No Boundaries
In his first interview in over a year, Paul Bostaph discusses Systematic, Elton John, high school – and gives his official reason for leaving Slayer.
By Erik Fong

Systematic has already mastered the art of the "lucky break." And when your chances for success in the music industry are almost entirely dependent upon being at the right place at the right time, the Bay Area-based quartet has everything going its way right now.

Record deal? Check. All it took was a chance encounter at a rehearsal studio with Metallica's Lars Ulrich. A demo hand-off here, a signature there, and boom: Systematic was the first act to sign to Lars' subsidiary label, The Music Company.

Badass drummer? Check. In 2001, when drummer and Bay Area native Paul Bostaph left Slayer for unconfirmed reasons, it didn't take long for him to resurface as the newest member of Systematic.

Oh yeah… music? Check. Systematic's brand new album, Pleasure to Burn, was released April 15 on Elektra (Lars has since shut down his subsidiary). The band's been on tour for several weeks, and you can see them soon on the next leg of their tour opening for Stone Sour.

Coverage in an exclusive interview conducted by the editor of a beloved San Francisco online music magazine? Check. Paul Bostaph hasn't done any interviews since leaving Slayer, opting instead to let the dust settle and concentrate on getting comfortable with Systematic. In our exclusive interview with Paul, he covers all the bases, from his early days in the Bay Area thrash scene to his current gig with Systematic - and of course, the truth behind his departure from Slayer.

Bostaph fans should also keep an eye out for Paul's upcoming instructional drum video, as well a few drum clinics. Until then, read on for the interview that metal fans have waited over a year to see.

Perfect Pitch Online: Define Systematic's musical philosophy in one word.
Paul Bostaph: No boundaries. Oh, that's two words.

PP: I'll allow "boundary-less." How would you describe Systematic's evolution between the first and second albums?
PB: Since I joined the band, I'd say we're trying to draw more into our classic rock roots. We like AC/DC, Tim [Narducci, vocals/guitar] is into Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Adam [Ruppel, guitar] is really into Metallica, but we're trying not to do too much of the Metallica thing. The band's sound is more about melody than your metal chunk. There's a lot of the heavy metal sound in the guitars, but there's not a lot of those syncopated guitar riffs that you'll find in metal, especially in a lot of the old school Bay Area thrash.

PP: Now that The Music Company [Lars Ulrich's subsidiary, to which Systematic was originally signed] has folded, is Lars still involved with the band in any capacity? Is he still a mentor?
PB: Yeah, Lars is still involved, and I would say mentor is definitely the way to put it. His opinion is very respected. Adam lets him hear our demos and gets his opinion of them. It's good to get outside opinions, especially his, because he took interest in the band from the beginning and he's still interested. I have a lot of respect for the guy, because he wants to see the band do well. And of course I have to respect that, because I'm in the band.

PP: You grew up in the Bay Area. What was high school like?
PB: Boring. I hated high school, especially my high school [Newark Memorial High]. To me, there weren't enough girls there, and a lot of the teachers weren't interesting enough. Usually I'd just think about sports, and towards the end of my freshman year I started getting into music, so it was always just sports and music. Then I got a job, and school took a backseat to everything. The thing about high school was, there was never anyone who would sit down with me and explain to me why I was learning what I was learning at the time. I felt I had enough to get me through every day life, why do I need more? So my mind always went to things I was interested in. I wasn't interested in history until after high school. Math bored the shit out of me, then I learned that drumming and music have a lot to do with mathematics, so I started thinking, "Wow, maybe I should've taken more of an interest in math."

PP: How is the Bay Area underground scene different today compared to 15 or 20 years ago?
PB: The scene today has gotten - I don't want to say "tired," but it hasn't found a new influx of kids. Death Angel was young, they were a bunch of kids when they first started. Metallica was a bunch of kids, we [Forbidden] were a bunch of kids. Now there are a lot of older bands that are carrying the torch, but there aren't a lot of all-ages places where high school kids can go and play - like Ruthie's Inn, where they could just go out there, play, and get hungry. Slayer and Metallica came from the same basic area - then you had Exodus, Testament and Death Angel. You had all these great bands that happened all at one time. The Bay Area needs a place for a scene to happen, and all the bands need to happen together.

I think the scene needs to move on from what it's trying to be. A lot of bands are trying to be heavy – which is great, I love heavy music. But somebody has to stretch out. I think the scene really needs to re-evaluate itself, and there needs to be some new bands. There's a band called High on Fire that I went to see…

PP: They're fantastic.
PB: Yeah, a friend of mine has been telling me about them forever. I walked into their show and looked around and was like, "Holy shit. I don't know anybody here." It was a younger, hipper-looking crowd. It was packed. I'm like, "This is where the scene's at." Maybe I'm just not seeing enough of these kinds of bands, but if more bands like this are around, they need to play together. It just takes a couple of people to get an idea and push themselves.

PP: What's the biggest personal sacrifice that you've made to stay in the music business?
PB: Probably not getting married or starting a family.

PP: Were you close to getting married?
PB: I thought I was a couple of times. But I made certain choices because of music. I'd probably be married and have a family right now if I had a normal life. But I don't have a normal life; I've been living out of a suitcase for 10 years. Every once in a while I'll get some time off. Other than that, there aren't too many things that you sacrifice, since it's a labor of love. I'm tired, I've only gotten a few hours of sleep in the last couple of days because we've been traveling and our schedule today was just out of control. But that's not going to stop me from going on stage tonight, because I love it. Other than that, I don't feel anything has been a sacrifice.

PP: There were reports that you left Slayer because of an arm injury, and others said that you left to join Systematic. What's the true story?
PB: I didn't leave Slayer because of an arm problem, and I certainly didn't leave Slayer to join Systematic. I was ready to go. It was nothing personal towards anybody in the band, it was just my time to leave. Musically, I wanted to do something else. And in terms of the problem I had with my arm, I re-aggravated an old softball injury by lifting up a laptop at the airport. That happened right at the beginning of the tour, and it never had time to heal. But even at that point, I was considering moving on from the band. Slayer's a great band, and I had a lot of fun playing with them, but I have to feel like I'm taking chances musically. The first time I left Slayer, I did The Truth About Seafood – sure, it never got signed, but I enjoyed it a lot. Slayer took my drumming to a new level, but there are also other levels of drumming that I haven't even touched yet. I want to become a more eclectic drummer.

PP: What's in your CD player right now?
PB: Elton John's Greatest Hits.

PP: Wow. You don't seem like an Elton John kind of guy.
PB: Well, I grew up listening to him on [San Francisco radio station] KFRC. Back in the '70s, you would hear Earth Wind and Fire, Elton John, The Eagles, Thin Lizzy, UFO, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath all on the same radio station. You'd hear Bootsy Collins, The Brothers Johnson, Al Green… it wasn't this thing where you'd listen to one station for one type of music. You never knew what you were going to get, and that got me listening to a lot of different styles.

PP: Do you have any embarrassing CDs in your collection that nobody knows you own?
PB: No, actually I enjoy telling people what I have. I'm not ashamed. But I'd say that the one that no one could guess I have is Beethoven's Greatest Hits. Beethoven's not too far out there, but it's the "greatest hits" that got me. I didn't know he even had a video.

Purchase Systematic's latest album, Pleasure to Burn, through Amazon.com.