interview with Piraña
Have any of you played in other bands? Yes, i (Tarello) played in a thrash hardcore band called Satrapas (1993-1995) doom metal Antiqua (1996-2001) and nowadays a rock and called DEVIL´S WHISKEY, Sammy played in deáth metal acts (Genital retroplasia, Domain, Disgorge 1991-2004 and nowadays UNDENIED), Fernando actually plays in DEVILS WHISKEY and Chava played with a thrash act Frantgressor 2004-2013 and nowadays in UNDENIED.
How is it that you started playing music? Sammy and I started since kids in the early 90´s, playing each other with our friends since we are heavy metal lovers, and Fernando and Chava stand.rted pretty much the same but until late 90´s since the are younger than us. Mainly, the reason is like in every band, you have a lot of ideas, taste for metal music and you need to expres all that, so, you start a band
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Cesar Tarello (Tarellevil) Guitars and Vox.
Samuel Olvera (Sammy thrash) Lead guitars
Fernando Nieto (Hammerfer) Drums
Chava Guerrero (Chavagressor) Bass and backing vocals.
Have you had other previous members? Yes, quite few drummers until Fernando arrived in 2008, and Juan Vargas in bass guitar since 2005 until 2014, until he was replaced by Chavagressor.
Did you make music even when you were young? Yes. Sammy and I started since late 80´s early 90´s when we have 16, 17 years old, and Fernando and Chava started since they have 15 in middle 90´s.
A few demos, a few cd´s where recorded also.
Where are you from? City of Querétaro, a central state from México.
What year did the band form? 2003
What's your style of genre? Thrash metal.
What inspires you? As a constant of thrash metal music, we are inspired from the social problems you have to deal with everyday. War, famming, corruption, politics, imperialism, and all the rage this generates in society. Obviously this get you rabid before the world, and you need to scream, savagely.
How often and where do you reherse? Two or three times a week
How have you developed since you started with the music? We need to work in many things because in our country you simply can not live by playing metal music, so all of us work. I am a lawyer and teacher at the local university, Sammy works in my office and also has a business of metal t shirts printing, Fernando has a commerce business and Chava works in food industry and is also a music teacher.
Although all of us live for and by music, there is no point in doing anything if we do not make music. Is our great satisfaction, our only religion, our true belief and savior.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? Music is the main priority, but we need to work in other things as above mentioned. Sometimes, we make alternate musical projects, and some of us work with human right protection.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We have worked with booking agencies when we toured Europe and Brasil because is an important asset to make a succsesfull tour, if you are trying to go on as an adventure, maybe you will get a lot of complications and many more expenses, so you need to see this as an investment in order to get your music outside the border of your country.
Anyway we have made very good friends with people from bands from other parts of the world and we have honorable agreements when we organize a tour for them in México and now they will organize a tour for us in their countries (UK, Australia), I mean , a fair ex change made by good road warriors and friends.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?
Well we are always looking for a good and fair deal, we have worked with local labels (Detonation distro, American Line records) and foreign ones (Red Rivet Records from Japan) but each time we do not have the opportunity of work with labels we have produced records independently.
We think is important for promotion and sales to have a record label, but is not always easy to have it, so you do not need to focus on this, but in make music and try to play it live and show it.
What made you decide to make this music?
Hearing rock, punk and heavy metal.
In my case when I knew a hardcore punk band called Masacre 68.
What are your songs about? Mainly about social problems from our country or from the world.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Mainly I compose the lyrics, but the music always has the intervention from all the band.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? There is no formula, but normally with the music.
Do you compose in a certain enviroment? Each of us make the composition in their houses, and when we are in the rehearsal room and studio we started to show the ideas and start to get together the songs. Sometimes we drink beer and have some weed also.
Have you done any covers live? Yes, just for fun. Phobia from Kreator, Piranha from Exodus and Metálica from a local band called Six Beer.
What language do you sing in? Mostly English, but we also sing in Spanish.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? Normally attend from 80 to 150, but it depends the venue or the festival we played, where you could have massive audience.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? An average of 18 to 40
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We do have a lot of setlist, depending the venue, the tour we are in or the audience or the record we are promoting in that moment.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? No, we play in many differente places.
What was your first gig like? As Piraña our first gig was in our hometown Querétaro.
What was your latest gig? A minitour in Mexico last December (Monclova and Torreon)
Where have you played live this year? We are about to start a 13 dates Mexican tour
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? 2017 we will tour Mexico, and we are finishing some preparations to make an small USA tour and UK tour.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? Since 2005. We have t shirts, cd´s, books, pins, patches and back patches.
Where can people buy your merchandise? In our facebook page, or in direct contact with us. we use paypal and ship every part of the world.
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days?
Is a new way of knowing and listening to music since the internet grew a lot, we do not grew up with that culture, we are the ones who buys vinyl or cd´s or tapes, but we understand that new generations has their own way of seeing the world.
Anyway the only trouble is that you have so many to hear and is so easy to obtain this, that sometimes many people tends to minimize the bands effort, or their music, is like if they do not appreciate as before, when having a record or cd it was a whole experience.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this?
I think the mainstream took everything including the metal music, and many times you have underrated bands making the best music, and also this mainstream marks some parameters of doing a certain style that not all times are the best.
Nowadays more bands have the opportunity of make decent albums with less money that 30 years ago, and more channels to make this music to get heard by people, but the public sometimes gets stuck in commercial or mainstream bands and despites the underground effort, and there you have it, bands that are very good and little known and shitty bands very popular.
What do you think of my work?
Is an honest work. The blog recovers the old pressed "fanzine" work but takes it into the internet to reach more people, and obviously by using incredible tools like your fotography, by attaching videos and music, etc.
So this is the kind of work that keeps the metal flame burning in every part of this world.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? In the underground everytime a person gets interested in your band you are doing a right thing because the porpoise of create metal music and being heard is already accomplished. But we do not have the tools to measure how much an interview can help specifically a band or their business, but in any case it always helps.
Do you have any role models or idols? Well, I think many. People that make an exemplary deed and become a model to follow in order to repeat a virtuous deed. Mostly my raw models are revolutionary heroes.
But in music I think I only have references and influences but not a raw model.
Why do you think that they exist? We is important for people to have an example to follow, if this motivates you to grow as a person and make a good difference in your community.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? I think older bands, because they have constructed a history of efforts and musical references.
What have been your biggest obstacles? Money, time to make more music, economics, and sometimes discrimination.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Keep doing what you want, live free.
How do you get psyched for a gig? When sound is killer and the atmosphere becomes dark.
Do you have any new material? Our last stuff was the 2015 RAW EP that was the material we promoted in our European tour, but right now we are recording the new 8 songs full length album (our third full lenght)
What are your web sites? Mostly Pirana/facebook
Do you have something to add? Keep rocking, and thanks for the interview.
