Terry Balsamo
joined up with fellow Jacksonville rockers; Scooter Ward, Sam McCandless, Jeremy Marshall and Kelly Hayes. Otherwise known as the monsters of Alternative Metal, Cold.
Terry remained with Cold writing and recording with them for their epic yet underrated albums 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage (2000) and Year of the Spider (2003). Near the end of his stint with Cold, the band had joined Evanescence as an opening act on the 2003 Nintendo Fusion Tour. This was of course before the abrupt departure of Evanescence's guitarist, Ben Moody. Terry had filled in for Moody on stage with Evanescence after Moody left during Evanescence's European tour, and when Cold's future suddenly became questionable, Terry jumped ship signing on permanently with Evanescence.
Terry Balsamo: It’s gone great; we are shooting a video for Lithium tomorrow then we are actually going to Europe after that. Then we will take some time off for the holidays then back on the road next year.
RM: The new album is great; what’s the writing process for you and Amy?
TB: It can start with a drum beat, a guitar riff, a vocal line; then we just go from there, you know?
RM: There are many string sections throughout the album; how does that translate when you play live?
TB: We pretty much alter those parts; we don’t want to bring a whole friggin’ orchestra with us (laughs)!
RM: When Ben Moody left the band, how were you the one chosen to fill in the slot initially?
TB: The last tour I did with Cold was with Evanescence; we all became friends and stuff like that. They knew things were shaky in the situation I was in and Amy & Ben continued to have problems after that tour; we all went our separate ways. Cold went to Europe and that’s when Ben left Evanescence. We had all been hanging out the last couple months before then and that’s when they asked me if I would come out and help, you know; help fill in. I didn’t plan on leaving Cold at the time; they didn’t know if that
was something I was into doing so they basically just asked for me to come out and fill in.
RM: What finally made you leave Cold?
TB: We started having problems with the label; usual label bullshit, you know? (Laughs) There was nothing to stay for really; it wasn’t something that I really wanted to do but when I started playing with Evanescence everything was just really smooth, a lot less
drama and all the bullshit I had been dealing with and they had been dealing with so it was kind of like, a fun environment.
RM: Everything happens for a reason, right?
TB: Yeah, it definitely did.
RM: Where were you when you had your stroke last year and do you know why it happened?
TB: I was at the apartment I was staying in L.A.; we were in the middle of recording the record. I had just finished all the guitar tracks on a Saturday and Monday morning I had the stroke.
RM: What did they say the cause was?
TB: I went into the hospital and they said that left side of my body was paralyzed. All the symptoms of a stroke were there. The doctors couldn’t understand because the heart, the cholesterol, blood pressure; everything was fine. They were like, “What the
Hell?” Then we did the MRI and found a blood clot in the artery in my neck. Basically the doctor came in and asked, “Have you
ever had any neck injuries?” I was like, “Ummm…No? (laughs) Other than swinging my head around on stage for an hour and a half every night for the past 10 to 15 years, you know, that’s about it.” The veins in my artery were torn and the blood-flow going through there just wasn’t working right like it should. That’s what caused the blood clot in there.
RM: So you’re going to be more careful about your head banging now?
TB: (Laughs) Yeah. I usually bounce now and just stop. (laughs)
RM: Whom were you main influences growing up?
TB: When I first started out Ace Frehely and Angus Young when I was really young was the rock aspect of the music; Elton John. As I got older, Randy Rhodes came along and The Edge from U2; then a little older Dimebag came on, you know. Randy Rhoades
and Eddie Van Halen were people I loved a lot.
RM: When did you realize that you wanted to be a professional musician and that’s what were you going to do no matter what?
TB: I figure when I was about 16 or 17; whenever Pantera came along (laughs).
RM: You’re taking a few weeks off then on the road overseas; what’s next after that?
TB: January we start doing arenas again and we’re doing a full on production; got a lot of cool ideas we’re throwing around about stuff we’re going to have.
RM: That’s very cool; any insight on what that might be?
TB: Um…were just going to have a bunch of stuff; nothing that I can say we’re definitely going to have because who knows what the hell is going to happen between now and then (laughs). We’re definitely going to have a lot more production than we’re rolling with right now.
RM: Do you play a set play list or do you just play off the cuff?
TB: No; we have a set song list. There’s no way I could go out and just say, “What are we going to do?” (laughs) We have a lot of old stuff and mix it up with the new; the hits to make everyone happy (laughs).
RM: What do you do to prepare yourself to go onstage? Any sort of rituals or things you say to yourself to psyche yourself up?
TB: Usually we just hang out in the dressing room listening to music or whatever. You know, just vibe out on whatever we’re listening to. We can listen to anything from Pantera to Rush or Bjork or, shit just about anything (laughs). Whatever’s working at
that time.
RM: As an artist, do you believe this is your best work to date?
TB: I feel personally, yes.
RM: Lastly, beside “don’t give up” what advice would you give someone trying to make it in the music industry and what advice do you wish you had received?
TB: You know; I have no friggin’ advise. I think the best advice is just to go out and do it, I think; fuckin’ learn from your mistakes and shit that you see. I don’t have any advice to give to anybody except watch your ass (laughs)! Shit comes up
that you never heard of (laughs). As for me; I don’t think I’d change anything; except for banging my head too hard (laughs)!