Joe Boots: Hi, I'm Joey Boots and I'm here with Chuck Billy, the vocalist and founding member of Testament. He's talking to 93.9 WABY, 93.7 WVLZ, and 95.1 WSNJ. How you doing today, Chuck?

Chuck Billy: I'm doing good, how about you, Joe?

Joe Boots: I’m doing great! Before we dive into the book, I wanna ask: you've seen a lot of people playing professionally throughout the years. Who is the best band or artist that you've seen and what makes that stand out for you?

Chuck Billy: Well that's mixed. I mean, because there's different great artists for all genres. I mean, there's so many awesome artists in our era and time and where I come from, you know, Metallica's gotta be at the top of that pinnacle, I would have to say, for them accomplishing what they've done with their style of music in our world. Where it started back then to where it's being accepted now by the masses.

Joe Boots: As far as yourself, are you a pet person? Do you like cats or dogs?

Chuck Billy: Dogs. I got I'm Dachshunds. I've got miniature wiener dogs. I've had about six of them. I'm down to two right now.

Joe Boots: Are you a coffee guy or a tea guy?

Chuck Billy: Coffee for sure. I never was for a long time. And I don't know. I especially I think it might have been after the cancer. I just one day I think I'm having a cup of coffee. I told my wife, she's like, What? What the hell are you talking about? And I tried it with some like vanilla creamer or something. I'm like, this isn't bad. And so I kind of been, you know, coffee guy since then.

Joe Boots: What did you want to be when you were a kid?

Chuck Billy: Well, when I was a kid, I mean, I was raised playing sports, you know, my whole life. And I was I think I was always groomed to possibly want to try to get a scholarship in sports because our family didn't have enough money to pay for me to go to schools. So sports was a big part of our life in our community it seemed like the only way for me to accomplish that was to sports. So I thought, you know, I wanna be a professional player, you know, that's always kids a kid's dream.

Joe Boots: It worked out for you though.

Chuck Billy: Yeah, well I had the you know, in my book I tell the story how, you know, I had my life crossroad change when I got kicked out of high school my senior year. I got busted drinking a beer after a football game in my locker. And the new principal busted me and him and the coaches knew I hung with the wrong crowd of my senior year. All the burnouts and parking lot kids they would call ya. And they decided to make an example out of me and kick me out of school.

So right away my chances to move on with a scholarship and pursue something like that in education because of sports kind of vanished pretty quickly. And I'd been playing guitar for a few years around that time. So right away, of course, you're like, okay, well, now I'm in a continuation high school. I wanna be a musician, I guess. And I graduated that and moved on to do what I needed to do.

Joe Boots: Now, as a player on stage, can you give me a comparison and contrast on what it's like to play a soldout stadium show as opposed to when you sell out a smaller venue where you have a thousand of your biggest fans packing the place?

Chuck Billy: Well, I mean it's night and day. I mean, when you're a young artist when we first started out, you know, it's a small club stage is like a coliseum, you know. 200packed people in a club is a Coliseum. But when you get to go play a Coliseum or a big festival with tens of thousands of people, then yeah, then that's totally a different feeling.

At first, when you first experience that, it's an uncomfortable feeling. You always want—that's the ultimate goal—but you've still gotta be up there and put yourself out there in front of these people. When you're young starting, your confidence isn't there yet. I think what got us through it was we were pretty confident in the music we had. Those nine songs that we had when we first came out, that was it. We're gonna play these damn nine songs and play the shit out of these things.

We worked hard in the rehearsal room to get the opportunity to play in front of people. That's the exciting part—when there's a response and go, wow, they're reacting to the shit. And for us, we're lucky. We're coming up in the right time of something new happening and starting. There was no rule book, no plan of attack. It was just jump in and let's go.

Joe Boots: November tenth you have your book coming out. It's titled Holding My Breath, The Two Testaments of Chuck Billy.The book is divided into an Old Testament and a New Testament. What inspired that structure?

Chuck Billy: Well, I mean the new and the old—we actually didn't know where it was gonna start or finish or how it was gonna come together. Didn't have a title. We just started talking and figured, you know, where's this story gonna start? What do I wanna accomplish?

I definitely knew I wanted to let the people know the kid that grew up at eight months old, stubborn, holding his breath, having to be put under the water to wake him up. That stubborn kid made his way through life being this big kid, always feeling a little odd, especially in the music business. Everybody seemed to be small in that business.

To making my way to find this band Testament—my first audition, only audition—I landed it and here I am still very lucky. But what that kid holding his breath brought to the band, that was my story. You're gonna get to know who I am, and that guy who sings for Testament.

Joe Boots: You grew up in the Bay Area and you're Pomo Native American heritage, is that correct? My neighbor, she's a Chatah, and she said “he's a badass.” What was your family life like growing up and how much does that show up in the story?

Chuck Billy: Correct. Family's all over because it's all the story of that. My brothers, watching me pass out and things I do and choices how I played through sports through life. Writing this book, reflecting on the story of my family, especially my mom and dad.

My mom and dad were sick with tuberculosis, dad on his back for nine years, meeting my mom in the hospital. Both of them surviving tuberculosis, starting a family late in life and having five boys. I could see through their eyes how lucky and how much they had to have loved their boys and do anything for us. It's almost like a miracle family in the first place to be here.

Joe Boots: Growing up in the Bay Area, ground zero for Thrash Metal, what were you listening to and when did you feel the scene was becoming something special?

Chuck Billy: My older brothers listened to music—Crosby Stills Nash and Hendrix. I grew up listening to music in the car and the radio, all those radio hits, melodic catchy stuff. For me finding heavy metal, I grew into liking the darker Black Sabbath imagery.

I was drawn to glam music but more drawn to a Ratt or a Dokken or a Scorpions—more heavier influenced. Those with amelodic singer kind of stuff. When I came into thrash metal and auditioned and landed the gig for a younger band into this new style, that's how I found my way. Crash course early on—landing the gig, trying to secure the record deal, getting the deal, making a record.

Joe Boots: I loved your cover of Aerosmith's Nobody's Fault.

Chuck Billy: Yeah, and that was a hard one to sing back then for me. Aerosmith was a big part of our life. That was a fun video for us. It kind of got us out there doing something fun and not looking at the business so serious.

Joe Boots: In 2001 you were diagnosed with germ cell seminoma. How did they first detect that and what was that moment like?

Chuck Billy: In the book I tell the story how the real estate agent Pamela Spivey knocked on my door and had someone who wanted to buy my house. So I sold it and moved to Antioch. We were forced to meet new doctors. That was the only reason why I went to the doctor.

They called me that evening and said, Hey, we need you to come back in. We see a black mass in your chest cavity. Went back, did the MRI, saw a big mass. Right away biopsy. My body had been fighting it already, built a nice wall around the tumor. First time they pierced it, no results. Had to go back in again. Finally when they did, they ruptured it. Right away, okay, now it's spilling out. Now you're in chemo Monday.

Joe Boots: During the treatment did you experience hair loss?

Chuck Billy: Totally. I knew it was gonna happen so I preemptively said, I think I'm gonna cut it. My mom her whole life has been trying to get me to cut my hair. Finally I tell her, Mom, come with me, I'm gonna get a haircut. She's crying. We go down to Supercuts. I point to this GQ cut. Next thing you know, I have this GQ cut.

A month goes by and I'm thinking, did I cut my hair off too soon? It's not falling out yet. And then just one day in the shower at the swipe of a rag—just like that—came off eyebrows, everything. I was bald within a minute.

Joe Boots: You've had one of the most powerful voices in metal for decades. How has your approach to vocals changed?

Chuck Billy: I think I've got into my comfort zone. I'm comfortable who I am as a vocalist. I don't have a lot of range. I can't sing and scream these high notes and do all that falsetto stuff. But I do what I can do. I've finetuned and found a way to be melodic, catchy, heavy—all in one. Especially writing with Eric. I've wrote songs with other people and it just doesn't feel right.

Joe Boots: The metal community rallied around you with Thrash of the Titans. What does that support mean to you?

Chuck Billy: A lot. Something that dramatic and heavy had to happen—a shakeup in the bay. If I didn't get cancer, there was never a reason for me, Alex, Louie, or Greg to ever get back together to play again. So for me to get ill and for that show to come to be was the only reason for me to see those guys and to do that. I took one for the team.

Joe Boots: You talk about getting back together with Alex and Greg, and as that was happening, the new wave of American heavy metal was exploding. How do you feel being associated as an influence for bands like Lamb of God and KillswitchEngage?

Chuck Billy: To be told by those bands and Mark becoming friends and telling me, you know, I should be writing you a check—you and Alex and Eric checks for those riffs. They'll admit it. That's a compliment. If something we've done can move it forward, hell yeah. We were influenced by somebody as well.

Joe Boots: You've appeared with collaborations on Lamb of God's albums, Killswitch Engage, Mark Morton, and then John Donais on the Metal Christmas. Is there an artist you'd like to collaborate with?

Chuck Billy: I'd jam with anybody, but I would be very flattered and killer if I could jam with Metallica. That'd be kick ass. Do a duet with James. Hell yeah, dude. Come on. Let's go. Let's make that happen.

Joe Boots: Overcoming cancer and being in one of the most influential metal bands wasn't enough—you also got into real estate. Are you still doing that?

Chuck Billy: Not right now. I took a break once I started working on the Parabellum record. Instead of being in the flip part of it, I ended up being the money guy supplying the money for the flips. But it was something I found during COVID that kept me busy and maybe looking for the future.

Joe Boots: Do you have any bands that are up and coming that you think are pushing forward?

Chuck Billy: I think they're all. The business is at a crossroad. Promoters are always looking for the new what's next. There's been a lot of who's what's next over the last five years. A lot of new young bands getting opportunities. I can't put my finger on one, but there's so many. I wish a lot of them could find their own way. I wanna hear vocalists be a little more on their own and have a little more identity.

Joe Boots: The book comes out November 10th, and you've told two testaments, but the story isn't over. What do you hope the next chapters look like?

Chuck Billy: Man, I hope there's not a next chapter. I think that's what's supposed to be the last chapter. But we still got a lot of music in us and still a lot of touring to still play. There'splaces we haven't played and we're still feeling good. I know we still got a record, couple of records to deliver. So we'll see what happens next.

Joe Boots: Parabellum was a great record. Hopefully next time you roll through I'm gonna catch you and get in the pit.

Chuck Billy: Cool. I know a big announcement's coming up for our American tour next year. So keep your ears to that. It's gonna be great.

Joe Boots: The book comes out November tenth. It is Holding My Breath, The Two Testaments of Chuck Billy. You can buy it at www.chuckbillybook.com Are you doing any other events?

Chuck Billy: I'm doing Changing Hands bookstore in Arizona on the twenty ninth, and I'm also doing w Jose over at Seal Beach, Cirrus XM on the tenth at the release date. And then I'm going back to Phil Demel's bar in Dublin where I had my first date with my wife and first drink as a kid at the back lounge there in Dublin.

Joe Boots: Well, I wish you the best, Chuck. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us.

Chuck Billy: Right on, Joe. Right on, brother. Have a good one. We'll see you out there. Peace.