Mike Gitter...ZOG commander, transplanted Bostonian who has lived in the NYC area for near two decades and has had a great time with a lot of great things to show for it. Lucky bastard.
I count my blessings everyday. After a period of confusion, stupidity, heroism and great thought I averted certain personal tragedy and got back with my lovely and obviously twisted (for marrying my ass and then getting getting back together with me) wife Renee. I tend to call this my period in the wilderness.
I'm obviously a bit older than I look with what I think might be a hair of wisdom...some of which might be grey. I own a home 15 minutes outside Manhattan otherwise known as "Stately Gitter Mansion".
HIGH FIDELITY HAS BECOME TOO SCARY FOR ME TO WATCH ALONE...REALLY.Professionally, here's the rough timeline:
83-87: xXx Fanzine...
86-93: Hack writer for the likes of Thrasher, Rip, Kerrang! and even Rolling Stone! If you go to my picture gallery there's about 200 pages of the lost writings of Gitter!
88-89: promoted Hardcore and metal shows in Boston...played host to the likes of Fugazi, Voivod, Descendents, Rollins, Nuclear Assault, Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags.....
93-97: Did A&R at Atlantic. Signed Jawbox, Bad Religion, Samiam, Orange 9MM, CIV and Waterdog. Made kickass records with Testament ("Low"!) and Clutch. Signed a band called Waterdog that no one ever heard of or bought but would be huge in today's WARP tour world.
97-Present: They seem to put up with me at Roadrunner where despite signing the disaster of Both Worlds(!), I've gotten a smidgen of love for bringing in the likes of Killswitch Engage, Ill Nino, Cradle of Filth, OPETH Glassjaw, The Misfits, Nightwish (for select territories), The Agony Scene, Earth Crisis, Still Remains, co-signing Trivium with the esteemed Monte Conner. I've also worked on killer records from Sepultura (Nation) and the unheralded classic that is Vision of Disorder's Imprint....one of the seminal metalcore slabs. Megadeth's "United Abominations" is something I'm damn proud of having my name on. Bringing Dragonforce to America -- who would have thought? Had short but sweet stints with Hatebreed ("Supremacy") and Black Label Society ("Shot To Hell"). Passed the Dutchie (from Holland, actually) with Within Temptation and of course, how could I forget working side by side with Slipknot's Joey Jordison on 3 Inches of Blood? What's next? Your guess. My half-guess...GITTER'S 10 CLASSIC RECORDS (They Gots My Name On 'Em!)
1-Killswitch Engage "Alive Or Just Breathing"
2-Jawbox "For Your Own Special Sweetheart"
3-Opeth "Ghost Reveries"
4-Bad Religion "Stranger Than Fiction"
5-Glassjaw "Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About Silence"
6-Killswitch Engage "The End of Heartache"
7-Vision of Disorder "Imprint"
8-Cradle of Filth "Nymphetamine"
9-CIV "Set Your Goals"
10-Megadeth "United Abominations"
My 5 cats all seem to think I'm a generous, food-bringing shape.
