Jamey Jasta on why he was willing to lose money to bring back Milwaukee Metal Fest

When Jamey Jasta toured with his band Hatebreed, he saw reminders of Milwaukee Metal Fest all over the world.

He saw fans at his shows and festivals wearing old Metal Fest shirts. He talked about the fest's glory days with bands backstage.

"That was really one of the first scenes that was known outside of New York or L.A. or Chicago worldwide," Jasta told the Journal Sentinel. "When we started the band, a major goal of ours was to one day play Milwaukee Metal Fest."

Hatebreed did just that in 1998; Jasta fondly sees it as a milestone and career turning point.

"It was like a vindication to get booked for a festival like that," he said, prompting the first Hatebreed writeups in zines like Terrorizer, Metal Maniacs and other magazines he had long admired. "We were too hardcore for the metal scene and too metal for the hardcore scene. … By doing that fest, we saw we could win over the metal crowd."

Milwaukee Metal Fest revived in 2023

Established by promoter Jack Koshick, Milwaukee Metal Fest, which ran from 1987 to 2004, became "a pilgrimage for young metal heads and young aspiring musicians," Jasta said. The Milwaukee event inspired several other festivals that similarly showcased thrash, death metal, black metal and other styles.

It returned in 2007, then shut down, seemingly for good.

Now the festival is alive again, thanks to Jasta. Acquiring the rights from Koshick, Jasta resurrected Metal Fest last year with a three-day bash at what had been one of the fest's primary venues, the Rave. Metal Fest is back again for a second consecutive year this Friday through Sunday (plus a pre-party headlined by Jasta Thursday). The festival's lineup boasts 73 bands.

"It took a year or two off my life, the stress of it," Jasta said of last year's Metal Fest. "When I got home the Tuesday afterwards, my legs were killing me, I had no voice left."

"I am in it for the long haul."

Jasta first publicly proposed the idea of resurrecting Milwaukee Metal Fest in early 2022 on his podcast "The Jasta Show" with another Milwaukee Metal Fest veteran, Trevor Strnad, vocalist and co-founder of Black Dahlia Murder. A running theme on Jasta's podcast at the time was to issue challenges for his guests, and his suggestion for Strnad was to curate a reborn Milwaukee Metal Fest.

The episode got a lot of attention, with about 60,000 downloads, Jasta said, and Koshick reached out to discuss the potential changing of the guard. But when Jasta texted Strnad about it, he wasn't getting a response.

That May, the metal world was shocked when Strnad committed suicide.

"That is really when everything ramped up," Jasta said. "You have to do it in Trevor's honor."

A metal festival for a 'meat-and-potatoes' fan base

Jasta had run his own festival for two years in upstate New York in the early aughts; it lost money and never came back. Excited as he was about Milwaukee Metal Fest’s return, he knew "it was a really uphill battle."

"I was going into it knowing I was going to take a net loss, based on every projection we did, every meeting we had," Jasta said. "Milwaukee is not a market that is a slam dunk for everybody. It's a walk-up crowd, a really late buyer who's really knowledgeable.

"It's not New York, it's not L.A., but that is one of the really endearing parts about it. A band that might not be the cool press darling, getting written up in Pitchfork or Rolling Stone … is the band that can thrive in a market like Milwaukee. I always loved that. You knew it was going to be one of the best shows of the tour with a good meat-and-potatoes metal or hardcore fan base."

Despite formidable challenges, Jasta still believed "if you build it, they will come, as cheesy as it sounds, especially if the intentions are pure … if you try to make it as eclectic as you can without losing the original vibe."

"We have the power to create the headliners of tomorrow," Jasta said. "You have to facilitate an environment that can do that. A band that is used to playing VFW halls and bars and pubs, can you prove that it translates onto a ballroom stage? … Can we create the next Lamb of God, the next Amon Amarth, the next Hatebreed, the next Slayer? If we don't do that, we'll see the same headliners we've been seeing at a lot of these festivals year after year."

For Year One of his Metal Fest reboot, Jasta, working with Sound Talent Group's Tim Borror and Rave co-owners Leslie West and Joe Balestrieri, amassed an impressive lineup, including some of the scene's biggest names — Lamb of God, Anthrax, Suicidal Tendencies — plus, fittingly, a Black Dahlia Murder set in tribute to Strnad. And while Jasta did take a net loss, he said sales were "better than expected … we hit all the markers and milestones we needed to hit."

"I had so many bands say this is the best catering, this is the best hang," Jasta said. "We're trying to go above and beyond."

For the 2024 lineup, Jasta and company did just that. Among the headliners, Mr. Bungle is a definite highlight — the Mike Patton-led outfit is set to play its first Milwaukee concert in 24 years.

Other top-of-the-poster names include YouTube favorite Slaughter To Prevail, a booking designed to cater to 13-to-35-year-olds, and Testament, which topped a survey of most desirable bookings for the rejuvenated Milwaukee Metal Fest, Jasta said.

There'll be rare full-album performances from Autopsy, Death To All, Terrorizer, and I Am Morbid; plus a local connection via Belushi Speed Ball, led by Vincent Castellano, an alum of Central High School in Brookfield. And Hatebreed will play a set this time out.

As of late last month, Jasta said they had sold 800 to 900 more tickets than they had the same time frame last year. And he said the 2024 edition had almost double the vendors and food options, with updated dressing rooms and restrooms, and a merch area expanding outside.

"What stuck with me especially were people that came to the festivals as a kid who brought kids to last year's fest. … One grandfather brought his son and his grandson, too," Jasta said. "That was really cool, and all the bands that were thrilled to play. I never want to lose that excitement."

If you go

Milwaukee Metal Fest starts at 2 p.m. Friday through Sunday, with pre-party at 5 p.m. Thursday, at The Rave, 2401 W. Wisconsin Ave. Tickets are $80 to $248 for May 17; $89 to $383 for May 18 or May 19; $158 to $307 for two-day passes; $237 to $456 for three-day passes. They're available at the box office and therave.com. Admission to the pre-party is $25, or free with three-day pass.

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on X at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jamey Jasta willing to lose money bringing back Milwaukee Metal Fest