Thrash metal and beer-bottle drum solos: Interview with Metal Church drummer Stet Howland
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He's an in-demand metal drummer who’s pounded the skins for Metal Church, W.A.S.P., Blackfoot and Lita Ford.
But so far, Stet Howland jokes, AC/DC hasn’t called.
“I can play simple and all,” Howland says, “but I don’t get hired to do those type of gigs.”
And he knows exactly why.
The part-time Fort Myers resident calls his drumming style busy, bombastic and complex.
“I’m definitely busy,” he says. “I’m a busy drummer and I know it.”
He’s busy in more ways than one these days. He and his wife, Heidi Howland, bought Fort Myers bar Winkler House in August 2022 and hold regular concerts there ― including this weekend with his old Southwest Florida band, 10,000 Views.
Then there’s his main band, thrash-metal legends Metal Church. They start rehearsing later this month in the bar’s adjoining warehouse/concert venue. Then they launch their new international tour in June.
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Metal Church’s 13th studio album, “Congregation of Annihilation,” comes out May 26. And Howland can’t wait for fans to hear it.
“We got a monster here, and it’s heavy,” he says. “Diehard Metal Church fans are gonna love it.”
We chatted with Howland recently at his renamed Stet’s Winkler House bar, where he sat on a barstool surrounded by electric guitars on the walls, a photo of metal icon Lemmy Kilmister and an Iron Maiden pinball machine.
The Las Vegas resident reflected on his career, the new album, his famous beer-bottle drum solos and much more. Here’s what Howland had to say about:
Metal Church’s new album ‘Congregation of Annihilation’
Metal Church fans expect long, complex, epic songs, Howland says. And “Congregation of Annihilation” won’t disappoint.
Plus it’s even heavier than Howland’s debut album with Metal Church, 2018’s “Damned If You Do.”
“It revisits old-school thrash,” he says. “It’s super-energetic and super-heavy. … It’s brutal. It really is.”
Howland thinks Metal Church fans will dig the new songs. And he credits a lot of that to founding rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter Kurt Vanderhoof ― a man Howland considers to be a musical genius.
“He’s like a fountain of endlessly original ideas,” he says. “The guy is unbelievable. And he did it again.”
New Metal Church singer Marc Lopes
The album marks the debut of new Metal Church singer Marc Lopes. He replaces the late Mike Howe, who died of suicide in July 2021.
The band was stunned by Howe’s death, Howland says. He’d sung on many beloved Metal Church albums, including 1989’s “Blessing in Disguise” and his 2016 comeback album “XI.”
“We were devastated over losing Mike, obviously,” Howland says. “We were all shut down for a minute. We didn’t declare ourselves done (as a band), but we couldn’t talk about moving forward, you know?”
Finally, it came time to find a new singer, and Howland suggested his longtime friend Marc Lopes of Ross The Boss and Let Us Prey.
“He’s been a dear friend of mine for decades,” Howland says. “We grew up in Massachusetts near each other. Great, great friend, and I just knew he was the guy.”
Lopes has a great voice with the grit and phrasing of Howe and the range and "bombastic power" of original Metal Church singer David Wayne, Howland says. That means the band can play Metal Church’s entire repertoire at concerts now.
“With Mike, we weren’t doing a lot of David Wayne stuff,” Howland says. “It just wasn’t Mike’s thing. But we had plenty of strong Mike stuff. Now we have a complete pick from the full catalog.”
Why a heavy metal drummer bought a Fort Myers bar
Howland lived full time in Fort Myers from about 2000 to 2016, when he moved to Las Vegas. But he still visits his former home and plays occasionally with his former hard-rock band, 10,000 Views.
Howland says he fell in love with the city after joining Southern rock band Blackfoot, led by Fort Myers resident (and current Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist) Rickey Medlocke.
“I started buying real estate and lots,” he says. “I got into real estate around here, and we’ve still got a couple of investment properties. … I’ve always had a place here.”
That includes the warehouse/rehearsal space adjoining Stet's Winkler House bar just off Cleveland Avenue near Edison Mall. Before buying the place, Howland and his wife Heidi would stay in an RV on the property while he rehearsed and recorded music, and they quickly got to know the regulars next door.
Those people eventually became friends, too, Heidi Howland says. So when the former owners of Winkler House decided to sell the place, she and her husband bought it.
“For me, it was like, ‘Gosh, if the wrong person buys it, all those people are gonna go away,'" she says. "They really are family.”
Now, once a month, the Las Vegas couple returns to Fort Myers to work at the bar and hang out with all their friends. They even renewed their marriage vows there.
“We’re having a blast with this place,” Howland says.
Being a cancer survivor
Howland says he feels lucky to be alive. Five years ago, he almost died from a stage-three cancer called Burkitt lymphoma.
At one point, doctors told him he had about a week to live, he says. That was before he even had an official diagnosis.
“They basically read me my last rites,” he says.
But after blood transfusions and extensive chemotherapy (including an initial drip that lasted a whopping 37 hours), he says he's considered cancer-free and enjoying his new lease on life.
That includes his new wife Heidi, whom he married in 2018.
Heidi ― a long time W.A.S.P. fan thanks to her late brother ― remembers Howland kneeling on the “cold, hard hospital floor” to propose.
“He said, ‘I don’t know how long I’m gonna to live, but I know I want to marry you before I die,’” Heidi says, her voice tightening with emotion. “We planned our whole wedding not knowing if he was going to make it.”
Their good friend, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, served as pastor and married them.
When Stet Howland knew he wanted to be a drummer
Howland started drumming when he was 7 years old, almost on a fluke.
An older friend had a drum kit and suggested that Howland try it out. By his fourth or fifth time in the drummer’s seat, Howland says, he was better than his friend who'd been playing for six months.
That’s when they began to realize he might have a natural talent for drumming. Although not necessarily all musical instruments.
“I had a guitar, and I was terrible at that,” Howland says and smiles. “I mean, I’m still terrible, but I do play. I have gotten better.”
So Howland’s parents got him a drum set and he progressed quickly. By the time he was 12, he got “imported” from middle school to play in the high-school jazz band. By about 15, he was playing local bars. And by senior year, he went on the road with a cover band called Rockestra.
“I got an offer to go on the road with a road band, and I took it,” he says. “And I never looked back.”
His time in W.A.S.P.
Howland joined popular hard-rockers W.A.S.P. in 1990 and played with them, on and off, for about 16 years. You can hear him on the 1992 album “The Crimson Idol” and just about everything else through 2004’s “The Neon God.”
“I love W.A.S.P.,” Howland says. “Blackie (Lawless) is one of the greatest singers ever. He’s just amazing.”
The biggest difference between drumming for W.A.S.P. and Metal Church is the fancy footwork on the double-bass pedals, he says.
“It’s not as thrashy and quick-footed as Metal Church,” Howland says about his W.A.S.P. drumming. “Metal Church is more of a quick-footed gig, you know, with the double kicks.”
Howland says he still stays in touch with W.A.S.P. singer/guitarist Lawless.
“We’re very close,” he says. “Blackie was like a big brother.”
His popular beer-bottle drum solos
Howland’s known for playing long drum solos using more than just drumsticks. He also incorporates long-neck beer bottles ― usually Bud Lights.
“I do one of those full-of-myself drum solos,” he says and grins. “I drop my sticks and I play with my hands, and then I do beer bottles. ... I do crossovers and flips and all sorts of (stuff).”
He credits that partly to Blackfoot bandleader Medlocke.
“It all started with Rickey Medlocke,” he says. “I would do my drum solo in Blackfoot, and Medlocke would come out towards the end and pour a beer down my throat and then hand me the beer.
“And I’m like, ‘What is that?’ But I’m not gonna even argue with him, ‘cause he’s the star of the show.”
Then, one night, Howland started playing drums with that beer bottle. Then he picked up a second bottle and started playing with that one, too.
“Now I have a whole routine,” he says. “I’m like the only guy on the planet who does a beer-bottle drum solo.”
Being a Metal Church fan long before he joined the band
Howland remembers touring with W.A.S.P. in 2005 on the American Metal Blast Tour and falling in love with their opening band, Metal Church. He and former W.A.S.P. guitarist Darrell Roberts would check out Metal Church’s opening set and their jaws would drop.
“We would go out front and watch Metal Church every night and look at each other and go, ‘How is it possible these guys are opening for us?’” Howland says. “These guys are FLAWLESS!”
The band's music was epic, musically complex and just intense. “I always used to tell’em, 'You guys are just the most amazing band,'” he says.
Now Howland gets to be part of that amazing band, too. And he's thrilled to be doing it.
"I'm still stoked," he says. "I love the band."
— Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. For news tips or other entertainment-related matters, call him at 239-335-0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him at crunnells@gannett.com. You can also connect with him on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1).
If you go
What: Stet Howland and 10,000 Views play Stet's Winkler House. Madison Morris opens.
When: 6-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 19-20
Where: Stet’s Winkler House, 1926 Winkler Ave., Fort Myers
Tickets: Free
Info: 278-1749 or bit.ly/3MzpV0c
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Metal Church drummer Stet Howland: Interview on new album, Fort Myers bar
