 |
| Interview by Burt Wolf with Alfonso Pinzon, drummer for DIA DE LOS MUERTOS. Interview done March 29th, 2006. |
| PLEASE GIVE SOME OF THE BANDS HISTORY & HOW YOU GUYS GOT TOGETHER. ANY PREVIOUS BANDS YOU GUYS WERE IN BEFORE? DIA DE LOS MUERTOS started as a side project at the end of 2004. The guitar player & myself were in AGONY (Columbia), the bass player in BODY COUNT & the rest of the people involved play with other bands like ASESINO (US), DREAMS OF DAMNATION (US), MASACRE (Columbia) & ANIMAL (Argentina). WHO OR WHAT HAS HAD SOME IMPACT OR INFLUENCE ON YOUR MUSIC & YOUR LIFE? Living in a country like Columbia was really the major influence for Andreas (guitar) & myself. It's a very tough place to be & Metal to us is more than just talking about the devil or a chanted forest, but real evil, real people, real issues. WHY WAS THE NAME DIA DE LOS MUERTOS CHOSEN AS THE BANDS NAME? DIA DE LOS MUERTOS (Day of the Dead) represents an ancient Aztec tradition that goes back 3000 years. Instead of fearing death, you embraced it. Life is like a dream & only in death you become truly awake. That awakening through death is what we want to represent with the DIA DE LOS MUERTOS name. Besides, in Columbia we have a "Day of the Dead" every single day with all the killings, so we can relate... |
 |
| YOUR SOUND DRAWS FROM MANY STYLES OF MUSIC. HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE & SOUND? Honestly we are into all kinds of Metal. From Black Metal to Death, Grindcore, Thrash, Classic, etc. For us it is just about getting together & playing whatever we feel at the moment. It is more like expressing music without being concerned about fashion or style. When it comes to sound we want to stay heavy & dark. |
| "DAY OF THE DEAD" IS YOUR NEW CD RELEASE, WHICH CAME OUT IN NOVEMBER 2005. HOW WELL HAS IT BEEN DOING? WHAT HAS THE REACTIONS TO IT BEEN LIKE? At this point we are spreading the word & trying to get it in people's hands. We are getting good press here & there, but overall good feedback from people on the street. It is being released in all Latin America as well in the next few months, which is great & we'll see how it goes this year. It's a little too soon to draw conclusions. WHAT IS SOME OF THE SUBJECT MATTER IN YOUR SONGS LYRICS? War, death, destruction, evil, human suffering. There is even a song on the EP "Sangre Por Guerra" which describes how one dies by the gun in Columbia. WHICH OF YOUR SONGS IS YOUR FAVORITE & WHY? That's a tough one. I believe "Sacrificio" cam eout pretty tight. WHO DID THE COOL COVER ART FOR THE CD & CAN YOU EXPLAIN IT A BIT? Yes, it's a Mexican artist called Rene Almanza. He is a local artist from Oaxaca where the Day Of The Dead celebration is a centenary tradition. We loved the painting since we saw it. It's as authentic DIA DE LOS MUERTOS as one can get. I think it does express a lot. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO BRING IN DIFFERENT SINGERS TO DO THE VOCALS ON THE ALBUM? We wanted to give every song a different identity & give the band as a whole a different vibe. I mean, DIA DE LOS MUERTOS is like a family of musicians who get together in order to do what they love without limitations or egos. Without being centered in one single individual. We are together as one. Basically any of them who is willing can be on tour with us & we are planning on having new vocalists for the new album to come. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO HAVE THE VOCALS DONE IN SPANISH & ENGLISH? It was each vocalist choice. They had the freedom of writing lyrics in their language of preference. We didn't want to limit them what so ever. It was like "hey, here's the music, do what ever you want on top, we trust you" WILL YOU EVER HAVE ONE PERMINATE SINGER OR WILL YOU JUST KEEP BRINGING IN DIFFERENT VOCALIST? Right now we might have one permanent one for getting on tour in the summer. But we want to go with the flow & will decide later who gets to stay in the future.. |
 |
| YOUR BASS PLAYER IS ALSO THE BASS PLAYER FOR BODY COUNT. IS THIS THE BODY COUNT FRONTED BY ICE-T? IF SO, ARE THEY STILL TOGETHER & DO THEY HAVE ANY NEW RELEASES OUT? I HAVEN'T HEARD MUCH ABOUT THEM IN AWHILE. Yeah, the same one with ICE-T. I can't speak for Vince, but as far as I know BODY COUNT is releasing a new album soon & they have a new DVD. |
| HAVE YOU GUYS PLAYED OUT AT ALL? THIS IS PROBABLY DIFFICULT WITH HAVING MANY DIFFERENT VOCALISTS. Not yet, but some killer dates are being booked more sooner than later. We want the people to be aware of the music before getting on stage. HAVE THERE BEEN ANY LABELS SHOWING INTEREST IN YOU GUYS? IF SO, WHO? Honestly we are not even pushing hard to find a major label. It's like we want to keep it underground & just play music. If somebody wants to work with us, that's great. If not, we'll keep putting music out there anyways. DO YOU HAVE ANY NEWER MATERIAL IN THE WORKS? Yes, we are writing a new album already. We expect to start recording towards the end of 2006 for a 2007 release. WHAT DO THE MEMBERS OF THE BAND DO WHEN NOT DOING ANY WORK FOR THE BAND? JOBS, HOBBIES, ETC? Some of us work in the music biz. And as far as hobbies, from snowboarding to drinking to death. LOL WHAT WAS THE FIRST ALBUM YOU REMEMBER BUYING? WHAT WAS THE FIRST CONCERT YOU REMEMBER SEEING? First Metal album was "KILL'EM ALL" (METALLICA) back in '83. First concert was CATHEDRAL in Columbia like in '96! Yeah, we never had a chance to see major bands in Columbia! We had to watch videos instead! WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOU HAVE CURRENTLY BEEN LISTENING TO? From the "new" stuff I like ARCH ENEMY, THE HAUNTED & a bunch of other bands, but I still listen to classics from NAPALM DEATH to MOTORHEAD (btw, I saw them live two weeks ago, what a fucking great show) |
 |
| WHAT IS ONE THING PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOU? That I lived so many lives. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE NEXT FROM DIA DE LOS MUERTOS? We are doing a SLAYER song ("Hell Awaits") for a new compilation that is being produced by Logan Mader (ex-MACHINE HEAD). It's gonna be pretty badass. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE ANSWERING THIS INTERVIEW? WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW THAT IT'S DONE? I am in Germany right now & I was having some fucking German beer with Jaegermeister. After this I am going to get some more! |
| THANX A LOT FOR DOING THIS INTERVIEW. IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO ADD FEEL FREE!!! Thanks for the interview man! Keep supporting Metal! |
 |
|
| ALL PHOTS & GRAPHICS COURTESY OF DIA DE LOS MUERTOS INTERVIEW MAIN PAGE |