Exclusive LAUNCH Artist Chat

10/18/2000 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Lyndsey Parker

On December 11, 1998, Lynn Strait, the 30-year-old singer for the punk band Snot, died alongside his dog Dobbs in a three-car freeway accident near Santa Barbara, California. A beloved member of the hard-rock community, Strait's tragic and untimely death was devastating and shocking for his many friends, fans, and colleagues. To keep Strait's memory alive, these friends have joined forces to release a tribute compilation titled Strait Up, which features Snot songs as re-recorded by members of System Of A Down, Sevendust, Incubus, (hed)PE, Coal Chamber, Soulfly, Limp Bizkit, Sugar Ray, Slipknot, and others.

On October 17, 2000, System Of A Down's Serj Tankian, Soulfly's Mikey Doling, Sevendust's Clint Lowery, and (hed)PE's Jahred (aka M.C.U.D.) chatted on LAUNCH.com about their participation in Strait Up, and they shared their fond memories of Lynn Strait. The result was a very moving and heartfelt chat. And we all know that Lynn himself from logging on from that great big ISP in the sky...

launch_strait_up: Mikey: This is Mikey, how are you guys doing?

launch_strait_up: Clint: Hi, this is Clint from Sevendust.

launch_strait_up: Serj: Hello to the roosters, everyone doing cock-a-doodle do.

groovebite: how did you get involved with this project?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I was involved from the beginning, because I was friends with Lynn Strait since 1987. I was in the band Snot, and after Lynn passed away, Tumor (who was also in Snot) and I decided to do this tribute record. Serj was the very first person that we called to be on the record.

launch_strait_up: Serj: Mikey called me and said, "Dude I got a track you gotta hear"--I was on tour and I took it on tour with me, and it rocked. I got really excited and geared up and wrote lyrics for it.

launch_strait_up: Jahred (hed)PE: I would like to say what's up, and it's nice to be involved.

drunken_soccer_yob: I was so sad that Snot never made it to the lovely country of Scotland, which I know Lynn would have loved. Any plans to do a tribute tour and come here?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I don't think we want to do any live touring, because we did the record just for Lynn, and playing shows would be weird. (All the other guys agree.)

ell_2k: What do you think to the UK Metal/Rock scene?

launch_strait_up: Clint (Sevendust): I think the crowd's probably a little more open-minded at festival-type shows where there are many different kinds of bands. From the metal side, the crowds are really intense and durable, lasting all day.

launch_strait_up: Mikey: On a day off in England last year I went to see System Of A Down, and they were playing the Astoria in London. To this day, it's one of the best shows I've seen in my life. The crowd was really into it, and it was awesome.

GregK007: What was your first impression of Lynn?

launch_strait_up: Mikey (Soulfly): I met him when he was probably about 17 or 18. I thought he was a little punk-rock rat bass player and I thought he was really cool. We smoked pot together.

snowy_ice_tiger: Hey Serj.. How do you feel about Strait Up? What does it mean to you?

launch_strait_up: Serj: The last time I saw Lynn was two weeks before his death, walking on Sunset Blvd. He looked very peaceful and intense, and he was about to do his vocals on the album. Strait Up is a way of communicating back to him and telling him how much he meant to us.

launch_strait_up: Mikey: That's the best way I've ever heard it put.

acidburn_reflex: (hep)pe: why did you take off the "pe" in (hed)pe?

launch_strait_up: Jahred: It's still there. (hed) is our original name, the "PE" is there as a legal thing.

ell_2k: serj, how do you get that Porno beard of yours?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: LOL. That's one of the weirdest questions I've heard it my life.

launch_strait_up: Serj: By carefully trailing it out of the bush.

launch_strait_up: Mikey: Beautiful.

musicurl: can you tell us exactly who's on the cd?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: Serj from System Of A Down, LaJon, Morgan and Clint from Sevendust, Brandon from Incubus, Jason Sears from Rich Kids On LSD, Jahred and Product of (hed)PE, Dez from Coal Chamber, Max from Soulfly, Fred Durst of that band--you ever hear of them?--Limp Bizkit, Mark from Sugar Ray, Whitfield Crane from Medication, Corey from Slipknot, Shallow from System Of A Down, Shannon Larkin from Amen, me and Tumor and Lynn, and Sonny Mayo from Snot. Marcel from Soulfly also.

GregK007: Serj, when's the new System of a Down record coming???

launch_strait_up: Serj: Next year--probably closer to the middle of next year.

babygirl1971_99: Will this benefit album help Lynn's family?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: Yes.

acidburn_reflex: how many sepultura songs have yall covered?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I have. In Soulfly, we do about two or three Sepultura songs a night.

acidburn_reflex: max, will soulfly ever put "roots bloody roots on an album?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: No, I doubt it. Not likely.

babygirl1971_99: Where is everyone calling in from today? Are folks out on the road right now?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I'm on tour, in Rochester, New York--Water Street Music Hall.

launch_strait_up: Clint: I'm in Steelpot, Kentucky. Get a map out for that one, kids.

launch_strait_up: Jahred: I'm in Salt Lake City, touring.

launch_strait_up: Serj: I'm in Los Angeles.

drunken_soccer_yob: You guys are part of a very small group of bands who write tunes which actually SAY something, as opposed to the sell-out trandy stuff popularised by Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Vast et cetera. Do you agree that these bands have nothing to say anymore?

launch_strait_up: All: Blah blah blah. That sounded like a statement, not a question.

babygirl1971_99: Which has been more influential to your music - rock or rap?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I would have to say rock.

launch_strait_up: Clint: I guess metal rock. F--kin' Rick Springfield.

darknedmoon: what's the best city, in your opinions, is the best to play at?

launch_strait_up: Serj: Paris, Athens, and New York.

launch_strait_up: Clint: Atlanta, New York, and Boston.

launch_strait_up: Jahred: I couldn't really pick any place-wherever people come to see a show.

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I like Chicago and New York a lot, and Boston is cool. L.A. is cool but too much stress. Lots of friends there, though.

launch_strait_up: Clint: Weird little cities that no one goes to.

honey_crash: hi - what did you love about james strait?

launch_strait_up: Clint: I loved the unsafeness of him and the way that when he hugged me real hard his whiskers would hit my neck and they wouldn't get off me. I wish he could do it now.

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I was roommates with him for five years, known him for 13, I loved the personality traits about him--the little things that nobody could understand but me. I miss him a lot.

oddagirl: How has the death of Lynn affected the local music scene?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: Well, I think it affected a lot of friends and people we played with. We lost a family member. I look at Sevendust and System Of A Down as family. It's a hard question.

launch_strait_up: Serj: Snot and our band played a lot of shows together when we started, and people would expect us to be playing when they were and vice-versa, and I really miss those times.

musicurl: are you all planning any shows together?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: Hopefully someday, like at a festival.

launch_strait_up: Clint: System's new record is coming out at the same time ours will be, and I'd like to tour with them. We already toured with (hed)PE on Tattoo The Earth, and that was great.

launch_strait_up: Jahred: I would love to tour with any of these guys that are online right now, and I'm sure it will happen in the future.

danifilth2000: Mikey-Do you guys ever kick the sh-t out of each other on tour?

launch_strait_up: Lynn and I used to wrestle each other. Not really in Soulfly. We get each other completed wasted sometimes.

pamentrick: Is anyone suprised at the turnout for people that wanted to do something for the cd

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I am overwhelmed with the love from everybody, but I'm not surprised, because Lynn was that kind of guy. He walked into a room and got your attention.

soveryfrumpy: So how did fred durst and corey get along in making this albulm

launch_strait_up: Mikey: They stayed 3,000 miles away from each other. (chuckles)

javierinthe2000: Who is in the Music Video??? I heard a bunch of people turned out to be in it.

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I don't think we could name everyone, but a lot of friends were there and those that couldn't make it were there in spirit. When you see the video, you will see.

o0o0slipchick0o0o: hey system, whats the weirdest thing thats ever happened to u at a concert??

launch_strait_up: Serj: Daron, our guitarist, smacked me in the head with his guitar when he was spinning, and he cracked my head. I passed out, blood was all over the place, and I still finished the set. I don't remember where it was. I was passed out for five seconds.

netx3: whats your favorite snot song

launch_strait_up: Jahred: "Stoopid."

launch_strait_up: Serj: "Absent."

launch_strait_up: Jahred: "I Just Lie" rules.

launch_strait_up: Mikey: That was Lynn's autobiography.

drunken_soccer_yob: was anyone unable to work on the record who you guys really wanted to work with?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: There were a lot of people that I wish were on the record, like Terri B from Manhole, who gave Snot their start in L.A. I wish it would have happened.

drunken_soccer_yob: do you think Lynn went to heaven, with the beautiful babes, tom jones music and clouds. Or Hell, with the Jack Daniels, Skunk Weed and Ozzy music?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: Definitely went with Skunk Weed, kitties, and Woody Guthrie. Anywhere with a big fat bong and he's happy.

sicslipnicknot: Hey Jahred how long has Hed(pe) been around?

launch_strait_up: Jahred: I would say since '95, going into '96. I think.

launch_strait_up: Mikey: That sounds right to me.

darknedmoon: i'm from pittsburgh pa and at concerts the bands always say that we're great to play for, is that true or is it just to pump the crowd up more?

launch_strait_up: Jahred: No one is going to say that unless they are feeling it at that moment. But there are always phony performers--I would never say it unless it felt true at the moment.

musicurl: Are any of you straight edge?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: Not even close.

launch_strait_up: Jahred: HA HA!

launch_strait_up: Clint: Especially not the kids that beat up the other kids that aren't straight-edge kids.

blinden84: is there going to be a different version of Absent on the strait up album then appeared on the Strangeland ST?

launch_strait_up: Clint: Absolutely. It's remixed, and we added a couple of surprises. Good question.

eyemosa: Is there going to be any kind of home video released about Lynn?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I don't see it happening, but you never know. We did do a lot of footage, and I wouldn't want it to go to waste, but we'll see in the future.

angelmissie: What is the worst thing about being a band

launch_strait_up: Jahred: Not being able to kick it in your own room or neighborhood for any period of time, always being on the move. It's a "be careful what you wish for" type of thing.

launch_strait_up: Mikey: We spend all day waiting to play an hour-long show, and it can be a pain in the ass.

GregK007: Jahred, you mention on "Broke" that DJ Product didn't want to be in the band? What's up with that?

launch_strait_up: Jahred: At the beginning, he wasn't sure he wanted to be in a band--he was so into tagging, skating, surfing, and DJing, he wasn't sure he wanted to go the band route. After we were playing out for a while, he wouldn't show up to some shows, but after a while, his heart came into it. Before we knew it, he was always there.

pacman781: If they make a movie about Lynn who would you guys want to play him? excluding steve guttenberg

launch_strait_up: Mikey: I think Benecio Del Toro, that's the man right there.

launch_strait_up: Jahred: James Dean.

RePhLeX420: Hey Jahred, i saw u guys play in seattle the other night and the show was the best since the last time i saw u come here with Soulfly, but why dont u guys really play any of u're older material????

launch_strait_up: Jahred: We played almost half and half--he must have done something when we were playing old sh-t.

babygirl1971_99: What are you currently rocking out to? What good new bands or old stuff should I be picking up?

launch_strait_up: Mikey: Right now I bought AC/DC live and Rich Kids On LSD and Queens Of The Stone Age.

launch_strait_up: Jahred: I bought the new Shyne, who is a rapper from NY. I picked up some old stuff that I needed like the first Goodie Mob CD, stuff that I lost from being on tour.

launch_strait_up: Mikey: Strait Up is for Lynn Strait in his memory, and I hope people can cherish it as much as I do and cherish him as much I do. I want to thank everyone who participated in the Strait Up record, and much respect for showing the good side of the music. It's in the stores November 7, and you can get more information at www.immortalrecords.com.

launch_strait_up: Jahred: I felt that my life is better for having known Lynn, and it's a deep, touchy subject for me. I was glad to be able to pay my respects by way of music. I'm so glad I got included in the whole thing. Nothing but love towards Lynn.

launch_host: Thanks for chatting with us everyone! This was an awesome chat!