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Interview Interrogation: Eduardo, Gerardo, Carlos from Red Sun Cult (Colombia)

12/4/2020

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"Latin music [in Cali is] the normal thing, but if you're a rock or metal fan, or have a band, you are almost like an outcast."


Red Sun Cult are a Stoner Metal / Rock band from Cali, Colombia. Recently they were on Channel Thirteen, in the Resonantes program, but also were placed #17 on the top 25 chart on the Colombian radio station Radionica FM. All of this is a huge achievement for the band, but we wanted to find out what the band is about, what life for musicians in Colombia is like and whether it's a safe tourist destination for music lovers... this is Red Sun Cult's story.

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Tell us how you came up with the band name, Red Sun Cult?

     "Well with the first line-up of the band, we were Stoner Rock fans and Kyuss was the band we loved the most, the 2nd album by Kyuss was called 'Blues For The Red Sun' and so that was the inspiration for our name."


How did you get into playing Stoner Metal / Rock in the first place?

     "We were huge fans of Classic Rock, especially Blues Rock and Jimi Hendrix, Cream, that kind of stuff. But when we started to jam, we also like heavy music and so it's kind of a result by mixing the two genres together."


What was it like growing up as Heavy Metal / Rock fans in Colombia? What challenges do bands face?

     "Well it's really hard... well the city (Cali) is very well known as the salsa capital, here the rumba is like our religion, everyone on the weekend goes dancing. Being a heavy metal / rock fan is kind of hard because there aren't many venues, bands, etc., so it's like a group of friends in the city who owns 2 or 3 bars, 1 venue and that's the scene here.

      Well I think there are two big challenges for being a rock / metal band in Colombia, the first is the size of the public, filling a venue of 50 people here in Cali is like a big event... 50 people is considered a lot of people at a gig here in Colombia; especially in Cali, in Bogotá it's quite different but not that different. The second challenge is travelling from city to city as roads in the country are in a bad shape, for doing 400km you will spend like 12-13 hours risking your life.

     Colombia has so many mountains and so with the roads you have to go up and then down, so driving 400km takes a lot of time because it's very hilly / mountainous / curvy road. In fact once we were travelling from Bogotá to Cali and we almost died.

     Rock / Metal music here in Cali is niche, so in a city that likes Latin music, it's the normal thing, but if you're a rock or metal fan, or have a band, you are almost like an outcast. So you need to find that niche, this is one of the biggest challenges."



With that in mind, do you think that for metal's profile to be raised in Colombia, there needs to be a band tapping into Latin music?

     "That's an interesting question, there are some metal bands who did that... Sepultura from Brazil I think is one of those bands who tried to mix Latin rhythms with metal. We try to incorporate let's say the Latin aspect to our music, especially in the lyrics; we are in the jungle you know?"

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Cali, Colombia / Source: Culture Trip

Tell us about the music consumption in Colombia, do metalheads prefer the physical or digital copies?

     "People are listening to music by streaming or YouTube, so there's a small culture where people buy merch, but everyday it gets smaller you know. People are turning more towards vinyl production than CD, it's growing everyday. Mainly though people are consuming music by streaming.

     I think things like CD's and vinyls are becoming more of a part of a collection, you treat yourself... when people go to our gigs, they say the music was great, the gig was good and then ask do we have any CD's. Unfortunately we don't have any more CD's, but they ask for CD's and vinyls. But for the mainstream things like Spotify and the streaming platforms are the main methods of music consumption.

     In terms of consumption we need to put a lot of effort into our marketing strategies and we would, if the chance arose, to have maybe around 100 CDs or 100 vinyls in order to satisfy a particular segment of people who are really into collectibles."


Streaming has enabled bands to be heard worldwide which is a great thing, but do you feel it is killing off parts of the music industry in some aspects?

     "I think things are changing, for us as a band the platform Bandcamp has worked very, very well and we have seen people from all over the world buy our music and merch. So I think we'll just have to adapt, especially for bands like us where in our corner of the world there is no real industry - I think this change is beneficial for us because before there were no big labels in Colombia.

     But now bands like us with the DIY ethos could sell our music in places like Australia or the UK, so maybe for us it's a good thing. As part of the music business we have to adapt to these changes, there are a lot of perks - people from around the world can listen to Red Sun Cult; but on the other hand from my personal opinion, I think that streaming has depleted that experience of waiting for an album to come out, going to a record store, buying it and taking it home to listen throughout.

     Now it's the singles, that's why our experiment this year is to release singles each month, instead of EP's or albums. People just want a couple of songs and that's it, you need to be releasing a lot of music constantly."



What plans does Red Sun Cult have for the rest of the year (COVID-19 dependant)?

     "We will be working hard this year, we as a Stoner Rock / Metal band want to experiment, we've got other sounds such as playing keyboards, we have a new singer / frontman and navigating the challenges of the Colombian music scene in terms of consumption, because it's really hard. We are releasing one song per month in the form of a video clip, engage with the people on the radio stations - national and international, try to release music as much as we can; the band has been working for the past 1.5 years in writing new music and recording it.

     We're trying to include electronic music in some areas and by singing in Spanish we hope to capture more of a fan base here in Colombia, as well as singing in English to capture an overseas fan base."


Do you have any greetings, thanks, etc that you wish to send out to friends, fans, family, etc?

     "The guys we work with in the band as well as yourself for the interview, I think it's these kinds of spaces that are so important and amazing; more so since we first spoke in London and I know you are very interested in metal all over the world and how the cultures influence the music, it's very interesting how all these different cultures have something in common which is the love for rock and metal music. That's why I loved the World Metal Congress, because you got to meet so many kinds of people with the same passion and to be interested in music from all over the world.

     It's very cool that you're calling us in Colombia from the UK with 5 hours difference. Thanks a lot for other people who look for music from all over the world. Thanks to everyone who listens to our music wherever you are; making our dreams come true." 


https://www.facebook.com/redsuncult/
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M2TM Interview Interrogation: Callus (Lancashire)

14/4/2017

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Photo Credit: Daniella Beswick Photography


Lack of money, lack of time... [are] the testing stages and they need to be like this. (On being an unsigned band)


As the Metal 2 The Masses (M2TM) kicks into full swing with heats across the breadth of the UK and abroad taking place, bands progressing whilst some fall by the wayside, it's once again time for GMA to probe the bands who have entered this prestigious competition that allows the eventual region winners to earn a slot at playing the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival near Burton-Upon-Trent.

Third up is Callus from Lancashire; questions answered by guitarist / vocalist Louis Clarke.

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Debut EP out now

For those not in the know, please explain how Callus formed?

     "Callus formed in early 2013 in Lancaster, Ben and I had been friends since high school and enjoyed the same bands and getting pissed together, so it was only natural that we wanted to form a band. We encountered Mark shortly after and that's when things really clicked for us and when we knew we had the proper line-up. I think we played our first show with Mark in Barrow, Cumbria."


Is this your first time in M2TM? If no when did you previously enter? If yes what are your emotions like?

      "This will be our second stab at M2TM, we played last years event in Burnley. We are like a caged violent demon-boar at this point... ready to bust loose and launch an assault on all of your senses."


How important is the M2TM initiative for unsigned bands? Irrespective of whether they win their regional heats?

    "I do think M2TM is pretty important for unsigned bands, obviously it gets them in there with a chance at playing the main event. Not only that, but with all the attention that the heats get it makes the nights pretty awesome in themselves, which is still great if you are like us last year getting knocked out in the first round (!). The nights always end up being heavily populated as far as we can tell."


What is the Lancashire scene like? Please tell us about local bands, venues, etc.

    "Lancashire's scene is pretty good, we try not to take too much notice on what everyone else is doing in scenes though. We like to do our own thing really, if people enjoy it then that's amazing and that makes our night, if not then that's cool as well we enjoy it all the same.

    As far as local bands go Lancaster can boast some pretty meaty bands especially with the likes of Bloodyard (who of course won M2TM a couple of years ago) and Insurgency really starting to break out and make a name for themselves. A favourite band of ours is Boss Keloid although they probably don't know it... it blows my mind that something so original and moving came out of Lancashire, Wigan I think to be precise. Of course Manchester seems to be "Where its all happening" though.

    As far as venues we love the Yorkshire House (Lancaster) to bits, and we have grown especially fond of The Dark Room at Roper Hall, Preston. Both killer venues."



Will you be going to Bloodstock even if you don't progress to the finals?

      "I think at least one of us may go to Bloodstock this year, but last years line-up was outstanding and pretty hard to top for us... A bunch of us went though even though we didn't get through our round of M2TM. With the likes of Boss Keloid, Foetal Juice, Rotting Christ, Gojira, Mastodon and Slayer it was too good to miss. We also made sure to catch After The Abduction who we have played with before at The Alma Inn, Bolton and The Star and Garter, Manchester (two more awesome venues in Lancashire), who won last years M2TM... those guys bossed the New Blood stage."


What are the hardest challenges of running an unsigned band these days?

     "One of the hardest challenges of running an unsigned band has to be a matter of time and money... two of us each have kids, all of us have jobs and responsibilities yeah it can be tough. Lack of money, lack of time... its all a test but that's life its just how it goes. These are the testing stages and they need to be like this. Although if someone wants to sign us and pay for our shit then we will have a chat right?"


What plans do you have for the rest of the year and are there any messages you wish to send out to people?

     "The plan for the rest of the year is play as many shows as we can and try to reach as many people as we can. We just released our first E.P. as well called Through, Blood, Sweat, Piss and Pain so we want to support that as much as we can and drill that into as many peoples heads as possible. We have something really big planned for early next year so we are trying to build up as much momentum as possible.

     Come to a show if you haven't already, you might be surprised... you might not... still reading?
Congratulations if you got this far! Through, Blood, Sweat, Piss and Pain."



https://www.facebook.com/Callus.band/

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M2TM Interview Interrogation: Black Atlas (Luton)

9/3/2017

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As the Metal 2 The Masses (M2TM) kicks into full swing with heats across the breadth of the UK and abroad taking place, bands progressing whilst some fall by the wayside, it's once again time for GMA to probe the bands who have entered this prestigious competition that allows the eventual region winners to earn a slot at playing the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival near Burton-Upon-Trent.

Second up is Black Atlas from Luton; questions answered by guitarist Peter Hunt.


How did Black Atlas form and what is the meaning behind the band name?

     "Black Atlas formed through a want to get back out on the local scene and play music we enjoyed. We had all been in previous bands at one point with one member or another. We gelled together pretty quickly, working on a few song ideas which have stuck with us since the beginning.

     The name came through the normal pain of us passing ideas around. Black Atlas was an idea Peter had knocked about for a while. As a few of our favourite bands are Black Sabbath and Black Label Society we went with it. The idea behind it is a simple combination of Black signifying the music as it simply defines Heavy Music. Atlas is to show we pull influences from a range of bands, and that we don't want our music to be defined by borders."


What range of influences do you take? Band-wise and sound-wise?

     "This question would have a massive list of bands, but I guess our main core influences fall as;
Kyuss; Corrosion of Conformity; Fu Manchu; Black Sabbath; Black Label Society; Alice in Chains. Those bands show what we are about and capture the sound we want to put across."



Is this your first time participating in M2TM? (If yes are you / were you nervous? If no what emotions were / are you feeling?)

     "We actually took part last year as well. It was great fun. Even though we were did not progress we really enjoyed it. The mix of bands was great, showcasing all varieties of heavy music.

     We are also fortunate to know previous winners in bands such as Scar City and Countless Skies. That makes it a lot more real, seeing local bands we've played with or know from the scene. We've all seen BOTB competitions, and with rubbish on TV like X Factor and the Voice manufacturing bands and artists, M2TM is something which is a lot more relatable and to us will have a greater longevity and meaning than the others. It's just what real music needs."



What is the Luton / Bedfordshire Metal scene like? 

     "We've been knocking around the scene for a few years now. We once got refereed to as the 'old guards' even though we consider ourselves still young. Overall the scene is healthy, there is always young blood coming in so there is never a shortage of bands. I think the main struggle we've seen is the willingness for venues to support heavy music. Getting a crowd down and making nights successful for a venue has been what has hit the scene the hardest. We've seen a few venues close, and some fortunately open up again. 


     Too many people would prefer to pay money to see someone play a cover of a song someone else sings, and was most likely written by another person. The best thing about metal though is it doesn't die. With ongoing support from promoters like Luton Lives and Bedford Alternative Music it has all lived and will always live."



What hobbies does the band have outside of music?

     "We've all got a collective mix really. Peter is into his cars, running a Japanese car club and probably spending too much money on them. He also enjoys his photography and is a keen cinema goer. Wilson also has a passion for cars, and usually if you don't find us playing music we will be tinkering on our cars. He also has his own business. SWFX (swfxpedals.co.uk) He designs and builds custom stomp boxes/pedals. We actually use a lot of them in our sound. From fuzz pedals, to custom wahs and delays. 

     Mikey recently became a father for the second time. So he has his hands full looking after a the little one currently. Aside from that he enjoys his 5 a side football. He used to also scout bands back in a previous life, working with Basick Records finding some great new artists. Jimi is a big horror fan and a prominent gig goer. He used to support the local scene by putting on gigs around Luton and support Luton Lives in its early days. We all like to keep fit as well, through either the gym or running. 


What plans do you have for the rest of the year? 


     "Our main goal for this year is to be gigging more, building up a solid fan base and then spreading too some wider locations. We're working on some new material as well, writing new songs and developing our overall sound. 

     We are also looking to do some more recording to follow up our debut EP, and then hopefully tie that in with a video. And while all that's going on we will have a right old laugh as well. As you've got to enjoy what you do."


https://www.facebook.com/BlackAtlasBand/

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