John Ricci, guitarist and founding member of Canadian thrash band Exciter, took some time out of his busy schedule to talk with Decibel Geek and bring fans up to date on what the band has been up to and how the reunited classic lineup is getting along.
The band just returned from Calgary Metalfest where they shared the stage with three other titans of Canadian metal, Annihilator, Sacrifice and Razor and I was eager to know how the show went. “It went really, really well”, he said, estimating there were about 700 fans there to see Exciter play. “The audience really reacted to us and the three other Canadian bands on the bill.”
It’s only been since 2014 that the original members of Exciter, Ricci, Dan Beehler (vocals, drums) and Allan James Johnson (bass), reunited and when asked how the band is getting along, Ricci responded “It’s going really well. Like the old saying goes we are much wiser and older now.” Should issues arise in the band, John says they members deal with it much differently now, “Thirty years ago if we had issues in the band it would be a big drama but now, if we have things to discuss, we just sit down and talk about it, very calm. Nobody gets pissed off.” John refers to the members of Exciter as “humble” and remarks that “We are fortunate that we can still play our music and people want to still see Exciter. We are much more mellow with getting along.”
When asked about what it’s like to still play classic Exciter songs like “Heavy Metal Maniac”, Ricci says the band still gets a kick out of them adding “We still get really excited about playing the songs that got us on the map.”
To hear how John Ricci feels about Exciter being an influence on other bands listen here https://soundcloud.com/laura-suchan/exciterasinfluence
