Breaking the Metal Rules - Part 2

Here’s part 2 of our interview with Metal Rules! Editor Jeff Rappaport:






Chad Bowar: Who were the nicest or coolest musicians you've interviewed?

Jeff Rappaport: It seems the more "evil" the band is the nicer the musicians are. Most people have been very cool. In fact, I've stayed in touch with many people. King Diamond is a sweetheart. You would never know it by looking at him or by his music. Bobby from Overkill spent almost the entire interview in tears he was laughing so hard. Bruce Dickinson was extremely cool and let me ask all my questions and keep him up half the night without him saying once "I’ve really got to go." I know I exhausted him. Ha ha! Rob Halford was very cool and even gave my wife and I backstage passes to hang out.

Who were the coolest non music celebrities?

Daniel Roebuck is the man. Great guy, talented and the nicest guy you would ever want to talk to. Michael Madsen was super cool and even invited me to one of his movie premieres. Certainly an unforgettable experience. Recently talking to Rerun from "What's Happenin'" was a ton (Not a reference to his weight...ha ha) of fun.

Who were nasty to you or jerks?

Gary Busey. That dude has issues. Never have I done a more uncomfortable interview in my life but I'll tell you what, it's one of the best interviews you'll ever read. Also, Gary is still one of my favorite actors. I just wouldn't want to hang with him. Also, Vanilla Ice was not amused by my silly questions but he remained semi-calm.

Who are some artists you want to interview but haven't yet?

Here's some of my list in no particular order.
1.Angus Young Of AC/DC
2.Ted Nugent
3.Ozzy Osbourne (even though he was a complete a**hole when I met him)
4.Chris Elliot
5.Ice Cube
6.Anyone from Led Zeppelin.
7.David Lee Roth (Named my son after him. Little David Lee Rappaport.)
I know there are many others but I can't think of them at the moment. I've actually interviewed most of the people I wanted to. Bruce Dickinson was my #1 pick when I started the magazine!

Talk about your staff and their contributions to the magazine.

This may be my magazine and I may do 95% of the writing, but without my staff this mag would not exist. They are my backbone. Jeremy has been with me since issue #2 and he does the layout and anything else I ask of him. I mean it. The guy is multi-talented and has so many skills that he's irreplaceable. He's also the one that writes those funny comments to the photos in the mag. Not many people know that. Joe has been with me since issue #5 and does the copy editing and the website. He also assists in everything else whenever needed. He's also the most professional of all of us. You need somebody like that. Angus is our court scribe. Yep, he transcribes those long interviews and if you think it's easy then try it some time. A half hour interview takes about five hours. Josh is our resident artist and he's done some great covers but now that we have photo covers he designs them as well. We also have some new writers. Brian, Pete and Bill are doing a bang up job as well. I love my staff. They rule.

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