By Stéphane Bélanger
This interview was originally done by SOUNDSCAPE MAGAZINE and posted on their website. They have since removed their page, so I have posted a local copy. Except for this paragraph and some necessary link reference changes, ALL work on this particular page was done by SOUNDSCAPE MAGAZINE.
Remember the 80's? Remember the birth of the most extreme forms of Metal? I sure do! I remember back in the mid 80's (I can't remember what year, though), when the greatest Metal fest of the time took place in Montréal; the World War III Fest! VOÏVOD was headlining! This show also featured CELTIC FROST and DESTRUCTION for the very first time in North-America. NASTY SAVAGE was there and the whole thing got started up by this (yet) totally unknown California band: POSSESSED! That was a few weeks before "Seven Churches" even came out! What a blast it was! This band was as heavy and fast as SLAYER but even more brutal and with an edge of pure evil that would become known as Death Metal!!! Well, I was impress, and so was everybody there! After that, POSSESSED became one of the most influential force in Metal and despite its short lived story, they made a real impact on many bands from the late 80's, up to now! Nowadays, I see band members who were about 8 years old at the time, who say that POSSESSED is an influence to their sound! That is the kind of impact this band made on the Metal scene! So it was with great pleasure that I got an e-mail from founding member Jeff Beccerra! Of course, I had to send him an interview and ask him what he was up to, etc. So here you have it! Read on and enjoy! Oh! And if you are of the newer generation and don't know of 'em (which would be kind of weird!?), I suggest that you put their few recordings as next on your "to get" list!!! You won't regret it!
Well, after the band had disapeared from the active scene and after Jeff's
accident, I was wondering what the hell the guy was up to... Well, as you'll
see, he keeps very busy, both with his studies and... Music of course! And he
feels like, no matter what, he'll always be close to the scene...
"Well mostly I have been involved with school. I am a Labor Studies major
at San Francisco State University. That keeps me quite involved with a
lot of pro-Labor Union activity. As far as music is going, I still play
every day. I may be going to LA soon to do a track with one of my
favorite bands SADISTIC INTENT. They are doing a cover of my song
'Satan's Curse' for a tribute album and they have asked me to sing on
it. There seems to be a real resurgance of die-hard Death Metal fans
lately, and it will be nice to put out another version of that song. The
scene is still great here in San Francisco, I think that to a certain
degree, I can't help but to remain involved (it's in my blood!)"
Even if he has not been playing in a real, steady brutal bands for years
now, Jeff remains very close to whatever happens in this scene... He is still
as much a brutal Metal rebel as he ever was before! And he certainly likes what
he sees and hear in today's Metal!
"I think that it's fuckin' great that the scene is still very-much alive
and well. I think that there is much much more competition between the
bands than the 'old days'. When we were around, there were only a few
true Death bands. Now there are so many, I think, that just goes to show
that there is still a real interest in the best music on earth. We need
to stay rebellious now more than ever in a world that tries to make us
conform to a base set of a-typical values. We are not the sheep that
society wants us to be. As far as following the scene, hell yes! I follow
the scene! My room is filled with nothing but the heaviest bands CDs
from around the world."
So what are some of your favorite bands and genres today?
"Man, there really are so many. I really just listen to what sounds the
best and the heaviest."
Even today, more young bands pop up and although they are often half Jeff's
(and mine, by the way) age, they still state POSSESSED as an influence to
their sound... I was wondering how that felt, even if the band had a relatively
short lived story? Well, just like I expected, it always feels good to see our
work appreciated, even after so long...
"I think that it's great that I was able to influence the scene. POSSESSED
was really an organic thing. We played as fast and as crazy as we were and
I believe that people saw the truth in that."
Back in the '80s, the satanic lyrics and these kind of topics were a sort
of theatrical stunt... Nobody took it very seriously, for what it was worth...
But today, like many among us know, some of these Black Metal circle take it
way too seriously... Burning churches, religious crimes and murders, etc.. So
from a guy who used to write those kind of lyrics, when it wasn't a trend yet,
Jeff tells us what he thinks of this...
"Well, there are two sides of the coin to look at. Firstly, I feel that
most of us are sick of 2000 years of Christian dogma. Hypocricy runs
rampant through the US and every country and many times, those who
condemn suffer the fate of the condemned. I'm not saying it's right to
hurt people or destroy churches, but we need to look at what the
Christian churches have destroyed also. From the missionaries and the
ethnocide they inflict on the way of life of uncountable indiginous
peoples (from Russia to the Amazon), to their ignorant mind-washing
self-serving and opportunistic politics. Many times their 'morality' is
not moral at all, but only a way to oppress others for personal gain."
Now back in time: Hey, this was the early 80's! Ok, SLAYER was already
there and was traumatizing most people with their brand of ultra fast,
aggressive Death/Thrash... But almost nobody had ever heard the sheer brutality
and hate that this band had! I think POSSESSED was kinda ahead of their
time with this new sound... How and why the hell did they decide to form one of
the heaviest band of the time?
"We got together because we loved to play music! And yes, I truly think
that we were ahead of our time. I don't want to sound big-headed, but
nobody was playing what we were back then. It felt good so we did it.
Back then my main influence was Lemmy (from the mighty MOTÖRHEAD)
and also I liked the Punk scene very much. In fact, the Punk scene was very
influencial to the raw and fast music we played."
Back 198? .... Damn, I don't even remember! Anyway, in the mid 80's (1984????),
POSSESSED was part of the World War III festival, in
Montréal. It is one of the most memorable days of my life and certainly
the greatest show I've ever been to... Can you imagine that: VOÏVOD
headlining, during their most brutal era: the "Rrröööaaarrr"
era! But the cherry on the sunday was that we had the chance to see, for the
very first time ever in North-America, CELTIC FROST and
DESTRUCTION, all this during their best years! NASTY SAVAGE was
there too... But a yet unkown band under the name of POSSESSED was
opening the night! Can you imagine the bill!!! I sure do... Here Jeff tells us
what he remembers of that great week end...
"That was a *GREAT* show! I remember how cool all the guys from the
various bands were. There were alot of people there that were true
hard-cores and I was amazed at how fucking huge the scene had become.
CELTIC FROST was great as well as all of the other bands. DESTRUCTION,
and NASTY SAVAGE as well... It was really a hell of a show!"
Speaking of shows, what were the most memorable shows/tours/places you
guys played? And what were the band's best markets?
"The European tour was of course on of our highlights! The scene there
was out of control and huge. I loved touring with D.R.I. and SLAYER.
The MEGADETH shows were great and Dave Mustaine was cool as hell.
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES were also great guys. Man, there really are too many
cool shows and cool people to talk about. Playing with VENOM and
SLAYER at the Kabuki in SF was another highlight. DARK ANGEL, DEATH
ANGEL, hanging out with Billy Malano from S.O.D. was crazy and fun,
VOÏVOD, EXODUS, FANG, THE MENTORS, BLIND-ILLUSION of course... and
many more. We had a market almost everywhere. It seemed like back then, Metal
was huge and everyone wanted to listen to it. People wanted to *not* conform,
unlike today's shitty alternative nitwits."
After they had obtain all this success in the scene, the news suddenly came
up that the band was parting ways... I was wondering what happened back then
that led to the demise of POSSESSED...
"Well, we felt that we had accomplished all we had set out to accomplish.
Those were great years, but it was simply just time to go our own ways.
I am still great friends with everyone in the band (they are all doing
great in life nowadays) and am greatful that POSSESSED was able to make
an impact on the scene. I hope that people will always listen to my
music and continue to play harder faster and more deadly in the future!"
I saw some very nice POSSESSED Web Sites in the net... I asked Jeff
if he was personnaly involved with some of them? And also to tell us his
impression on this great medium...
"Mark Vignati runs the Official POSSESSED WWW site. He has really
done a fantastic job at putting together the pages and POSSESSED is
forever indebted to his effort on behalf of the band. The internet is such a
powerful resource tool for accessing information and enhancement of the
underground scene. It is opening up doors making underground so much
more than it ever was. It could just be the greatest thing that ever
happened to the scene as far as trading and correspondence goes. Here is
the address to the
'Official POSSESSED WWW Page'."
THE most memorable moment(s) for POSSESSED?
"Hanging with Mike Torrao was fun as hell. We had so many fucking parties
and good times that I will always smile everytime I think of them. The
fans were great and the times were some of the best that I will ever
have."
THE most embarassing momment(s) for POSSESSED?
"I would have to say carrying our manager (Debbie Abono) over my shoulder
across town because she had tried to have a drinking contest with some
German locals and I. Of course, that too was more fun than embarrassing.
It's hard to get embarassed when you really don't give a shit!!"
Well, is is great to see Jeff still around and well! Like I said earlier, if
you still don't know about POSSESSED, which would already be a shame
and a surprise, I suggest that you do to your local store and get their few
albums and EP... If you do have 'em (now you're talkin'!!), then go see their
cool site and have a few moments of great memories!!! Thank you Jeff and
long life!