OBITUARY drummer Donald Tardy spoke to the "Crash Bang Boom Drumming Podcast!" about how he and his bandmates are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. He said (hear audio below): "Our plug was pulled, just like the rest of the touring world and venues, all at the same time. On March 12th, we were in the highest part of the United States — almost up into Canada; somewhere in Michigan. It was a BLACK LABEL SOCIETY tour. We knew shit was going down, and then, sure enough, the second half of the tour got canceled. We got sent home, and we've been home since March. So, yeah, obviously, you first come home and you try to stay away from the bandmembers' children and families and be smart about it, so we did that through April. And then we just kind of looked at each other and said, 'Look, we're the safest humans there are,' We take it serious. I go to my grocery store once a week and get everything I need and that's all I do. And I know my brother [OBITUARY singer John Tardy] and Trevor [Peres, OBITUARY guitarist] pretty much did the same thing. We then, obviously, just had to make the decision that we can't hide forever, so at least we are knee deep in writing new music. So I'm super excited about taking our time and just writing an album. 'Cause we're not going anywhere."
He continued: "Because [our tour] was canceled, we then sat [at home] for the last seven months. Other stuff was supposed to be… Obviously, August through November in America, that is clearly not happening. We still had stuff already booked for March and April 2021, and now that looks like it's being pushed — a Europe tour.
"Musicians, live venues and the music industry are the ones that are being punished for a horrible America right now, taking charge and getting rid of this virus instead. People are just kind of tired of talking about it and just try to forget about it, like our leader."
Last month, OBITUARY announced a three-part "live stream concert series", featuring full-album performances of "Slowly We Rot", "Cause Of Death" and rare classics. The first two streams — a "Slowly We Rot" set on Saturday, October 17; and a "Cause Of Death" set on Saturday, October 24 — will be live from the ESI Streaming Studio in Tampa, Florida. The third stream, featuring rare classics and special tracks, will be broadcasted live from OBITUARY's recording studio in Gibsonton, Florida.
Tickets are on sale, including various bundles for all three concerts and exclusive merch at obituarylive.com.
OBITUARY's latest, self-titled studio album was released in 2017 via Relapse.
Photo credit: Stefan Schippe
