Christian Metal Realm interview with Scott from ULTIMATUM!

**arttieTHE1manparty**

Arttie: First, Scott, let me thank you for taking the time to do this.
Scott: Thanks as well Arttie.

A: Tell us about where Ultimatum is headed right now.
S: Ultimatum are in the process of recording our fifth full length record. I'm really excited about this one and really enjoying recording.

A: Who is currently in the band? There have been some member changes, right?
S: Founding member Robert Gutierrez: guitars, longtime bassist Rob Whitlock, our newest member Alan Tuma on drums and myself on vocals. We
also have Justin Frear helping us out on guitar at some of our live shows.

A: What are some of the former members doing now? I’m assuming you keep in touch, correct?
S: I bumped into Tom Micheals at the airport about a month ago. He's still playing bass and works for the airport. He's looking for a band. He had
moved from New Mexico several years ago but has just moved back. Former drummer Sean Griego is just taking care of his family.

I haven't spoken to Steve Trujillo in a few months, but last I spoke to him he was still just enjoying being a family man.He has two kids and is busy with them. He actually only lives a few miles away from me. I bump into him at stores all the time.

I haven't spoken to Augustine Ortiz since he moved a couple years ago.

A: How has the latest CD “Into The Pit” been doing for you?
S: It's done fairly well. Retroactive has new distribution now, so we are hoping when the new CD gets out it will help pick sales back up on Into the Pit as well. So far, Puppet of Destruction has been our biggest selling CD, as far as I know. That CD had good distribution. Into the Pit didn't have the distribution that Puppet had. Now that Retroactive
has good distribution, especially in Europe, we are hoping the CD will sell more units.

A: Do you have any idea of how many albums the band has sold throughout the years?
S: Frankly, I do not. It's hard to estimate these days with people buying the album, and individual songs on iTunes and such. The first CD pressing is nearly sold out, so Into the Pit will probably have to go into a second pressing.

A: What has the experience of working with Retroactive Records been like for you?
S: Retroactive is great. They deliver what they promise, and that's more than I can say for a lot of companies. We have a good working relationship with them.

A: Has Ultimatum caught any flack from people for choosing to cover songs by Iron Maiden and Testament? What has the response been like to those songs?
S: We've received no flack whatsoever from the covers we have chosen. I'm actually surprised, but I think people understand that even as Christians we are influenced by music outside the small Christian Metal scene. The Testament cover actually opened up some doors for us. When we released Mechanics of Perilous Times in 2000, we were without a label. We released the CD ourselves here, but Marcus at Gutter Records heard our Testament cover, contacted us and offered us a deal to release Mechanics in Europe.

Actually, we had so much fun recording those covers, as well as "Burn", that we decided to do this next CD of all covers.

A: Now, there are rumors of a new album consisting of nothing BUT covers. How is that coming? Where in the process are you guys?
S: Yes, indeed. More than a rumor, it's true. We have already begun recording this album. We hope to have 12 - 13 songs on this one. I don't want to give it all away, but we have decided to do covers of both Christian and secular bands. Some bands we are covering included Motorhead, Metallica, Judas Priest, The Moshketeers, Vengeance Rising,Overkill, Mortification and a few others. The CD is going to be called "Lex Metalis".

A: Any new original material being worked on at all?
S: Robert has some new ideas he has written, but we haven't hashed them out yet as we are concentrating on getting this project done.

A: Will we ever have a live CD or DVD that is authorized by the band?
S: Well, we'd love to do it. We have a ton of material all ready for a DVD release, but we need to get a full concert together. We hope to do that this summer, possibly in California.

A: This will be your second appearance on a Christian Metal Realm compilation CD. How did you get involved in this project and what areyour thoughts?
S: I've been part of the CMR since it's inception. We didn't offer a song for Vol. 2, so we thought we'd offer an exclusive song for Vol. 3. The song included was recorded just for that compilation.

A: Time to play “if you could…”
S: Okay...

A. If you could put together a tour of any three bands, along with Ultimatum, who would those bands be and why?
S: Wow! Tough question. Actually, I think it would be cool to tour with Hirax. Those guys are cool and Glenn is a friend of mine. How about Testament, Kreator, Hirax and Ultimatum. OOOOOOhhh, wait, how about Raven, Anvil, Hirax and Ultimatum. That would be killer too. We are doing a show next month with Avenger of Blood, Merciless Death, Fueled by Fire, Deprived and a few other bands. That would be a great tour as well.

A: Okay...another one. If you could go back and change one thing about the history of Ultimatum, what would it be?
S: I'd make sure that Puppet of Destruction was mastered properly. I hate the mastering on that CD. It stole the bottom end out of the mix. I've heard what that album can sound like with good mastering and it's staggeringly better.

A: Alright, last one. If you could never perform with the band again, who would you pick as the new vocalist?
S: Wow! Never even thought about that. Perhaps one of the guys from Grave Forsaken. Those guys have a similar passion for the music and offering hope in our lyrics. I think my friend Ron Rinehart may also be a good candidate, if he were still singing.

A: Describe Ultimatum to people who may not be overly familiar with the band. I know you draw a lot of comparisons to other bands, but how would you describe the band’s sound?
S: We are a heavy metal band with some thrash and speed metal influences. We do get compared to other bands a lot, but the funny thing is, it's never the same band. We get compared to Exodus, Accept, U.D.O., Overkill, Vengeance Rising, Metal Church, etc.

A: How hard is it playing this style of music now, with nu-metal and modern hard rock dominating the airwaves and concert venues? Has it hampered Ultimatum’s opportunities to play live or to tour in any capacity?
S: No. As a band, we have never cared about trends in music. This band is also not our livelihood. We all work full time jobs to support
ourselves and our families. So, if we never sold another CD, it wouldn't make that big of a difference to us. We play the style of
music we enjoy and that comes naturally to us. When metal was dirty word in the 1990's, we never cared. We proudly proclaimed that we were a metal band.

A: Who have been some of your favorite bands that you have had the chance to work with? Any big names spring to mind?
S: We shared the stage with many many bands over the years. I have yet to meet a band we didn't get along with. We just did a show this weekend with Suspended, End to End, Necros and Dread. We got along great with them all and enjoyed our time on stage and watching those bands play.

I suppose Mortification would be one of the "big names". We did a show with them back in the early 1990's when they were on their Blood World tour. Steve Rowe was very cool to us. He purchased a bunch of merchandise from us after the show and after sending him a demo of the song "Never" offered to sign us to his own label.

A: You guys are unashamed of your faith and your lyrics often reflect that. How important is the Christian aspect of the band? Do you consider Ultimatum to be a ministry?
S: Ultimatum is a heavy metal band. We are also a ministry. However, as Christians, everything we do should be a ministry. I pray daily for this band that God would use us for his glory, whether it be through our lyrics, our show, or something as simple as helping other bands break down their equipment after their set. All we have to do is be willing to be used by God and I think he will use us.

A: You, personally, have had some incredible opportunities to perform with the remaining members of Christian metal pioneers, Vengeance (Rising) in the new incarnation called Once Dead. What did you take away from that experience and have you applied some of those things to Ultimatum?
S: I was extremely blessed to get to sing for those guys. I am about as big of a metal fan as there is. Vengeance Rising have been one of my favorite bands since I purchased Human Sacrifice in the 80's. How cool is it for a fan to get to sing for their favorite bands? That's how it was for me. I'm still friends with all those guys. I don't know that I really took any experiences from that band and brought it into
Ultimatum. I did bring some of my experience with Ultimatum into Once Dead. I put 100% into any show I did with them. I still do the same with Ultimatum, no matter how big or small the crowd.

A: Any Spinal Tap moments from Ultimatum’s history you want to share?
S: Between getting lost finding shows, playing in front of crowds that are not exactly metal fans and having our name listed under the puppet show, we've had our share of Spinal Tap moments. Back around 1996 or '97, we were performing at the Texxas Rockfest. The stage was a simple flatbead trailer. It was the middle of summer in Texas and it was unreal hot outside. The stage was uncovered and we played in the middle of the day. The sun was beating down on us as we were performing and we quickly began to feel the effects. Halfway through our set I went to step on an effects pedal I used on Crosshope and my legs just gave out on me and I hit the stage. I got right back up and continued singing. On the very next song our drummer Sean just stopped playing in the middle of the song. I turned around and looked at him, he was white as a ghost. Within a few seconds, he kicked right back in and finished the song. As soon as we did, the stage manager came rushing out and made us stop playing. We were suffering from heat exhaustion and had to
take a break in the middle of our set.

A: What should people know about Scott Waters, the man?
S: I don't know. What do people want to know? I'm 41. I've been a Christian since I was in my early 20's in college. I've been married
since 1989 to my high school sweet heart. I have two teenage children and have sort of adopted a second teenager who lives with my family. I've been a heavy metal fan since the 70's when I was in grade school and discovered bands like Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, UFO, etc. I run a website called NoLifeTilMetal.com, which is my personal music collection.

A: Thanks again for taking the time Scott. Any final thoughts?
S: Thanks for the interview and the years of support Arttie. We appreciate it.

Arttie

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Staybrite · Number of posts: 961 Registration date: 2007-04-08

Very cool!

Good read, thanks for the interview Scott & Arttie

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**Tall Tyrion** · Number of posts: 10208 Age: 41 Registration date: 2007-01-28

That was a fun read. Thanks guys. Very Happy

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hallowedbethyname · Number of posts: 94 Registration date: 2008-02-04

Great interview guys !!!

dwellceller · Number of posts: 476 Age: 38 Registration date: 2007-04-08

Good interview !

fishingd · Number of posts: 845 Age: 44 Registration date: 2007-03-05

Nice interview!!!

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_Wes · Number of posts: 1912 Age: 42 Registration date: 2007-04-07

Excellent Interview.

I had no idea Scott was my age. Wink

(thought he was younger)

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BillRoxx · Number of posts: 675 Registration date: 2007-04-08

Very cool interview! Great read! Cant wait for the new CD!

L8T · Number of posts: 4210 Registration date: 2007-03-13

Nice, thanks.

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Joe C · Number of posts: 169 Age: 45 Registration date: 2008-01-28

I enjoyed it.
Good questions Arttie.
Thank you Scott for staying in touch with your fans.

mr.electric39 · Number of posts: 1366 Age: 41 Registration date: 2008-02-03

Cool interview guys...

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http://whitethronereviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/jacobs-dream-beneath-shadows.html

Master's Apprentice · Number of posts: 822 Age: 37 Registration date: 2009-02-20

That was cool man Twisted Evil

.
I only just checked out your website Scott and it's excellent mate!
What an awesome collection, and I was amazed at how much stuff was also in my pile of metal.
Thrash on Twisted Evil

!

VaughanGF · Number of posts: 146 Age: 31 Registration date: 2007-04-11

Just read this for the first time. Thanks for the kudos Scott - I'm completely honoured by your comment about GF.

I have admired Ultimatum ever since listening to Massive Frequency Overdrive back in about 1997, and this was a great interview!

**ultmetal** · Number of posts: 3406 Registration date: 2006-12-26

VaughanGF wrote:

Just read this for the first time. Thanks for the kudos Scott - I'm completely honoured by your comment about GF.

I still think we need to release a split 7". Grave Forsaken records and Ultimatum song, Ultimatum records a Grave Forsaken song. Would be fun.

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VaughanGF · Number of posts: 146 Age: 31 Registration date: 2007-04-11

It's a cool idea - I like it. I'm seeing the band this Sunday, I'll discuss it with them then.

Any ideas what song of ours you'd like to do?

**ultmetal** · Number of posts: 3406 Registration date: 2006-12-26

I'll have to get back with you on that one.

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VaughanGF · Number of posts: 146 Age: 31 Registration date: 2007-04-11

Cool, let us know.