Visualizzazioni post:628
SAVAGE WIZDOM from Santa Fe recently released their new killer album ‘Who’s Laughing Now’. HMW took the opportunity to invite them for an interview… We spoke with Steve Montoya Sr. (Steve) the vocalist, Pablo Roybal (Pablo) the guitarist, and Steve Montoya Jr. (Steven) the other guitarist, for a wide variety of themes around their new album and heavy metal in general, in a very interesting discussion. Enjoy!
(HMW): Hello brothers of metal, welcome to Heavy Metal Webzine! At first, introduce SAVAGE WIZDOM to the zine’s followers. When and from whom did SAVAGE WIZDOM formed? Can you name all band’s current and previous members as well?
Steve: Savage Wizdom formed in 2005 when former bass player (Morris Branch) and I met each other and he recognized me from Prowler. We expressed how we were both trying to start bands and since he knew a drummer named Ken Brito and I knew a guitarist named Wesley Rivera, we thought we’d give it a shot.
Pablo: They released one album in 2007 called No Time For Mercy then broke up shortly after that. Steve decided to reform it the following year. I had been playing with one of their former drummers named Santiago Jaramillo and after he and Steve started talking again, Santiago came back as part of the reformation and brought me with him.
Steve: The history of our lineup is Ken Brito on drums in 2005, Santiago Jarramillo on drums from 2005-2007. Santiago returned shortly in 2008 then left again. Chris Salazar on drums in 2007, then again briefly in 2019. He’s been with us now since 2022. Steve Cordova on drums from 2008-2019. “Butter” Garcia on drums from 2019-2020. Morris Branch on bass from 2005-2007. My son Steven on bass from 2008-2012 then on guitar since 2012. Sean Coblentz on bass from 2012-2013, James Donald Stuart on bass from 2014-2018, Faron Valencia on bass from 2018-present, Wesley Rivera on guitar from 2005-2007, Chris Herrera on rhythm guitar in 2007, Pablo Roybal on guitar from 2008-present.
(HMW): Which is the band’s vision? How did you inspire the band’s name? Are the savaged ones the wiser ones?
Steve: I’ve always liked comics, yes, especially “The Savage Sword of Conan”, therefore, when picking a name, I wanted to use “Savage” and ”Wizdom” sounded appropriate. Making the “S” a “Z” gave us a fun play on words and giving us a wizard as a mascot. And actually, I think we’re both savage and wise. I often tease that Pablo and Steven are the wise ones with all their intricate guitar parts and Faron, Chris and I are the savage ones in attack mode. Our vision is to stay true to our style of music. I’ve never been one to jump on the bandwagon or get with the with the latest trend or fad. We like what we do and we hope that it is reflected in our music. I try to remember how exciting it was going to my first rock concert (KISS) and I try to be the voice for the true rockers.
(HMW): SAVAGE WIZDOM is one of the few bands in which father and son play together. This question goes to both the father and the son as well, therefore. How easy or how difficult was to match your ideas and join together? Do you think that Steve Montoya’s Sr. influence was decisive so that the son to follow the right way?
Steve: I am thrilled to play in a band along side with my son. He’s actually become my teacher. Nothing like banging your head and glancing through the hair and seeing your son shredding on guitar, while the fans go crazy. I’d always played metal music throughout Steven’s childhood. I have a picture of him at 4 years old with a Helloween album in the background and I think he’s absorbed it all and it became embedded into his DNA.
(HMW): Your third album came 10 years after the second one. Quantity is not quality of course. However, why there was such a big time period between the second and the third album?
Steve: After “A New Beginning” we decided to take our time on our next album. We kinda let the songs come naturally to us. In about 2018 we were ready to make an album but just couldn’t find the right time with shows, personal agendas, then Covid hit and after a year off we had to get back in album ready form. Then going through 3 studios to get a final product, drums at one studio, guitars at another, and vocals at yet one more.
Pablo: There isn’t enough space to go through all of the set backs that happened while making this third album. Some of it is very typical and others were just unreal. I remember talking with one of our engineers, Augustine Ortiz, just casually probably about two years after he produced the drum tracks for us and I told him our latest set back with having to find a new artist to do the front cover and he looked at me and said “Wow, you guys are cursed.” Our second album took just under two years to produce, this one took us five. Funny enough, it was exactly five years to the day from when we first entered the studio to begin tracking drums to our release show.
(HMW): ’New Beginning’ album featured Blaze Bayley while ‘Who’s laughing now’ features Henning Basse as guest musicians. Could you please be so king enough to let us know further details about these two collaborations? Which was the background behind those two choices?
Pablo: Well with Blaze, I had flown out to BB King’s in New York City to see Blaze do a rare States solo show. I’ve been a fan of him since his days in Maiden and I think his solo career has been damn near impeccable. This was around the time that we had finished writing “Let It Go” and we already knew that we wanted a second vocalist for it. I decided to approach Blaze about it when I met him after the show and he told me to reach out to his manager with the details and she would set a price for his involvement. After he approved the lyrics (he made it clear that he would not endorse anyone’s political or religious opinions) we sent him the track with a rough vocal, he tracked at a studio in Birmingham, sent it back to us and we just pieced it together in Santa Fe with our engineer.
Henning Basse was Steven (Junior’s) idea. He’s a Metallium fan and apparently Henning had been making himself available for guest spots similar to how Blaze had. When Steven pitched the idea to us, it was pretty much met with unanimous approval. He sung the entire song and I was pretty blown away when I heard it. The idea was always to incorporate him with both Steves so they both tracked their own version of the entire song and then we assembled it with Ken Riley at Rio Grande Studios as far as who would take which lines, where people would sing together etc. It’s one of my personal favorite songs on the album.
(HMW): Which is the concept behind the album’s cover? Who was the graphic designer and which were the criteria for selecting him? Same question goes for your previous album, ‘A New Beginning’.
Pablo: With A New Beginning, we worked with Jean Pascal Fournier who came to our attention through some artwork that he did for a Greek fanzine called Steel For An Age. We pitched to him this idea using the ouroboros (symbolizing rebirth), our wizard mascot and the character of the barbarian referencing our song of the same name. We gave him the general concept but didn’t want to impose too many restrictions because we were confident that he would deliver a great piece of work and he certainly didn’t disappoint. We developed a rather good relationship with him and were supposed to work with him again for Who’s Laughing Now but it didn’t materialize due to some issues in his personal life. When it became clear that we needed to find a new artist, I reached out to a couple of people but ultimately went with Stan W. Decker. I had been listening to Place Vendome’s Thunder In The Distance album and the cover art was just gorgeous. I looked up the name, found him online and started exchanging emails with him. We had a cover concept that we had been playing with which tied into the subject matter of the title track but we decided that giving the artist minimal restrictions worked out great on the last album so we basically let Stan do what he thought was best and didn’t think that he required any direction. Our only request was that he prominently feature the wizard character but other than that he basically had free reign and he delivered an absolutely stunning piece of work.
(HMW): At which studios the recordings did take place? What about mixing and production? Can you mention all additional persons who contributed to the mixing and production (if any)?
Pablo: This album had a fairly complex recording process for a small underground band like ourselves. It was recorded in three different studios: drums were recorded at The Decibel Foundry in Santa Fe with Augustine Ortiz who also recorded A New Beginning, guitars and bass tracks were cut with Ken Riley at Rio Grande Studios in Albuquerque and vocals were done by Danny Duran at D7 Studios in Galisteo. We went with Ken Riley for the mixing and mastering simply because he already had most of the tracks and it would have been more difficult to send all of the tracks to somebody else and have them piece it all together.
(HMW): Do you have the last word regarding the mixing and production during recordings for a new album? I mean, which is your preferred method of working during recordings? Are producers and sound engineers suggesting and you approve or reject, or are you participating step by step during the whole process, in order to get the best possible final result you want?
Pablo: We certainly had final say throughout the process. We probably went through six or seven passes of the title track which we used as a template mix then once we were satisfied with that, we applied it to the rest of the tracks and tweaked each one individually from there. If I am being perfectly honest, I don’t think any of us are 100% satisfied with the final mix. If it were a thrash album, that rawness would suite it better. But I prefer my power metal to have a bit more polish. After a five year production process (we started tracking in 2019) we simply decided that it was time to finish it or abandon it and we all felt that the material was too good to abandon so we decided to work with the options that we had and make the most of it.
(HMW): Your previous album ‘A New Beginning’ was mastered by Timo Tolkki. Tell us the background behind this cooperation.
- In your opinion, did this collaboration partially affected the band’s sound towards a more european power metal sound?
- Do you believe that SAVAGE WIZDOM combine heavy/power metal from both sides of the ocean? As a listener, I can state that the US power metal style of playing is always here. However, the european heavy metal influences are not neglectable at all in my opinion, in both this new album and the previous one.
- Comparing the two albums, which one is closer to USPM and which one has a more european sound?
Steven: Yes, I would say that he (Tolkki) added his flair to it and made it sound a little more polished and well rounded. He made it a little more elegant. As far as our own brand of US and Euro metal, we weren’t thinking about it in those terms. I think we simply drew from our influences of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Helloween, Dio, etc… The European metal flair is because we love bands like, Helloween, Stratovarius, Avantasia, and Primal Fear. We love melody, aggressive riffs, and speed. Comparing the two, I think that A New Beginning has more of that US flavor than Who’s Laughing Now as a whole. It is a little slower in some songs. It has some chuggy rhythm patterns in songs like “Let It Go” and “A New Beginning”. In Who’s Laughing Now, the songs are mostly faster, have more harmonies, and are a little more complex.
(HMW): Which are the band’s main influences? How do you combine the various ideas each band member has during songwriting?
Steven: All the songwriters of the band love Iron Maiden and Helloween. I think those two bands spark the most inspiration when it comes to songwriting. We want to write songs that are melodic, operatic vocals, tough, fast, chunky, and have interesting compositions. I think these two bands have all of that. Then we sprinkle in what might be something that we are listening to at the time or draw from other favorites that I mentioned earlier.
We mostly have 3 approaches to songwriting. 1. A member writes a song and the band learns it. 2. My dad will write a vocal melody and lyrics and I will go in and write the music behind it. 3. Someone has a strong idea and everyone can contribute to the idea and we vote on parts.
(HMW): Almost all new album’s tracks are straight to the heart and straight to your face compositions, despite the fact that many of them are seven or eight or even eleven minutes long tracks. As a 35 years heavy metal fan, this in my opinion is due to the excellent guitar work, and of the solid rhythm section. Please let us know some more details regarding the compositions’ structure and the band’s chemistry in general.
Steven: The songs take a long time to write because we do not want to rush them and it is hard to find the time to get yourself in the zone. So, everything that is on the album is thought through very intricately. Pablo and I actually play in different tunings. He is in drop C# and I am in standard C#. This sometimes forces us to play songs differently and come up with interesting parts. In the end, I think we all understand that we want to have songs that pump up the listener, keep their attention, and we also want to have fun when playing them. This is also reflected in our performances. We are constantly moving and engaging with the crowd.
(HMW): How important for you is the band’s chemistry? Would you modify your line-up, adding another musician which has probably a more virtuoso style of playing or probably he is more famous, but he is more arrogant at the same time, who wants to promote his ego through the band?
Steve: We are very happy with our current lineup. Chris Salazar and I go back to our first CD and he’s a great, powerful drummer. My son Steven has taken charge and inspires us to stay on top of our game. Did I mention he has 6 years of college experience in music? Pablo has shown us that a well thought out tasty lead is more important than empty razzle dazzle. Faron, our Marine, is solid and never complains. He’s the perfect complement to Chris’s drums. I try to keep us true to who we are, yeah!
(HMW): What about the new album’s lyrics? Can you please describe us the story behind each one of the album’s compositions?
Steve: ”Life on the Run” is a modern-day day Bonnie and Clyde type song about 2 young lovers having a blast robbing and driving fast cars until they realize they’ve gone too far.
‘The Need to Soar” was actually inspired by a poster we have in our studio of a mountain climber on top of a rock, and I thought how awesome all these people who go out on adventures, parachuting, hang gliding, kayaking etc.
“The Ruins of Tongura,” “Blayden’s Conquest,” and “Revenge for a King,” are all part of a short story I wrote about a people looking for a place to build their kingdom, then after a violent attack the hero Blayden sets out with his army to get revenge for their king.
“Dark Horizon” and “Dances” are really a 2-part song. Dark Horizon is about a newlywed couple who enjoy dancing along the top of their castle until the young bride is blown off and parishes on the rocks below. Devastated, the husband shuts out the world and wanders his castle in sadness. “Dances” is about the brides ghost coming back, and by dancing with the husband’s shadow, they are once again united.
“Who’s Laughing Now” is about how the Earth is fed up of humans polluting and digging at her all these years, so she’s fighting back with earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, etc.
“The Wreck of the Titan” is about a shipwreck 9 years prior to the Titanic.
Pablo: It’s actually based on the Morgan Robertson novella of the same name that was published back in 1898. Much has been made over the similarities between the fictional Titan from the novella and the most well known maritime disaster that would occur in 1912. There are some lyrical nods to those similarities but mostly it just takes the Iron Maiden route of adapting literature to music.
(HMW): In the cd’s surface label, it is written: Life can take you anywhere. Can you please explain this optimistic statement? Does this statement derive from a certain track within the album, or from personal experience?
Pablo: That’s a lyric that comes from the song “Ruins Of Tongura.” We thought it would fit thematically with the compass on the surface label. With A New Beginning, we used the symbol of the ouroboros which thematically fit with the rebirth of the band. For this album, we noticed a lose adventure theme woven through numerous songs so the compass seemed appropriate. Also, for us, the last ten years have taken us on a bit of an adventure that I don’t think any of us anticipated. When Steve put this back together back in 2008, I don’t think that any of us expected that we’d be getting this kind of attention from people in Greece. Not to mention all of the great experiences that we’ve had along the way: opening for Dokken, Skid Row, working with Blaze Bayley and Henning Basse. So yeah, life can indeed take you anywhere.
(HMW): There are two official videos the band has made so far: ‘Chase the Dragon’ from the previous album and ‘Who’s Laughing Now’ from the new one. Tell us more details about those videos. Who was the director for either video?
Pablo: “Chase The Dragon” was done by an old friend of Steve’s named Karpis Maksudian who flew in from Los Angeles to shoot that. A New Beginning had been out for about a year at that point and someone suggested that we should do a video. We put a poll up on our social media page and had our supporters vote for which song they thought should be featured. “Chase The Dragon” won by a slim margin narrowly beating out “A New Beginning” and “The Barbarian.” We did the shoot out in the desert just outside of Santa Fe but the shoot was cut short because it started to rain. You can actually see several shots with water on the lens. To compensate for this, we shot some additional footage at a show that we were doing the following night at a local club called The Underground (it was literally underground beneath another club) and Karpis edited the footage together. (editors comment: rain shots would be cool too, wethair headbanging with is every headbanger’s dream, haha!)
For “Who’s Laughing Now,” we decided to do things a bit more professionally and get it out ahead of the album release to help promote the album in advance instead of one year after. That track had been around since probably 2016 and was already a bit of a live favorite at that point so we knew it would be a good pick for a single. We hired a production team based in Albuquerque called What’s New In ABQ? which had been suggested to us by our bass player and we shot the video at a local theater which had recently re-opened. We asked them to cut the live shots with some stock footage of natural disasters to make the subject matter a bit more clear and actually managed to meet our self imposed deadline of getting it out about a month ahead of the album release.
(HMW): Can you remember some funny moments during recordings at the studio, or during rehearsing the new songs?
Pablo: The very last track that we cut for the new album was the intro track “The End Of The Road.” Steve had envisioned it as a set up for the first song but we decided to cut it separately and make it its own track so that people have the option of skipping over it if they just want to jump right into the music. So he and I spent an afternoon in the studio with our mixing engineer, Ken, piecing that together from a general idea and playing around with various sound samples to paint that scene made for some pretty um…… amusing versions. I almost wish we had kept some of them because while they never would have made the album, they would have made for a nice blooper reel for maybe an online post.
(HMW): Assume that you are approached by a famous manager from a major label who can promise you that you can be an arena band if you sign with them, but from now on the band’s albums covers and the lyrics’ concept(s) will be controlled by the label’s management. In other words, you will be free to play the music that comes your heart, but the lyrics will be written based on concepts and ideas given by the management. In addition (and consequently), all albums’ covers will be the label’s management decision, and you won’t interefere neither on the albums’ cover(s) nor on the whole layout. Which would be your reaction?
Pablo: I don’t think we’d be interested in that. I’d love to be able to hire a great producer like Bob Rock to work with us and tell us what is and isn’t good enough etc. But I wouldn’t be at all interested in being a part of a band where basically 50% of the creative control is out of our hands. I don’t think any of us would be interested in being a part of that even if it meant arena level success.
(HMW): The next three questions are for Steve Montoya Sr. Steve, you were the singer of legendary PROWLER, an ‘80s & early ‘90s Santa Fe band, which was dominating the scene during that period. Can you please describe us the feeling of that days? Which is the difference in relation to the today’s feeling?
Steve: Prowler was actually in Hollywood 10 of its 14 years together. We were there during the heyday of metal on the strip. Hundreds of bands either playing in the clubs or out on the streets handing out flyers. It was one big party. We played all the major clubs: Gazzarris, the Whisky, the Troubadour, The Roxy, the Country Club etc. Everyone was so into it until Nirvana came out and almost overnight the clubs didn’t want metal anymore.
(HMW): How many live shows did the band play during that period approximately? Can you bring to your memory other bands of that era you shared the stage with? Did you play outside Santa Fe as well? Can you remember some significant live shows the band delivered back then, either within Santa Fe or outside it?
Steve: We only averaged about 10 to 15 shows a year (editors comment: ‘only’ 15 shows per year for a non signed band with frequent line-up changes and only within Hollywood area? That’s a huge number, at least under the today’s circumstances!). It seemed like someone was always quitting. We’d teach the next guy the songs then someone else would quit. It was hard to keep the band going for sure.
(HMW): PROWLER had all the potential to become as famous as, for example, OMEN or CRIMSON GLORY became. Of course, the band’s quality is still there, despite the fact that you finally recorded only a couple of demos. Which were the reasons for not becoming more widely known? Had you ever been approached by a label with worldwide distribution possibilities for releasing your album with them?
Steve: We were approached several times by labels, but the first time they only wanted me and I wouldn’t leave my band and the second time I was already committed to moving back to Santa fe and had sent my family ahead of me. With so many members quitting over the years, we just couldn’t get the momentum going we needed for a successful band.
(HMW): Let’s get back to SAVAGE WIZDOM: How many live shows the band has played so far, all these years? How many live shows do you play in annual basis, on average? Have you played any live shows since the album’s release date? Are there any scheduled live shows in the near future?
Pablo: I can’t speak for how many shows the band played before I came in in 2008, but we’ve done quite a few over the last 16 years. I honestly haven’t been keeping track so I couldn’t give you and exact number, but I’d estimate it to be somewhere around 50. We’ve never done a proper tour so we probably haven’t done as many shows as a touring band of our stature that has been around for as long as we have. Since the release of our new album, we’ve actually only done two shows. A lot has changed for some of us over the last decade which has left us less available than we were when A New Beginning was released. We do have one show locked in for October and there has been talk of doing a couple of shows in the neighboring states of Colorado and Texas but nothing locked in at the moment.
(HMW): Please write to us in a few words your opinion about the following bands or musicians:
DEEP PURPLE
Steven: Awesome band that helped bring metal into the world. “Child in Time” and “Highway Star” are personal favorites.
Steve: Hearing the screams of Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan blew my mind.
UFO
Pablo: I still get chills every time I hear “Doctor, Doctor.” After attending 20 Maiden shows, I think that I just associate it with impending greatness every time I hear it.
Steven: Sick guitar playing.
RUSH
Steven: Very interesting to listen to. I appreciate the conceptual writing style. I am also amazed at the skill level.
STYX
Steven: I love STYX. They know how to write songs that are complex, catchy, and meaningful. They are also amazing musicians. “Suite Madame Blue” is an awesome song. “Grand Illusion” is my favorite album by them. You might want to check out “The Mission” from 2017. Really good.
KISS
Pablo: The hottest band in the world. Set the bar for live shows but are underrated as players and songwriters. The reunion tour of ’96 is the reason I started playing guitar.
Steven: Amazing performers. Pablo loves them. “I Still Love You” Unplugged is an amazing vocal performance.
BLACK SABBATH (Dio era)
Steven: My favorite Black Sabbath Era. I do like the Ozzy era too, but Dio has such a strong and powerful voice that it really brought it up a notch. “Heaven and Hell” is a perfect album.
Pablo: This is my favorite era of Sabbath as well. I much prefer Dio’s voice over Ozzy and the songs just became more interesting with Ronnie. Better vocal melodies and more interesting lyrics.
BLACK SABBATH (Tony Martin era)
Steven: I really only know one song and it’s great! Headless Croooooosss!!!
IRON MAIDEN
Pablo: Greatest. Band. Ever. Enough said. I heard “Fear of the Dark” when I was 10 years old and they’ve been my favorite band ever since. I’ll be attending my nineteenth Maiden show in October.
Steve: Seeing Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” video for the first time showed me the direction I wanted to pursue.
Steven: One of the best bands of all time. Probably our biggest influence. Bruce Dickinson is like none other.
JUDAS PRIEST
Steven: The Sentinel, Painkiller, Unleashed in the East. That’s all I need to say.
Pablo: One of the defining metal bands, for sure, but to be honest they’ve never quite been in the same league as Maiden for me. Got to give credit where credit is due though. Without Priest, metal arguably wouldn’t exist as we know it today. Defenders of the Faith is probably my favorite album from them.
MANOWAR
Steven: The band that got me into Heavy Metal when I was 13 years old. I was on a road trip with my dad and he showed me “Battle Hymns”. It changed my life.
Steve: Besides being fierce, they showed me that I could combine my love of comics and lyrics to tell stories.
SAXON
Steven: “Princess of the Night” has a great riff. I actually don’t know too much Saxon.
HELLOWEEN
Steven: I always have trouble deciding if Helloween or Iron Maiden are my favorite band. Michael Kiske is my favorite singer and Keeper 1 and 2 changed my life. I have the whole discography. They are fast, heavy, intense, and intricate. They are why I am obsessed with guitar harmonies.
Pablo: I love this band. Steve and Steven introduced me to their music when I joined Savage Wizdom and I became a fan almost immediately. They are one of the bands that define Euro power metal for me.
QUEENSRYCHE
Steven: Geoff Tate beats Kiske in his Prime. “Queen of the Ryche” and “Take Hold of the Flame” are on par with “Eagle Fly Free“ from a singer’s perspective. “Operation Mindcrime” is the best metal album of all time. Just ask Pablo.
Pablo: Steven and I were asked some years ago in another interview what album we felt every metal fan must listen to if they consider themselves to be metal fans. We went back and forth on a couple of albums before we both agreed that it’s Operation: Mindcrime. The performances, the songwriting, the composition of the album as a listening experience… it’s perfect. Also love their ability to create sonic soundscapes with music and production which can evoke almost a cinematic quality as exemplified by albums like Promised Land.
CRIMSON GLORY
Steven: I thought nobody knew about this band lol. “Transcendence” is in my top 10 list for favorite albums of all time. The melodies are fantastic, it is beautiful and aggressive. I mean come one, “Red Sharks”!?
JAG PANZER
Pablo: I know they started out of Colorado Springs which is just a few hours away from our home base of Santa Fe, NM. I know that Chris Broderick was with them for a long time which speaks volumes about their caliber. Other than that, I’m not very familiar with them though.
FATES WARNING (early years)
Pablo: As often as I hear this name mentioned, I really feel like I should be more familiar with their music but I really don’t know much about them. My only point of reference for them is that I know they had a song on the Freddy’s Dead soundtrack which I had on cassette as a kid. I know they get compared to Queensryche a lot so I’d probably really like them. Maybe I should dive into their catalog a bit.
SAVATAGE
Steven: I have only heard one album and I think they have some very creative vocal parts.
DIAMOND HEAD
Pablo: “Am I Evil?” is my only reference point. I know they wrote that song and then Metallica had more success with it years later when they covered it.
HELSTAR
Pablo: We’ve been getting compared to them for years but none of us were familiar with them. A few years ago, they played in Albuquerque and we were asked to open for them and they were very cool. We got a picture of Steve with James Rivera.
(HMW): KISS management announced that the band stops touring, but the KISS hologram era begins in 2027 and the band’s holograms will tour instead. What is your opinion about that?
Pablo: Honestly, I’m not a fan of that idea. I am a huge fan of Kiss in all eras. In make-up, without make-up, the disco era, the power pop era, the grunge era… you name it and I’m a fan of it. But this hologram thing I am not on board with at all. I think it cheapens the essence of what a band should be. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t a big fan of the band putting Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer in Ace and Peter’s make-up and personas either. But at least you still had real guys up there playing the songs and putting in the work.
This hologram idea just kind of seems like a laser light show with music playing in the background which just sounds boring to me. Contrary to what their critics have always believed, Kiss has always been a great rock band with guys who really could play and sing and write songs and perform. Their show was the backdrop to watching them deliver the goods live. For any good live rock band, part of the appeal is watching their interaction among each other, the interaction with the audience and how they manage to balance that with actually playing the songs live. Sometimes that means mistakes happen, notes are missed, lyrics are forgotten, but it’s okay because that’s what happens when a show is live. Some nights are better than others. I’m not going to pay money to go watch a light show set to recorded music. I can stay home and watch the music videos for free.
(HMW): That one goes to Steve Montoya Jr: You are dj in a rock pub and a young boy who has nothing to do with heavy metal enters the pub and asks you to play 5 songs the most characteristic of the genre, to check if, from now on, he will be a fan or not. Which 5 songs would be your choice?
Steven: I’ll just play him the new Savage Wizdom Album… haha. I’d go with “Battle Hymns” from Manowar, “Eagle Fly Free” from Helloween, “Queen of the Reich” from Queensryche, “Demons and Angels” from Primal Fear and “Hallowed Be Thy Name” from Iron Maiden.
(HMW):Do you agree with the term music industry? Is music a consumable or is it civilization and way of expression?
Pablo: I think it’s both. The culture and civilization is built around the consumable. Metal is a pretty unique genre because it encompasses more than just music. Music is art and art is an expression and very subjective. But there is something about metal in particular that speaks to people, empowers them, gives them a sense of identity. For these people, metal isn’t merely music. It goes beyond that. We appreciate these people because honestly these are the people buying our albums haha. I mean just the idea that anyone living in countries we have never played would be interested in reading this interview or taking the time to listen to us speaks to how dedicated these people are to the culture of metal. I think it’s awesome that music has the ability to bring people together like that but just like anything else, it is monetized. Whether it’s a physical CD or a digital stream, music is a product which costs money and time to produce and it is monetized accordingly. So on that level, there is some industry behind it. That doesn’t mean that you can’t be a part of the culture even if you don’t have any money to spend. You absolutely can. But you also have to acknowledge everything that goes into producing that product and since record labels are increasingly becoming extinct, most bands are having to fund it themselves.
(HMW): This question is related to the previous one: We are living in a more and more turbulent world. In music industry trends seem to follow the one the other.
- What do you think about current metal scene in the United States? The fact that the one trend is replacing the other means that heavy metal is changing, or that it lost its way?
- However heavy metal/power metal/melodic heavy metal is still alive, almost 50 years now although in a more underground status. Should music industry focus on bringing metal back to its roots instead of trying to invent new trends? In the end, is tradition the new progress?
- Compare me hard rock/heavy metal/power metal with modern metal. Is traditional heavy metal an added value heavy metal in relation to modern metal, or is this only a romantic statement by fans and musicians which grew up in the ‘80s and the ‘90s? Would you suggest to a younger rocker to follow the path of tradition, instead of listening to more ‘modern’ stuff and why?
Steven: I think that the reason there are so many different sub-genres of metal is because it is one of the most versatile genres in music. This tells me that people connect with metal on an emotional and personal level. It is the only genre that has everything. I think that as long as people are pissed off or need to get pumped up, metal will always be there to help. I think there are so many gems in traditional metal and you can find so much joy if you really get into it. I would tell the young rocker to diversify their tastes and check out some of the older bands that allowed their favorite bands to flourish.
In addition, I think that modern metal bands bring a lot to the table. They have a lot of fun and creative music. As a songwriter, it is important to listen to everything. I like variety. I enjoy hearing new twists on things. Sometimes there are bands that are so stuck within a genre that it is no longer interesting to me. I think it is important to think outside of the box. Take your influences and let your creativity fly free. For instance, Michal Romeo’s album War of the World Pt 1 is so different from Iron Maiden’s Powerslave and yet, I love them both.
(HMW): You are in the same pub with MANOWAR and Joey invites you to drink some beers together. Ten beers later, Joey tells you: Brothers, I think we are on the same side, we are scheduling a 30 shows european tour starting within 2 months from tonight, would you like to support the tour and open for us? If you like the idea, let’s drink some more beers on that…and there is only one condition you have to respect: Since promoters’ schedule for MANOWAR is to play the longest possible in each one of these live shows, your setlist as opening act will be limited to only 7 tracks for each one of these shows. Which 7 songs would you select to play in that case for this european tour?
Steve: To have a beer with Joey from Manowar would be awesome! I think touring with Manowar would be insane, not only because we’d be sharing the stage with metal icons, but to play in front of their fans would be the icing on the cake.
Steven: The seven songs I’d pick would be “A New Beginning,” “Blayden’s Conquest,” “Dark Horizon,” “Who’s Laughing Now,” “The Barbarian,” “No Time For Mercy” and “Revenge For A King.”
(HMW): This question goes to Pablo: Which is your opinion about digital downloading platforms? Does digital downloading reduce physical format sales or is it something inevitable since there is a number of fans who prefer digital downloading in either case? Is hard rock & heavy metal related to physical format more than any other kind of music?
Pablo: Personally, I don’t use them and I’ve admittedly mixed feelings about them. They absolutely reduce physical format sales and all you have to do is look at the physical media sales decline over the last 20 years to see the proof of that. Music stores are nearly extinct and major retailers do not carry physical media at most of their stores because they simply aren’t desirable forms of media anymore.
For myself, I’m more likely to give something my attention if I feel that I have something invested in it. If a friend lets me borrow a CD, it’s probably going to be awhile before I get around to listening to it, if I listen to it at all. But if I spend $15 to purchase a physical copy, I’m much more likely to listen to it.
Beyond that, I think that streams have kind of diminished the art of making an album as opposed to just a collection of songs. A lot of thought goes into constructing an album even after the songs have been written. Track sequencing and how one song relates to the next or how the energy of one song transitions into the next, how the album starts and how it ends… all of that is often very intentional. An album should be an experience not unlike reading a book or watching a movie.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that every album has to be a story like Operation: Mindcrime, but most of the really good albums are loosely tied together thematically even if not narratively. I feel that the streaming age has kind of killed that especially for a lot of music fans that weren’t around to experience that and understand the concept of the whole being greater than the sum of it’s parts. Streaming has made music very accessible, more easily consumable and also much easier to ignore and forget. It’s also damn near impossible for bands like us to make money off of streaming services because of how little they pay artists per stream. It’s basically giving away your music in return for accessibility.
With that being said, I do think that streaming services are something that bands and artists have to work with these days. There is no putting that genie back in the bottle. You are only cutting your own throat by not offering your music on streaming services because that is how most people consume music these days.
There will always be people like myself who prefer physical copies so I don’t think that they will ever completely go away. But as a viable form of music consumption, I don’t think it will ever be what it used to be. That ship has sailed.
(HMW) Close the interview the way you want: Send a message to the zine’s followers and the band’s fanbase all over the world.
Pablo: Thanks to anyone and everyone who has taken the time to listen to our music or even read through this interview. We never expected to get this kind of attention or any kind of attention from metal fans outside of our home state of New Mexico so it’s been very cool to see our efforts reaching people oceans away.
Steven: Pick up Savage Wizdom’s new album Who’s Laughing Now at our Bandcamp page. Thank you for reading and for listening! You rock! Yeah!
Steve: My appreciation to anyone who shares the same passion for metal goes off the chart. I have a cassette tape of a little known band called Warrior Defenders of Creation and although not many people have heard of them, it’s still one of my favorites. I hope someday a Savage Wizdom CD is someone else’s Warrior, and they enjoy it for what it is: just no nonsense metal from the heart. Hope to ROCK with all our metal family far away someday, until then yeeaawww!
