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1.     Q:   How did you get involved in the music business?
A:   Well I was watching S.O.D. Live At Budokan on my VCR one day after I first saw Circle Of Fear play at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds back in April 1994, and after I became friends with them suggested to them the idea of maybe forming a hardcore/speed-metal side-project similar to S.O.D., and after showing them some lyrics that I wrote, they agreed, and.…after playing a couple of shows in 1995.…it got real big.

2.     Q:   Favorite TV show?
A:   For me, that would have to be the long-time running epic television series on NBC, as well as in rerun form on TNT, Law & Order. It always has been a great television series for me to watch over the years that it has been on, and now with various offsprings such as Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, even more of a draw, believe me, I would not want to be the defendant on trial when A.D.A. Jack McCoy (as played by Sam Waterston) is prosecuting the case, or be questioned by its detectives played over the years by such fine actors as the late, great Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, Dennis Farina, Chris Noth, or Benjamin Bratt, as they will all eat you alive if you happen to become a suspect in a murder case. It is because of shows like Law & Order that are the reason why I have made the long-term commitment to continue to “do the right thing”, live the spotless off-stage lifestyle that I have had all of my life with no criminal record to speak of, and although I have to admit that most of my lyrics may not reflect it, especially on my new AK47 series of CDs, continue to stand up for what is right for my many Legions Of Warrior Nation™ around the world.

3.     Q:   Who did you at first pattern yourself after in your old days with S.M.F.?
A:   Billy Milano, lead singer of S.O.D.- the Stormtroopers Of Death, BullyDance, and M.O.D.- Method Of Destruction among other bands.…..what more can you say about this legendary NYHC (New York Hardcore)/speed-metal frontman, except, “He IS Sargent ‘D’…and YOU’RE STILL ON HIS LIST!!!”

4.     Q:   Most inspirational movie of your career so far?
A:   It would definitely have to be the 1983 smash hit film Flashdance. It taught me the very important lesson you have to overcome your fears in order to achieve your goals and realize your dreams….to believe in yourself, and in your abilities, and for me, that’s what me being The Heavy Metal Warrior®, and also AK47, is REALLY all about ….overcoming obstacles, and breaking down barriers (most of our younger fans could relate more to this same valuable lesson by watching Eminem in the 2002 smash hit film 8 Mile). Besides, my former Erikson Center & High School classmate, the former Tracy Berg, was so much into it HARDCORE back then in 1983, so I wanted to find out why. I picked up a VHS copy of it in 1997…. and it is really a great movie worth watching, and most recently it FINALLY came out on DVD this past October of 2002 after 19 fuckin’ years of it not getting digital justice!!!

5.   Q:     Favorite athlete?
A:   Who better than Rob Van Dam (RVD). No other WWE Superstar has such a tremendous work ethic, a very cool and care-free-like attitude, incredible agility, the ultimate in self-discipline…and ohhhh…those “educated feet” (as “good-old J.R.”, Jim Ross used to call them), those incredible moves like the “Van Terminator”, “Rolling Thunder”, the “Van Daminator”, the “Split-Legged Moon-sault”, and of course, the ever-so-scintillating “Five-Star Frog Splash”…those extreme moves, as well as his tremendous martial arts skills are why he is…ROB!!!...VAN!!!...DAM!!! And if you don’t like it, as the WWE company slogan says, you can “GET THE ‘F’ OUT”!!! Yin/Yang POWER, dude!!!

6.     Q:   Besides your lovely common-law wife, Alice Yantz, and of course Cindy Margolis, who else is the highest moral inspiration in your life, and why?
A:   My old classmate, and co-graduate from the Class of 1984 at the Erik And Joan Erikson Center in Tarzana, California and the one who first introduced me to Cindy Margolis back in February of 1983, the former Tracy Berg. She gave me the impression that she didn’t think that highly of me when in actuality she was pushing me to do more in life without me even knowing it. I found this out from Jorge Vega, who was a staff member there back in 1983-84, and he is still there today. Without her inspiration I probably wouldn’t be here today… maybe I wouldn’t have become The Heavy Metal Warrior®, or anything like that…you see folks, Erikson Center may have graduated us, but they certainly did NOT educate us or prepare us for life in this world!!! None of us want to remember our days there, Erikson Center was a goddamn dump!!! Cindy Margolis herself woke me up to that undeniable fact when she wrote to me back in 2003. I didn’t know how to approach or treat women right then (I didn’t know better then like I do now), I admit, I was quite a pervert back then in 1983, but I am proud to tell you that there is now indeed mutual respect between all of us. Tracy Berg gave me her respect back in 2002, Cindy Margolis followed up in that same fashion the following year (and it was all WELL-EARNED, believe me folks), something that I had always wanted from both of them since the three of us graduated that dump-so-called “high school” back in 1984!! Nothing more, but yet, nothing less.

7.     Q:   Favorite sports franchise?
A:   The Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders. Hey, what more can you say about The Silver And Black except…THEY KICK ASS!!! I have been a die-hard Raiders’ fan since back in 1982 when they first came to L.A. from Oakland, two years after the Rams ditched us for Anaheim in arch rival Orange County back in 1980, before moving to St. Louis. The Raiders DID win Super Bowl XVIII in 1984 while they represented Los Angeles, so despite the fact that I moved to the Great Northwest back in 1987, and although the Raiders moved back to Oakland in 1995, I am still a BIG Raiders’ fan to this day because of what they did for good-old L.A. while they and I were both there. SEATTLE SEAHICKS (Seahawks) SUCK ASS!!! Paul Allen eats Al Davis’ shorts for breakfast!!!

8.     Q:   Future plans after the music business is all said and done?
A:   Well, at one time I wanted to become a professional bowler (PBA member), and maybe become a PBA Tour champion like my bowling idol, multi-time champion, 1988 PBA Player Of The Year and PBA Hall Of Famer (inducted in 1994), Brian Voss. When I first met my common-law wife, Alice Yantz at the now-defunct Key City Lanes back in 1989, she was bowling in a mixed league, and I had been a long-time viewer of the legendary ABC Sports’ Professional Bowlers Tour series with Chris Schenkel and Nelson (Bo) Burton, Jr., since the mid-1970s. My grandmother, at my insistence, got me my first ball back then in 1989, an Ebonite Thunderbolt, and I have been a huge student of the sport since, and in all of the years that I have watched those shows, back then on ABC, and now on ESPN, I still can’t find another bowler with a better, more classic form, solid release, mental toughness, and, the physical strength to overpower a tough lane condition (if necessary) than that of Brian Voss. I admit, right now I kind of throw the ball more like PBA and USBC Hall Of Famer, Ernie Schlegel, the old “high, hard heat with not much meat”, just not quite as accurate yet, but I am also currently in the process of learning more about the newer, more powerful bowling balls, the latest equipment, speed control, hand action, and how to hook the ball more so I can become a more versatile player so I can play different shots on different lane conditions, no matter what the oil pattern or lane surface is. Plus, Voss also cross-trains by weightlifting and running, which is so important for the week-in-and-week-out grind of the PBA Tour. It’s just like Nelson Burton, Jr. once said a few years back, “…how many miles can YOU walk with 16 pounds in your hand???”

9.     Q:   Other hobbies besides music and bowling?
A:   I am also into the rich history and tradition of Volkswagen. I have been a VW enthusiast since I was a kid, and right now I currently own a 1999 New Beetle GLS 2.0 (dubbed WarHorse), and I am currently in the process of working on and fixing up a vintage air-cooled 1963 Transporter Kombi Bus (dubbed PimpWagen). I have been a subscriber to VW Trends since 1998, and I enjoy reading about the glorious past, and ever-promising future of what has become known to its many loyal followers like me as The People’s Car.

10.     Q:   Tell the Legions Of Warrior Nation™ about the origin of your new catch phrase: “The Most Talked About Man In Underground Entertainment”™. How did you manage to get that started?
A:   Well, The Rock is known to the millions (and millions) of his fans in the WWE as “The Most Electrifying Man In Sports Entertainment”, and that is a fact. Cindy Margolis is known to her legions of fans around the world as “The Most Downloaded Woman On The Internet”, and I have received a lot of respect and recognition for what I have been able to do in my history-making (and history-changing at that) music career since I first started in 1994, and I was watching WWE RAW one particular Monday night a few years back, and The Rock happened to be on, and I don’t know what happened but, it just suddenly clicked, I started paraphrasing (and out loud at that) the man who is also well-known as “The People’s Champion” by proclaiming myself in typical Rock-like fashion as “The Most Talked About Man In Underground Entertainment”™, and that’s how it started. It’s not just a catch phrase used to sell CDs, it’s the truth!!

11.     Q:   Favorite cartoon character?
A:   Kenny McCormick from South Park. For an 8-year-old kid to be killed off every week, and come back for more shows me that this orange coveralls wearing dude is fucked up, but in a funny way!!!! You can’t believe the unimaginable ways in which he gets killed: microwaved, run over by a train, fried, even killed in A MOSH PIT!!!....always with the customary entourage of gnawing rats!!! OH MY GOD... THEY KILLED KENNY!!! YOU BASTARDS!!!

12.     Q:   Favorite food?
A:   I always get a sandwich from the good folks at Subway here in Port Townsend. Sam Watson, drummer for The Apex Theory introduced me to Subway back in July 2003, when I was down in San Diego, and I have officially become hooked on eating healthier since then, including a low fat diet, exercise, watching what I am eating, and also switching from sugar in my coffee to Splenda. Hey, when you are a huge role model for your Legions Of Warrior Nation™, you have to set a real good example not only for them to emulate, but also for yourself.

13.     Q:   Since you started out in the music business in 1994, you have become more diverse in your choices of music, as far as both listening to and also performing, and it shows in your numerous projects, such as S.M.F., and also AK47. Who are the people responsible for some of those influences?
A:   First of all, I owe everything that I am in the music business to my manager and best friend, Len Enders, and also Kit and Katie Benge. I have lots of influences, such as from my two former high school classmates, including Tracy Berg, who got me into more than just listening to (as on KWJZ-FM 98.9, Seattle), but also collecting Smooth Jazz CDs, such as Earth Wind & Fire, Sade, and George Benson, and also Cindy Margolis, who got me into lighter and poppier music, such as Toto, Sting, and Phil Collins, my former band mates in S.M.F., Charlie and Adam Burns, who got me into bands such as Pantera, and White Zombie this “‘60s hippie rock binge” that I have been on since 2000, which led me into getting my 1963 VW Bus, Mike Townsend at Quimper Sound, who got me into guitar music, such as Joe Satriani, and Jimi Hendrix, when I took guitar lessons from him at Port Townsend Music in 1988, and also my former co-worker at Jefferson Transit, Todd Oestreich, who got me into The Grateful Dead in 2003.

14.     Q:   If you could date a supermodel for a day, whom would it be?
A:   Well, I’d be bullshitting Warrior Nation™, The United States of America, Myself, and my legions of fans if I did not pick The Great One herself, Cindy Margolis (SORRY GRETZKY!!!). Boy has SHE come a long ways from Erikson Center (Tracy Berg referred her to our high school back in February 1983, she went on to graduate in February 1984)!!! We all know about the impressive set of credentials on her legendary resume, Married With Children (1992), To Tell The Truth (2000), Ally McBeal (1999), Hollywood Squares (1998-99), Austin Powers (1998), and The Cindy Margolis Show (2000) among them (for more details on her extensive list of accomplishments, visit her great website at www.CindyMargolis.com). I am very proud of her for what she has done with both her life AND career since she graduated Erikson Center. Would The Big H-M-DUB™ pick Tara Reid, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Carmen Electra, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, or even Nikki Schieler-Ziering instead??? FUCK NO, DUDE!!!Click on Cindy's eye to see a larger pic.

15.     Q:   You mentioned CindyMargolis.com, what about YOUR great website, BIGHMW.com™?
A:   Believe it or not, we have received a TON of hits on it,… such known figures in the show/music business to have seen it include Jack Black (from School Of Rock and Shallow Hal, and also a member of Tenacious “D”.), Bono (from U2), Third Eye Blind, and The Apex Theory, as well as P.O.D., Andrew W.K., and The Moldy Peaches. It’s really hard for bands from here in Jefferson County/Port Townsend to get ANY kind of real and legitimate recognition from the music industry, the stereotype of our mostly rural area being full of “beer drinkin’-nicotine addicted-truck drivin’ backwoods hicks”, as opposed to people like me (I’m from L.A., am I a fuckin’ hick???) usually does prevail over the drive, the passion, and the gut desire of so many bands from here, as many of them have come, and many have gone. I came up with the website so we can all get the respect and recognition that other bands have had for a long, long time. Besides, all of our fans from all around the world will be able to get even more of an idea of how I went from Erikson Center High School “write-off” back in 1984 to the self-made success story and ever-growing Legend™ that I have become today!!.. from Erikson Center to EMPIRE!!! NOBODY gave ME a chance in hell, but with my three traditional HMW™ Values, which are Hard Work, Sheer Guts, and Gritty Determination, all of those efforts sure paid off in spades and EARNED me tons of respect BIG TIME!!!

16.     Q:   Game shows or talk shows?
A:   I’ve always been one who has said that I’d rather see somebody win $10,000 in less than 60 seconds like on Pyramid, rather than watch some fat old Nascar watchin’-Wal-Mart shoppin’-tobacco suckin’-welfare milkin’-baby makin’ trailer trash slut from the South who looks like she’s missing a few teeth (probably as the end result of a fight at some redneck bar out on the panhandle) proudly boast about having slept with 10 different men, or women, or her first cousin, or the fuckin’ family dog, or whatever. Is THAT all they know how to say on these talk shows…”WHATEVER!”, or “Y’all Don’t Know Me!”? THAT really does take a lot of intelligence…NOT!!! I’ll take Monty Hall or Pat Sajak over Maury Povich or Jerry Springer ANYTIME!!! (that’s DOOR #2, NOT whore #2!!!)

17.     Q:   Favorite color?
A:   Black. The Official Color of Heavy Metal and legions of loyal Headbangers EVERYWHERE!!! Hey, Slayer wears black on stage, that’s mostly how I was able to develop most of my outfits and apparel I wear both on stage, and off. Also, no other color has more sexual appeal, power, and aggressive looks than that of The Dark Side Of The Force…hey, Darth Vader doesn’t wear white… maybe his wife, Mrs. Vader does…. white is for wimps!!!!!! REAL MEN WEAR BLACK!!!! THE OAKLAND RAIDERS DO!!!!....the members of SLAYER do!!!... and so does the REAL feel-good story of the past decade (FUCK YOU, William Hung, you wanna-be, pipe-dream, butt-fucked ClearChannel corporate sell-out scum!!!), the Top Dog in this business and the man (and a REAL man at that) who revolutionized an entire small town’s underground music scene and turned it on its ass back when he started with S.M.F. in 1995, and now revamping it again and jam-packing clubs, bars, VFW, Eagles and Legion Halls as AK47 more than a decade later, The Big H-M-DUB™ himself, Ray Jackson here!!!

18.     Q:   Blondes or brunettes?
A:   It doesn’t matter to me, just so long as their name is Alice Yantz. I’ve been very happily hooked up with her since 1989, in fact more than long enough that I am common-law married to her, and the ONLY reason that we are not yet legally married is because we both get Social Security benefits, and they would be all but lost if we did, and to my fans who DO think I am obsessed with Tracy Berg or Cindy Margolis, that is FAR from the truth... even they, both know THAT fact.

19.     Q:   How did you come up with your slogan: “Respect Is EARNED”™?
A:   On March 17th, 2002, The Immortal Hulk Hogan made his triumphant return to the WWE, and its Pay-Per-View, WrestleMania X8, which was held in Toronto, Ontario at SkyDome. I could not believe the tremendous support from all of the old-school Hulkamaniacs that made up most of the record SkyDome crowd of 68,237, as he went up against The Rock, in an “icon-vs.-icon” match that was equal to “Babe Ruth taking on Barry Bonds”, as Jerry “The King” Lawler called it on that epic night. But it was the following Monday night on WWE RAW from a sold-out Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec that was more overwhelming, as a sellout crowd of 17,346 gave The Hulkster a 5+ minute standing ovation that even got to yours truly, and during it, Jim Ross stated, that THIS ovation, in his view, was NOT about nostalgia, but rather about respect for what he had done for the professional wrestling industry, and that pretty much how that started.

20.     Q:   What inspired your nickname “The Heavy Metal Warrior”®, and where did it originate?
A:   Well, it was developed back in 1985 partly in my hopes to impress Tracy Berg. I was over at Erikson Center that year to well-wish the Class Of 1985, and, coincidentally, Tracy Berg happened to be there. I was invited to a party by a member of the Class Of ’85 who was my classmate in 1984, Jonah Shapiro, and he was going to have a heavy-metal band playing his graduation party at his house, and thinking that Tracy Berg was invited to that party, in which later on I found out that she wasn’t, I developed the now-legendary nickname “The Heavy Metal Warrior”® and a KICK-ASS outfit for the occasion, now-dubbed HMW-1 (1985-93), which consisted of an Iron Maiden jersey, a pair of CHP-style mirrored sunglasses, a Motley Crue Shout At The Devil Tour headband, a pair of checkered Vans “Off The Wall” slip-ons, and a pair of Levi’s. Several other unique outfits have been developed since, such as the HMW™ Series, which is HMW-1 through -4, and the all-new AK47 Series. But it indeed was Tracy Berg who is responsible for starting my legacy. I hope that I will get the opportunity to thank her in person one of these days for straightening me out back then, for challenging me to be somebody in life, let alone this Legend™ that I have become…from “fucked-up” to FOLK HERO!!!!... mostly because of her moral inspiration, as well as that challenge I accepted back in 1985!!!