Interview with guitarist Andy Paredes
Wisconsin's Talamasca is one of the most talented bands I've ever heard. Whether it's guitarist Andy Paredes' shredding or ultra skilled technical rhythm playing or vocalist Steve Gentz's vocal acrobatics, this band matches the talent of the best in the business; Queensryche, Helstar, Mercyful Fate- this band should be huge. They have just released their second full length, Ascension, which is easily one of the best released this year. Here is an interview with guitarist Andy.
How did you go about recording Ascension?
The biggest thing was that we learned what not to do whhile recording Projection. As far as the guitar playing, when I tracked the guitars on the first one I only tracked one guitar part, not knowing that you always use two guitar parts. Almost every metal band in the world will record one guitar part and then double that and when you mix you pan one left and the other right and you get this really wide, thick sound. Not knowing that you're supposed to do that I just had one, so to create that sound they put reverb on the mix so instead of sounding in your face like metal is supposed to sound, it sounded distant. That's a huge difference. We used better techniques. When we did Projection we really thought of it as a demo. We never recorded together before. Matt and I had played in a band called Terminus and we had done a four song demo and a very low budget. The experience of working together and being in a bigger studio environment helped. If we had done just three songs for Projection it would have been better. If you listen to any band's demo, look at Metallica's Hit the Lights.
Are you shopping for a label?
We would be interested if someone wanted to license these last two albums along with the next album. We've had a lot of people say a lot of great things, but we haven't actually had anybody send us a letter of intent. That would be the next logical step. We're getting to a level where it would be very hard for us to keep doing it without a label. There are bands who are very successful while staying independent. For example MXPX who have a massive following, it's that whole punk attitude. They have such a grassroots support. They don't want to be the next Green Day or Limp Bizkit. I don't know if you can do it with this kind of music, because I don't think metal has that kind of support- especially not in the U.S., maybe in Europe.
What took so long between your first c.d. Projection and the new c.d., Ascension?
I was finishing college, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to balance the band and eduction, so the songwriting process suffered. But the songwriting process for us can go both ways, some songs are written very quickly and some songs can take months to finalize. I would expect the next album will be ready to record in the twelve to eighteen months.
Ascension is much heavier and aggressive than Projection, why?
One difference may be the diminshed role of keyboards on Ascension, although I did make a conscious effort to be more aggressive in the songwriting. I think that improved production of the recording may have had a role. When I was writing most of Projection I was listening to a lot of Rush, Lemur Voice, Fates Warning, etc. But when writing Ascension I was listening to more Death, Children Of Bodom, In Flames, etc., so I am sure that there was an influence of the heavier music.
Who are some of your influences?
We all share similar influences such as Queensryche, Fates Warning, Dio, and Helstar. Each person in the band also has personal influences that enter the band at some point. I tend to listen to some newer progressive bands, Gothenburg bands, classical music, and 1970's rock such as Rush, Kansas, and Styx. Both Brad and Matt listen to a wide range of music, ranging from instrumental fusion to jazz to death metal. Steve tends to listen more to classic metal such as Judas Priest. When I was younger, like fifteen, I wanted to be the next Tony MacAlpine. He was my number one idol as far as being a songwriter, player, instrumentalist, there was no one better than Tony in my eyes. I was able to meet him several times. My entire wall in my room was dedicated to Tony MacAlpine, with articles and interviews. He took discipline that he learned from classical and applied it to rock guitar. I wanted to be Tony MacAlpine and Jason Becker. I wanted to do all instrumental music. I wanted nothing to do with being in a rock band at that point. I grew up with Iron Maiden, Rush, and Dio but there was a period there where I didn't listen to very much vocal music. A couple of things snapped me out it, King Diamond's Them- I loved Abigail, but when Them came out I was blown away and Vicious Rumors when they were on Atlantic. That made me want to be in a band again. I was then able to work on technical things more and not be concerned with playing rhythm. With MacAlpine, Marty Friedman, and Becker, the melodies are in their soloing not the vocal lines, so I was able to learn from that. Bands like Warrant and Slaughter drew me away from vocal bands. Only Death's Spiritual Healing was around, I was more interested in the instrumentalists. Chuck Schuldiner is the first true death metal guitar player. People will argue that Venom or Possessed were the first true death metal bands, but Chuck is the prototype of the current death metal guitarist. He always said King Diamond was one of his favorites and he got a lot of his vocal lines from him- not his high singing but his lower growl. When you pigeonhole yourself into a style like that it's hard to break out of it.
What bands have come out of your area?
You've got Last Crack. Buddo's a vocal legend because he was on Roadracer. Other than Nightmares End, they were the only signed group from Madison. Out of Milwaukee the big hero was Realm. Realm, Last Crack, and Rapscallion. New Renaissance Records had a band out of Kenosha called Screamer. Realm was big for that underground era. One of the reasons I left the band I was in at nineteen was because Mark D'Amico from Realm had left Realm and started a different band. A friend of mine was also auditioning. Mark was a really cool guy, he's really tiny but he had this big voice. I didn't get the gig because I hadn't written much material. I learned from that you can't just be a decent player, you have to be a good songwriter.
Discography:
2002... Ascension (DCA)
1998... Projection (DCA)
Current line-up:
Steve Gentz... vocals
Andy Paredes... guitars
Brad Schuler... bass
Matt Belanger... drums
Website:
www.talamasca.cc
| TTM reviews of albums by Talamasca: | |
| 2002 - 'Ascension' |
