Before the Unholy Alliance tour kicked off, we offered our street team, the chance to interview Hatebreed. The teamer who sent in the best questions, would be able to ask the band their questions, and have the answers posted here. The winner was chosen, and here is PART THREE, the final installment of his interview with Sean Martin, Hatebreed’s guitarist. Teamer: What have been the lowlights and highlights of your careers so far? Sean: I guess the low points are personal loss and sacrifice for the band, which, in turn, leads to the high points. We’ve all sacrificed a lot to do what we’re doing and to be out here. We’ve sacrificed relationships, we’ve sacrificed homes. We’ve sacrificed a lot of stuff where we’ve just walked away and said, ‘you know what, we’re going to devote our lives to Hatebreed and to hardcore.’ A few of us have had our own personal trials but the high points are being here every day and being on tour with Slayer and playing to kids playing hardcore music is as high as it gets. Not having to go back to the day job is amazing. Teamer: Are any members of the band Straight Edge, as the tune ‘Kill an Addict’ might suggest? Sean: No, no one’s Straight Edge. You don’t have to be Edge to hate a drug addict, you know. Everyone’s got their demons. All of us have dealt with the ravages of addiction and we’ve dealt with the terrors of it personally. ‘Kill an Addict’ is about a fucking scumbag addict who fucked you over, took your trust and stabbed you in the back. You don’t have to be Edge to hate a junkie. At the same time, we totally support Straight Edge, and, even though we’re not personally, we believe that everybody should go out and do what they want to do. A great amount of my friends are Straight Edge and we don’t separate when it comes to that. We’ve never been an Edge band, contrary to popular belief (laughter). Teamer: Hatebreed are renowned for violent dancing at shows. Is this something you condone or condemn? Sean: I condone it (laughter). Go out and have a good time! I’d rather someone beat the shit out of a hundred people in a mosh pit and get the shit kicked out of him than take out that aggression negatively and beat people down for no reason. If you don’t like it then stand at the back and if you want to be part of it then move up front – it’s part of hardcore, it’s part of punk rock and it’s part of metal. Just don’t be an asshole. If you want to dance and have a good time then go for it. Teamer: With other band members appearing on records by Candiria, Biohazard, and Buried Alive amongst others, what other bands would you like to have the opportunity to work with? Sean: You know, there’s not too much I could offer apart from a pick slide. I’d be honoured to work with anybody if they asked me to. I’ve done some stuff I just did a track with Necro called ‘Insaneology’ on his new record, and a couple of songs on the new Handsome Boy Modelling School record. I’ve done some stuff but outside the realm of Hatebreed – I’ve played guitar on stuff that’s not metal or hardcore. I’d love to do a pick slide on an Entombed album (laughter). Teamer: Having spread the Hatebreed message across the globe, what else, as a band, would you like to achieve before you call it a day? Sean: I think we’re doing a good job of what we’d like to achieve, by going out there and touring non-stop and putting out records. There are still a lot of places we haven’t been yet in the world so we’d love to hit those spots and keep being Hatebreed – that’s all I could ask for.