EMQ’s with WARRED
Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with São Paulo, Brazil based Heavy Metal band Warred. Huge thanks to guitarists Arthur Ernandes, Rodrigo de Andrade and bassist ‘Espiga’ for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play, and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Arthur: My name is Arthur, I play guitar, and together with Rodrigo, we started Warred in 2012. Firstly, following the sound of NWOBHM but we have been bringing new elements to the table since then.
Rodrigo: My name is Rodrigo and I play guitar for Warred. The band was formed by me and Arthur, in 2012. We’ve been playing together for a long time. We had an Iron Maiden cover band, and then, we decided to form a band to do our own music. We found some guys, but it didn’t work out, so we tried it again and we created Warred, which does not sound what it sounded back then. Our sound was completely old school metal, but with the line-up changes and new influences, we managed to mix more references within our sound.
Espiga: Hi! My real name is Emilio, but the guys call me Espiga, which is a nickname that’s kind of a joke within Portuguese language. I play bass in Warred and I joined the band soon after I became a friend of Rodrigo. We used to talk a lot about guitars (which is my primary instrument) and later on, he asked me if I wanted to be a bassist for his band and the rest is history.
How did you come up with your band name?
Arthur: Me and Rodrigo were surfing Wikipedia seeing names of things related with the most varied mythologies. I do not remember which one it was, but we saw a name which was similar to “warred”. We changed a few letters to make it the name it is now. It was unintentional and it has no exact meaning.
Rodrigo: We stood up all night thinking of names that sounded cool for the ears. We kept searching references and names until “War Red” sounded cool, we put the words together and it became what it is.
Espiga: It is interesting to see people trying to pronounce the name of the band here in Brazil (laughs).
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
Arthur: We are from the city of São Paulo, in Brazil. In our country, rock in general has no space in mainstream media, mainly because of the dominance of other genres. When it comes to bars and pubs, we have a little bit more attention, but we have to dispute space with cover bands, that drags more people to a show than original bands. It’s tough.
Espiga: The metal scene is very restricted here. There are some nice bands that try to live the dream like ourselves, but it’s way too difficult. The hardcore scene has more acceptance to new bands, but they also struggle with the problems that is being a musician in a country that doesn’t invest in culture.
Rodrigo: There are a lot of great bands here from all the branches and subgenres possible, but the culture does not value it. Still, there is a loyal fanbase here, despite being small compared to other genres.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Arthur: Our latest release is the single ‘Behind The Mask’ and its official video, directed by Pedro Vernini. We also compiled all our released songs into an EP called “MMXX – The Singles Collection”.
Rodrigo: This EP represents the union of this new team, or line-up, that we have now. We have some great stuff coming soon.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Arthur: Well, for some years now, I have been listening to some heavier stuff to a degree, like Mastodon, Gojira, Trivium. Let’s say that there’s a mixture between modern and old within my influences.
Rodrigo: I can’t talk about influences without mentioning the greatest bands of heavy metal. Maiden, Priest, Megadeth, Scorpions and many more. But lately, I’ve been inspired by some modern bands like Parkway Drive, Gojira, Mastodon and others.
Espiga: I have so many but if I mention all of them, we will stay here for hours (laughs). But the main ones who made me want to grab an instrument were Stevie Ray Vaughan (the greatest guitar player ever, no deal), Iron Maiden, Chuck Schuldiner (Death), Samiam and Brazilian hardcore bands Garage Fuzz and Dead Fish.
What first got you into music?
Arthur: When I was younger, two of my cousins had a band called “Jamirulus”. As they were the bassist and the drummer, I began playing guitar wishing to join them at some point, but it never happened. But considering I had started playing and learning guitar, I took it as a start to go my own path.
Rodrigo: My family was always into music! My father had bands during his lifetime, so he always sang and played. At home, there was always some old school metal blowing the speakers and thus began shaping my taste in music. I tried out guitar when I was 12, I wasn’t so interested at first, but then it kind of became my passion.
Espiga: In my family, rock and metal kind of became a tradition. My father was born in the 50’s so he experienced the glory days. He collected lots of cassettes, vinyl’s and CD’s of bands like Sabbath, Maiden, KISS, AC/DC and more. My mother was more into progressive rock like Yes, Pink Floyd and more. When I was 5, I already knew how to use a record player (laughs). Pursuing music was very natural and here I am.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Arthur: Well, Judas Priest have been calling some younger guys to take over like Faulkner and Sneap. Maybe this could be a chance (laughs).
Rodrigo: Tough question. For all that it represents in my life, it would have to be Iron Maiden.
Espiga: Iron Maiden because they are the best! And also, with a blues rock guy called Philip Sayce, who is a beast of a player.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Arthur: I always dreamt of playing Wacken. It seems to be a place where the atmosphere is rooted in all kinds of metal, doesn’t matter if you play black metal or hard rock.
Espiga: Wacken and the Montreux Jazz Festival. These ones are unique, and It would change my life forever playing there.
Rodrigo: Rock in Rio, for sure. RIR, at least for those who live in Brazil, it’s the biggest festival in the world. Everybody remembers all the historic concerts that happened on that stage. Being in one of these is really to be on the top list of what we call “success”, I think.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Rodrigo: So far, the only thing I got from fans was beer. Every time we are on stage, someone always stand their hands with a beer. It’s always good!
Arthur: We still don’t have a loyal fanbase to the point of receiving gifts from them (laughs). But some weird things happen, like, once an old lady came into our inbox asking if she could adopt a cat (!!!!!)
Espiga: I still haven’t got any (laughs). I love the hugs and kisses from my biggest fan and supporter which is my girlfriend Alicea!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Arthur: Listen to our music, give a chance to upcoming newer bands. Our idols won’t stay forever and there is a lot of great new music being made waiting to be discovered.
Espiga: Stevie Ray once said: “All we have, ever, is the need to give each other love, if we forget that, we lose everything we’ve got”, so it probably would be this one and I live by that.
Rodrigo: The message is very simple: thank you for supporting us, and keep listening to us. We are having so much support from everyone now that the band is preparing our debut album and back on the road.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Arthur: Freddie Mercury.
Rodrigo: Ronnie James Dio, without a doubt. Didn’t even have to think with this one (laughs).
Espiga: Oh, there are so many, like Stevie Ray (as I quoted in this interview) and Neil Peart, because Rush is a key influence on me.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Arthur: I like being on stage (despite having to postpone it due to the pandemic). I’m not fond of the initial song-writing process, when we still have messy song ideas and trying to put them altogether. This brainstorming is kind of tiring and if not done right, it can take it to nowhere, so we are back to zero and have to start all over again.
Rodrigo: I love the fact that I can use music to touch and share emotions with people. Music is much more than it looks like. It’s a source of inspiration and breaking grounds. Music changes people. It might sound a bit of a cliché, but I love everything about music. I believe in a certain point I may find something negative about it, but so far, I didn’t.
Espiga: I love the feeling we have when we make something that people appreciate. And with the tools we have, we can connect with people from all over the world through music. The thing I hate most is that people from the scene don’t realize music isn’t a contest where the best wins. This closes a lot of doors for everyone.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Arthur: The music industry is what it is because people demand for banal and nonsense content. I’d probably change the tastes and demands from the audience.
Rodrigo: There are lots of great new bands waiting to be discovered and the crowd is hungry for something new. The old bands won’t stay forever, so I wish the music industry turned their eyes to newer talents.
Espiga: Like I said above, the childish competition that unfortunately still happens a lot, and the monopoly of some labels, bands and more.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Rodrigo: I will probably change it after this interview, but, for now, it is Maiden’s “Powerslave”.
Arthur: “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” – Iron Maiden.
Espiga: “Individual Thought Patterns” by Death and, oddly, the first three Jamiroquai albums, I just can’t pick one of these alone (laughs).
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Rodrigo: I come from the CD’s generation, so I like it and the nostalgia it brings. But I also like the simplicity of downloads. We live in a digital era and I got used to it.
Arthur: When it comes to the sound, Vinyl. By practicality, downloads.
Espiga: I still collect CD’s and I love it. I love every piece of work within it, like covers, lyrics, the story behind it and more. I also have vinyl and some cassettes.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Espiga: My first show with Warred in Paulista Avenue is absolutely in my heart and I think I’ll never forget it.
Rodrigo: Paulista Avenue in São Paulo, for sure. It is the most important avenue in São Paulo and on Sundays it is closed for cars, so people can do whatever they want there. Thousands and thousands of people passing by and lots of artists sharing their work. We did a gig there once and it was madness.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Rodrigo: I would be an advertiser, which I already am, actually. I have been working with advertising for more than seven years and I believe this is the path I have outside music.
Arthur: I’m not sure. I started playing when I was 11 so it directed all my tastes and plans towards music, despite having a daily job. Maybe cooking.
Espiga: We all have daily jobs. I used to be a history teacher and now I work at the Horto’s Forest Museum in Sao Paulo. It’s nice and inspiring to work with education and culture, so I’d probably be doing something related to it, as I do today.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Arthur: Steve Harris, James Hetfield, Owen Wilson, Jason Momoa and Gordon Ramsay so he can cook for us (laughs).
Espiga: Well, if it could be anyone, I would call Eddie Van Halen, Iggy Pop, Ozzy Osbourne, Angus Young and Bon Scott, because it would be a hell of a party with liquor (laughs).
Rodrigo: Joe Duplantier (Gojira), Brent Hinds (Mastodon), Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden), James Hetfield (Metallica) and Dave Mustaine (Megadeth).
What’s next for the band?
Arthur: We had lots of plans for 2020 and we still plan to release our debut album this year or at least in early 2021. It all depends of the current pandemic situation.
Espiga: We had a concert scheduled for August and we were planning a new one for December, but all our plans had to be postponed due to the current pandemic.
Rodrigo: We are still in process of song-writing for our debut album. We have 8 songs done at the moment and the plan is to release it at the end of the year, despite the pandemic. It sounds heavy and I think we are in the right path with it.
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Arthur: We are more active on Instagram and Facebook. People interact more with us there.
Here are all our social media links:
www.facebook.com/WarredOficial/
www.instagram.com/warredbr
spoti.fi/2GBDmKc
www.warred.bandcamp.com
www.twitter.com/WarredBR
www.warredbr.wixsite.com/official/press
Espiga: Also, the old but gold, word of mouth (laughs).
Jaffa Cakes! Are they a cake or a biscuit?
Rodrigo: It looks like a cake to me, but I want to try it out.
Arthur: A biscuit, obviously.
Espiga: AH COME ON, it’s a biscuit and that’s it. (laughs).
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Arthur: There are so many cool things coming sooner or later and we are eager to share and spread it with the world. Follow us on social media and stay tuned for more!
Rodrigo: Listen to Warred and listen to your local bands. Support heavy metal!
Espiga: I would like to thank you guys for the opportunity for sharing a little bit about us and our music with the world.
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.