Weedeater is wild, loud and canna-proud

ith a name like
Weedeater, you know that you’re dealing with some kind of monstrous, “stoner
metal” band. Hailing from North Carolina, and formed in 1998 from the ashes of
another stoner metal band, Buzzoven, Weedeater has been rolling up musical
spliffs (and literal spliffs) with equal parts heavy and slow, and equal parts
thunderous and smashing. With a sound that is like a murky, electrifying and
valiant bong load, Weedeater has taken the heaviness of sludge, “stoner” rock
and doom metal to give listeners a metaphorical overdose on loudness and wild
living. The result is one of the most extreme and crazy cannabis-themed metal
bands to exist. Vocalist, bassist and songwriter Dave Collins took time to
speak with CULTURE about his two
passions: Heavy metal and cannabis.

What is the metal scene like in North Carolina, where Weedeater is
from?

We’ve been here for our
whole lives and there is a lot of great music from these parts. The metal scene
in the South, and larger music scene for that matter, is thriving, and a lot of
bands don’t get out of this area, but still there is a lot of great music
pouring out.

 If you could pick one band or artist that has inspired you
the most, who would it be?

That is a hard one. Above
Black Sabbath for the direct inspiration, I would have to say the Melvins.
Those dudes are definitely a huge influence on us, as a band coming up and now
even, and we’re proud to now call them friends of ours as well. They are crazy
badass and such a great band, and a class act, truly under rated, in my
opinion.

What is the cannabis culture like in North Carolina? In terms of
quality, easy access and the laws?

The quality is great; we
have great strains so we have that variety too. And the access is not bad out
here as well, even though it isn’t necessarily legal, it is still way better
than it was a decade ago. As far as the laws yes it is still illegal but for
the most part it’s looked at as a very minor offense. I wouldn’t say its
totally decriminalized but I would say I think most everywhere they have bigger
fish to fry. I don’t think it will be this long at this point, before we have
medicinal and recreational laws in all of the states, in North Carolina if they
followed along, it would sure be nice.

Ever had any legal troubles or been harassed over cannabis?

The only place I’ve ever
been caught and arrested for weed was in Germany. They detained me, took my
weed and eventually just let me go without doing anything. I think that
mentality is taking over in Europe too, and I hope that in 10 years, no one is
going to care about any of us smoking weed.

Have you visited Colorado, or Washington State, where cannabis is
legal?

Yes, and it’s a little
different when you’re there, in a trippy good way. I just don’t get the
ridiculousness of the laws, and how you can’t travel between states. But like
anywhere else these places have spots to find good weed or if you know the
right folks who have the good strains.

Can you tell us about your current tour beginning this month?

We’re a band
that loves playing live, so this month, we’re hitting the road again,
touring the country once more. We’re planning to have a good time, our tours
are always a blast. But this time, we aren’t going to play too much from our
new record which comes out in April, after this tour is over. We have more
tours planned to promote our new album, but we can’t announce them yet. We have
special guests from Australia, a band called King Parrot—who are fun, fast and
cool dudes. We might play some new songs from the new album for shits and
giggles though, but fans will have to come out to see us on tour.

www.weedmetal.com

IN CONCERT

March
26 @ The Casbah in San Diego

March 27 @ The Compex in
Los Angeles

March 28 @ Catalyst in
Santa Cruz

March 29 @ DNA in San
Francisco

March 30 @ Starlite
Lounge in Sacramento

March 31 @ Dante’s in
Portland

April 1 @ Studio Seven
in Seattle

April 2 @ The Pin in
Spokane

April 5 @ Bluebird
Theater in Denver