Beartooth's Caleb Shomo: "My long hair was dreads, thick with vomit"

A photo of Caleb Shomo stood next to a wall with graffiti on it

(Image credit: Getty Images)

WHAT’S THE MOST ILLEGAL THING YOU’VE EVER DONE?

“The most illegal?! I dunno, that’s hard to pinpoint. Probably smoking a bit of weed as a kid in Ohio…or breaking into places and exploring. I used to do that a bit. Not, like, breaking into houses, but, you know, going by places and the door’s open… our merch guy, he’s obsessed with ‘urban exploring’, he breaks into some crazy-ass places. Oh, actually, the most illegal thing I’ve done is probably when me and my friends used to steal beer out of someone’s garage. Ha ha!”

WHAT’S THE MOST METAL ALBUM YOU OWN?

“Right now, probably Repentless by Slayer. That album is so fucking awesome. It’s amazing, it’s just the most metal shit. [Jeff died], and then they came back and just brought out the most brutal shit.”

WHAT’S THE WORST INJURY YOU’VE EVER GOT?

“Probably before a show, it was one of the first big shows Beartooth had ever played, I smashed my toe under the back door of our trailer. I was carrying guitars into it, I tried to jump in and my foot got caught under, so all my weight just slammed down on it. I broke it, and the nail got all filled with blood and ended up falling off. I had to take the tip of a nail file and fucking stick it under my toenail and pop the blood bubble. That was fucking disgusting.”

WHAT’S THE GROSSEST THING YOU’VE EVER PUT IN YOUR MOUTH?

“I’ve never put anything super-insane in my mouth. One time I ate a cricket that was covered in candy. How did it taste? Gross. So that was pretty weird. Oh, and I’ve had a tequila worm. I’ve had two tequila worms in my time, actually, but I’ve never tripped out on them.

WHAT’S THE MOST YOU HAVE EVER BEEN SICK?

“Like, physically vomited? Ha! I mean, one time, I had no idea what pacing yourself with alcohol was. I was really young, like 16, and we were on tour somewhere. It was one of the guy’s birthdays, and somehow I ended up drunk so quickly. I was drinking Jack Daniel’s mixed with beer all night, and I woke up in our bus, and there was no sheets, no pillow, no blanket, my hair was really long at the time and it was nothing but dreads, thick with vomit. ‘Hungover’ doesn’t even begin to describe that day.”

WHAT’S THE WORST FIGHT YOU’VE EVER BEEN IN?

“I’ve never actually been in a fight! I’ve never had the need to. I’ve never beaten anyone up.”

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU BLED?

“Probably onstage or something. One of the festivals we played not too long ago, I can’t remember which one, I went out into the crowd, and I tried to jump up, and my shin smashed into this metal bar [on the barrier]. Thank fuck I didn’t break it, but it bled bad, and there’s still a lump there to this day. Thankfully, it was our last song.”

WHAT’S THE RAREST PIECE OF MERCHANDISE YOU OWN?

“Like a record? My wife’s mother gave us one of the first 50,000 printings of The Beatles’ White Album. She has an amazing record collection, and she gave me and my wife that one for Christmas. That’s pretty cool, huh?”

WHAT’S YOUR MOST PAINFUL TATTOO OR PIERCING?

“Oh, my chest, by far. I have a lion on my chest that I got done a long time ago, and so far only the lining and shading is done because I haven’t been back yet ’cause it hurt so fucking bad. That and my neck. I had a panther drawn across my neck and that hurt pretty bad.”

SHOW US THE MOST METAL PICTURE ON YOUR PHONE

“Probably our shot of playing Download this year, on the main stage, taken from behind us. It was Donington, man. That’s the most metal shit ever!”

—

The Final Score: ⁷⁄₁₀

He’s a crap criminal and we’ve all eaten a tequila worm, but Caleb redeems himself by bleeding for the cause and ruling at Download. Fair play.

AGGRESSIVE IS OUT NOW VIA RED BULL. BEARTOOTH HIT THE UK NEXT MONTH

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Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.

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