God Forbid Interview

You've got to give it to them, they're as hard as nails. They stop their van to have fights in the street, they're too ugly to get groupies and American magazines won't put them on the cover because they're black. But how will God Forbid fare under the thumbscrews of Cardinal Udo?

Flip magazine once put Living Color, who are black, on the cover and a reader sent the magazine back to them with the eyes burned out. Do you think this would happen in this day and age?
Hugh Scanlon, Worcester

Doc Coyle: "The reason that magazines don't put us on the cover is that we don't sell 100,000 records, but we have done some covers. It took us this long to get on the cover of Metal Maniacs and if there's one that will get returned with eyes burned out and crosses and all sorts of Dixie shit, it will probably be that magazine. The reason that it took so long for magazines in America - let's be real - is that they don't want to see no 'negroes' on the cover. They wanna see Zakk Wylde on the cover. You can imagine some dude in Alabama (in high pitched Southern drawl), 'What the fuck man... they put a niggrah on the cover.'"
Corey Pierce: "I had some real ignorant shit happen to me. One time in Virginia this guy came up to me and said, 'Goddamn man, how did a black guy learn to play drums like that?' And I'm like, 'Pretty much the way a white dude does...'"

Are you proud to be an American?
Ben Arnold, Plymouth

Corey Pierce: "I'm proud to be an American."
Doc Coyle: "We're all proud to be American. I love my country, it's just that there's a lot of fucked up shit there and we're not in control at any given time."
Dallas Coyle: "I'm moving to Middle Earth, man. That way I can drink ale and smoke pipeweed."
Corey Pierce: "I think as long as you got at least two people in the world you're gonna have war. If there was just two dudes left and they met up and one says to the other, 'Hey, welcome to my world,' and the other says, 'Your world? This shit's my world'. Pretty soon you got two dead niggas and that's when there'll be peace."
Doc Coyle: "Yeah, Mars doesn't really have any political problems at all."

Your latest album, 'Constitution Of Treason', is set after the end of civilisation as we know it. What's your favourite post-apocalypse movie?
S. Pliscombe, Cleveland

Doc Coyle: "I like Terminator 2, The Matrix."
Corey Pierce: "I go for The Matrix. When The Matrix came out it really threw me and I was going around thinking it was real."
Doc Coyle: "The only reason I don't pick The Matrix is cos the two sequels were so bad. Another one I love is a Japanese anime thing called Battle Angel Aelita. It's about this girl who's a robot. It's one of the best animes I've ever seen. It's also really, really depressing."
Dallas Coyle: "I think Akira is great. I think as far as post-apocalyptic movies go that had one of the craziest storylines."
Hammer: Is there a big Matrix influence through-out 'Constitution Of Treason'?
Dallas Coyle: "Yeah there is. Bigger than The Bible."

Do you get a lot of groupies?
Tom Gill, Newport

Doc Coyle: "I wouldn't call them groupies..."
Corey Pierce: "I think there's a lot of personal pursuit. Some girls like some dudes and that's a great connection. That's a happy thing."
Doc Coyle: "It depends on the tour. If it's with Cannibal Corpse, it's safe to say that there aren't gonna be a lot of ladies there."
Corey Pierce: "And the ones that are you don't wanna know."
Doc Coyle: "But if you're on tour with Avenged Sevenfold..."
Corey Pierce: "There's some fine booty."
Doc Coyle: "But in general, no."
Corey Pierce: "No."
Dallas Coyle: "No."
Hammer: Do you get obsessive male fans?
Dallas Coyle: "This one time in Texas there was this dude, this motherfucker was just following me around, shadowing me. And I was like (mimes shuffling sideways to avoid somebody) and he was always right there."
Corey Pierce: "I had this guy trying to talk to me when I was taking a shit and I didn't appreciate that too much."

What's the worst thing about being in a band with your brother and what's the worst thing about being in a band with two brothers?
N. Gallagher, Manchester

Corey Pierce: "For me the worst thing about being in a band with two brothers is listening for hours to the endless arguments and not being able to choke either one of the motherfuckers to death."
Dallas Coyle: "The problem with being in a band with your brother is that you can't find any kind of a simple answer because when you're yelling at each other, instead of the argument going in a straight line it goes in a circle. And you don't get a resolution any time soon 'cos the argument that started on Wednesday is still going around a week later."

Have you two brothers ever had a fist fight and if so who won?
Hank Cooper, Walthamstow

Doc Coyle: "Oh yeah."
Corey Pierce: "Remember that time in the parking lot? We had just come back from a show and we pulled up in the parking lot. I was just getting out of the van and I see these two (Doc and Dallas) wrestling in the dark in the fucking parking lot outside their dad's house. I mean, what the fuck happened in five minutes between getting out of the van and walking across the parking lot? And the next day they were hurting. Doc's shoulder was all fucked up. I remember once in the middle of the afternoon we pulled up on a busy street so that they could go at it. When these two go at it, me and Byron [Davis, singer] just pop open a couple of beers and watch."

If you were God, what would you forbid?
Dave Hume, Edinburgh

Dallas Coyle: "Other people."
Doc Coyle: "Work."
Corey Pierce: "I would forbid all the other dudes and I would be by myself getting all of that beautiful ass."
Dallas Coyle: "I'd forbid ugly people."
Doc Coyle: "But if you forbade ugly people, even the most beautiful people would start to look ugly." Corey Pierce: "I guess so."
Doc Coyle: "I would forbid pop-punk bands, motherfuckers that put their hair like this [demonstrates emo hair-over-the-eye style]. I'd forbid Aiden. The most homoerotic band on the entire planet."
Corey Pierce: "I would forbid chicks with bad tempers."
Hammer: Isn't that all of them?
Corey Pierce: "That's not true, man. I can tell you from first hand experience that some of them are way worse than others. Way worse!"

Why are you such a pessimistic band?
Christian Morte, Huddersfield

Doc Coyle: "We've been going for nine years now and... and I think we're definitely gonna call the next album 'A Day Late And A Dollar Short'.
Dallas Coyle: "I don't think we're pessimistic so much as... we work hard, man, and bad shit just keeps happening to us."
Doc Coyle: "I think for every good thing that happens to us there's 90 things that are fucked up."
Corey Pierce: "There's also some ridiculous stories that circulate about us that just aren't true. Like this guy that said that I was gonna beat him up. Like this guy who is a bit paranoid said that me and Byron got him in the corner and beat the shit out of him and this got back to our people, to the label, the promoters, and it went around five different places in a day. I woke up to 15 messages on my phone. You know, 'My god! What happened?' All these people were saying 'Yes, we know he's crazy, but what did you do?' I mean, if I did want to shank this dude's ass, you would never find out that it was me."

You were recently on tour with Avenged Sevenfold. Did you all vote for George W Bush as well then?
Phil Free, Dalry, Ayrshire

Doc Coyle: "No. I was over here in Europe so I had to do an absentee ballot. They actually denied that my signature was the same as on the form when I registered. My dad was like, 'This is a whole new conspiracy'.
Dallas Coyle: "New Jersey is 70 per cent Democrat anyway. It's like a game of chess for these people. I honestly feel that unless they change to a popular vote then our votes don't really count. Until there's more than two choices there's no point voting."
Doc Coyle: "I'm gonna start my own political party and the first thing on the agenda is to legalise weed." Corey Pierce: "I'm gonna start my own religion called the Lay Down And Watch DVDs church. I won't have to pay taxes to the man any more. I'll be a priest of Lay Down And Watch DVDs. We preach hedonism and drugs - except heroin or crack or crystal meth, 'cos I'm not down with any of that shit."

If you were a character from Star Wars who would it be?
Paula Temple, Slough

Doc Coyle: "I'd definitely be Obi Wan as he's the voice of peace and reason."
Dallas Coyle: "I think I'd be the Emperor. You know, 'Choose the dark side'. The dark side calls me every day."
Hammer: And do you answer?
Dallas Coyle: "Yes I do. I'm going to Hell for this shit."
Corey Pierce: "I'd be Lando Calrissian, Billy Dee Williams, the only black brother in space. George Bush ain't gonna let no black people ride the space shuttle... it's like Cedric The Entertainer said, 'You goin' to the moon? We goin' to the moon. We'll be right behind you in a space shuttle with a Cadillac grille, one headlight broke and the tags all wrong'. I used to think that there were a whole lotta places that black people aren't at, like Finland. I'd think, 'Black people don't belong there.' That's the way I used to think! But everywhere we go there's black people. I know this 'cos every single one of them comes up to me and gives me the head-nod."
Doc Coyle: "We're gonna start the hustle like all these Somalian and Haitian dudes we meet over here in Europe."
Corey Pierce: "That's it, man. Get you a sack of chronic and a bootleg Nelly DVD. And we can tell you where the nearest fried chicken joint is!"