Friday, January 29, 2021

DJ Interviews: Requiem Aeterman

Hey there guys DJ Dizzy coming at you with an interview with a band who call themselves Requiem Aeterman as they spoke on their musical beginnings.

1)     How'd you get started in music?

Note: Since I’m not sure if the interview is directed to Requiem Aeternam or myself as a solo artist, or both, I’m going to speak for both projects.

 

I started in music since I have memory. Played different instruments (including keyboards and saxophone), but my early passion was percussion. I was part of several Uruguayan folk groups until the age of 16. At that age, I was fired from a group because I was “too progressive.” That was the age I changed the percussion instruments for the guitar.

In 1992-93, I had my first experience in an amateur rock band in my hometown in Uruguay. We recorded a demo and played some gigs down there.

In the year 1994, I moved to Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, with the idea to start a new band. I ended up meeting Martin Lopez (Amon Amarth, Opeth, Soen), Martin Mendez (Opeth) and Pablo Magallanes. In the year 1995 we released the first metal song I recorded: Emergent, which is part of our newest release: Eternal (Silver Edition 2020 LP). This was the beginning of Requiem Aeternam (RA).

 

 

2)     Who are your inspirations or influences?

When we started with RA in 1994-95, our influences where very varied: from Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal and Doom Metal to Milonga, Tango, Uruguayan Murga and Brazilian Folk, as well as Classical Music. The albums Eternal (2020 LP) [which contains our early recordings as well as additional material which we recorded through the years] and Eternally Dying (1998 LP) show our first influences as a band.

When the album Philosopher (2004 LP) was written and recorded, we became more progressive and had more influences of American Death Metal, but kept some of our early influences in place, especially Swedish Melodic Death Metal and Uruguayan Folk.

With the album Destiny-Man (2010 LP), we finally developed the new style we had been working for years: Philosophical Metal. This genre implies not only philosophical lyrics but also philosophically-driven compositions.

 

 

3)     What advice would offer aspiring performers?

RA has been around for 25 years and has always been a challenge as a band in numerous aspects. There have been 5 lineups, 5 records, not to mention touring and other productions; but it has not been easy to keep the band going, especially because the business part has been enormously challenging.

Advice? If you want to be in music you have to ask yourself as early as possible: (1) Do I want to be in the music industry for the rest of my life? And, (2) Do I want to be a professional or an amateur? Once you answer those questions, you either made of music a lifetime priority or a hobby. In my view, you should not be in the middle. Choose one or the other; don’t wander in your decision-making process too long.

 

 

4)     How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?

As a band, RA has pioneered Philosophical Metal. As a solo artist, I already published 16 compositions named: Melodious Podcasts, which are Philosophical Music pieces.

The notion of putting together as a unity Music and Philosophy is the way we have defined and keep redefining our proposals and, therefore, differentiate ourselves from other bands and musicians.

 

 

5)     Any new gigs or albums in the future

RA just re-released the album Eternal (Silver Edition 2020 LP), which contains music written throughout the 25 years of the band, with the focus of putting together the early influences I referred in the first question. Our sixth album should begin being recorded late 2021. We don’t plan to play until the pandemic is fully resolved. Hopefully, by 2022 we shall have this album released and begin touring again.

When it comes to myself as a solo artist, I plan to release my first records by late 2021 early 2022. The Melodious Podcasts already show the direction of some of the music I’m doing nowadays as a guitar player and composer. But I shall be releasing a solo record with a band to accompany me, which will contain all the material written to that future date which would never be part of Requiem Aeternam, i.e. anything but metal music.

 

Thanks for the interview and good luck with your blog.

 

>>> REQUIEM AETERNAM Websites

https://www.requiem-aeternam.com

https://www.youtube.com/requiemaeternam

https://www.facebook.com/requiemaeternam

https://www.instagram.com/requiemaeternamband

https://www.twitter.com/requiemaeternam

https://www.pinterest.com/requiemaeternamband

https://www.soundcloud.com/requiem-aeternam

 

>>> JB ROMERO Websites

https://www.youtube.com/requiem91995

https://www.facebook.com/jbromero.official

https://www.instagram.com/jbromero.official

https://www.twitter.com/jbromero_RA

https://www.pinterest.com/jbromeroweb

https://www.flicker.com/jbromero

https://www.soundcloud.com/jb-romero-tv


Special thanks to them for this interview & I wish them lots of luck in their music, so until then I'll catch you on The Flipside! Stay awesome & rock n roll!

 

No comments:

Post a Comment