Kevin Stewart-Panko is the author of a new book on the death metal band Immolation called “Into Everlasting Fire The Official History of Immolation” which will be coming out in November. I fired off some questions for him to answer about how he came to write a book on such an amazing band:
What were you like growing up? Were you into music and reading a lot?
My mom and dad would regularly find me the next morning passed out with an open book resting on my face. Weaved into all of that was music. At first, soundtracks were my thing, specifically Star Wars, The Black Hole, Flash Gordon, The Lone Ranger, Battlestar Galactica, The A-Team, Miami Vice and countless other movies and TV shows. My parents weren’t very much into music so I was left to my own devices when it came to discovering the sounds that I enjoyed. There was a stereo in the house that even at like six or seven years old, I was the only person who would use with any regularity. Once I got a radio in my room, that was it…and the end of socialization — books and music in my own space! Who needed anything else? Who needed people? I would spend hours at home without leaving my room except to go to the bathroom.
How did you end up getting into heavy metal and then how did you get into underground metal? What are some of your favourite bands besides Immolation of course?
How did the writing bug hit you so to speak?
The Immolation book is your 2nd book. Tell me a bit about what prior magazines or webzines you have written for over the years.
So you have written one prior book called “Do You Have Anything To Declare”? How did the idea come about to write this book? Tell the readers what it is about is it still for sale and how long ago did it come out?
How good of a writer do you think you are and what are some other writers you like?
KSP: That’s a loaded question and one in which the wrong comment taken the wrong way (or even the right comment taken the right way) is rife for small c-controversy on the smallest of scales. How good a writer do I think I am? Good enough, I guess. I get by. There are writers better than me, there are writers worse than me, there are writers on par and the same level as me. Some people enjoy what I write, some people think I’m a hack of the most uneducated proportions. I feel that most of the time I get my point across. I’m a much better writer than I am a talker. If you’ve ever had the misfortune of listening to me tell a story, chances are you left the fireside chat more confused and know less than before I started actually telling the story, especially once my Asperger’s kicks in and I start truly making no sense. Writing allows me to sit down and calmly and steadily wade through my thoughts and how to present them with the benefit of a delete key and the cut, copy and paste functions. And as far as a list of favourite writers goes, I approach that in the same way, I approach my list of favourite albums as opposed to favourite bands: I don’t have a running list of authors who I can’t live without. Compound that with the fact that I hardly, if ever, read fiction and that my favourite books are usually rooted in history, true crime, politics, sports, biography and music, my favourites usually end up being the products of someone who isn’t necessarily a prolific author like Stephen King or John Grisham. As for the world of music journalism, my favourite writers are the crop of colleagues at Decibel; they all rule and collectively are the best.
So now when did the idea come about to do a book on Immolation? How did you approach the guys about doing one and what were their reactions early on?
Now that the book is done, but not out as I type this, how long did it take you from when you started writing it until you finished it? How many pages is it?
Did any of the ex-members agree to be interviewed for the book and if so which ones?
I have known Ross, Bob, and Alex really well for easily over 20 years and the only member I don’t know very well is drummer Steve Shalaty, but I have met him a couple of times and he also seems very easygoing. Since the band has a long and huge history, how was that for you to do research early on?
Who were some of the non-members you interviewed or chatted with for inclusion in the book besides me?
Were there many things that surprised you while interviewing the band members?
Were there times while doing the book that you said to yourself, “What did I get myself into?”
KSP: For sure. It could have been longer if I had included all of Bill Taylor’s fully awesome and incredibly detailed tour stories and hadn’t made somewhat of an attempt to curtail my long-winded rambling. I’d like to point out that at the time of my writing this, between anything that the three copy editors and the band themselves did, I don’t know what sort of editing job has been done on what I submitted. Maybe it could have been longer.
Am I to assume you will not be writing another book anytime soon?
Now I saw that a bunch of people overseas were wondering if there is going to be any sort of distribution overseas because postage rates to get stuff mailed from the US would be as much as the cost of the book. To your knowledge is there going to be any?
Are there any parts that for some reason or other are not included in the book?
KSP: Couldn’t tell you.