Marcus Newstead “So many bones attached to so many lives and now they’re hung up as decorations as an eternal offering.”

Marcus Newstead of, Fister and Daybringer

1.          Where are you from?

I was born in Southeast Missouri, grew up in a small town with no stop lights or 24 hour stores called Ironton but moved to St. Louis when I was 22.

2.          What do you think about chaos magic?

A while back, I had a friend insist I read “Psychonaut” by Peter J Carroll. This was around the time I was starting to get into more off the beaten path movies and books. I think we were also checking out stuff like “Clouds Without Water” and other occult poetry/prose, but  mainly Aleister Crowley. At the time, “Psychonaut” was pretty far out there on my occult comprehension scale but I eventually grew to get a little more intimate with the concepts as applied to “normal” society. Essentially I grew to respect occultism for the solutions it had to dealing with everyday life. 

3.          When and why did you start playing music?

When I was 13 my parents got me a cheap bass guitar and amp after begging them for about 6 months. I wasn’t a super strong athlete so my focus completely changed to music when I got ahold of that guitar. Further on up the road a few years, I started skateboarding, got minimally good at it but never really “great,” and there’s two ways to go when you aren’t a good skater: start a band or learn how to do graffiti. I was an okay artist but it was easier to learn how to play “Blitzkrieg Bop” than it was for me to do a 360 flip or paint a mural. Before all of that though, as a REALLY young kid I remember always watching SNL and David Letterman musical guests and just became fascinated with seeing live musicians tear it up. 

After skating was out and music was in, I joined the jazz band at my high school so I could literally play my instrument every day, I learned to read music and then went to college and got a degree in Music Theory and Composition. I grew to appreciate world class musicians and the masters, but really wanted to keep playing rockin ass heavy stuff.  During my time there I met the guys who asked me to join a band playing bass. I think maybe 4 months later I played my first out of state show

4.          What was your first show?

The high school graduating class the year after me had a end of the year party and a band that I had joined a few months earlier played our 4 songs we had and then I think an Alkaline Trio cover, I can’t quite remember. This was in a small town and was probably the first “punk” show the town had seen, even though it was totally sanctioned by one of the graduating kids’ parents, but everyone went nuts even though I’m completely positive we sucked hard.

5.          How did you get into the genre(s)?

Heavy metal came to me via punk rock which came from skateboarding. Before music was a super serious aspect of my life, skating was the top priority. We always had jamboxes out with us when we skated so through that, every week you’d screech up to the  boombox when you hear something rad and have to look for the empty CD case so you can find out what it was. Through that practice alone, I found Slayer, Iron Maiden, Black Flag, and big time skate punk bands like The US Bombs. Skate Videos we’re the real culprit though. Zero’s “Misled Youth” and Toy Machine’s “Jump Off A Building” videos combined with meeting kids from other towns who skated really got me started discovering new music and lifestyles. After I got out of skating and into playing music mainly, the older musicians I would hang with were always telling me bands/music to check out, even if it wasn’t punk or metal.

6.          Three biggest influences?

1) My Parents

2) ZZ Top

3) George Carlin

7.          How do you feel about the current state of the community or communities you’re apart of?

Heavy metal in general has been good to me. It’s afforded me musical opportunities I never though would be possible, so personally for me the community is strong. I have met amazing and enriching individuals solely because we’ve been driven and people have been digging it. 

8.          What are some of your favorite new bands?

St. Louis is home to one of my absolute favorite bands called Path Of Might. Their guitarist/singer is actually an amazing drummer and is gonna fill in on some dates for us this fall. 

They’ve been around a long time but Pyrrhon has been steadily pushing the envelope and I can’t get enough of it.

There’s a new band out of Atlanta that features the ex-guitarist of Torche(who used to live in St. Louis) called Dead Now that’s also fantastic. 

9.          What is an unforgettable memory you recall from being on tour?

I’ll never forget the Sedlac Ossuary in Kutna Hora, Czech Repulic. It’s the famous “bone church” and it is definitely a spectacular place to see in person. So many bones attached to so many lives and now they’re hung up as decorations as an eternal offering. It’s super dark and occult compared to the Midwest Christian ideals from where I come from. To think it’s about basically the same religion is magnificent and kind of terrifying to me to see how far humans have come. I mean, we’re not draping bones on the walls of churches anymore but the same basic thought is there. Either way, religion is creepy.

10.       Three Favorite places to eat in the US?

1) Jim’s Steak’s on north 62nd in Philly. South street it alright, but you got to go up to Milbourne for the real deal.

2) Any Kuma’s location in the greater a Chicago area OR Indy. The hype is real, the food is amazing.

3) Triangolo Pizza in Brooklyn. Authentic Italian slices and tons of pictures of Steven Seagal on the walls. Top notch.

11.        If you had to write your own eulogy, what would it be?

“His life ended with the peak human achievement of dying on a mattress in a building with electricity and running water.”