GREG PUCIATO

FROM THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN THROUGH HIS EXCEPTIONAL, EXPERIMENTAL CAREER SINCE, GREG PAINTS A PICTURE OF AN INCREDIBLY CREATIVE LIFE TO DATE.

- JACK ROGERS

How does it feel to be in a place where you are so free in your creativity?

"It's pretty incredible. At the end of The Dillinger Escape Plan, things just felt like a black hole and I didn't know what would be on the other side. I had no idea what I was going to do. I had no plan to make a solo record. I had no plan to sing with Jerry Cantrell. All I knew was that I was going to finish the record that I was working on at the time, which was the second The Black Queen album, and that's it. That's all I could see. There was no schedule. There was no plan. You go into the next room without knowing where it will take you, but if your reasons for going there are pure, you must trust it. You have to trust that there will be another door, and another door following that, and then keep going. That's what I have been doing ever since I was a kid. Chasing passion and excitement, trying to stay true to yourself and keeping your inner compass clear. Saying to yourself, 'Right, I know this is where I am going, and it is the correct choice'. You can't wait for the next thing to start. You have to head towards that door and trust that the thing that got you here will keep you going. The world keeps spinning no matter what you do, so keep turning with it. You don't want to live in fear, and to keep something going just because you're scared that there isn't going to be something on the other side is a recipe for failure. That's how you become an old, ancient nostalgia trip dragging yourself out to do the thing you were successful at 20 years ago. That then keeps on going, and you become a relic, and it's all that you're good for. You don't want to feel like that."

You mentioned chasing passion ever since you were a kid. Where would you say that passion started? What were the things that made you fall in love with music at a young age?