Crowbar's Kirk Windstein on Starstruck First Meeting With Type O's Peter Steele | Revolver

Crowbar's Kirk Windstein on Starstruck First Meeting With Type O's Peter Steele

"I tried not to be a fanboy"
crowbar Kirk windstein HUBBARD, Jimmy Hubbard
photograph by Jimmy Hubbard

Revolver has teamed with Type O Negative for limited-edition colored vinyl pressings of the band's classic albums plus a new Type O collector's issue and exclusive official band merch. Get yours before they're gone!

There was no one quite like Type O Negative. They were four Brooklyn dudes who sprung up out of the city's extreme hardcore scene and evolved into legit (if tongue-and-cheek) goth metal icons. From their 1991 debut, Slow, Deep and Hard to 1993 breakout Bloody Kisses to their 2007 swan song Dead Again, frontman Peter Steele and the band cast a long shadow with their haunting music and inimitable, imposing presence.

Sadly, their influential career was cut short by the untimely death of Steele in 2010 — but the Drab Four's legacy carries on. Type O left the world with so many great songs that continue to inspire generations of gloom-loving, heavy-music fans. Among those is Crowbar mainman Kirk Windstein, who also has some cherished personal memories of Steele and his band.

Windstein and Crowbar are gearing up for the release of their new album Zero and Below in March (score a limited-edition vinyl version here), but the singer generously agreed to take the time to recount the story of when he first crossed paths with Peter Steele. Read that below.

"I first saw them live on the Slow Deep and Hard tour while we were recording [1991's] Obedience [Thru Suffering] in Chicago," says Windstein. "They were actually the first band on the bill before Biohazard and the Exploited. The first time I met Peter, we were playing together at Harpos in Detroit. He came walking over to me and I realized how big of a guy that he really was! We chatted for a few minutes and then he asked if I was hungry and if I wanted to go to catering. I tried not to be a 'fanboy' but I went with him and ate a little something and talked some small talk. He was so friendly. We were traveling in a van, and they had a bus — and he offered available bunks to our band and crew to whoever needed a nap. 

"I was so lucky to have met him a few times after that initial meeting. His influence on me probably surpasses anyone's influence for Crowbar. On my birthday, April 14, 2010, I woke up to the horrible news that he had passed away. RIP Peter Steele! Thanks for all of your influence and great music."