"I just love creating in a big studio with an engineer/producer who is not as close to the music as we are."

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Hello and welcome to this exclusive KNAC.COM interview with OFFICER X Bassist Peet Golan. In Part 1 of this 2 Part interview Pete discussed with us the fact that he came from a musical family, talked about some of his influences, and about the making of the band's 2023 release, Hell Is Coming. Check back here soon when we speak to another OFFICER X band member about the band's new album and plans for the year ahead.

KNAC.COM: Pete, you are the bass player for the band OFFICER X. Could you tell us the story of how the band first got together?

GOLAN: Yes, that would be me. Rod and I had been talking about doing some music together for a few years prior to it actually happening. We started working together in 2016 in a search to find our sound and what the band was going to be like. Our first song was "Incandescent" and another was "Officer" which in the end of it all ended up being the band name. Both songs ended up being different, which paved the way for the rest of the material.

KNAC.COM: OFFICER X recently released a lyric video for the song "Incandescent", which is a song off of the band's new 2023 release Hell Is Coming. I understand that song was written about the war in Ukraine. I know you are a co-writer on the song, so I wanted to ask you was it hard to sit down and write a song about something that is currently going on in the world? Did you have any concerns about the band writing a song about such a serious subject? Did you ever worry that some people might see this as the band getting political?

GOLAN: I wouldn't see it as us getting political, as "Incandescent" was written in 2016 when we first got together. Rod wrote the lyrics to that tune. It's not actually about the current situation. I mentioned that it reminded me of things happening in the Ukraine. I think that's where the reference or thought came from.

KNAC.COM: Seems like both fans and critics have been responding to the Hell Is Coming in a real positive way. What has that been like for you?

GOLAN: I think it's great, this record was pretty much completed prior to the pandemic. We were sitting on it for a long time. We didn't want to release until things started to get somewhat normal.

KNAC.COM: What plans does the band have to tour behind the album?

GOLAN: We have a handful of regional dates in the northeast right now. There are no current plans for full scale touring, but who knows? Anything can happen.

KNAC.COM: How old were you when you first started playing Bass? Did you take lessons or would you consider yourself to be more of a self-taught player?

GOLAN: I was 14, my uncle played bass in a metal band when I was a kid and I loved it. By the time I started playing, my uncle Steve had sold all his music gear for a Harley and some other fancy bikes. He had once told me had he known I was going to take it so seriously... he would have given me a bunch of stuff instead of selling it all. I did take lessons right away as my guitar player friends were a year ahead of me. So, I fast tracked my learning to be able to keep up with them and start our first band.

KNAC.COM: Who were the bands/musicians who had a major influence on you when you were growing up?

GOLAN: This has always been a tough question for me, as a bass player there were many great rock/metal players I loved. I found myself being sort of a sponge and branched out to explore fusion, jazz, funk... you name it, I found it. I'll spare you the list of players, I don't want to expose how much of a nerd I was/am.

KNAC.COM: OFFICER X I think can best be described as old school/traditional metal and I think anyone who is a fan of bands like DIO, IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST will love the sound of OFFICER X. In regards to the recording of the new album Hell Is Coming, was everyone in the same studio or was the album recorded the modern way where everyone has a home studio where they work on their own?

GOLAN: We recorded most of the tracks together at Q Division here in Massachusetts. For the track "Lady Soledad", some of the solos and vox were recorded at one of our home studios.

KNAC.COM: Can fans purchase it just digitally or can physical copies be purchased as well?

GOLAN: We have CD's, tapes and T-Shirts at our official website: https://www.officerxmusic.com. Check it out!

KNAC.COM: What do you remember most from the recording of the album? Where can fans find the band online?

GOLAN: I just really loved hearing it all come together, we did a lot of pre-production and rewrites of some of the tunes. Listening back to our tunes in the studio environment made all our hard work and time spent well worth it. We have our own studio and home studios. I just love creating in a big studio with an engineer/producer who is not as close to the music as we are.

KNAC.COM: What does the rest of 2023 hold for OFFICER X?

GOLAN: We have a new video coming out for the song "Officer" (this should be out by the time this comes out). "Red Prince" is going to be our last single/video to be released off of Hell is Coming. It's going to have a b-side of THE BEATLES' "Hey Bulldog". We don't have a release date for that yet, but are super excited about it.

Also, we are already in the process of recording our follow up to Hell is Coming. It took a long time to get Hell Is Coming out, so we are getting a head start on our next record and hoping to have a new record out late this year or early next year.