Dave Linsk – Guitars for Speed Kill Hate & Overkill

1. You are the guitarist in Overkill and Speed Kill Hate. What do you do to make the riffing and soloing different for both bands?

DAVE: Basically in Speed Kill Hate I write the music and the changes to solo over. In Overkill, DD (Verni - bass) writes the initial riffs so sometimes the solo section are just over a thrash beat, and are more of a rhythm part, not really taking a solo into consideration. On "Ironbound" I had I had time to make changes to the rhythms that I solo over. With Speed Kill Hate it's a different animal for me. I like to play the heavier stuff and keep the level of intensity high. DD and Bobby (Ellsworth - vocals) have roots in the punk rock stuff so we do a lot of mid tempo stuff. I wish we were to go a lot heavier in Overkill.

2. Are you working with the same musicians on "Out For Blood" as you did with the debut?

DAVE: No, there have been some changes. Our drummer Tony Ochoa (ex-Sindrome) has been in the band for years he replaced Tim Mallare, and then with Derek Tailer (bass, also in Overkill) couldn't commit to the band so we replaced him with Dave Bizzigotti (ex-Ripping Corpse). After that we switched up singers with Bob Barnak the band has remained this way since 2007. It is still the same music because I continue to write the riffs we just improved on the dedication. Tony came from a band called Sindrome and were pretty popular in the underground back in the day. Dave comes from the band Ripping Copse and is more of a shredder bassist. We found Bob Barnak through drummer Jim Roe. He was the drummer from Incantation and he filled in on a tour with us when Tony was injured. We got along real well and kept in contact after the tour. When we were looking for a singer I contacted Jim about the singer in one of his band's called Mr.Grim. I really liked what I heard from him online so I asked Jim if he would mind if I gave him a call. So I called Bob and told him if he was interested I'd buy him airplane ticket to come see if things could work out. They did and I feel Bob is one of the best vocalist I have heard for this style of music.

3. The vocals in Speed Kill Hate are pretty hardcore. When you were writing these songs for "Out For Blood" did you have a specific kind of voice in mind?

DAVE: Yeah pretty much. Some people say we have started up a style called thrashcore, the thing is I do like some of the gang vocal backup stuff like that, but I wanted also to have a singer that could hold a note and incorporate melodies along with being able to scream and be aggressive.

4. What other thrashcore bands do you think Speed Kill Hate are similar to?

DAVE: We obviously have roots in old school thrash and the majority of our songs have tempos that are over 200 bpm, so people have compared us to Slayer , I have also heard old The Haunted but I guess it depends on the song someone tries to compare it to.

5. Well I hear a Pantera influence on 'Slain' and 'Mark Of Judas'. Do you?

DAVE: I’m not sure. There's no question I was, am a Pantera fan. I guess with the vocal style and grooves of those songs one could feel the influence.

6. Were any of the songs on "Out For Blood" submitted to Overkill for consideration for "Ironbound"?

DAVE: No, these were all intended for this album. Right now we are gearing up to record the next Speed Kill Hate album, and its gonna be a double album.

7. Are Speed Kill Hate going on the road anytime soon?

DAVE: I'm in talks with some other bands right now trying to hammer something out. We'd like to do some shows over the summer in between Overkill's schedule.

8. Do you like to record cover songs?

DAVE: No, not really. I don't mind playing em, but if I'm gonna record something I'd like to do an original. I did record an AC/DC tune as a bonus track for the first album but I ended up not using it. It was off "Powerage", called 'Kicked In The Teeth Again', it was a blazing cover.

9. What kind of guitars do you use currently?

DAVE: Justin Sane guitars, they are custom made to my specs and are 20 plus lb. Les Paul style guitars, real heavy, and much bigger in size. Rob Mondell is the builder out of New Jersey. I told him I wanted a larger Les Paul with a Floyd tremolo but no weight relief. He made me one and I loved it. So we made a second. Now I have him making the most insane double neck ever built. It truly will be just insane

10. Give me 6 classic Overkill songs you'd like to add to the setlist?

DAVE: O man, none of them are in the set ever. 'Nothing To Die For', I like 'Shred', I like 'The Wait' off "W.F.O.", I like doing any of the thrashier ones, I like 'Death Comes Out To Play'. 'Fear His Name' I wouldn't mind doing, 'Time To Kill' would be cool. I have a list of like 20 tunes I'd like to do but not everyone in the band thinks the same way. I also think its important we keep playing stuff from "Ironbound" because if you want to move forward you gotta play new music.

11. Are you involved in anything else besides Overkill and Speed Kill Hate? Has work begun on the next Overkill album

DAVE: Yeah I actually did receive the first few riffs from DD and I have worked on them . Me, Ron and DD got together last week and recorded up the arranged demos to be sent off to Blitz for some vocals. It's a work in progress. We were recording in DD's studio and I will finish up in mine. I also have my own recording/rehearsal studio (http://www.skhstudios.com) here in Florida.

Official website: http://www.davelinsk.com
http://wreckingcrew.com/Ironbound
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Speed-Kill-Hate/84399147432