Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What´s the name of your band? The bands name is Aura Azul 

How was the band formed? The band was formed in 1993, but was inactive for a time, and then we re formed in 2003 under the name Aura Azul

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

All members are from Puerto Rico.

Gabriel Velez- vocals

Xavier Ocasio-Bass

Wampa Zayas-Drums

Myself Hommy Torres- Guitars

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? At first we just wanted to play songs from the bands we loved, but after that it became really serious, and we wanted to make records and play live, and try our best to get people to listen to our music

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Well, we are a mix between good ol heavy metal and power metal, just put  Iron maiden,helloween,judas priest, black sabbath, edguy  in a blender, and it comes out Aura Azul, haha.

Where was your first gig? Our first serious gig was in hard rock cafe, but our very first gig was in a club named maruquitos pub in San Juan, good times.

Where was the latest gig? Our latest gigs were With Iron Maiden in el coliseo de Puerto Rico and Mike Vesceras Obsession in la respuesta theater

Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? I write most of the music and lyrics, but also Gabriel and Xavier compose some music and lyrics too.

Who has the best since of humor in the band? that got to be Gabriel for sure! i tend to be a little bit more serious haha.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? I like to call ourselves just plain Heavy metal, but we are Power Heavy metal.

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? I didnt picked it up, it came out naturally, its what we do best, it came from our souls.

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? we write our own songs, but we have made some iron maiden and helloween covers just for fun.

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

Yes we have four albums

Aura Azul (2010) Tributo a la doncella de hierro (2011) Live at coliseo de Puerto Rico (2012) Beyond the doors of time (2013) TETRAD: The four blood moons (2014)

Do you have any clips on YouTube?

yes we have some clips, you can check them out at

youtube.com/auraazulband

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

Im 35 and i started in music since i was a little kid, but what got me in to music, was watching tv and all the videos from bands

Like maiden,priest,sabbath ect, the sound of the guitars just facinated me,and it was the starting point for me.

At what age did you start playing? i started a bit late, i was 13 when i got my first guitar.

How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? i was 16 when i first got on stage

What year was the band started? the roots of the band trace back to  1993, but Aura Azul per se was born in 2003

Best/worst gig you've played? Worst gig was this show in the west coast, the sound tech was terrible, and he disconnected my guitar from the power source like 3 times, i was so mad at him that i yelled at the end of our presentation, haha, i can laugh of that now.

What places will you be playing in in the imidate future? We have plans for a USA tour later this year

Witch band is the best you´ve seen? The best band i ever seen is and will be Iron Maiden, few younger bands beats them in terms of energy and musicianship, they have respect for their fans and music, and their trajectory speaks for itself.

Is it always the same songs live? No, we change our setlist depending of the time we will be playing or any time we have a new album out.

What has been the best/most promising gig so far? In terms of exposure, playing with Iron Maiden, it gave us the chance to play our music to many people that dont even knew we have some kick ass bands here, like Dantesco,sacred guardian and alas negras.

How big crowds do you usually play for? We have played for thousands to hundreds to just 40 or 50 people, it all dependes on the place and the time, but thats the life of rock and roll bands of today

What are the plans for the rest of the year? we are planing a 10th year "best of album" and our nex album for 2015, also we are planing a tour in the USA.

Where do you usually play? Clubs, theaters and coliseums.

How do you get psyched up for a gig? Its all natural, i like to listen to music, or just relax, for a couple hours.

What are your goals with your music? we will try to take our music to every place we get the chance, we want to play in as many countries as we can.

When did you decide to go all in for the music? It was never a desicion, it was always within me, i always knew this is what i wanted to do.

What are your sources of inspiration? life experiences, history, fiction, i dont put a restrain to my compositions.

What's the first step when making a new song? For me its kind of weird, i have dreamed songs, and once i wake up i get to my studio and begin to record it, that happens to me very often, so for me is not a matter of what steps, i can be just hanging around, and then this melody or lyric comes to my mind, and i hurry to my recorder and get it there, i dont force myself to compose.

How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? well, im an 80s/90s kid, im used to buy my music, but i understand time changes, it all depends, not all bands have the money to buy instruments, pay for studios, mix and mastering and give the album for free, some bands needs that revenue to continue recording, and more now that the big labels are not signing metal bands, and we have to do things for our own, but some bands gets their compensation from selling merch which is fine too, we as long as our listeners share our music with their friends, and support us in our presentations, we have no problems with streaming or downloading of our music. but if you really like the albums, it really helps us alot if the albums are bought, we are not in this to be rich, if we just can afford to continue recording in our lifetime, it will be fine to us.

What would be your dreams for the band? We would love to play a big festival with all our favorite bands in it thats like the only dream we have left to fulfill haha.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? I like mostly all music if its done with sense, i love 80s pop rock music,and folk music like Loreena Mckennitt, im very openminded when it comes to music.

What do you hold most dear? My son Hommy Torres Jr and my Jackson sandimas guitar.

What would be your greatest fears for the future? As long as we have our metalhead brothers, we dont fear anything, we will continue making music for as long as our health permit us.

When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Not much really, once we are on stage its a one to one connection with the people, everything flows naturally and we enjoy it a lot!

Have you been part of any other projects? I have helped some bands but nothing in particular, i have mixed and mastered some other bands albums or demos,but other than that i havent had any other projects.....yet.

Have you been in any other bands? No,i have always been in Aura Azul, since the begining.

What do you work with outside of the band and the music? Im a professional, i have two bachellors degree in communications and computer science and business administration.

What would you do if there was no music? Wow, i dont really know....probably i was an old angry dude or some religious bigot or something hahahaha.

How important are your fans? The fans are the reason any band exists, im a fan and i know what i want from my bands, so i dont give any less to our fans.

What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? hahahaha, I was in this store and this female employee asked me if i was the guitars player from Aura Azul, i replied yes, and she was like, im my god, you guys are awesome, and she followed me for the whole store, and she even took her shirt up to show me an Iron Maiden's Eddie tatto she had! in front of every one! hahahaha. good times.

How often do you rehearse? we rehearse one or two times per week, but we always practice in our own time.

Where do you rehearse? We rent a studio in San Juan, but im just finishing my home studio, and we will be rehearsing there from here on out.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? Kingdom of alefgard and Alexander are the first two that came to my mind first.

What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Wow, to many, but Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Kiss, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath with Dio.

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? I cant speak for other bands, but for us....the love for the music and love for what we do, because thats what we are.

Do you have any webpages? yes, you can check us out at www.auraazul.tk or www.auraazulband.blogspot.com or also our facebook page at facebook.com/auraazul

How do you view the musicindurty of today? Its in some parts better than back in the day, because there are almost no scum bags trying to live off the bands, the escense of metal still lives, metal is not a mainstream music, so its where it needs to be inside us metalheads where it belongs, as long as there are listeners, the bands will be fine.

What advice would you like to give other bands? There will come times when you may think like giving up, when that time comes, become stronger and stay on focus with why you started it at the begining, we are not in this for the money, if it comes along the way, its more than welcomed, but do it from the heart, try to get your own home studio and get some sound engineering classes and do your own albums, the rest will come.

What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Right now? other bands, there are always some good friends, but there are always some rotten apples that try to put stones in the road for other bands so they try to shine themselves, time and the passion, many bands doesnt have the passion, at first you will feel like you are losing time and money, and may be you will, but hang in there.

What is best/worst with playing the clubs? I love play in the clubs, its a more personal experience, fans get on stage and stuff, its so underground haha.

Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? We are going to the states at the end of the year, and if you love Metal you just need to congregate, why you should be there? its easy, to listen to pure, unadultered Heavy/power metal and to keep the flame burning.

How would you describe your sound in one sentence Gods Heavy and power metal had a baby, the half Power metal half heavy metal Aura Azul was born.

What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? Finding musicians with the same vision as me, thats hard as hell.

Do you have anything to add? Thank you for taking the time to do this interview, i had fun with the interview, hope to see you guys some day and a big warm hug from the Caribbean