The press love Machine Head. We are the presses wet dream. Honestly, what’s not to love?I’ve got a big mouth, we’ve made our share of mistakes, people love to point that out. I dish it out a little I got to be able to take it when someone takes a swipe at me in the press. I have been called everything imaginable, by the press: I’m…an insufferable egomaniac, a loose cannon, defensive, the devil, the destroyer of Metal, a sell out, a failure, a bad leader, a bad decision maker, a fake, pathetic, over emotional, and an emotion-less ambitionist only concerned with furthering my career. I’ve been flattered: I’m…charismatic, the greatest front man ever, I’ve been officially declared Jesus Christ by Kerrang! Magazine, the savior of Metal, a genuinely nice guy, a respected leader, sexy, hot!, charming, shaggable. For some reason, my physical characteristics tend to get a lot of un-flattering word space: I’m…an ogre, dumb, ugly, slightly undersized, short, difficult, fat, a wigger, a homo, a whiner, generally not nice, arrogant, intimidating, down right scary, an asshole, and a wanna-be. Now, I’m a grown man, and I don’t mind most of this, hell some of the labels I even find funny and get a kick out of, like, when I’m described as a “pig headed, horses ass” or, “Flava Flynn”. What do I think of all of it? I’d addí¢ä‰åŒ_í¢ä‰åŒDOESN’T GIVE A FUCKí¢ä‰åŒ. There was a time when I did though. Shhhhhiiiit, I have laid into journalists for only giving our record 4 out of 5. Am I proud of it? No. Believe me, I know I am not perfect by a long shot. Do I regret it? Hell no. We deserved 6 out of 5 compared to the rest of the crap that came out that year. Would I do it again? Nah. Because it’s only one persons opinion, and that’s all. Just one person’s opinion. Believe me, I know more than anyone, that things are not the best they have ever been for The Head. Trust me when I say they are NOWHERE near as bad as “some” people are making it out to be. Machine Head just finished up what was arguably the best and biggest euro tour we have ever done. í¢ä‰åñHeadí¢ä‰åŒlined a few festivals (a Head first), met a lot of really good people, got a lot of love from our label, and drank a lot of good beer. Highlights: Ireland – Fuck yeah! Our secret show in London – Tiny club, stupid packed, HOT, onstage chug-a-lugs, drrruuunnnk, speaking English and failing miserably, hella fun. Headlining the í¢ä‰åñWith Full Forceí¢ä‰åŒ Festivals – 20,000 people………. Absolutely incredible. Phil Demmel – Filling in for the tour, and kicking ass. He did an excellent job. Phil will continue full time with his band / baby, Technocracy, as again he was just helping us out. The Noc guys are our friends, and we will not ask him to leave them, for us. Low Points: Losing my wedding ring while swimming in the ocean in Italy. Things that have made me laugh recently: The impromptu Vio-Lence “reunion”, that happened at the wedding of former Vio-Lence bass player Deen Dellí¢ä‰åŒ_í¢ä‰åŒ_.on the wedding bands’ equipment. Yours truly on “lead keyboards”. Horrible and hysterical all at the same time. Machine Head getting accused of selling out to Nu-Metal, in a magazine that has, “Linkin Park” on it’s front cover!!! Kelly Osbourne’s video…………..? Yep, I have definitely had some good laughs recently, lots of times at my own expense. I can still laugh at myself. We’ve made our share of mistakes, I’m sure we’ll make more. We’ve done a lot of things right, and the majority of you have stood by us, thru thick and thin, deciphering through all of the crap. We are a very lucky band to have the fans we do. You’ve proved it, the 10’s of 1,000’s of you Machine Head diehards that just saw through all the crap, and “sold out” every damn show on this last tour. The MH diehards that “sold out” every festival we headlined. The MH diehards that “sold” us “out” of merchandise, in under a half hour. Hell, even the ticket scalpers that “sold out” of tickets at $150 a pop. I don’t know much, but I do know this: I can say with an absolute conviction, that in my heart of hearts, I know, we are a very lucky band. Lucky to have fans / friends like you. Cheers fuckers. -Robert Flynn