This week our sister paper the Dallas Observer and their music blog DC9 At Night talked to Houston's own Venomous Maximus -- namely lead singer Gregg Higgins and guitarist Christian Larson -- for their "My First Show" series.
Rewind:
Venomous Maximus Head Out Onto the Highway For Summer Tour
Rocks Off Exclusive: Venomous Maximus Premiere "The Mission" Music Video
The metal act is heading to Dallas this weekend to play the Texas leg of Riot Fest, along with punkers American Heist. (Funnily enough, Tim Blackout of the Heist is also VM's de facto roadie while on tour.) Dallas' Power Trip is on the Riot bill, as are Austin's own The Sword and Not In The Face.
Riot Fest's Dallas headliners are NOFX and the Descendents, while last weekend's Chicago event was headed by Iggy & the Stooges and Elvis Costello. Brooklyn and Toronto also had their own Riot Fests earlier this month.
Larson has been doing booking work for Heist and during a phone call to the Riot folks, they inquired about his own band.
"I made a call for the Heist to get on it and found out they had metal too, and somehow we made it happen," Larson says.
VM is currently ramping up work on next month's release of their debut LP, Beg Upon the Light. We've heard it, and it is a delicious slab of old-school metal and spook.
Heist have had a few high-profile supporting dates this past year and on September 30 they will be opening up for Cobra Skulls at Walter's, along with Latch Key Kids and Blackmarket Syndicate.
Blackout says they are due to begin recording another album here shortly saying that the new material is a tad more aggressive and mature.
"I'm trying to tell a story in ten songs and paint the picture of the last few years of my life. Almost like a soundtrack to the fall and the rise of a broken man."
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