Interview with The Calm Before The Massacre!

Band: The Calm Before The Massacre

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Genre: Deathcore / Death Metal

 

Q: Where does the band name "The Calm Before The Massacre" come from?

The band's name was originally not The Calm Before The Massacre it was originally still under development when we started writing it was also just my drummer and I recording songs with just guitars and drums. We got this name when we found our first vocalist, we had finished writing up our first set list and had been auditioning our vocalist for quite some time already and after one of our practices we all went out for something to eat. 

 

While we were eating my drummer and I were constantly bringing up band names and our vocalist just came out of nowhere suggested we should name our band something that described our music and being we had a lot of melodic riffs and then heavy ones he thought up of name The Calm Before The Massacre and we fell in love with the name.

 

Q: What is the local metal scene like in Dorado, P.R.?

 

Well, it's not the easiest place to play metal. In Puerto Rico our metal scene is a work in progress to say the least. Down here it's a very difficult place to get a band up and running and getting into shows to play your music. Aside from that 70% of the population just hates the music so even playing guitar alone in your apartment becomes a hassle (we have had to go to court numerous times just for playing music). There are few shows that we can honestly say have been amazing, those for us are one in a million. When we get big bands down here it's normally always a similar line up of bands that will open for them, that hardly changes. We musicians barely get paid enough to save aside for merchandise, we normally have to dip into our own pockets for that. 

 

I can honestly say there a people and producers down here who just take musicians for granted. Even some shows become a hassle, some bands will tend to get to shows late just because the people show up late so in return another band that had a different slot will have to open the shows which just comes down to very poor management on behalf of whoever is running the show (btw this happens a lot). Bands down here really have to go up and above the call of duty to be able to have good shows, mostly it comes to us making sure it will turn out good. Even with all that said there are places and people where the shows are just awesome and the people are there for the love of music. Still, I find it quite sad that the only way for bands down here to truly try to take their music to the masses is leaving our island. There is no future for this type of music here, it's just sad.

 

Q: You're not currently signed to a label. Which label would you like to be signed to the most and why?

Well, there are various labels which we love but if we had to choose one I'd say it would be awesome if Sumerian Records ever checked us out. They have signed some our favorite bands like Veil of Maya, The Faceless, The HAARP Machine, etc and they are a label which is fondly spoken of. The bands signed to the label consider it to be an honor and when your bands speak well of you it shows you're doing something right so it would be awesome if we could ever get picked up by them, also it would be awesome to be label mates with musicians we look up to.

 

Q: When did you get the motivation to start creating music? Was it at random or was a chain of events?

For this question we have to go back in the day before I (Ludwig) ever even picked the guitar up. For me it all started watching our drummer practice in his house, then he got in a local band and started playing shows and practicing with them. When I picked the guitar up I decided to practice and eventually joined our drummer's band. After a few months the band broke up and our drummer and I just kept playing our instruments. 

 

It wasn't long after that I set up a little studio in my home and started recording tracks and ideas. I started showing them to our drummer and he started working on them right away and just like that we had written our first album. For us at least we always felt that music was our calling so the motivation was always kind of their but it wasn't until we formed this band and worked our butts off that we spawned the art of creating the music we envisioned. 

 

Q: What plays an influence on your music?

 

Well musically our influences vary but on the musical side we love classical music, there is something about classical music that tells a story with it's melodies. The music alone can carry your mind and drift it off to somewhere your thoughts can roam freely and paint a picture in your head for you. We love incorporating that feeling into our music and try to make everything as colorful as possible in order to get that sensation across.

 

Now when it comes to lyrics that is also another factor we take hard into consideration when writing. We want our songs to tell stories as magical as possible. We are big fans of fantasy worlds, space, horror films, urban legends, mythology, etc and we try to incorporate it into our songs. We basically try making the lyrics like a movie and the music like a soundtrack haha.

 

Q: What are your goals for the rest of this year?

Well right now we are finishing up our EP so that is something we are looking forward to, after that we plan on taking our time on writing our third album. We are also in the talks of recording a music video so that's always something to look forward to. Aside from that we are working on some shirts to sell and just booking shows. Our goals are pretty much just to keep working on this band as hard as we can and simply keep doing what we love.

 

Q: Any shout outs to give?

 

We gotta love you for taking the time to ask us these questions and we gotta love our buddies like Death Comes Home, Ritual Kannabis, Protocols, Severe Mutilation, The Mirage Theory, Convalesce,  and Origins Of Elohim among other bands that are down here in Puerto Rico tearing it up with us every chance we get! Last but not least everyone who has supported us throughout our whole journey as a band. We honestly can't describe how important it has been to know people love what we do just as much as we love creating it.