From sunny Los Angeles, California comes one of the underground's heaviest
thrash metal bands, Oil. Oil vocalist, Ron Rinehart was formerly the vocalist
for Dark Angel which, of course, gives them some immediate interest to those
into thrash metal. Read along as we talk with Oil guitarist, Blake Nelson about
the band, Ron, Dark Angel, tattoos, and their beliefs...
UMM: Tell us a little about Oil, who are you and why do you do what you do?
Blake: Oil is a Spirit filled Christian metal band that the Lord Jesus Christ has called to preach the Gospel to all who need it. To the unsaved, we preach salvation. To the saved, we preach the identity of who we are in Christ and the grace of God that so many forget about because of all of the rules and regulations that organized churches pour out on the children of God that have been set free from the law. We are basically a group of guys that are in love with Jesus Christ, and it just so happens that we enjoy to play and perform heavy music. So to answer why we do what we do, we just do what is in our hearts. UMM: Some bands hate to be classified but I have heard you classify yourself as METAL! Why limit yourself to this classification, especially in a market that is so unfriendly to metal. Blake: Actually, we've gone through the whole battle of "How do we describe our music?", and we all have tried to come up with other terms for the style we play, but in all honesty, we play METAL. Some would say, don't call it metal, call it heavy, or call it alternative, or call it (you fill in the blank), but what it all boils down to is this-we play METAL. One bad thing that we experienced, when we tried to call ourselves something other than metal, is we would end up getting booked with other bands that are completely opposite of our style. So much so that the audience we would get put in front of would just stare at us not knowing what to think or what do. We could be up there totally shredding and giving it everything we've got and the audience could be sitting there thinking, "when are these guys going to shut up so we can dance!" So, we have felt it's better to be honest and just say that we are a metal band and try to avoid getting booked with bands that are not. And as far as the market goes, we think that there are a lot of people who love metal and eventually the marketing experts will come to their senses and begin giving these fans what they really want, and Oil hopes to be there to offer them the metal that they are craving and in the midst of it all tell them about the one who is in love with them, the one who is willing to give them life, the one who provided the way to Heaven, the one who died and rose again, the only one that could ever make them brand new.
UMM: One of the things I respect about you guys is that you are unashamed to play real metal and that you are unashamed to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Can you elaborate on this a bit?
Blake: This is a simple question to answer. Oil plays from the heart. What you hear is what you get. I would have to say that since Jesus Christ lives in our hearts, all we do is let Him out and He does His thing. He is in the business of changing lives, so we are in the business of life changing music. Ron and I thought that when we became Christians that we would have to stop playing and listening to metal. I actually got rid of all my gear and got an acoustic guitar because I pretty much felt that an acoustic guitar was more Christian or something. Praise God that I didnít grab the tambourine instead. I would have been miserable! God did pull me out of the metal scene when I first got saved and He led me to bible college. I totally gave my music desire to the Lord and in His grace, he removed that desire from my heart while I was attending bible college. It was a couple of years later that God gave me the desire to play again and then He restored my playing abilities and gave me the desire of my heart and Oil is the fruit of that which God has given to me and my brothers.
UMM: Your CD/EP is very good. I enjoy it quite a lot. To be very honest I picked it up at first because I was a Dark Angel fan and the thought Ron doing Christian thrash was very cool. Your style is quite different from D.A., however. I'm under the impression that you don't care much to talk about your past, especially when it comes to Ron's ties with Dark Angel, however, I was hoping you could share a bit of what God has brought you through.
Blake: Ron doesn't like to comment on his past with Dark Angel for whatever reason he has. I can offer you some interesting trivia in regards to my relationship with Ron though. Ron and I go way back, perhaps as far back as 15 years or so, give or take. I was playing in a popular Hollywood band called Deceiver and Ron was my bodyguard when we performed. If anyone got in my way, Ron would thump them for me. Eventually Ron went to join Dark Angel and I went on to do my thing and we lost contact with each other over the years. Here's the mind blower. Oil started out with Matthew, myself, and Matthew's room mate on drums. We were playing together for a few months in their living room. I had minimal guitar equipment and Matthew had minimal bass gear, and one Saturday we decided that this was something that God was calling us to do. So we made a commitment to buy all new gear, build a studio, and look for a singer. We thought that it would be impossible to find a long haired-tattooed singer that not only sang well, but loved Jesus too. Well, the very next day, I was walking in one of the hallways at church and bumped in to this guy I know, and standing right next to him was this long haired guy with a bunch of tatts. The guy looked at me and said, "Blake?. What are you doing in church?", and I replied, "Ron? What are you doing in church?" As it turned out, Ron and I got saved right around the same time and had been attending the same church for 3 years without seeing each other until the day after we prayed for God to send us a singer! The church we were going to was very large and easy to get lost in the crowd. Isn't it amazing to see God hook the two of us up right at the opportune time? Now, as far as my past goes, it would be a couple of pages to write down my testimony Scott, so if you are want to print something really wild, let me know and I would be happy to share. God saved me through a series of events that is quite a story within itself. The facts are that I was an alcohol abuser, drug addict, sex addict, warlock, and demon worshipper. I was all of the things and God in His mercy called me to be His own, and now I am a son of the Most High God.
UMM: What are your favorite songs musically and lyrically on your CD?
Blake: One of my favorites is Day or Night, which is the last song on the CD and is the song that usually gets played on the radio here in L.A. The lyrics get right to the heart of it, "As he walked down the road with the suffering stripes on His back for you and me, what do you see when you look at the cross, do you consider Christ?" That cuts right to the root of it all I think. It puts the listener in the position of "Who is Jesus?" The second verse in the song is especially meaningful to me, "When He knocked on my door, He opened up Heaven to me, He dried my eyes, He said, be clean". I cant tell you how many times I have listened to that verse or even read that verse and wept. You have to consider that I wasn't a person who could ever claim to be good in any way. I have done incredibly evil things in my life, blasphemed the name of God, destroyed lives, and worshiped his demonic enemies, and yet the Lord dried my eyes and said, "Be clean". I wasn't seeking God when I got saved. He came after me, He chased me down, He became what I needed, He chose me and did not give up until I realized that I cannot live one more day the way that I am, I must have Jesus.
UMM: Can we expect anything new in the future from you guys? If so, what will the sound be like and how will it differ from the EP?
Blake: It is Oil's prayer that you will be able to expect something new from us. We are dying to get into the studio and record a full length CD. Our style has progressed quite a bit since the recording of the Oil CD in 1997. We are much heavier now, and our grooves are fresh and modern sounding. One of the reasons for this is because Junior (our drummer) is very aggressive and he brings out the best in my abilities as a player and a writer. The only thing keeping us out of the studio is money, and when and if the finances come in, you can be sure that Oil will put out some very heavy, anointed, power metal for all of you crazy headbangers reading this interview.
UMM: So, no label interest yet? I heard you may be on the Dwell Records compilation "2000-the Second Coming", what is that all about? That could open some doors for you, don't you think?
(due out in January 2000)
Blake: We haven't had any labels approach us yet. Ron has spoken with Bill Metoyer of Metal Blade Records about the CD that we submitted to them and Mr. Metoyer feels that we are not heavy enough for their label. We will be on the compilation disc with the secular label Dwell Records. It is my understanding that they will be distributing it in some pretty major places, so we are looking forward to seeing what that will produce for us as far as interest goes.
UMM: The obligatory question: who are you guys listening to these days? Who inspires Oil musically?
Blake: I don't listen to a whole lot of music actually. Usually when I listen to music, I enjoy Al DiMeola's guitar playing and The Hillsongs from Australia worship CD's. The rest of the band listen to all sorts of stuff. Anything from Living Sacrifice to Godsmack to Pantera to Deftones to East West to Modus Operandi and let's not forget...Ultimatum, of course!
UMM: Thanks, but you don't have to lie on our account. (Laughter) But seriously, there are very few of us around these days. Most Christian metal bands seem to want to be labeled either Death or Black metal. We were glad to hear another Christian thrash metal band. We need to get together to do some shows.
UMM: Now, on to a very touchy subject with Christians; tattoos. I just got one of our "crown of thorns" logo on my calf. Obviously you and Ron have a bunch, what are your opinions on tattoos?
Blake: My opinions on tattoos would be this...I LOVE TATTOOS. The funny thing is that when I run into people that say that the Bible says that you can't have tattoos, I always say, "where does it say that in the bible?" And guess what? I have never met a person yet that has been able to give me that bible verse! I suppose the verse that they would like to be able to quote would be Leviticus 19:28 which says, "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord" Without going into a long theological explanation basically what was happening was that people were marking their bodies in ways that would identify themselves as a follower of a false god. So really, it was a matter of the heart and a matter of what a person believed that was at the root. Not to mention the fact that this was a law given to Israel, not to the church. All of my tattoos have a meaning of God's love, mercy, and other things that relate to Him. I am fully sleeved and people always come up to me and ask to look at my tattoos and I will say sure, do you want to hear the story behind them? And they always say yes. So at that point I have an opportunity to give them the Gospel.
UMM: That's cool. Of course, I agree with you but I thought people might dig hearing your opinion on the subject. Well, anything you'd like to add?
Blake: In closing, I would like to address all the Christian brothers and sisters reading this right now. I meet Christians all the time that are feeling down on themselves because they can't seem to measure up to the holy living that they think must be performed by them. One of the reasons for this is because the church has become a place of do's and don'ts, or rules and regulations, or to put it biblically "the law". Many times when we come to salvation, we go to church and the church says, "okay this is what you need to do now, read your Bible, obey God, witness, pray, etc." And they will say things like "are you reading your Bible enough?" And you will of course say no and then have a feeling of letting down God. We tell ourselves, or pastors tell us, "you need to get busy for God, you need to be serving God, come on Christian soldier get with the program!" Does this story sound familiar? Sure it does. Sometimes we even go to Promise Keepers and get all fired up, but a week later we feel all deflated. The reason why is because we are not promise keepers. But you know what? He is! Listen up my Christian family because I am about to blow your mind...ready? Here it is: The Christian life is not about Christ! Yeah, that's right, the Christian life is not about Christ. is Christ! It's Him, and He is in you. We get so busy trying to learn about Christ that we forget to know Him. We get so focused on our behavior (which will never be good enough by the way) that we feel unworthy, and unclean. Now, let me tell you this. If you are a Christian, no matter where you are or what type of bad thing that you are doing, even in the midst of the worst thing that you can do, you are accepted and loved by Jesus Christ. Nothing is able to separate you from the love of God! When you focus on your behavior you will always feel like a failure. I have learned that the key to the Christian life is not to focus on your behavior, but rather, just fall in love with Jesus. I know that sounds too simple, but it is the truth. Fall in love with Jesus and your behavior will begin to line up on it's own by the power of God the spirit. Focus on behavior and you will begin to sink. God is not so interested in your behaving as He is in your believing. It's not up to you to live up to the standard. The bible says, "that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" Phil.1:6 So who's job is it to perform? It is God's job, and He has promised to do it in you. Remember this my brothers and sisters, God has made you holy, blameless, righteous, and justified in His sight. Now that's the Gospel! Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". Most of the time when I ask a Christian what does justification mean, they will say that God looks at me as if I have never sinned. Now, that is true, but that is only half of the truth. Justification does mean that, but the other half would be God looks at me as if I have done everything absolutely right, loved God with all my heart, soul, and mind and my neighbor as myself for my entire life. Now, that's justification. You see, the righteousness of Jesus Christ has been given to us, therefore we are "SONS OF THE MOST HIGH GOD". We were sinners, but we are now Sons! I encourage you, fall in love with your Savior and you will see that He that hath begun a good work in you will be faithful to perform it too. God bless you all. Amen.
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