Wargasm spent their spring doing something they'll never forget — opening for Limp Bizkit's U.S. arena tour alongside the hardcore rising stars in Scowl and Dying Wish, and the rapper $not. The U.K. duo of Milkie Way and Sam Matlock were recently crowned by Korn's Jonathan Davis as his favorite nu-metal revival band, and after playing before riotous Bizkit fans throughout the States and making friends with Fred Durst and Wes Borland in the process, they're on their way to even greater heights.
The Limp Bizkit tour was a particularly special run of dates that saw the once-controversial but now brilliantly self-aware nu-metal bad-boys reclaim their throne. It seemed that every date of the tour spawned a different viral video — from Rage Against the Machine covers with random fans and a little kid joining Durst for a feature, to every member of the touring bands rushing the stage to close out each show with a "Break Stuff" mosh pit.
We spoke to Wargasm about what it felt like to get the opportunity to tour with their idols, what Durst, Borland and Co. are like backstage, the crazy antics they got into, the wisdom they took away from the "social architects" that are Limp Bizkit — and much more.
HOW DID YOU FIRST FIND OUT THAT YOU HAD LANDED THE BIZKIT TOUR? WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION?
SAM MATLOCK I think we were in Scotland on tour with Neck Deep at the time. Growing up listening to Bizkit and having a pretty gnarly hangover made it a pretty surreal moment of mist and clarity.
MILKIE WAY I had some kind of food poisoning/flu concoction on tour and woke up from a nap with a bunch of missed calls from our manager, which is always either really good or really bad news. Luckily it was good news. I needed some good news that day. There was lots of cursing down the phone.
WERE YOU BIG BIZKIT FANS GROWING UP?
MATLOCK Who wasn't? That band helped kicked start ours.
WAY I remember hearing my older brother listening to Bizkit and seeing their videos on Kerrang. I always remember liking the girls they had in their videos — they looked like cool girls that I wanted to be friends with. Obviously the music appealed to me, too. We wouldn't be the band we are today without them.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST MEET FRED DURST AND WES BORLAND?
WAY Fred came and introduced himself to me while we were setting up on stage. He's very charming and goes out of his way to talk to and introduce himself everyone on the crew. I hope I'm not shattering any illusions here. I first met Wes over a round of tequila shots at a bar after one of the shows.
ONE OF THE COOLEST PARTS OF THE WHOLE SHOW WAS SEEING YOU AND ALL THE OTHER OPENING BAND MEMBERS COME OUT ONSTAGE TO PLAY "BREAK STUFF" AT THE END OF EACH NIGHT. WAS THAT PLANNED AHEAD OF TIME OR WAS THAT SPONTANEOUS ON THE FIRST NIGHT?
WAY Fred told us to come up on stage at the end of the first show, and when Fred Durst tells you to get on stage, you get your ass on stage.
MATLOCK I think it was spontaneous? They're kind of like social architects, it's hard to tell whats planned and whats not.
HOW DID THE "BREAK STUFF" PERFORMANCE DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THE TOUR AS ALL OF YOU GUYS BECAME CLOSER AND MORE FAMILIAR WITH ONE ANOTHER?
WAY By the last show we nearly had a full-on onstage mosh pit. Everything got a little more chaotic as the days went on.
WHAT WERE THE CRAZIEST MOMENTS OF THE WHOLE TOUR?
MATLOCK I cracked a rib. It hurt like crazy for the last few shows, still does. Having our first U.S headline shows was mental too. I'm not sure how many tour stories are safe to commit to written word...
WAY Having the whole of Bizkit knock on our bandwagon door at around 1 a.m. armed with pizza was a pretty mad moment. They stayed and chatted for a hot minute. Wes said he was jealous of our red mood lighting.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST ADVICE YOU TOOK AWAY FROM THE LIMP BIZKIT GUYS? DID THEY IMPART ANY WISDOM ON YOU?
WAY Take no shit. Treat people with respect. Never trust a slimey promoter.
MATLOCK Trust no one but yourselves. Imma do things my way.
OUTSIDE OF WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SAID, WHAT DID YOU LEARN OR TAKE AWAY FROM WATCHING THEIR SET EVERY NIGHT?
WAY Bizkit treat their shows more like house parties than concerts, which I respect a lot and they pull it off flawlessly. They're so incredibly in control of the vibe they're trying to portray with their show.
MATLOCK They're a master class. Think I've got some good whammy riffs coming in to one day give Wes a run for his money.
WHAT SORT OF CAMARADERIE DID YOU FORGE WITH THE OTHER OPENING ACTS? WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE THIS CLUSTER OF YOUNG, STILL PRETTY UNDERGROUND MUSICIANS WHO SUDDENLY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TOUR WITH A BAND AS BIG AS BIZKIT?
WAY It was very nice to always have other girls on the tour through the whole run. Shout-out to Em and Kat. I have a lot of love for them both.
MATLOCK I really liked those Scowl guys. I hope we get to hit the U.K. together one day. Thanks for the fireworks, Malachi.
