Resist & Bite hosted a sold out crowd for their album release party at Madlife Stage & Studios in Woodstock, Georgia, a year ago and the band has kept the heavy metal pedal mashed ever since. Throughout 2022, they have crisscrossed the United States, performing live with ’80s rock mainstays such as KIX and Stephen Pearcy (RATT), while also being invited to participate on the Monsters of Rock Cruise back in February.
Formed in early 2019, the band self-produced and released their first song “The Myth I’m Livin’ ” on Metal Works, 105.9 The Rock in Nashville, Tennesee, in February 2020. In June 2021, they released another video for their single “Fate.” That song was recorded and mixed by Grammy-winning Michael Rosen (who worked on a number of TESLA releases, including Into the Now and Forever More) at Sound Stage Studios in Nashville. Then, back in June, the band offered up their next music video showcasing the tune “Home,” which featured the song lyrics and live concert footage overlaid with fan-submitted photos.
Resist & Bite is a group of seasoned and accomplished musicians, which includes Tommy Skeoch (guitar, formerly of TESLA), Nathan Utz (vocals, formerly of Lynch Mob), Steve Stokes (guitar), Brian Powell (bass), and the newly-hired Michael Foreman on drums. All Music Magazine visited the band during private rehearsals this past week for their upcoming shows in Saginaw, Michigan, (The Vault on November 11) and Columbus, Ohio, (The King of Clubs on November 12 in support of Last in Line) and was granted the exclusive opportunity to Foreman’s first official interview since joining the band.
All Music Magazine: While new to Resist & Bite, you do have a long working relationship with Nathan Utz. What is the history there?
Michael Foreman: I was born and raised in Florida, but when I moved up here (Atlanta) in 1997, I started checking out the local music scene. Nathan was with a band called Blonz. I ended up meeting Nathan one day at The Tabernacle when the Blonz did a reunion show. Me and my buddy Jason were playing in a cover band at the time and went to see him, and I looked over to my buddy Jason and said “I am going to play with that guy one day.”
I can’t tell you if months went by or a year went by, but as I am playing in different cover bands around town, just staying busy playing drums, I get a phone call from Nathan. He said, “Hey man, Bevan’s (Davies) got a new job doing ZoSo and we really need a drummer. I want you to be the drummer for Pandora’s Box.” That is the Aerosmith tribute I do with him currently. It is kind of funny as I said, “Uh, really? Why? You play with Bevan and you know all these people. OK, that’s crazy. I’d love to do it, but I have obligations with other bands and I have to stay true to those gigs.”
To me, in this business, no matter what you are doing, whether you are a cover band at Wild Wings, you are trying to make it big, or you already are big, you don’t burn bridges. You try to be as honest as you can and straight up as you can. I eventually joined Pandora’s Box and got to play with Nathan. I will never forget when my buddy Jason called me and said, “You son of a bitch, you did it. You got to play with him and that’s really cool.” That’s my history with Nathan, and I am still working with him today after 6-7 years now of the Pandora’s Box gig.
All Music Magazine: What other styles of music or types of drummers do you look up to as influences?
Michael: I grew up as one of those kids that got a drum set for Christmas and was like a kid in the candy store. I got to pick it out at Paragon Music in Tampa, Florida, and just started playing and listening to everything I could. The first two albums I ever got from my sister Janet were Queen‘s News of the World and The Clash‘s Combat Rock. Those are two completely different styles of music, so I don’t believe any drummer has one single influence. We all take and steal from each other. We all learn from each other.
If I had to choose some names, John Bonham should be everybody’s drummer influence. His pocket and the way he changed things when he came out was just mind-blowing. Neil Peart as well, because he was just that great songwriter that really wrote music beyond just playing the drums. He wrote the songs, and wrote the words. There are so many drummers that I have loved throughout the years. Sean Kinney from Alice in Chains really taught me how to pay attention and really lay back, sit in that seat, and try not to be ahead in the song. Taylor Hawkins, for his craziness, god rest his soul.
All Music Magazine: Now that you are officially rehearsing and sitting behind the kit for Resist & Bite, when you look over and see such an accomplished musician like Tommy playing guitar, what goes through your head?
Michael: It is crazy because Mechanical Resonance and The Great Radio Controversy, those two albums were really huge influences on me when I was a kid. Troy Luccketta is a fantastic and amazing drummer, and TESLA was just one of those bands that I popped my headphones on and played drums to in my room. What I love about Tommy, and I even reminded him of it today, is just how much I enjoy his bombastic guitar playing. It is just that big middle finger or fist that makes you want to drive really fast in your car to those songs.
For me, playing with him, I just try not to get too crazy in thinking about it. I am not a star-struck kind of guy and just focus on staying grounded. It is amazing to play with him, but it does make you want to play TESLA songs with him! (As an aside, they did play TESLA’s “Rock Me to the Top” during rehearsals). I told him we have to play “Edison’s Medicine” together, because I have to hear the beginning of that song. I know it was him that wrote it. You can just tell by the tone and the guitar, it was him. It is really cool to get an opportunity to play with one of the guys that made me want to drive real fast in a car, listening to his songs while growing up.
All Music Magazine: What are your plans now for 2023? Are you looking forward to touring? Song writing?
Michael: This is where I am a pretty grounded person. I have a full-time job, and a wife and kids. I am looking forward to really doing some cool shows with them and getting to do some things I don’t normally get to do with Pandora’s Box. It is exciting to step into a different level, just another step up from what I do currently. I am really looking forward to these upcoming shows next weekend.
I also hope that as they keep writing I can put some of me in those songs. Any guitar player that I have ever played with or worked with, they always bring a song to me and I always ask them to describe what they are looking for. A songwriter has an idea and a thought of what they want, and maybe they can’t play drums, but they know what they are looking for. I am not going to step on that just to say, “Hey, look at me.” I can’t do that. I will embrace whatever new songs they bring in. If they have drum machine stuff for me to hear, I will embrace that because if that is what they are looking for to get them through the song, I want to emulate what they are looking for, and then maybe throw a little bit of me in there. And I am OK with that. To me, it is for the song and the songwriter, and as a drummer, that is my job, to be the cake of that.
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For those local to the Atlanta area, be sure to set your dial to Rock 100.5 WNNX-FM and call in to request Resist & Bite’s song “I,” which is currently in rotation.
Resist & Bite
Michael Foreman – Drums
Brian Powell – Bass
Tommy Skeoch – Guitar
Steve Stokes – Guitar
Nathan Utz – Vocals/guitar
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Elliott is a music photographer covering shows in Atlanta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. The highlight of his photography career was back in the early ’90s, when he sold Neil Diamond the rights to his negatives from a show and then purchased a set of tires for his 1979 280ZX during college with the money.
