On the second day of Alcatraz the New Yorkers from Prong came along to celebrate 25 years of Cleansing. We took the opportunity to have a nice little chat with the creative Tommy Victor who never seems to stop making music.

GRIMM: First of all thank you for the excellent and energetic show.

Yeah, it was cool and weird. Due to the wind we got almost blown away, instead we used the wind to blow you away. It was crazy, people were going wild and all, had a great time.

GRIMM: So this tour is about 25 years of Cleansing, even 30 years that Prong exists. Did you ever expect that Prong would still be making music in 2019.

No, not really, I thought I probably got another job or so. It was never planned that Prong would stay that long. It is what is, we are still doing this and we love to do this.

GRIMM: When we are listening back to the songs on Beg To Differ, they sound still fresh. What is the secret of Prong for making music that withstands the test of time?

Thx man. Well the old ones, they came from the old bands we were listening to, the environment we live in, you know New York City, it is not the easiest place to make a living. That combination together with the artist life over there , we are still friends with these bands  from that period, made us making such records. Yeah , it was a good time. You know I have been doing music since I was I kid. I have older brothers and sisters, the radio was always on so I got inspiration from different kinds of music, I think that this what makes our songs different than other.

GRIMM: As one of the bands that has been around that long, it is clear that you have seen evolve the business side of music.

Well you know, it is hard for somebody like me. Earlier we had to send things via regular mail with physical products, making demo’s, so we got regular shows and became popular. Nowadays things rely more on the internet. You have a lot more of entertainment, video games or whatever. People don’t get out that much anymore. In the older days records were a thing, it was something , kids wanted records, they wanted to see bands in small venues, it was exciting. Now they don’t want this anymore, especially for young kids. It’s still popular but it doesn’t have the same excitement when we were young.

GRIMM: Which Prong album means a lot to you?

I think ‘No Absolutes‘ and ‘Zero Days‘ are one of my favorites, for sure on the level of maturity, the guitar playing, the singing, everything, it just came all out perfect.  You know all these albums have a place in my heart, they mean something special to me. ‘Ruining Lives‘ is a special one, I didn’t had much prepared for that record, I was going through some really crazy times and all of a sudden we could get that record done on time, I didn’t really had a band on that moment, it was bizarre that this all magically came to a good end. Of course the old ones I really love a lot like ‘Beg To Differ‘, ‘Cleansing‘. ‘Prove You Wrong‘ I don’t like so much sound-wise but the songs were good on this record.

GRIMM: As we know you are playing from time to time with Danzig. Do you have any news on him, will we ever see you back on stage with them?

I don’t know, I am as curious as you are. I haven’t heard Glenn in a while, I don’t really know what he’s up to or where he wants to go with Danzig. He hasn’t indicated anything to me. I know there will be a new record out, with covers of Elvis songs, I hope he doesn’t get mad on me by saying this. I have no clue when it’s coming out or if he will doing any tours. If any I think it will be some selected shows. He told me that he not will be doing another Danzig band record. We will have to wait and see what the future brings us. 

GRIMM: Thank you for your precious time, it’s been pleasure talking to you, keep on making great grooves !!

We’ll do , we’ll do !!