Municipal Waste's Tony Foresta: The 10 Records That Changed My Life

Tony Foresta from Municipal Waste
(Image credit: Gary Wolstenholme\/Redferns)

We all know that Municipal Waste love partying, drinking and generally fucking you up (or so the song says), but what music do they listen to in their spare time? We caught up with bandana-clad frontman Tony Foresta to have a rummage through his record collection, which is just as punk as you can imagine, but with the odd curveball thrown in. Well, you wouldn’t expect anything less, would you?

The first album I ever bought was…

Huey Lewis And The News – Fore! (Chrysalis, 1986)

“I was a little kid and my mom took to me the grocery store and I bought it! He had some killer, catchy songs, and I still love Huey Lewis And The News. I want to eventually do a band where I’m in a suit and I sing songs about working and stuff, just like Huey Lewis.”

My favourite album artwork is…

Autopsy – Severed Survival (Peaceville Records, 1989)

“It’s the second cover of that album because they had a banned cover where a guy’s getting ripped apart, but I like the second one with the doctor’s looking down. The guy who did it, Kev Walker, is from England and we tried to get him to do a Municipal Waste cover, but now he does cards for Magic: The Gathering or something. But I love that Autopsy artwork.”

The most underrated album is…

The Accused – The Return Of Martha Splatterhead (Earache, 1986)

“That album is one of the greatest thrash records of all time and not a lot of people even know about it, it’s weird. You don’t see a lot of Accused shirts around, at least not as many as there should be. They’re really underrated. They’re very creative, everybody says that thrash metal’s not creative, which I think is bullshit. People say that shit about thrash metal, then they go and rock a black metal band shirt that sounds like every other black metal band. There’s something about The Accused that always stuck out to me. They’re very influential on me vocally, especially.”

The album that broke my heart is…

Morbid Angel – Illud Divinum Insanus (Season Of Mist, 2011)

“And you know god damn well why. I don’t like techno, ha ha!”

Nobody will believe I own a copy of…

Tegan And Sara – Heartthrob (Warner Bros, 2013)

“I love Tegan And Sara. They write great songs and they’re great live – I’ve seen them a bunch of times. I’m going to see them again in November, I’m going to surprise my girlfriend.”

The album that I break the speed limit to is…

At The Gates – Slaughter Of The Soul (Earache, 1995)

“That’s my shit! It’s one of the first melodic death metal records that I got into. I was into powerviolence and weird punk/hardcore, then that record came out and fucked up my whole point of view as far as death metal goes.”

The album that reminds me of school is…

Beastie Boys – Licenced To Ill (Def Jam, 1986)

“I got this record in fifth grade, I stole it from my brother. I thought the album cover was really crazy and then I started listening to it and became obsessed with it. I’m wearing a Beastie Boys shirt right now. From being a kid to now, they’re still a big influence on me.”

The album I want to be remembered for is…

Municipal Waste – The Art Of Partying (Earache, 2007)

“My favourite record I’ve done is Hazardous Mutation because we were pissed off. We had an agenda, it was our ‘fuck you’ to everybody because everyone doubted us. But The Art Of Partying is the one I’d want to be remembered for. I imagine everyone would usually say their new album but I’m not going to be that guy.”

The album I wish I’d made is…

No Comment – Downsided (Slap-A-Ham, 1992)

“Whenever I hear No Comment I’m like ‘Fuck! I can’t believe a band sounds like that!’ It’s so good. I could name shit like this all day. I’d always be lipsyncing to bands in the shower wishing I was them, but now I hang out with them and I’ll never tell them that I did that ha ha.”

A kid asks me what metal is. I give them a copy of…

Iron Maiden – Killers (EMI, 1981)

“That’s a good starting point for a kid; it’s very accessible to people that are into different things. It was one of the first records that got me into Iron Maiden. I listened to Powerslave first then went back, and that’s how I fell into it. I love Paul Di’Anno, he’s my favourite.”

Municipal Waste’s new album Slime And Punishment is out now via Nuclear Blast, and available to order.

Municipal Waste - Slime And Punishment album review

Luke Morton joined Metal Hammer as Online Editor in 2014, having previously worked as News Editor at popular (but now sadly defunct) alternative lifestyle magazine, Front. As well as helming the Metal Hammer website for the four years that followed, Luke also helped relaunch the Metal Hammer podcast in early 2018, producing, scripting and presenting the relaunched show during its early days. He also wrote regular features for the magazine, including a 2018 cover feature for his very favourite band in the world, Slipknot, discussing their turbulent 2008 album, All Hope Is Gone.