Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What´s the name of your band? It's called Gangrel

How was the band formed? That would be my fault. I was playing in a Motorhead/Metallica tribute band at the time and got tired of just doing covers (I would never get tired of Motorhead just to be clear), so I started composing some songs and lyrics, quit the tribute band and called some musician friends to support this new project I was in. It was hard at the beginning to find the perfect people for it, but after some time Gangrel was complete and playing live shows with our own material.

Can you tell about your band? Sure thing. We started as most bands, just a group of people who has the same music taste. We liked bay area thrash bands (Exodus, Testament, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, etc) so they became our main influence. Soon after the first line up was put together, we entered the studio to record our first demo and with that in hand, came the concerts.

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? We are all from Lima, Perú. Carlo and Sergio play the guitars, Fernando is our vocalist, Marko is the drummer and me, Diego, I'm the bass player.

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? I think that if you start a band you have to be willing to take over the world, if you don't have that kind of hunger, better try something else. So to make the story short and to make things clear, we wanted to take over the world.

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Fast, groovy, heavy thrash... I'm not that good explaining this type of things, I could just say it's a headbanging experience.

Where was your first gig? In a club in Lima. The roof was pretty low and I was constantly hitting my head to some lights. Quite fun actually.

Where was the latest gig? We played in Ayacucho which is another peruvian department.

Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics?

I tried to present mostly complete songs to the band, musically speaking, then everyone put their minds to work in arrangements and stuff like that, so it would a team work at the end.

Talking about the lyrics, I write them with Fernando, it's a great time working with him cause we know each other since school.

Who has the best sence of humor in the band? Sergio, hands down. He is the one that keeps everyone in good mood.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are?

In a country with little opportunities for this kind of music, we are making our own. The band has to be thigh if we want to maintain our place in the local scene and achieve things abroad. We feel that we are metal. We started as a thrash band, but time gave us different styles to explore so right now I can't tell which subgenre we are in.

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about?

As I said, we didn't pick up a style, right now we are evolving. I think is part of a band's work or even part of it's nature to keep on moving, you know? Keep evolving, if not, it just grow to be something repetitive and boring (unless you are AC/DC).

Our songs went from horror stories in our first demo to social criticism on our last EP. Just moving from fiction to realism, but keeping it up with the horror theme. Most of the times, reality beats fiction when talking about scary stuff.

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

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? We have a couple of recordings. We have our 2009 demo debut "Metal Hunters" and our 2014 EP "Gangrel Strike". Between those two, we appear on different split album collaborations, cassettes versions and compilations.

Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes we do, you can find our video of the song "Terrorizer", just type "GANGREL - Terrorizer (Official Video)" and you will find us.

How old are you?/What got you started in music? I'm 26, I started playing at 13 when my friends at school ask me to join their band. I didn't play any instruments at the time so they told me to learn how to play the bass and I did. After a couple of tries they kicked me out of the band so I started my own thing doing grunge covers.

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? I guess we were about 20ish at the beginning of Gangrel.

What year was the band started? That would be around the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009.

What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? We'll be playing in Huancayo (another peruvian department) and in Lima. Hopefully we would be able to fly abroad to other South American countries and maybe, if any of you reading this interview is a concert promoter, who knows?

Where have you played from then till now? Mostly in Lima, we've played in different shows here. We opened for Mortal Sin the time they came, and we've traveled to Ayacucho too. We hope to get more gigs in the future.

Which band is the best you´ve seen? So many actually. I love Exodus, they've been here three times, and I've seen them those three times. The fact that they play in clubs made the concert very intimate and fucking great. But I can't stop mentioning legends like Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer, Testament, Metallica, Misfits, Violator... Guess I've had a good life (laughts)

Is it always the same songs live? It depends, if we want to promote a new recording we're going to play the new songs of course. Anyhow there's always time for a couple that we really like.

What has been the best/most promising gig so far? All of them.

Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? Actually no, we should don't you think?

What are the plans for the rest of the year? Right now we are starting to work on some new songs, we want to start 2015 with that, also some gigs here and there and promoting the Gangrel Strike EP.

How do you get psyched up for a gig? Just listening to other bands, couple of beers and getting into the pit always help to get ready before playing.

What are your goals with your music? The hunger never changes. We want to take over the world.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? When I felt that nothing else made me feel complete as a person.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? No, we'll take everything and put it on the table. It's always good to listen to what's going on around you it helps to figure out which path you want to follow. And we don't stick to just one genre, we listen to everything, and I really mean that.

What are your sources of inspiration? Good music. No matter genre or time.

What's the first step when making a new song? Feel the inspiration. If you don't feel it, then it will be time wasted.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? Artists don't make money of selling albums anymore, the money comes from touring, live gigs, merchandising and well, anything that surrounds the music. If you can find our album and download it, then go ahead and have a blast just don't forget to share it.

What would be your dreams for the band? World domination. Just kidding, I think my dreams in music are no different from any young musician: to be able to live doing what I love. And by living, I mean living a good life, not surviving.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? I listen to everything, really everything. Just this weekend for example, I went to a Camilo Sesto's concert (spanish singer from the 70's) and had a great time with his music. I also listen to classical music (from Bach to Paganini you name it), peruvian music, afro peruvian music, tropical music, ska, punk, rap music, classic rock, metal, new metal and mostly everything in between.

What would be your greatest fears for the future? To stay the same in music. I fear that everyday you know? What if I never make it? But then comes the "fuck it" part of myself and everything goes fine.

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Nothing. When I'm up there, I'm a fearless son of a bitch.

What songs and what years were they released? Well, all the Metal Hunters demo was released on 2009. It contains the songs: Front Page Killer, The Screamer, Metal Hunters, Carnage and Gangrel. And after that we've got the 2014 Gangrel Strike EP which includes the songs: What Lurks Beyond, Break the Chains, Terrorizer, Shredding Reality and Gangrel Strike. We also had a couple more songs, but you'll have to find out that on your own, they're kind of bonus tracks and hidden stuff.

Have you been part of any other projects? No, Gangrel is like my son, my own monster, I just can't get myself into another band right now.

Have you been in any other bands? Just a couple of bands on my teen years, nothing important.

What do you work with outside of the band and the music?

Well I have a degree on journalism by the University of Lima and a Masters Degree on Marketing y Gestión Comercial by ESIC. I'm into social networks and shit like that right now.

What would you do if there was no music? Nietzsche once said that life without music is not worth living. I agree.

How important are your fans? I don't think we have fans, we have friends of the band, that's how I look at them, as people who enjoy what we do so I guess they have pretty good taste (laughts).

What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? Once we were doing an interview for a local radio and a taxi driver stopped his cap to call the station from a public telephone just to say that our music was really good. That touched me as a person you know? To acknowledge that someone would literally leave his comfort zone for a minute to let me know, he liked our music. Mind blowing.

How often do you rehearse? We try to rehearse every week. Those rehearsals are usually just fun, laughter and "boy's time" you know? It feels good to play with the buddies.

Where do you rehearse? In a district called Chorrillos, a studio named "Brothers of Metal". A nice place that let us rehearsal for more than what we pay for. They're really brothers of metal after all.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Terrorizer and Break the Chains.

What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Violator the first time they came to Perú.

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? The same dream that once made a child pick up an instrument and try to learn how to play.

Do you have any webpages?

Just social networks for now:

www.facebook.com/gangrelthrash

www.youtube.com/gangrelthrash

www.twitter.com/gangrelthrash

www.instagram.com/gangrelthrash

I think you got the picture.

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? Dream big and keep your feet on the ground. Sacrifice for the things you want and always remember it's never going to be an easy road. As AC/DC said "it's a long way..."

Describe your show, visually and musically Mosh inducer.

How do you view the musicindurty of today?

I think the music industry may be afraid of changes going on right now. The downloading and piracy is a big issue for them but, you know what? I live in a country of pirates and we think that if your music (or any form of art) is pirated, it shows that you're getting some success in life.

Right now it's all about taking the opportunities the technology gives you, sooner or later the industry will find an opportunity to keep on going, and if they don't the bands will.

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? To find a way to get to the audience. It's always a pain in the ass to get the music to the people. We are still working to get that thing going.

What is best/worst with playing the clubs? The best is the family feeling you get in playing small places, the worst is that most places are not build for concerts and the sound quality kind of suck a lot.

How would you describe your sound in one sentence Mosh pit starter head banging inducer thrash metal. Is that a sentence?

What is your favorite crappy instrument? More cowbell!!

Whats your Pre-show ritual? We don't have one. Just cracking some jokes within the band and drink a couple of cold ones will do.

Do you have anything to add? I would like to thank you for the opportunity and also thanks to the people that took the time to read all the inteview. Make sure to listen to the Gangrel Strike EP and don't forget to share it!!