GARY HOLT Says EXODUS Nearly Collapsed In The ’90s: “Don’t Follow All My Footsteps”

To many metal fans, Gary Holt appears to be living the ultimate thrash metal dream. As the driving force behind Exodus — one of the most influential Bay Area thrash bands of all time — and a key member of Slayer since 2013, Holt’s résumé is legendary. Yet behind the scenes, his career has been anything but glamorous.

In reality, Holt has been candid about the financial instability that has followed him for decades. As recently as July, he admitted that he is far from being a “rich rock star,” explaining that merchandise sales like T-shirts are often essential just to cover basic expenses.

In a December 20 interview with Sweetwater, Holt reflected on just how close Exodus came to completely falling apart in the early 1990s. Looking back, he says he’s grateful for where he is now — especially considering how dire things once became.

“I’ve learned not to take anything for granted,” Holt said. “I went from having a good career, but I never made money. Management just fed us a little salary, and we were happy as long as we could buy video games and weed and pay my rent.”

At the time, Holt says he never questioned where the band’s money was going: “That’s all I cared about. Never asked where the money went. Never knew, right?”

Despite Exodus doing well creatively and commercially for a period, the rise of grunge, combined with internal conflicts and music Holt feels wasn’t their strongest, caused everything to unravel. “We were doing really well, and then grunge happened,” he explained. “And then it all went away.”

The fallout was severe. As Holt detailed in his memoir, A Fabulous Disaster: From the Garage to Madison Square Garden, the Hard Way, he went from touring the world to working a menial job: “I was cleaning up dog shit in an RV lot,” Holt said bluntly.

Despite eventually finding stability, Holt strongly warns aspiring musicians not to model their careers after his own, noting that the modern music industry is far less forgiving than when he started.

“Don’t follow all my footsteps,” he said. “Sometimes those footsteps in the sand—don’t follow them. They’ll lead you to the quicksand.”

Holt emphasized how drastically the landscape has changed, particularly with the rise of downloading and streaming: “Times are different,” he said. “For myself and you, we didn’t have downloading and all that stuff. I always tell people: learn a trade, because it’s hard to make a living.”

When it comes to actual guitar advice, however, Holt keeps things simple—and classic: “If I’m going to give serious advice, listen to Angus Young,” he said. “Angus knows all. You don’t need anything else. Just take that simple foundation and learn to slide notes around.”

Catch Exodus at one of their many tour dates below, and get your tickets right here.

2/15 Victoria, Canada Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
2/17 Abbotsford, Canada Rogers Forum
2/18 Kelowna, Canada Prospera Place
2/20 Calgary, Canada Scotiabank Saddledome
2/21 Edmonton, Canada Rogers Place
2/22 Fort McMurray, Canada CNOOC Field House at MacDonald Island Park
2/24 Saskatoon, Canada Sasktel Centre
2/25 Winnipeg, Canada Canada Life Centre
2/26 Thunder Bay, Canada Thunder Bay Community Auditorium
2/28 London, Canada Canada Life Place
3/1 Ottawa, Canada Canadian Tire Centre
3/3 Halifax, Canada Scotiabank Centre
3/4 Moncton, Canada Avenir Centre
3/6 Quebec City, Canada Centre Vidéotron
3/20 Lisboa, Portugal MEO Arena
3/22 Madrid, Spain Palacio Vistalegre
3/24 Paris, France Zenith Paris – La Villette
3/25 Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique
3/27 London, United Kingdom O2 Academy Brixton
3/28 Manchester, United Kingdom O2 Apollo Manchester
3/29 Glasgow, United Kingdom O2 Academy Glasgow
3/31 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg Rockhal
4/1 Zürich, Switzerland Halle 622
4/3 ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands MAINSTAGE Brabanthallen
4/4 Essen, Germany Grugahalle
4/5 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Jahrhunderthalle
4/7 Milan, Italy Alcatraz
4/8 Ljubljana, Slovenia Media Center Ljubljana
4/9 Vienna, Austria Gasometer
4/10 Ludwigsburg, Germany MHP Arena
4/11 Munich, Germany Zenith
4/12 Prague, Czechia Forum Karlin
4/13 Budapest, Hungary Barba Negra
4/15 Warsaw, Poland Arena Torwar
4/17 Hamburg, Germany Inselpark Arena
4/18 Berlin, Germany Uber Eats Music Hall
4/20 Riga, Latvia Palladium Riga
4/21 Helsinki, Finland Black Box Finland Oy
4/23 Stockholm, Sweden Annexet
4/24 Oslo, Norway Sentrum Scene
4/25 København, Denmark Poolen