“It's easy. Just be awesome and write great songs.”-Phil Costello, 2010.

Here at Crushermagazine.com various members of our elite task journalistic task forces listen to stuff like Queensryche everyday but also love stuff like Madonna vs. David Guetta’s “Revolver” (One Love) remix. I personally scream numerous Manowar songs completely shit faced at my favorite bar far too often with my friends (including actually beautiful women!) and yet still find the time to thoroughly enjoy captivating and trancy/dancy tracks like the spellbinding “Silent Shout” by The Knife or the dope ass groove of Wax Tailor’s “Sometimes” that a very nice girl just got me into. All I’m saying is it takes all kinds to keep it kind. You can spend all day locked up in your mom’s house listening to death metal, but you probably smell like your own sperm. If Devin Townsend’s truly awesome “Bend It Like Bender” didn’t warm the hearts of metal heads to danceable realms recently then I guess nothing will, but I guess what I am trying to do is in a round about way get to my point that it isn’t so weird that universally renowned techno pioneer Moby is playing in a top notch straight up non-dance cock rock band called Diamondsnake.

Moby has always been really versatile (check the much underrated fuzz tinged genius of his punk tinged Animal Rights record). The ambient/electronic/pop star has genuinely kept his ear to the underground and injected more life into the mainstream when he broke huge, and the fact that he plays a gazillion instruments further reinforces the fact that he isn’t just the kind of “DJ” that presses play on an Ipod (as if anyone would’ve thought that anyway).
Enter Satanicide. Singer/performer extraordinaire Phil Costello has been a fixture of the NYC rock scene for years, kicking ass and taking names with his high talent, high energy and highly humorous longstanding act Satanicide. Phil befriended Moby at some point during all the madness and the two became good friends, eventually surmising that they should start a project together to shake the pristine pillars of the rock world. Thus, with help from rocker friends Tomato and Dave Hill…Diamondsnake was born. Can I just add that I love when you abbreviate Phil Costello’s name it is “PC”? That is so inaccurate, hahaha!

How can you not love a band whose bio opens up with ,”Combining such disparate influences as rock, hard rock, metal and heavy metal…”? Stop worrying about being such a hipster or true. True metal is absolutely important but if you have to try too hard you fucking become a roundabout elitist hipster anyway and are probably just jealous of The Sword or Diamondsnake for getting more ass than you. Enjoy your life and have fun! Realize that Kiss without make up (“Heaven’s On Fire”!!!) is still truly awesome. Anyway, Diamondsnake is, in no uncertain terms, Crusher approved!

MORGAN Y. EVANS: How are you guys doing today? What’s going on in the world of the Dsnake?

PHIL COSTELLO: Lots of crushed anii in the world of Diamondsnake today. Well, right now just the band's anii, from our last rehearsal. But everyone who comes to our show, expect their anii to be crushed as well, whether they are aware of it or not.

MYE: Moby is a vegan and I am recently vegetarian again and it is nice as a fan of your band to know that it is still possible to “Storm The Fucking Kastle” to pillage and wench AND be kind to animals. Moby just played at the Animal Sanctuary near where I live in Woodstock, NY. In that song you say, “We don’t want love, we just want glory.” How do you toe the line between sweet seduction and pillaging?

PC: We here at Diamondsnake respect all diets, so long as you don't build a Mosque near any of them.

MYE:“Rock N Roll Dream” is maybe my favorite. It makes me want to do a tribal smoke dance into the stars. Is this out of line? How does a rock n’ roll dream differ from being all part of a rock n’ roll fantasy ala Bad Company?

PC: Yes, the song is indeed about tribal smoke dances -- and what a bunch of pussies all the hippies are until they discover rock n' roll! As for Bad Company, we love them, and summon them in our artistic process. Or is it Foreigner? Wait, I'm confused.

MOBY: We are influenced by a lot of different bands, and one thing we all agree on is the first four Aerosmith albums. Bad Company too. I like to think of all of our music as New Jersey Parking Lot Metal circa 1986.

MYE: Old school Aerosmith does indeed rule! Old school New Jersey as well. Dudes, I met Steve Brown from Trixter recently and he is the man! Word up. Anyway, who’s this Jim guy that did the bitchin’ art on your website? Like Deep Purple, I see that you fear not the color purple in your artwork. Some people think it is girly but forget it is the color of royalty!

PC: Upstate artist is Jim Krewson. He's really awesome.

MYE: So…Dave and Phil played together in Valley Lodge but Phil, how’d you and Moby meet? Probably at some crazy Satanicide show? I saw Satanicide on a booze cruise once and it was really hard not to fall over as the boat rocked, especially after all the drinking and dancing. Splendid drunkery!

PC: I remember that booze cruise. Those cruises are put on by one of my best friends Jake Szufnarowski at Rocks Off. I've known Moby since before the Satanicide days, mid-90's, via mutual friends. From time to time he would cameo with Satanicide.

MOBY: I've known Phil for about 15 years. I'm just really impressed with his musical ability, his songwriting ability, and his ability to abjectly humiliate himself onstage.

MYE: That is a righteous skill! The guitars, shit…the whole band sounds awesome. It is like your sound descended on a sunbeam of awesome rock justice. What is the secret to Diamondsnake's power? Don’t say, “It’s a secret!” Bring us fire from Olympus!

PC: It's easy. Just be awesome and write great songs. If a song isn't any good, then we just won't write it. As for equipment, we'll use whatever is there, but prefer Dual Rectifiers.

MOBY: We had a policy that you could only record something twice. If you messed up, too bad.

MYE: One take, Charlie! People used to think ballads were wussy. My band Antidote 8’s bass player thinks White Lion was great up until they made “When The Children Cry”, but I still think it is rad. It is kinda creepy how the guitarist in that video is sitting on a playground but I love it. Anyway, I think some ballads can embody a stoic strength such as your song “Lady Of The Morning.” Thoughts?

PC: My favorite part of that White Lion video is when the singer glances upwards towards the sky, as he sings the words "unnnnnnder god." As for Lady of the Morning, that song is about actually falling in love with a one night stand groupie slut. But that's kind of what we tell every one night stand groupie slut we bang in every town.

MYE: What are you most looking forward to about your shows coming up?

PC: Decimating sweet anii.

MYE: What does Diamondsnake have to say to those who have been lulled into a hypnotic trance by the banality of modern music? Are you saviors or destroyers of vengeance?

PC: I would put some smelling salts under their noses. That'll wake 'em up.

MOBY: We've gotten some attention from the heavy metal community, and they hate us more than I ever thought was possible.

MYE: Haters are masturbators. Tell them my patented phrase “Kiss It Or Miss It”, Moby. Do I dare ask what inspired “Wrong Woman To Love?” I guess we’ve all been there.

PC: Totally, everyone knows that feeling, when you love a woman, and she's just wrong for you. And if you're a chick, then there's that extra part that means you're a dyke.

MYE: No comment. Thanks. Horns!