DJ REM STUDIOS Webzine November 2013 Issue 2 | Page 2

Where do you guys practice at?
We rehearse at my place in the basement. I call it “The Cauldron”. We rehearsed at some of the
most unusual places. One of them was called “The Warehouse”, which was in downtown Detroit.
That place was completely haunted. It has been torn down now for 10 years or so, but yeah, that
place still makes the hair stand up on my neck.
What got you into music, and what are your influences?
Music or Metal? Really, it was my father who gave me the passion for music. If it wasn’t for him, I
don’t think that I would have ever gotten into music at all. He bought me my first drum kit when I was
6 years old. I used to play along to vinyl records as a kid learning old Bob Segar songs. Then I
thought the world of drummers like John Bonham, Mitch Mitchell and Peter Criss, until I discovered
Bill Ward. Black Sabbath was the reason why I have a passion for Hard Rock and Metal, but it really
was Iron Maiden that made me want to play Metal. I have a lot of musical influences, too many to
list. My 3 top drummer influences growing up were Bill Ward, Nicko McBrain and Dave Lombardo.
But enough of me. Overall, as for Coven 13, we were all big into Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, The Cult and Bauhaus. They all had a major influence to our writing back then…and still
today.
What sacrifices have you had to make to do what you love?
Money. Really, that’s it. I sacrificed a lot of hard earned cash to do what I love… worth every penny!
Roger has ultimately made the most significant sacrifice to this band financially. Every one of us in
this band bear the name Coven 13 on the end of our sleeves. Not much as a sacrifice… as it is
more of a passion.
How did you come up with the name of the band?
Ok, here we go, LOL! Most people don’t know this but the original name was supposed to be
“Oracle”. Again, this was Roger’s project, so he was the boss. He wanted it to be Oracle but for
some reason he decided that we were to be called Coven. At that time, I think it fit us perfectly. We
were known as Coven up until 1988. On our first album, ”Worship New Gods”, it was released under
the moniker “Coven”. Then we were contacted by the original band known as Coven from the late
60’s / early 70’s era from “One Tin Soldier” fame and was asked very politely to not use the name.
Roger had actually spoken to Jinx Dawson and we gave her our word that we would not use the
name out of respect. She was very nice about it. So, after a few years as being known as Coven, it
was decided that we would simply add a “13” after it, hence 13 witches in a Coven. We have a lot of
respect towards Jinx and the original Coven band. They are actually an influence for us. At times,
I’m sure that things can get a bit confusing for their fans and ours, as well as the Coven thrash band
from Seattle. So we try to make it simple by adding the “13”.Through the years however, things get
even more confusing… we found out that there was another band from the east coast called Coven
13. But they came and went. Crazy!