In a new interview with Larry Mac of the 96.1 KLPX radio station, vocalist Eric “A.K.” Knutson of veteran Arizona metallers FLOTSAM AND JETSAM was asked if there was a band, or a group of bands, that he went on the road with over the last 30, 40 years that was his favorite tour. Eric responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “There’s a couple of ’em. KING DIAMOND tour was amazing. It was a lot of fun. The three worldwide MEGADETH tours we’ve been on were a blast. We did the one with MEGADETH, KORN, us and FEAR FACTORY, and that was all big sheds all over the U.S. And that was an amazing tour. That was a lot of fun. The first European MEGADETH tour was a lot of fun.’
He continued: “We’ve been out with some good bands and we’ve been on European tours with OVERKILL a couple times. That was a blast. Really, some of the mid-career headlining tours that we’ve done. I don’t really remember because they were so fun. I will tell you one day we were in Louisville, and we had a night off, nothing to do. So we parked back behind some — actually, behind Louisville Slugger Factory. We parked back there, and I was bored. Everybody was sitting around, watching TV, playing video games, whatever, and I’m, like, ‘You guys suck. This is no fun.’ So I went for a walk. I come back about an hour later, and there’s 15-20 girls, lights flashing everywhere, music just thumping. The bus is just covered and streamers and drunk people. And I was, like, ‘You guys were being idiots when I left here. What happened?’ That’s one of those memories I’ll never forget, just turning that corner and seeing the bus. The bus was almost hopping up and down off the street ’cause tunes were jamming so hard and there was so many people on it. And I still don’t remember how they got all those people in that big party on my bus, but I was, like, ‘Okay, cool. This is better than walking around and looking at the city by myself.'”
Asked if there are any bands that he still wants to tour with, Eric said: “I’m not opposed to really touring with anybody. There’s a couple of big bands I’d like to tour with — any of the three biggies: METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN or JUDAS PRIEST. I’d love to do tours with any of those guys. There’s some bands that probably are not a good fit for us. You know, if we went out with SLIPKNOT, people might boo us off the stage ’cause we’re just not as heavy as them. SLAYER would be the same kind of thing, even though they’re not really a band anymore. But there’s certain crowds that go to a headlining show to see that headliner. And if you’re not at least in that same type of music, you take a chance on people just going, ‘Ah, whatever. I’m gonna go get a beer. To heck with these guys.’ So it’s gotta be somebody… QUEENSRŸCHE would be great. Somebody like that that we’re at least slightly heavier than, or at least in the same type of realm of music. Any of the old ’80s bands we’d like to tour with. OVERKILL was a blast, the same kind of crowd for us. EXODUS, DEATH ANGEL — we did a DEATH ANGEL tour that was really good. TESTAMENT‘s always a good tour; we toured with them a couple times. Those are our kind of crowd, our kind of people, and we can win them over during a set easily. As well as all those headliners I just mentioned… So that’s kind of our realm of where we do the best. I would love to do like a — just to get more fans and to see if we can we can turn people around, I’d love to do a NICKELBACK tour or something. [That] would be great.”
FLOTSAM AND JETSAM‘s 15th studio album “I Am The Weapon”, arrived on September 13 via AFM/Believe. The LP not only takes up seamlessly where its two outstanding predecessors “The End Of Chaos” (2019) and “Blood In The Water” (2021) left off, but also goes one step further in terms of musical skill and composition.
“I Am The Weapon” was composed and produced by the whole band and the eleven songs were recorded at SonicPhish Productions, Gnome Lord Studios, Wayne Manor Studios and Seventh Spike Studios. The cover artwork was again created by Andy Pilkington. The album was once again mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen.
It’s been 38 years since FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, formed in Phoenix, Arizona, released its landmark debut, “Doomsday For The Deceiver”, the only album to ever receive a 6K rating from the influential British magazine Kerrang! Bassist Jason Newsted would jump ship to METALLICA while the band released “No Place For Disgrace” in 1988. “Cuatro” (1992),“Drift” (1995),“High” (1997) and “My God” (2001) all still rank extremely high in heavy metal circles. But it was the first part of this unofficial trilogy in 2016’s self-titled “Flotsam And Jetsam”, followed by the crushing 2019 successor “The End Of Chaos” that a certain rejuvenation and reset was clearly felt.
