I only recently became aware of the Throat Punch Metal page on FaceBook. Somebody invited me to like it, something I do for anything musical just as a matter of course. Very quickly I realized this wasn’t just a vanity page created by someone who wanted to push some kind of agenda. Rather, TPM is a labour of love brought on by a shared love of heavy metal. This group of fans has come together to create a page that is also an experience. Sandman Eviltwin (Steve Bentley) and Pebbles (Deanna Evans) were kind enough to answer a barrage of questions in order to fully explain to the world just what Throat Punch Metal is about.
Interview by Jim Dodge
Mass Movement: What is Throat Punch Metal?
Steve Bentley: TPM is a movement to bring metal to the masses through news, videos, memes we even play games like trivia and Sing Along with Sandman.
MM: What influenced you to start TPM?
Steve: My love of heavy metal, I started the page just to have a place to post metal shit, instead of just my personal page.
Deanna Evans: Sandman’s love of heavy metal. He started the page just to have a place to post metal shit, instead of just his personal page.
MM: How long did it take to pull things together?
Steve: Well I started the page in 2017 but as I stated above it was just a play toy for me, then about June of 2019 I thought hey this could actually be a cool page so I grabbed up some really good people who took us from 2k likes to almost 6k in a span of 2 months.
Deanna: He started the page in 2017 as just a type of thing to Alleviate boredom. In June 2019 he decided to see what he could do with it & started adding new editors & admins. It’s been about a month that things have really started getting going. A lot of brainstorming & throwing ideas around.
MM: Have there been any major hurdles in the way of making your idea a reality?
Steve: In the beginning yes cause it was just me, no admin, no editors then in June 2019 I pulled together some really kick ass people who have busted their asses for 2 months and got us leaps and bounds from where we started. Since then it\’s been smooth sailing.
Deanna: Since I have been a part of the page, no. We all get along pretty well & we’re all open to each other’s opinions & ideas. So I think any hurdles we may face in the future, we will be able to pull through.
MM: How many people are involved in making this idea come to fruition?
Steve: In the beginning it was just me now we are about 8 or 9 strong and the people that I assembled are a really great fucking team, and quite honestly I got these people all together by sheer luck, I really take no credit for this, it\’s all them.
MM: How many people are involved in making this idea come to fruition?
Deanna: 9 team members – Steve Bentley/Sandman, Dennis Sioleski/Prinz Eugen , Deanna Evans/Pebbles, Charpentier/Sweet Misery, David Poole/Luky, Cameron Steele/King Diamond, Matt S Hysell/Dead Silence, Matt MacGown/Trucker Jesus & Erik Stout/The Heritic
MM: TPM has themes for each day of the week. What are they?
Steve: New Metal Monday-Sweet Misery, Thrash It Or Trash It Tuesday-The Heritic, Women Vocalist Wednesday
-Sweet Misery, Viking Metal Thorsday -King Diamond, Foreign Friday -Trucker Jesus, Song Redux Saturday -Dead Silence & Sinful Sunday -Trucker Jesus. Morning Metal –Sandman, MetalHead Sing-A-Long –Sandman, Midnight Metal -King Diamond, Requests/Request Hour –Pebbles, Twisted MetalHead Trivia- Prinz Eugen & Website editing -Luky
Deanna: We also have these “programs”: MetalHead Sing-A-Long/Sandman, Twisted MetalHead Trivia/Prinz Eugen, Pebbles’ MetalHead Request Hour/Pebbles , Midnight Metal/King Diamond & Luky is our tech/website guy
MM: So far you have shared links from other sources in order to bring news to your page. Do you have any plans to conduct your own interviews? What about reviews?
Steve: We have a few plans swirling around the virtual office, interviews are on the table along with some streaming shit and maybe a podcast all on the table and we take suggestions daily.
Deanna: We are talking about the idea of doing interviews in the future. As well as reviews. Possibly a podcast & radio streaming. We have a strong team & we are looking forward to building a page that will be the biggest and best metal page on the fuckin web, where people come to get their daily dose of metal, memes, videos, news etc…
MM: Do you have a preferred news source or do you share based solely on the subject of the story?
Steve: I\’m a Loudwire kinda guy
Deanna: Blabbermouth & MetalSucks.net.
MM: What are some of the other ways TPM is different from other entertainment outlets?
Steve: We do a whole lot of interacting with our fans and they eat that shit up, I think that\’s the biggest difference between TPM and the rest of the metal pages online.
Deanna: We try to be different in everything we do. From the theme days to the request hour & Sing-A-Long. Being original is important to us. We don’t want to be just another Metal page or website.
MM: How will you keep your page interesting to your fans in the long run?
Steve: I think having the daily themes keeps fans coming in, they get a new dose of metal every day, from hair bands (sorry I just puked in my mouth) to thrash, death and black metal and everything in between. If it\’s metal we play it.
Deanna: Staying on top of news stories & new releases. Keeping the fans informed & engaged. Making sure they have fun. I think what sets us apart right now is how much we make sure to interact with the fans.
MM: In our conversation (the one my phone failed to record) you mentioned that you sponsor bands. Which bands have you sponsored so far?
Steve: Accursed Creator from Pensacola (Florida), Wurm Flesh from Sacramento, CA. Would love to branch out to new overseas bands.
MM): Who are some of your favorite bands?
Steve: MOTHERFUCKIN SLAAAAAAAAAYER, Lamb of God, Amon Amarth, Avatar, In Flames, Megadeth, Iron fuckin Maiden, Judas Priest, the list goes on.
Deanna: In This Moment, Pantera, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Korn, NIN, Tool, Disturbed, Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch….I could go on forever
MM: If you could choose one band, any band, to say kind words about Throat Punch Metal who would it be?
Steve: Would have to be Slayer hands down I\’d wet myself if Tom said ThroatPunchMetal.com, I really would probably faint lol.
Deanna: Slayer.
Awwwweeeesome