M. Shadow’s on Why Metal GRAMMY Categories Should Be Televised
It’s been a big year for Avenged Sevenfold, and they’re going out with a band with the deluxe release of their latest studio album The Stage, the acoustic live album Live At The GRAMMY Museum and the band’s very first GRAMMY nomination.
A7X is up for Best Rock Song for “The Stage” alongside Metallica’s “Atlas, Rise!,” K. Flay’s “Blood In The Cut,” Nothing More’s “Go To War” and Foo Fighters’ “Run.” While the band is typically classified under the metal label, M. Shadow’s pointed out in a recent conversation with WRIF’s Meltdown the lack of attention the metal categories receive and why that should change:
“If you’re getting a metal award, they don’t actually televise it. So, no one sees it; it doesn’t move the needle at all. I think the GRAMMYs have to get that right. When you look at metal, it’s probably one of the healthiest genres when you look at it in a worldwide perspective. Every single country listens to metal, and whether it’s mainstream or not is irrelevant. People will watch your program if you’re giving awards to bands that deserve it and it’s actually on TV and help those bands push the needle forward. We’re fortunate this year to be in the rock category, because rock is on TV, and I think that’s the whole point. You want to get nominated for a GRAMMY, and you want to get noticed by people and seen on TV. It helps everybody when the bands can get bigger. So, the metal award is still a problem, because literally no one is going to see those bands or know that they’re nominated, and that’s an issue…Metal out of all of the genres is just completely misrepresented in a big way, and I think they could put that on TV and get some mainstream exposure for bands like Mastodon and Meshuggah. I think that’s cool.”
So far, no performances have been confirmed for the 60th GRAMMY Awards telecast set for Sunday January 28, but we’re really hoping to see A7X’s and their production aired for the world to see.
To listen to this interview in its entirety, head over to WRIF.com.
Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.