Hey Everyone!
Jenna//The Scream Queen here! I recently interviewed drummer Corey Pierce from Disciples of Verity and God Forbid. In the interview we touched on many different topics spanning from the importance of supporting our Veterans, his raw and candid opinion on what he deems as mind-control Music within the industry, what’s all going on with his current band, Disciples of Verity, which the heavy side project of vocalist Corey Glover from Living Colour. Disciples of Verity also feature bassist George Pond from Negative Sky, guitarist Mark Monjoy [Sekond Skyn], guitarist Zack Miranowic. He told us the funny story of how he found out he was in the band and didn’t know it. They are currently planning for a Fall tour as well as working on a new album they’re recording, revealing they already have 3 or 4 songs completed, including a new heavy song featuring both Corey Glover and God Forbid vocalist Byron Davis. Corey also spoke about what’s going on with God Forbid and listed his favorite Music picks that can help uplift anybody’s spirits and mood, which are all listed below! He also talked about starting up GUUDLifestyle CBD & Kava with his business partner, as well touch on the subject of addiction. Check out our entire interview above!
Our interview opened with the simple question, ‘What does it mean to you to support our Veterans?’, Corey answered, “These guys go out there and regardless of your views of politics, the rights and wrongs, and corruption and all that shit…At the end of the day there are Men and Women who go out there because they want to protect their friends and family and their country and you have to respect that, if nothing else; regardless of what your political views are. And there are a lot of people who don’t come back. There are people who come back who are insanely injured that go through traumatic incidences that you can’t possibly imagine. And I’ve gotten a chance to go out and at least meet some of them and hear their stories, give them a little bit of time. I mean, they’re giving their lives and their whatever, you can’t give a little bit of time.
I felt like I wanted to do something, I felt like I needed to do something, so I went out and started doing it. I started making some calls figuring out who do I need to talk to to actually get off my ass and do something, especially when I was on the road because being on the road a lot of times, especially when you’re headliners and shit like that, a lot of your time is just wasted sitting around figuring out what the fuck you’re going to do; watching movies, reading a book, whatever it is. I’m not saying it’s a complete waste of time, but you could be doing something more meaningful.
I had the opportunity to go to different homes and meet different guys in different branches of the Military, see what they’re going through. I mean, that’s all I want to do…It’s nice for them to know people actually give a shit, like for real give a shit. Not make a Facebook post and be like “I’m good, good for this year!” you know? That’s kind of fucked up.
I mean, at least that’s something. People should do a lot more. You can’t tell people to do a lot more if you’re not doing shit. So, I was like, “listen”, you know?
I’m not trying to be up in everybody’s ass, [saying] like, everybody needs to go out every weekend and go to a Veteran’s home and talk to your Veterans, you know, whatever it is, go to the fuckin’ Legion Hall where Cats hang out, a lot of Old Cats hang there, you know, which I like to do because the beer’s cheap and Dudes got crazy ass fuckin’ stories! You know? And they always got some shit goin’ on! They got a pancake breakfast or barbequeing on a Saturday afternoon! You know I’m down with that! I’m like, “Barbeque on a Saturday afternoon with the Veterans at the Legion Hall?! Count me in, bitch! I’m on my way!” [laughs]”
We touched on the subject of Heavy Metal being shunned by mainstream media, Corey epically and candidly voiced his raw opinion about what he feels is mind control Music that’s enslaving people left and right and they don’t know it… We then moved onto the subject about God Forbid’s Anti-Hero hitting over one-million streams.
“That was pretty cool. I was like, ‘Wow! That really happened?!” [laughs] But I found out when I saw that Doc had posted it, I just started laughing. I was like, “That’s for real?!” I thought he faked it! I was like, “dude, you Photo Shoppin’?! Whatcha doin down here?!”, you know what I mean, “you down here on the dopey programs makin shit up?!” [laughs] But no, it was real!
It’s crazy too because it’s like we were…I was actually talking to Doc about this the other day…It’s crazy how much attention–I kind of like researched the attention that God Forbid has gotten with the band being gone for 10 years. I mean, there’s a lot of bands…A lot of reunion things going on. And there’s a ton of stuff asking about our reunion stuff and all that…” Corey continued on detailing what’s truly going on with God Forbid!
Corey also talked about different Artists he’s been producing, including Dissentience’s upcoming album, Empire Anatomy.
“The full length is coming out and it’s fuckin– it’s sick. It’s one of the first albums that I produced where I can really say, Iike, I had so much interaction with them across a period of time where I really felt like a different sense of pride when the record was [inaudible] because they’ve grown and done so much and have come so far and put in so much work, you know? Like, they put in the time. And I was like, “Mmm. Mmm. [nods head] Alright! There ya go!”
“I’m honest with them one-hundred percent. I try to not only shape them Musically, but shape their minds into the fact this is a business, regardless of the fact if you want to embrace that or not. It ain’t just all about writin’ tunes and jamming out, drinking beers and whatever-the-fuck you thought it was from what used to be MTV or whatever you saw on YouTube. This is some real shit. This is your Life, so you better wrap your head around the idea that there’s all of these other details that you need to embrace and how it’s going to affect you, going to affect your Family, your Significant Other, if you got one. You know, there’s a lot to this you need to start thinking about if you really want to do this. And you need to make sure of: DO-YOU-REALLY-WANT-TO-DO-THIS?And I think that a lot of younger bands could benefit from that information.” He continued, “Go out, find the information, talk to people that know, you know, wrap your head around the fact that you’re going to have to compromise a lot of things in your Life if you want to pursue this as a career.”
You can check out Dissentience’s two released singles from the new album, War of Beliefs and Clinical Psychosis, below! And be sure to follow them on the following platforms!
Dissentience.com
Dissentience Bandcamp
Dissentience can also be streamed on Amazon Music.
When on the subject of his current band, Disciples of Verity, which features vocalist Corey Glover [Living Colour], bassist George Pond [Negative Sky], guitarist Mark Monjoy [Sekond Skyn], guitarist Zack Miranowic, and Pierce on drums. He shared the story of how they formed. Corey Glover wanted to do a heavy project, which Corey [Pierce] found out about through a mutual friend, Smitty, who was working with Glover and managing other bands from South New Jersey, including George Pond’s former band, Negative Sky, which is another band Corey [Pierce] has produced.
“They hooked up and started writing some new riffs. So I get a call one day asking me to help him finish the album and produce the album. So I started going down [to the studio] all the time, sorting through riffs, putting songs together, whatever… We finally get it done and I thought that was it. I was like, “Ok! That’s cool man, let me know how it goes!” And I just disappeared going back to the shit I was doing… And I get a call two weeks later [from Smitty]…”Yo! You comin’ to the photo shoot?!” I was like, “photo shoot for what?!” He was like, “the band photo shoot!!!” I was like, “what band?! What you talkin’ about?!” I had no idea what-the-fuck he was talking about. He’s like, “you came down here every day! We wrote this! You know what I’m talking about!”
So I ended up at the photo shoot, and Glover rolled up on me and he has a way about him.
Corey continued on telling the funny story about how he didn’t even know he was in the band. “Yeah it was some Mr. Magoo shit to the Nth power! You know what I mean?! Like…WHAT-THE-FUCK kind of shit is this?! Like we hadn’t even talked about it as a joke! … It was like one day I woke up and I was in the band! That’s how it went!”
Disciples of Verity released their debut album, Pragmatic Sanction, on October 14, 2020. It features many different Musical guests. Check out the track listing!
1. Lying to Myself (feat. Phil Demmel) 04:33
2. The Flow (feat. Morgan Rose) 03:59
3. Worthy (feat. Jeff Loomis) 04:03
4. The Lost Ones (feat. JJ Sammataro) 03:49
5. Confiding In Shadows (feat. Joe Gareri) 04:51
6. Remember the Living (feat. Tara McLeod) 03:44
7. Unsteady 03:21
8. I AM I (feat Joe Gareri) 04:17
“I’ve known [Jeff] Loomis since 2000. One of first tours was a Nevermore tour. They took us on one of their first international tours, so I’ve known Jeff for a long time.” Corey then told a funny Warrel Dane story [Rest In Peace!] from that tour.Â
“I think I was 24 at the time. We’re playing in Florida at this place called the Brass Mug, I think it was. I was hung over, I wanted some water… He hands me a water bottle full of vodka… Now keep in mind, it’s 9:30 in the morning! So I go to start chugging this thing…And I’m like “AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” And he’s laughing, they’re all laughing in my face. That shit was— we had some good times with those guys! They were awesome. They taught us a lot about being on the road. Sort of what the Life was about. What was going on in the industry. They had been around it for so long that they educated us on a lot of things.”
“Phil’s [Demmel] the man! Just in general! He’s a nice ass dude. I think you could be a stranger on the street and you could come up to him and be like “Phil, I really Love your guitar playing, man, could you play that solo right now!?!” He’d be like, “hold on, let me get my guitar!” He’s just that kind of dude! And I think he was a little reluctant at first because it really wasn’t like– the song that he solo’d on really wasn’t like something that he would normally write riffs like that to. He was like, “aw man, I don’t know if I’m gonna be able–” I was like, “Man, listen, you gots this under control! let’s hammer this shit out.” And literally a couple days later, he sent me a video of the solo and I was like, “man, this motherfucker’s so good!” [laughs]
You don’t got anything bad to say! The dude, he’s a great person, a great player. If you got something bad to say about Phil Demmel, we all goin’ to war!” [laughs] … But he’s just a great friend, a good dude, along with Jeff Loomis, one of the most humble human beings.”
Corey continued to speak in depth about being in the process of writing for the new Disciples of Verity album, mentioning they have 3-4 songs already for the next record, even dropping news that they’re in the process of finishing up a heavier track which features both Corey Glover and Byron Davis [God Forbid] on vocals.
When we moved onto the subject about Mental Health and what Music helps put him in better spirits. Corey’s Musical taste is all over the spectrum, he elaborated, “there’s certain things, certain albums that put me in better spirits and they’re all kind of like completely nothing to do with one or the other. Basically Cowboys From Hell [PANTERA], I can listen to at anytime. That shit puts me in a good mood, ’cause that record, it’s just awesome, period! That’s a great record! Everything about that record is good. No bad parts about that record.
Van Halen – 1984… Michael Jackson – Off the Wall… Now if you can’t get in a better mood listenin’ to Off The Wall, you are so fucked up, nothing’s going to help you!
…I like…This is a strange album to bring up, but it makes me feel better, is N.W.A. – NIGGAZ4LIFE, LOVE that album. It’s a fantastic album! Now some people may say, “how do you feel better from listening to that album?!” Listen to NIGGAZ4LIFE and tell me you don’t have a smile on your face by the end. It’s fantastic! It’s gonna raise you up! …Listen to that record, you be in the house feelin’ it! I’m just sayin’, I’m just sayin’.
He mentioned listening to Montage Music, any James Brown record, except for The Big Payback because “that has some depressing shit on it.” – Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock albums also put him in a good mood.
“Crazy enough, South of Heaven is one of my greatest feel good albums. It just…It takes me to a point of reminiscing of like, I was 13 the first time I heard that record. And as a drummer, you hear that record, and that shit changes your whole Life! That changed my whole direction. I had never heard no shit like that. I was like, “WHO IS THIS DAVE LOMBARDO CHARACTER?! AND WHAT IS HE PLAYING?! IT’S CRAZY!!!!” but it was so good! I’ll put on a lot of stuff from South of Heaven, that’s my favorite Slayer record.
Exodus’ Impact is Imminent is one of my most favorites. Like that record gets you up and goin! That makes you start doing some shit! You start doing housework, you’d be dusting shit you ain’t ever cleaned before in your Life! You’ll clean your fireplace! I’m telling you! That shit gets you amped up!
He also lists Fine Young Cannibals – Good Thing, the Soundtrack to Grosse Point Blank, the soundtrack to John Travolta film, Staying Alive, which is the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. He says, “the montage Music is so powerful, it just takes you to a different place! They got a song called, Look Out For Number One, and it’s the most inspirational shit you’ve ever heard in your Life.”
The 2009 Sherlock Holmes soundtrack is another one of his favorites.
“I feel like, if you’re in a bad place. There’s something out there that can drag you out of it. … Sometimes you just have to go out and search for different things. … I think a lot of people close themselves off from so much.” He continued, “I just think you need to go out and find things from different areas and different genres of Music and just– maybe it takes a little bit of effort. But motherfuckers are sitting around searching streaming, whatever-the-fuck anyway…That’s why they come up with all of these different platforms is so that you literally have unlimited resources to find almost anything you want to hear.”
Corey also spoke about his partnership with CBD & Kava brand, GUUD Lifestyle. “My business partner, he started a company called Cali Care Group out of California, which kind of blew up and is actually openly traded in Canada; it’s gotten a delivery service all over Southern California. He moved to Vegas and we got to talking because actually he’s a Metal fan, he’s a Hardcore fan. He likes Killswitch, he likes God Forbid, we were talking about it just shooting the shit back and fourth on my on Instagram one day. He used to throw shows out in California back in the day and he wanted to do something else. So we kind of came up with this idea for this company called Tour Support, which was a CBD company, coming up with different CBD products geared around people that were on the road to help ease pain and deal with the many tortures of being on the road. And it just sort of evolved and has gone much further than expected or imagined for either one of us. And it’s still growing and changing.
When speaking about the fact carry Kava Kava products, which is a root that grows in tropical areas of the world that has relaxing psychoactive properties. He said, “We started doing Kava refreshers, Kava syrups, and stuff– the Kava shots, which I’ll tell you what man, I’ve slept on it for a long time…And when we first started getting into it, they shipped me a bunch of products because you want to know what-the-fuck you’re talking about. So I started taking it, doing the Kava shots… And I just started mixing it with my iced tea. You notice the effects, definitely. You definitely notice the effects very quickly. You just feel generally better. You’re like, “every day just feels a little bit better! Man, it’s not so shitty today! It’s a little bit better somehow.”
When mentioning how Kava helps with easing opiate withdrawals, at least from my own personal experience, we delve into a slight discussion of opiate addiction, “I’ve also seen friends that have gone down because of, as we all have, as everyone who is pretty much alive has, we all know somebody that’s…It’s become a lifestyle as opposed to, “oh we’re hanging out, we’re going to do this, do that…” And it just became, “Now I’m doing this. Work, friends, everything else is collatoral to that.” It’s always a terrible thing to see. But the opposite side of it is, it’s a great thing to see somebody being able to come out of that and get themselves back together, and repair their Lives, which I always think is a great– it shows a lot of fortitude, it shows a lot of strength because that’s not an easy thing to do, by any means, from what I’ve seen.”
