you know, we spent two years doing this. Base strikes back to her with testament and death angel opening. And half the time I'd already scoped out the restaurant for dinner, and we get off stage and change, and Testament's just going on, and we're sitting down to eat. It's awesome. Yeah, in the the day goes smooth and stay on a regimented schedule and and I'm watching 90 day fiance before the fans have left. You know, it's awesome.

Chuck Shute  26:53  
Yeah, it's crazy. Because you talk about how you guys played the you supported Metallica in 85 and then they told you, well, that's the last time you'll ever play with us, because you guys had, like, a bigger riser, and you you said that you destroyed them, and you made them look foolish,

Gary Holt  27:07  
and then we crushed them that night, for sure, play with them again. I mean, I think it wasn't so much us, but, you know, Metallica started touring bands like The cult and stuff like that supporting but, yeah, we smoked them that night, you know, like, if you're there, you're there. I mean, now they could go up and make armpit fart noises, and they'd get a better response than us, you know, without guitars, they could just go up and tell jokes, and it'd go over better because they're fucking Metallica, you know. And you know, I give them credit where credit's due, you know, I've always said Master puppets, to me, is the greatest metal album ever made. It's perfect, you know, jealous, it's so good. Yeah,

Chuck Shute  27:48  
no, that is a classic. And then, I mean,

Gary Holt  27:50  
it's the best. It's between that and Judas Priest stain class for me, which are my two favorite metal albums of all time. But, you know, Master puppets pretty perfect. Yeah. And

Chuck Shute  28:01  
you guys almost toured with, uh, with priests, but in the 80s, but then it fell apart because of the label wouldn't support you guys or something.

Gary Holt  28:07  
Yeah, yeah. We had no tour sport and no nothing, and so we lost out, and Pantera did it,

Chuck Shute  28:13  
but you could now. That would be a good time to jump on tour with Judas Priest, maybe this next tour, uh,

Gary Holt  28:19  
who knows? We're always we'll always take that phone call.

Chuck Shute  28:23  
Yeah. Or what about your relationship with Megadeth? You talk about that in the book with Dave Mustaine. You gravitated towards him because you guys were both evil as fuck. That's what you said the book.

Gary Holt  28:34  
You're pretty much true. I mean, we, you know, when Exodus and Metallica met each other. We kind of like saw each other as kindred spirits. You know, we were, like, influenced by the same music and playing the same kind of music. And James was kind of shy back then. He was quieter. And Dave was the front man. He was the one who spoke between songs. And there was maybe a little more venom, you know, the band venom in Dave Mustaine, and there's a lot of venom in Exodus, and so that, you know, there's a little more evil there. But you know, we got on famously with all of them, you know, you know, they fucking moved to the Bay Area because, you know, they knew this was the place they had to be, yeah.

Chuck Shute  29:17  
And then you tell the story, this is crazy with talking about overkill, the singer Bobby blitz grabbed you one day after you took a Quaalude, you almost fell down the stairs studio 54 and, like, you really think you say, You joke. You're like, Oh, I could have been a paraplegic. Like, Was it really that bad of a fall if you had fallen?

Gary Holt  29:36  
Oh, some steep stairs. And that's, that's, you know, assuming that at the bottom now I don't keep going and go over the railing. You know, this is in the balcony, but yeah, I was about to do a header, I got dizzy, and I was spinning a little bit, and he reached out and grabbed me by my belt. So thank you, Bobby

friends to this day. Love him dearly.

Chuck Shute  29:57  
Yeah, and there's so many crazy stories like that in the book. Like, your singer falls through the a roof, like a glass roof. Was a glass skylight. Yeah, skylight. Sorry, yeah,

Transcribed by https://otter.ai