interview with Gaia Metal

What´s the name of your band? Gaia Metal.

How was the band formed? The band was a high school project with some classmates.

Can you tell about your band? Gaia started at the end of 1999 with the idea of an 80's hard rock style band, also the initial name was "Alto Voltaje" that means High Voltage in english.

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band?

The current line up is:

Harold Flores - Lead guitar and voice.

Saul Cardona - Bass guitar and back vocals.

Jorge Barrientos - Keyboards and back vocals.

Daniel Gil - Drums and back vocals.

We all come from a small town in Santa Ana, El Salvador, central america.

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? In the very begining it was just to have fun and being part of a rock band.

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? We just started with a heavy metal base style, then through the years we changed a bit the style. Now we're most a melodic metal band with a bit of progressiveness. 80% of the lyrics talks about nature and ecology, the other 20% is about stories of our social life.

Where was your first gig? That was in the year 2000, some local bands made a gig in a little park.

Where was the latest gig? Our latest gig was one week ago in a small town named San Juan Opico.

Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? The crazy mind behind the music and lyrics is Harold Flores. He takes the idea of a future song and shares it with us, so the rest of the band can give some ideas of what the music should goes on.

Who has the best since of humor in the band? Hahahaha! Nice one. We're all kind of prankters and have a nice sense of humor.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? Well, we just celebrate our 15 aniversary with the band, that's something really nice to be giging around for 15 years, we have two full length albums and a third one to come the next year. Nowadays we love to mix many metal genres, so we consider Gaia as a Melodic Metal band.

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? We love power, heavy, trash, death, melodic black metal. So we mix all that stuff in our songs. Our songs talks about the beauty of nature, the importance of take care of our planet and some love stories.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write our songs. We do a few covers.

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? Our firts full length album is "Espiritu y Tierre" (Spirit and Earth) we released it in 2007. Our second full length album is "Armonia de Fuego" (Fire's Armony) and was released in 2010. And now we're working on our third album named "Jardin de los Despojos" (Remain's Garden), we're just finishing the recording process.

Do you have any clips on YouTube?  

Yes, we have one official video clip that comes out from our second album "Armonia de Fuego". The song is "Por tu Amor" (For your love) and it talks about when you die for love.

http://youtu.be/dke35UkGDoE

"Hechos de Tierra" (Made of Dust) Live.

http://youtu.be/UD5xaMVsvxw

"Quiero Escapar" (I want to scape) Live.

http://youtu.be/2sm0LT-LEHc

How old are you?/What got you started in music? We started very young in music. Around 10 - 15 years old.

Now the members are between 26 and 32 years old.

At what age did you start playing? Playing in a band, at 20 years old.

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? 21 - 22 years old.

What year was the band started? At the end of 1999.

Best/worst gig you've played?

Best gig, as a opening act for Mago de Oz (Metal band from Spain).

Worst gig, as a opening act for Angra. (Metal band from Brasil). The sound was awfull.

What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? Maybe some gigs in El Salvador and some others in Central America.

Where have you played from then till now? Most of the gigs were in El Salvador, we also visited Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala.

Witch band is the best you´ve seen? There are manies. Metallica, Rhapsody of Fire, Symphony X, Yngwie Malmsteen, Angra just to mention a few.

Is it always the same songs live? Not always, sometimes we introduce new songs or some covers.

What has been the best/most promising gig so far? One in Honduras for the W.O.A Final battle Central America.

Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? Not really. Just one or two in Central America.

How big crowds do you usually play for? It depends from the location, can be from 100 to 1000. There was a gig back in 2005, just one guy came to our concert hahaha. 

What are the plans for the rest of the year? Finish the recordings of our new album and maybe a new years eve gig.

Where do you usually play? Small metal bars.

How do you get psyched up for a gig? That depends of the gig, but mostly have fun on stage.

What are your goals with your music? Mainly express ourself and reach other countries with our music.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? Since the first day we stand up on stage.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Mainly from older bands, but there are some new bands that really have something special.

What are your sources of inspiration? Nature and stuff related.

What's the first step when making a new song? It's not the same way every time. Sometimes we got just a melody or a riff.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? It's just a way for promotion. Most of the metal fans are pretty loyal so they always look  for buy the album.

What would be your dreams for the band? A music contract deal, play in big festival over the world.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? Well, some Jazz, Blues, Classic Rock, Latin Rock.

What do you hold most dear? Get old and still playing rock n roll.

What would be your greatest fears for the future? Leave playing with the band or leave playing at all.

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Play a wrong note or a chord.

Have you been part of any other projects? Yes, some cover bands or tribute bands.

How important are your fans? They are so important to us. They are the reason we celebrate our 15 aniversary.

How often do you rehearse? Every weekend.

Where do you rehearse? At Harold's home.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment?

Circo Maldito (Damned Circus)

Corrupcion del Alma (Soul's Corruption)

What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Metallica.

What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? Pasion. Love for the music. 

Do you have any webpages? Just a facebook fanpage. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gaia-Metal/184130938292069

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? First, be good in what you are doing. If you're a guitar player, be good at that. All the band members must be in the same page if you want you're band to be successfull. And just have fun.

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Money and media support.

What is best/worst with playing the clubs? Small gigs are awesome (like in clubs), cause you can get closer to your fans.

Whats your Pre-show ritual? A couple of beers and cigars.

Do you have anything to add? Thank you so much for the interview, we really aprecciate the oportunity.

Kommentera här: