Life is good now for Brooklyn-based band Piston, but the anger is still as fresh as when they were struggling to find the top, when they felt as though they were being pissed on -- when they were Pist On. The name has changed, but the vision remains the same. Listening to the band's debut, Number One, all swelling with emotion and darkened lyrics, it's not difficult to utter the words "melodic" and "hard-core" in the same breath.
          Fueled by that driving force to turn theor music into a lesson in aggression, Piston's contribution for Metal Massacre 12, "Exhume Her" (an ode to Henry Font's former girlfriend who died of a drug overdose) was just a taste of the things to come. With newest members Burton Gans (guitar) and Jeff McManus (drums) in tow, Piston has taken a similarly intense approach to the road, as they've been in a relentless tour for the past five years, playing local clubs, grabbing opening gis for Suicidal Tendencies, The Misfits, Anthrax, and Wickerman, along the way. I recently met up with founding members and long-time friends Henry Font (guitars/vocals) and Val Ium (bass and "sarcasm") as they were gearing up to rejoin Queensrÿche at Jones Beach in Long Island, and "lookin' forward to touring the U.S. forever!"

What happened with ex-bandmates Danny Kavadlo and Paul Poulos?

Val: The album was done in late August of '95. They hung in there until right before we got signed, and then they decided they didn't want to go through with it. It's a lot of pressure, and stress. They couldn't handle it, so now they work straigh [9 to 5] jobs.

What stamina do you think you have that maybe other people don't have to do this (be in the music biz)?

Val: I've been thinking about that myself (laughs). Quite honestly, I think what has gotten us as far as we've gotten is just faith in the music. I always knew that Henry was a great songwriter, and he has a lot of heart. I understand where he's coming from. Basically, we feed off of each other. We fight sometimes, but we believe in, and want to do, the same things. It's a test of endurance and hard work, and sometimes it means doing things that you don't want to do, like getting up early in the morning to do interviews (giggles)! Some people don't want to do stuff like that...I hate to sound corny, but it's just really faith in the music, and knowing what you want to do in your heart.

How long have you known you wanted to be a performer?

Val: Since I was twelve or thirteen years old. I went to an all girls high school. It should be pretty obvious -- look at what a freak I am now from that! Most of the other people I knew weren't really into music the way I was. My feeling was, "What am I doing standing here watching this band when I wann be up there?Quot; I was depressed on the floor. I wanted to be up there, and I knew I could do as good a job or better than some of the bands I was seeing. So I said, "Why not?"

What's the most exciting thing you've come across while touring?

Val: Before I was a musician, I was kicking around on the other side of the business, learning things for future reference because I knew what I was gonna do...The most exciting thing is when you -- God, I hate this; I sound so corny. I'm really sorry, but it's true. It's pretty much when you play for people, and they come up to you after the show. Either they know all the words, or they understand exactly what the song is about, and what your intention is. For me, its when, for instance, in Colorado there was this little girl who [was] like seven years old, she had me sign her Gummy Bear box. It was really cute. She was really excited to meet me, I'm going to myself, "This is so cool..." That's why I do it.

How did you come up with the name Val Ium?

Val: First of all, my real name is really long and difficult to say. Secondly, I'm so hyper that everyone says that's what I need...I know I could use it, but I don't because I like to save that energy for the stage.

On your album liner notes, you thanked Korn for being really kind and letting you "appear" at their show. What happened?

Val: This is actually interesting. There's another band on our label involved in this, Sugar Ray. Sugar Ray and Korn were touring about a year and a half ago in Connecticut. The guy who owns the club really liked us and always had us up there for any show. He threw us on the show and said, "Show up." So we showed up for the show and, honestly, Korn and Sugar Ray had no idea that we were going to be on this bill, and they had another band with them at the time, so it was a four-band thing, which was a real pain in the neck. They were really cool about it. They watched out set. They were really nice to us. [The] Korn guys were great. They forced us on their tour bus and made us drink beer. And we really appreciate them for that. Since then, we always make sure we acknowledge everybody who has helped us out because we don't forget.

You've toured with some pretty heavy hitters over the past year. Were any of those tours significant to you personally?

Val: I'll tell you something that I wouldn't feel is significant in a weird way, but in the sense that with all the bands that we've played with, I've noticed that even though they seem like -- I hate to say the word "misfit" (laughs)...Even though they seem a certain way, they have the same set of standards, which is to work hard, and to take really good care of themselves. They're really into what they're doing, and into playing live, and that's one thing that we've been lucky with. Every band that we've toured with, we've learned something from.also get along with everybody. I think when a bunch of musicians are together, and they want the same things, it's an understood thing. It's like we're a little family. I know I'm being extremely corny, but every band we've toured with has been really cool to us. I have no complaints.

How did you hook up with (Type O Negative keyboardist) Josh Silver as your producer?

Val: What happened was, back in the La 'Mour days of Brooklyn -- if anybody's familiar with the world famous La 'Mour, which is no longer, unfortunately. That was really the place to be. They had a lot of great bands there. We were hanging around there, and we used to go see Type O Negative in their earlier days when they had their first album out. Basically, we were some of the only people who were there who from the beginning, so, being the kind of band they are, they acknowledged that, and we befriended them. We'd see them around Brooklyn at the clubs. Henry and I had done this demo that was pretty horrible, and we gave it to Josh and said, "Tell us what you think of this?" And he said it was, "a horrible recording, -- the worst thing I've ever heard in my life. And because you guys are friends of mine, I'm going to do a couple songs for you. I'm gonna redo these songs for you, just to show you that it's not you. It's the guy who recorded them. Because Henry does have talent and I'm gonna show you what I can do for you." At the time, Josh wasn't extremely busy, so he spent a weekend with us, redid the songs, and realized that he got along well with us and enjoyed working with us. He and Henry got [along] well. They had the same vision, so he said he'd do some more songs with us...It wound upo being a project that he didn't expect to have. He saw the potential, and he enjoyed working with us, and we listened to what he had to say. So when it came time to do the album, we said, "Oh well, I guess, you'll have to do it."

Did his Type O influences manifest themselves in your music?

Henry: Yeah, I think with him being the producer, there's always going to be that certain sound he goes for. There may be some people who say we sound like Type O Negative. We don't sound like them. We're just produced by the same guy. If you take a band like Weezer, they kinda have that Cars sound, because of Ric Ocasek. Josh's influence is defintely there. He helped us develop your sound, and he was the one that inspired us the most. Plus, the album was recorded at the same studio that Type O records at...of course it's going to sound similar, but I think we have our own identity.

Your vocals have been described as harsh and dark, yet I find songs like "Grey Flap" and "Parole" quite melodic.

Henry: I think, with that whole Brooklyn thing, people kinda assume we're gonna sound typically hard-core, they want to lump us into that category. I've always grown up listening to pop music, so that's where I get most of my influences. I'm a big fan of U2, and the Smiths. I'm a big Rush fan as well...I like the Cure. Music like that is very melodic and there's a really strong chorus that people can hum along to. That's what I try to accomplish with my songwriting.

"I Am No One," "Eight Sides," and "Electra Complex" make me wonder what kind of relationship you had with your parents.

Henry: The song "I Am No One" is actually about The Exorcist, the movie. There's a line in there where the priest records her and he plays the tape backwards and that line pops up in there. I kinda used that to write a song about, but I guess people can take it a lot of different ways. People can get their own opinion of the song, and just use their imagination...I really didn't have much of a relationship with my [parents] at all, so that's possibly the reason why a lot of the anger comes out.

Does "Pist.On" indicate how you feel about life?

Henry: At one time, I think it did. We definitely had that feeling we were be pissed on, but we've grown to "Piston" now, so it's like things aren't so bad after all. We originally used it as a tongue-in-cheek kinda thing. We knew we'd eventually have to change it to "Piston." I don't think it's actually that offensive, but a lot of people think it is.

I read somewhere that you said, "My songs are literally in real time resulting in much more emotion in the closing 30 seconds. Our album lasts about 45 minutes, about the time of your average shrink session." What do you hope the listener will get out of this session, meaning Piston's album?

Henry: I hope that the listener will come away with a better understanding of themselves, maybe some things that they haven't yet discovered about themselves that they might see in the lyrics, or hear in the music, to help them open their eyes about life a little more. That would be the ultimate thing to accomplish. But I kinda said that because that's the way I chose to write the album, as a journey through different minds, different attitudes. The ultimate goal is for somebody to have their own interpretation of it, and maybe use the songs as a springboard into their own emotions.