Weedeater.

I'VE KNOWN THESE GUYS for more than 10 years. Weedeater played so many skate parties at the skate barn; that was my hangout for days. Man, do they sound great live when you're drunk and skating at a party! My homie David Collins has nails in his throat. His voice is definitely different from most. Weedeater is committed to what they do. Being in a rock band has got to be a love hate relationship--it's not easy traveling around just trying to make an impact. It's a dream of every derelict kid to be a rock star. So check these guys out, because they live for this. They live for metal.--Chet Childress

Tell me about where you're coming from.

David Collins: From the bottom of North Carolina, and I guess geographically metaphorically the bottom of a whiskey bottle and a bag of grass.

If you could pick any bands to play with, who would you pick?

Man that's a pretty good one.

Prince?

No problem. I saw a bad-ass picture of him today at a restaurant we ate at, and the waitress was wearing a raspberry beret.

Wu Tang?

No problem.

Elton john?

Hold me close you tiny Danzig.

Kanye West? Do you know who he is?

Do I know who Kanye is? Of course. We would whoop it up with Conway--or Kanye--Twitty.

In four or five words, describe what kind of music you're putting out.

Southern fried weed metal.

What about that saying, "It's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll." What's your saying?

It's a long way to the bottom. We might have just gotten past there. It's a long way to the bottom of a bottle as well, and a bag of grass.

How many parties have you played at the skate barn?

Shit, plenty of times. The Weedeater ranch is out there. It's a house that sits on 23 acres of land and is owned by our good friend Jimmy Ellington; he owns the skate barn. Probably one of the most grass-roots skateparks out there. We live in the Weedeater ranch, an old three-bedroom party house that has our band room. It looks like the evil dead house. It's got old radios, rattlesnake skins, and buck heads hanging on the walls with Mardi Gras beads around them. It's a crazy place.

How long have you guys been at the ranch?

We have been there eight years. We've had a couple parties there where we moved all the furniture out. We're going to film a video there. A full-on live video in that house. We can play as loud as we want, as late as we want. There's no one around for 23 acres.

You just did a big tour with Corrosion of Conformity. How was that?

Very good. We did the whole US with COC and we took the middle 11 days off to tour with Bongzilla; they had just released a new record. Then we went to the West Coast. We had a very good time; COC treated us very well. People who like old COC will really understand us. And both bands have a Southern Rock influence. Some people think we intend to sound like that, but it's where we're from.

Does your voice hurt to sing like that?

It hurts to scream like that.

Do you do anything to help it?

I take tiny little sips of NyQuil as we play. NyQuil on the side of my amp with a little straw.

Does it knock you out at the end of the show?

Sometimes, sometimes I throw it up. Generally I don't have to break it out the first half of the tour. I'll probably start using it in a couple days. It gives great vocal effects.