interview with Six Million Dead
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Rob Reyes – Vocals
Chris Whitefeather Martinez – Bass
Dennis Antone – Guitar
Bluesky Thompson – Guitar
Ninno Thompson – Drums
Have you had other previous members? Yes, Six Million Dead has been a band for 11 years, and the band has had multiple lineup changes.
Where are you from?
Rob: Tohono O'odham Nation, Arizona
Chris: I’m from Gila River, and Tohono O'odham Nation. But, I grew up in a city known as Eloy, Arizona.
Dennis: Ak- Chin Indian Community, Arizona
Bluesky: Ak- Chin Indian Community, Arizona
Ninno: Ak- Chin Indian Community, Arizona
What year did the band form? Six Million Dead was formed in 2005.
What's your style of genre? Blackened Death Metal.
What inspires you?
Rob – My daughters, and all different genres of music.
Chris – The urge to get better at my instrument, and constantly challenging myself. Most of all I was given the gift to play, and push myself to limitless creations.
Dennis – What inspires me is where I come from, growing up on the reservation, and how I was brought up.
Bluesky – Growing up being five years apart from my older brother, I learned to appreciate the guitar more as well as the bass, rather than the “drums”. I picked up early on the drums from there I took up guitar thanks to him paving the way.
Ninno – What inspires me is the music. Any type of music. Mostly Waila music. I’ve been playing drums since I was 4 years of age. I love to play music in general. Don’t matter what style, period!
How often and where do you rehearse? Once, or twice a week for up to 2 hours. We practice on the Ak- chin Indian Community.
How have you developed since you started with the music? Our professionalism and music has developed on many levels. With all our hard work and commitment, we’ve been privileged to play national shows as the local headliners. And throughout all our changes, we’ve kept true to the vision of Six Million Dead.
What are your songs about? The darkest corners of human behavior: world atrocities, religious brain washing, acts of genocide, massacres, and deportation.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? We start with the music.
What language do you sing in? English.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? Our attendants range from 15 – 40 years of age.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? Our set list always varies. If we have new material we add it in also, the set time we’re given, and the bands we’re playing with changes the songs we choose to play live.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? In Arizona, yes we do. Thanks to the local promoters, Mosh Pit Army, and 13th Floor Entertainment. We play at Joe’s Grotto, Club Red, and the Nile Theater.
What was your first gig like?
With Six Million Dead
Rob: A recording studio turned into a venue at night, with dancing girls on bar tops. Not a bad gig if you ask me.
Chris: Kataklysm and Aborted.
Dennis: GWAR (Their unmasked live performance)
Bluesky: Cannabis Corpse
Ninno: Kataklysm and Aborted
What was your latest gig? A “battle of the bands” put on by Headbang for the Highway. Called “Battle for the Summer Slaughter” tour.
Where do you plan to gig the coming year? We plan on continuing to work with local promoters on national shows, and do some traveling to other states for more exposure.
Where can people buy your merchandise? Sixmilliondead.bigcartel.com
What do you think of my work? We respect your work and we think what you are doing is great exposure, not only for bands but, also for you as a music journalist.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? We can’t say how this interview will help us, nor do we know who will read our interview. We do hope to gain some exposure by you reaching out and showing interest in us.
Do you have any role models or idols?
Rob: Jon Nödtveidt – Dissection, Jan-Chris de Koeijer – Gorefest, Toxine – Witchery, David Vincent, Steve Tucker, and Jared Anderson – Morbid Angel, Dani Filth – Cradle of Filth.
Chris: Alex Webster definitely, the main reason I chose to play finger styled bass. So many to name, but Steve Digiordio was another of my faves.
Dennis: My influences are my dad, Jason Baker, Christian Münzner (Spawn of Possession, Obscura), Chuck Schuldiner (Death), and Andy LaRocque (King Diamond). My Dad being a metal head and buying me a guitar at 7 years old is what got me started into metal music. Very influential.
Bluesky: Morbid Angel, Cephalic Carnage, The Black Dahlia Murder, Immortal, Death, Slayer, Defeated Sanity are off the top of my head.
Ninno: Growing up my influences were Joey Jordison, Pete “The Feet” Sandoval, Georgios "George" Kollias, Joe Nuñez, Igor Cavalera, and David Lombardo.
What have been your biggest obstacles? Keeping the vision and music of Six Million Dead going, despite all the unfortunate setbacks.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Create a Vision, set your goals, know your limitations, and don’t be afraid of failure and outside negativity.
Do you have any new material? Yes, we plan on a 2017 release.
What are your web sites?
www.facebook.com/SixMillionDead
http://official6milliondead.bandcamp.com/
How can people reach you?
www.facebook.com/SixMillionDead
What are your plans for the future? Continue to write music, work hard, and see where it takes us.
Do you have something to add? Thanks once again Robex for the opportunity, and for reaching out to us. We’d also like to thank all of our families, and friends for their never ending support.
