Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What is the name of your band? Equaleft

How was the band formed? What made you form the band? Equaleft was born in 2004 from the ashes of some local metal bands in Porto and Gaia. Back then all our bands came to an end, so we wanted to try out and rehearse as band and play metal as much as we could.

Can you briefly introduce your band and who you are?/Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band?

I´m Miguel “Inglês” vocals from the metal band Equaleft from Porto/ Gaia in Portugal.

Half of us is from Porto and the other half from Gaia.

The Line Up is:

Miguel “Inglês” - Vocals

Nuno Veggy-Guitar

Marcos-Drums

Bernardo-Guitar

Miguel Seewald- bass

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? We just wanted to get into a rehearsal room and try to mix our influences of metal in just one sound.

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Our Sound is equal to Metal Combined with a massive dose of groove, power, melody and heaviness.

Where was your first gig? Our First Gig was in May 2004 in Porto in a small bar Called Zum Zum.

Where
was the latest gig? In December At Metalpoint Bar  in Porto, which is the best spot you can play metal in the city.

Who writes your songs?/ who writes the music who writes lyrics? We usually write the songs together and lyrics it´s just me, i think it´s easier for me to sing my own words.

Who has the best sense of humor in the band? We all  do actually,everyone who has seen us live or shared the stage with us knows how cheerful we are, always smiling on stage and off the stage.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? It´s great to be with your band mates writing music that we all enjoy playing and to do that you have to sacrifice some of your time with your family, sleep lesser and yes,  spend some extra money with it but despite all that we believe it´s worth it every penny. About the genre it´s a hard question really because since we are a band that´s addicted to music we do listen to a lot of different stuff. From the most ambient to the more extreme we do listen to it all and our sound it´s like that, maybe Death groove Metal progressive whatever  for us it´s just Metal.

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your lyrics about? As a fan of eclectic stuff it had to be this kind of sound with Equaleft, I imagine all my influences, in a big bowl and mix it all. The lyrics are all about everything that surrounds me, sometimes using a bit of Irony in it, trying always to send a message, not a negative one or a violent one but an optimistic one, with hope.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We only write our own material but in our demo “As the Irony PreVails...” 2008 we did a cover of a song called “Playback” from a Portuguese artist Carlos Paião.

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they?

We did a demo “As the Irony Prevails...”2008

here´s a track http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbERWYlxhfc

We did a EP “...the truth Vnravels” 2010

here´s a track : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwI89LHzdDk

In a couple of Months we´ll be releasing our debut album “Adapt & Survive”

Studio Teaser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2xUOAC9xSg&feature=youtu.be

album Teaser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OkF29UP_W4

Do you have any clips on YouTube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRrdTEYovRI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0s4pUGZrZY

How old are you?/What got you started in music?

I´m 35. I´m still young  man.

The passion for music started very early as kid, my dad was always showing me lots of different stuff from bossa nova to fado, so I started to listen to a different kinds of sounds in a very early age. I remember when he showed me Michael Jackson´s “Thriller” or the Star Wars Episode IV OST from John Williams and how I fell in love with it, I still love it.

So When I was a teen I got into tape trading and cd trade with my friends at school and read many metal magazines trying to find out more and more new and old bands, there I found great bands that influenced me as musician such as Cynic, Pantera, Death, Carcass, Fear Factory and Meshuggah , which are still my biggest influences.

At what age did you start playing? With Equaleft I started at the age of 25 but as a musician was at 16.

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? With Equaleft I was 25 and I was 17 when I did my first gig.

How old were you the first time you saw a live band play? Probably 7 I watched some Portuguese  rock/pop bands.

Best/worst gig you've played? The Best one was the release show of our Ep in 2010, was an unforgettable night with a full house.The worst was in 2012 near Porto, was a crappy sound, the sound guys were terrible and it was freezing cold, all  went wrong that night .

What places will you be playing in in the immediate future? We have a few dates to schedule right after we get the album finished. Hoping  to  play over Europe that´s one of our main goals. Sweden would be great.

Where have you played from then till now? Portugal and had just one gig in Spain.

What songs are in your live set's? We´ve been playing songs of our demo and ep and recently did one or two new songs.

Is it always the same set's live? No, we like to change at least the order of the set , we are just like chameleons having to adapt to the place we´ll be playing, never of course loosing our identity.

Have you had any bigger tours from start till now? Hoping to take that step to a next level with the new album so we can play to bigger crowds and different places.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? Release the album and play as much as we can, spreading our music everywhere.

Where do you usually play? Play in small bars and some metal festivals in Portugal.  

How do you get psyched up for a gig? I usually feel anxious the day before so i´ll do some exercises and relaxation to get you get in shape and be focus when the gig arrives.

What are your goals with your music? Enjoy ourselves doing the music the music you really love .

When did you decide to go all in for the music? The Music It´s not our main job we all have our works outside of music.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Both as long it´s good music.

What are your sources of inspiration? All that we see and listen to.

What's the first step when making a new song? We usually like to jam of someone´s riff and then let it flow.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? If you download to meet new bands and then go and buy the albums, it´s ok. The problem is that the smallest bands are the ones who loose more with the downloads not the big bands. I hope people carry on buying albums not just download  but t´hat´s my opinion, I´m a cd fan.

What would be your dreams for the band? Release a great album e play many gigs so everyone would listen to our songs.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Outside of Metal I´m big fan of Original soundtracks, artists like John Williams, Hans Zimmer as well as Massive Attack, Yoav, Dead Can Dance.

What do you hold most dear? My family, My dog, friends and my bandmates.

What would be your greatest fears for the future? Not having the time to do more with the band.

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Probably falling or fainting on stage. I fell once in a gig and nearly fainted in another one because of the intense heat.

Have you been part of any other projects? Only as guest in one song with our buddies Gates of Hell, Suffochate and Assassiner.

Have you been in any other bands? I Had some bands in the past as a vocals and guitar player ,the most known was a doom metal called Mysterium, the last one before I formed Equaleft.

What do you work with outside of the band and the music? I work at the office of a company that imports and exports heating and ventilation products.

How important are your fans? Very important, I don´t look them as fans but as friends who I have the privilege to share my music with.

What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? It´s always memorable their support when we play for a small crowd and they made you feel like your playing to a crowd of  1000. I leave you here a video of a song  from a gig that we did in Porto on my Birthday party so you can see how was great their support is. Me leading a Wall of Death my light saber. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0wELomtAKE

How often do you rehearse? Twice a week after dinner.

Where do you rehearse? We have our own rehearse room in  building called C.C. Stop where more than 100 bands rehearse there.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Human and Heroes of Nothing (New songs from the album)

What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Meshuggah, Tool, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Madredeus

Do you have any web pages?
FACEBOOK - http://www.facebook.com/equaleft
YOUTUBE - http://www.youtube.com/user/EQUALEFTband
BANDCAMP - http://equaleft.bandcamp.com/

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Enjoy yourselves and give 100% in stage, remember respect the fans that support you.

Describe your show, visually and musically Intense, headbang and chaos on stage, that´s us .

How do you view the music industry of today? In one hand there are much people getting advantage of the bands and making profit with them ruining all their work but on the other hand you have many ways to promote your music these days so it becomes easy to release an album.

What advice would you like to give other bands? If you believe in your music never mind the old fools telling you not to go that way. Be wise and patient and you will achieve it.

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Time and money that´s the two big ones.

What is best/worst with playing the clubs? The best thing is that you play close to the crowd, we like the crowd on stage as well, it belongs to them. Sometimes we get a few clubs  where the manager don´t care about the crowd or the bands, they just want the profit, nothing else.

Tell us about upcoming gigs and why we should be at them? We are planning to release the album in a couple of months so  probably the next gig it will be the release show. We ´ll invite some bands that are our close friends to have an incredible night, full of fun and lots of Metal.

How would you describe your sound in one sentence Groove .

What is your favorite  instrument? I like to play guitar, always did but drums are cool.

Whats your Pre show ritual? I have a few  of them , always have a laugh before going on stage, when I get on stage always touch the floor of stage the Stage with my hand, to feel the energy of that stage  and then wish good luck to my band mates and tell them “let´s enjoy ourselves”.