We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chaz Leon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chaz below.

Hi Chaz, thanks for joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

Great question.

Absolutely I feel that heavy metal fans and heavy metal musicians are unfairly stereotyped and often misunderstood. There’s quite a few times where atmy job I’ll explain that I play in a heavy metal band or I’ll drive up to a courthouse or a meeting blasting say Megadeth or Metallica something and I just get blank stares. I actually used to get a kick out of pulling out of my law school parking lot with my stereo blasting, haha!

All kidding aside, I think that heavy metal has a negative stereotype that’s been difficult to shake in the mainstream ever since its inception. Recently, the TV show “Stranger Things “had a character named Eddie Munson who listened to heavy metal and played dungeons and dragons. The character is blamed for a murder in his town and then quite literally hunted down! This is not entirely fantastical. There is a well document story of 3 teenagers and heavy metal fans known as the “West Memphis 3” who were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for murder in Arkansas during the mid 1990s. The negative and dark imagery of metal music was and I guess still is difficult for some people to understand.

For me personally, my first girlfriend would tell me that she didn’t understand why I loved heavy music so much and that she was worried about me because I was so into it :P She was actually a sweetheart, but again, here is an example of the negative stereotype. I think maybe in her mind I checked a lot of her “boxes” for a boyfriend except I had this huge passion for metal :) It was probably more two teenagers figuring things out than anything, but nevertheless the stereotype existed. This is a much lighter story than I am sure many people have experienced, but I thought I would share anyways.

I think for me, it kind of is what it is. The stereotype and taboo unfortunately exists. I’ve kind of learned that it’s not me that people are judging, it’s the taboo so I kind of try to show people, hey I like this kind of music that is intense and extreme in some ways, but I am actually a really nice person! I try to explain it to people that it’s like people who are really into a particular show, or movie, or TV series such Marvel, Star Wars, comic books, or nerdy things like that. People CLEARLY get way into that stuff as anyone who has been anywhere near San Diego County during Comicon can tell you. The dark imagery and lyrics are just interesting to me and fans of the genre that’s all. I think it’s perfectly normal and just fine to be fascinated by things that may be dark and macabre but to know there is a HUGE line between just being interested in it and actually engaging in it. I think that sort of thing goes with any sort of use of your imagination! Imagination is a great thing! Shouldn’t be something to be afraid of in my humble opinion.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Chaz Leon and I am a guitarist and vocalist. I have been playing music for many years. I had a thrash metal band called Absolution that I wrote songs and performed live with in the 2000s. After taking some time off I returned to music by playing in tribute bands and it has paid off most unexpectedly for me!

I am currently in two tribute bands and another touring tribute of sorts with some heavy metal legends:

Woke Up Dead – A Tribute to Megadeth. This band is a tribute to one of my favorite heavy metal bands growing up, Megadeth. It started as project between myself and three other musicians to challenge ourselves and pay tribute to one of our favorite bands and has grown quite a bit into a band that gigs regularly and has built a solid following and is quite possibly the most fun band I have ever been in! Most significantly, it has lead to another incredible gig that I currently have which is…

…Kings of Thrash – I am VERY proud of this. This is a tribute of sorts to Megadeth, however it features original and founding Megadeth Grammy Award winning bassist David Ellefson! It also features former Megadeth ace guitar wizards Jeff Young and Chris Poland as well as Fred Aching, from the touring band the Bullet Boys on drums. Kings of Thrash will be on tour this fall and is planning for future dates as well. To say that I am excited to be in a band with musicians I listened to growing up is BEYOND an understatement! To help David, Jeff, and Chris pay tribute to the music that has affected their lives growing up and join them in their celebration of their stellar careers is an honor far beyond what I ever would have expected! Woke Up Dead performed with David at a book signing back in 2019 in La Jolla and I was fortunate to get on stage with him and Jeff Young at the world-famous Whisky Ago-go in May of 2022 to perform some Megadeth classics and was asked to be part of their touring band after that gig! Again, from the tribute world to this is a journey I could not ever have imagined! Can’t wait to bring this experience to the fans!

Last but not least I also perform in Black Daze – the Ultimate Soundgarden Tribute. This is a project based out of Los Angeles with three wonderful musicians that began as a way to challenge ourselves during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdowns. This project has blossomed into another full-fledged professional, touring tribute! This band is particularly rewarding as we get to pay tribute to the recently fallen legendary Seattle musician Chris Cornell. What can you say to that other than it has been an enormous challenge and beyond gratifying to see longtime Soundgarden and Chris Cornell fans enjoying our shows! As Soundgarden is a band of incredibly talented musicians whom we can no longer see perform live, we hope that our tribute will bring joy, fond memories, and classic music to new fans. We promise LOTS of rocking to fans all over the world!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Don’t be afraid to get into it! Art of all kinds is a wonderful thing! Passion and dare I even say obsession is behind EVERY piece of art we all enjoy from music, to comics, to films, and anything and everything in between. Don’t let people’s criticism, indifference, or negativity stop you from doing things you love.

For society. Give space for people to share their ideas! Don’t be afraid of something you don’t understand. Give it chance. Even if your instinct is to shut it down, the wiser thing to do is to explore and attempt to understand, even if you ultimately do not agree. This is a very diverse world. Learn to share it with those who may think differently than you do.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Being exhausted on stage, but watching people in the audience give you every ounce of energy they have and letting that pick you right back up!

Contact Info:

• Website: kingsofthrash.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackdazesoundgardentribute/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wokeupdeadtributeband
• Other: I left a site for all three projects I am involved in, but each one has its own website and separate social media account! Thanks!