Interview with Joe Musten of Beloved

I first got into Beloved while i was on tour around 2004. Their album "Failure On" had come out the year before on Solid State, and while bands like Atreyu, Norma Jean, Silverstein, Underoath etc were all anyone was talking about, i found myself listening to "Failure On" pretty much non-stop for the entire tour. (I have to admit i was given a burnt copy by friend who put us up for the night, but when we got home i picked up a real copy - Sorry Joe!) 

I need the re-issue on vinyl so if ANYONE has a copy they want to sell ( either variant - for a non-ridiculous price) or trade, get in touch me me please!

The band recently re-united and i sincerely hope there's new music coming, because to this day, "Failure On" is a near perfect album that few albums from that era/genre can hold a candle to.

Anyway, Joe, their drummer was kind enough to take part in this series.

If you were to introduce extraterrestrials to music with five albums, what do you choose?

Jimmy Eat World - Clarity

Alice In Chains - Dirt

Turmoil - The Process Of

Strongarm - The Advent of a Miracle

Randy Travis - Storms of Life

Beloved have been defunct for a while, but are playing Furnace Fest this year. Was there a catalyst in getting you jamming again, and can we expect new music?

Chad Johnson, the organizer and face of Furnace Fest reached out to us back in 2019 with a pretty convincing argument and list of bands that they were hoping to line up for the fest......... it just made sense and for the first time since we’d broken up, we all agreed it was the right time. It was just different than any other conversation had to that point concerning ever playing again. 

Any bands past or present that you wish had more attention?

There are tons I could list..... personally, as far as hardcore goes, the list is almost too long. Bands bow out well ahead of their actual expiration date. Sooo, I’ll say for me it’s a band from Austin, Texas called The Rocketboys. They are so good. The songs. The live experience. The guys in the band. It’s unreal. They should have been and should be way bigger than they are. 

It's been a pretty rough year for influential drummers and we're only in January, with the loss of Reed Mullin, Neil Peart and Sean Reinert. As a drummer, who are your biggest musical influences?

I agree, it’s been rough. I’ve never had a super solid foundation identity as a drummer. I’ve always taken little bits of inspiration from wherever I can get it and so it’s been hard for me to answer this question in the past. Maybe I’ll just list some favorites!? Okay, cool...here it goes - Tomas Haake, Benny Greb, Stanley Randolph, Dave Weckl, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Grohl, Matt Cameron, etc. 

If you could fill in or replace the drummer in ANY band, who would it be and why?

If I could sit in for any drummer, who would it be and why?? Hmmmm ........ maybe whoever is playing with AC/DC right now...... maybe they aren’t even playing shows. I don’t know. I think we all know why I would choose that though . If you don’t, just go watch one of their live shows on YouTube. It’s bananas!!! You’ll want that job too.