EMQ’s with GATES OF PARADOX
Hi everyone! Welcome to our new EMQ’s interview with New York USA Power Metallers, Gates of Paradox. Huge thanks to guitarist, Zane Knight, 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?
This is Zane Knight from Gates of Paradox, and I play guitar. We formed as a band in 2015 in Rochester NY, and we play a style under the power metal umbrella, with elements of other styles of metal.
How did you come up with your band name?
Our singer, Daniel Parker, mostly came up with the name. We were throwing around the idea of the word “paradox” for a while, and it was Dan who put “Gates of” in front of it, and we loved it. We thought it was like describing entry into another dimension, where things may not seem to make sense like you would assume they would. This fit with our style, as we try to blend some elements in our sound that most people would not associate with power metal, but we somehow work it in!
What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?
We are from Rochester NY in the USA. At the time we formed, most of the metal bands in our area were either death metal, or metal-core. We basically formed our style in opposition to those movements, choosing melody and musicianship as our strongpoints, instead of being heavy for the sake of being heavy. It was a contest, and we were not participating, haha.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Our latest release is our self-titled and self-produced debut album which was released last December. It was definitely a difficult work to make, but we’re super proud of it!
Who have been your greatest influences?
We are into all kinds of metal. We love power metal, and traditional heavy metal, but we are also into thrash, neoclassical, death metal, black metal, and folk metal. We try not to limit ourselves in our influences, as we believe the more the merrier!
What first got you into music?
I know we’ve all had our different introductions. Daniel has always been into music growing up, since his parents are into metal as well. I was always into music, but I didn’t heavily get into metal until I was introduced to it by the Guitar Hero video game series, and I was hooked. I know it’s embarrassing, but that’s how it happened for me, and I can’t lie haha. For Eddy our other guitar player, I believe his mother gave him an AC/DC live album, and that started him down his slippery slope into the metal world.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
I (Zane) would love to collaborate with a big power metal band, like Blind Guardian, that would be a dream come true. Another killer artist we as a band would all love to have guest on our album though, is King Diamond. Danny is a huge King fan (as many of us in the band are) and having that arrangement made would nearly give us a heart attack from the excitement and joy haha.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Wacken festival for sure. The style we play is more like the European bands we’re fans of, and playing alongside those bands, to thousands of people, in that amazing festival, would be complete euphoria.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Actual money! Somewhat joking haha. But seriously, we love what we do, so when people pay us for our music or merch, it means the world to us. We don’t do it for the money, but it’s a nice bonus when it happens!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Thank you so much for all the love and support! When people tell us about how they enjoy our music, it makes it all worth it in the end, and motivates us to keep on rocking.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Ronnie James Dio. I never got the chance to see him, and I would kill to see the man himself in the flesh. RIP.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
The thing I enjoy the most is the creation of art that others can enjoy as well. There’s not a better feeling in the world than when you put your heart and soul into a piece of music, and someone tells you that it touched them. You know your mission has been accomplished. As far as what I hate, I hate lugging equipment around everywhere. It sucks as a tiny dude, carrying a half stack guitar amp down the flight of stairs at my apartment by myself, but hey, that’s the name of the game, you gotta do what you gotta do haha.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
I wish bands could make a living from album sales like the old days. Obviously, in the digital age things have changed and this is no longer possible, but I dream about it!
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Too many to count! One of my personal favorites is the self-titled Wintersun album, but I feel guilty naming just that one, as there’s so many I’ve left out.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
For music recorded in the digital age, I think CD’s are best. They are the highest quality digital format available and having the hard copy that you can back up digitally is perfect. I like vinyl for old albums which were mixed and mastered for an analogue medium, but I think most new vinyl doesn’t make sense, since the songs are mixed and mastered to be listened to on digital formats, so on vinyl you’re only going down in quality. I like to have a CD though to hold in my hands, I love reading the lyrics, and seeing who participated in the album’s creation. Nothing like the smell of a new booklet!
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Hard to say for sure, I’m sure one of the best we’ve played is our album release show! Other than that, I really loved the shows we played opening for UDO and for Unleash the Archers.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
That’s hard to say, currently as a day job, I work in the billing department for hospitals in the area, so that’s something haha. If I didn’t have music as a hobby, I would probably be playing a lot more video games and skateboarding, basically being not as productive as I could be!
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Hmmm.. I would personally like to invite, 1. Neil Degrasse Tyson, 2. Tobias Sammet 3. Tuomas Holopainen, 4. King Diamond, and 5. James Rolfe. What a group that would be!
What’s next for the band?
We’re still waiting on the world to open up before we take the stage again, but we’re going over some new material that we’re super excited about!
What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
We use Facebook and Bandcamp mostly, and I believe we have an Instagram and YouTube as well!
www.gatesofparadox.bandcamp.com/
www.facebook.com/GatesOfParadoxOfficial/
www.youtube.com/channel/UC0liuBxLKWfEHtgBppFVXYg
www.instagram.com/gates_of_paradox/
Jaffa Cakes! Are they a cake or a biscuit?
As an American who is probably wrong, they are more of a cake to me.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you! If you like catchy melodies and shredding guitars check us out! Make sure to check out all the other cool bands on Ever-Metal as well!
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