Friday, February 8, 2019

THE GRINDER THRUST INTERVIEW

1.What is the name of your band and how did you come up with it?
What is your name and what do you do for the band?

I'm Joe Rezendes. Drummer.
The name of the band is Thrust. Guitarist Ron Cooke actually came up with the name when the band originally formed in Chicago.


2.Tell us where you are based and describe the scene. How do you think where you are located influences your sound.

We are based in Los Angeles. The scene is much different now than it was back in the hayday of the Sunset strip. The strip at the time was mobbed with people going to see all the bands that were playin in the different clubs. Not so much anymore.
I don't think our sound is influenced by where we are located as much as it is who we were influenced by.


3.Who influences your sound that would surprise people?

I don't think any of our influences would be a surprise to people. Some of us in the band listen to other genres of music, but I don't think that has any influence on our sound.


4.Are you endorsed by musical companies , if so who , and if not who would you like to be endorsed by?

We are grateful to be endorsed by ESP guitars, GHS strings, E-PAD practice pads and most recently, ISP Technologies.
 



5.When you started what was your ultimate goal? And how close to the goal are you now?

The ultimate goal was to be able to make a living doing what we love to do, which, is play and create music.
I'm not sure how we would measure how close we are to that goal except to say, life is better than it was five years ago.


6.In today's digital environment it takes creative strategy to keep things moving. What creative ideas do you have to keep your band relevant over time?

Hire promotion and PR companies. LOL..


7.We've all seen a terrible live band that is awesome on CD. Is that cool with you or do you lose respect for bands that cannot pull it off live?

Well, expectations of seeing a band live are that they are going to be as good as the CD. If it's a situation to where the recording has way more going on than the band can reproduce live then,
thats a turn off. If it is a situation to where the bands live performace never meets expectations then, yeah, thats a big turn off too. You have to project at least the same level of energy live as is being projected from a CD.


8.Tell us your “core” are you Metal , Rock , Punk , Pop etc because people just have to categorize these days you know?

Yeah I know... We are definately Metal.


9.This is a tough question but a very real reality, Is your band actually talented or just popular?
Many bands make it with a cliche or publicity stunts etc. Would you accept fame even if it was just because of being the “ in” thing or is it actually important to you that you gain favor with talent?

Yes. Thrust is actually talented. We also happen to have a noteable level of popularity... There is no substitute for talent.


10.Tell us what to expect from you live. Nothing is more boring than watching bands stare at the floor and bob their heads to music nobody but the band knows. What can your band offer in a live setting that people will remember?
 

We excel in a live environment. An audience wants to see and feel energy. Thrust is very energetic during live performances. We interact with the audience, with each other, and make the audience feel like part of the show.
We have had amazing reviews regarding our live performances. The crowd always leaves wanting more and wishing our show was longer.




11. What releases have you put out , When will we see something new?

We released our newest album "Harvest Of Souls" in April 2018 on Pure steel Records. We have 3 singles released fron that album
which are: Sorceress, Immortal, and the most recent release was in January 2019 for the song Blood King.
Presently, we've started to write material for a new album.


12. If you have videos where can we see them?

We do have videos. All are on Youtube and they are the three previously mentioned tracks along with live performaces from differnt shows.
If you search Thrust with any of those song titles on Youtube they will populate along with the live performace videos.


13.Everybody has Bandcamp , ReverbNation , Soundcloud , etc
Why do you think this is so important? Doesn't it seem like everyone is giving everything out for free?

It's important because it gives a lot of bands (especially independents) an opportunity to get their music out to a wider audience.
Before the internet, independent bands were extremely limited in terms of ways to get their music out.
Independent bands and labels don't have the big marketing budgets that major labels have, so the reach was very limited in comparison...
It certainly seems like everything is being given out for free in terms of music. Actually, it pretty much is.


14.Best moment of your career so far?

I have had a few great moment so far, but if I had to pick one, I'd say the time when we rehearsed next to Dio when they
were writing and rehearsing the Strange Highways album. Great bunch of guys. We hung out a little bit and had some very cool conversations with
them. That never would have happened in a different career choice.


15.Your message to the fans?

Thank you so much for all of your support over the years. We get to do what we love because of you.
We are extremely grateful.


Bonus Question who do you bring back

Dio!






 

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