Dread Interview with Taylor Dread
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Well, AD and myself, we grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We started hangin' out back in high school via mutual friends, and he was in a band at the time, I was looking to start one. He was always the coolest dude in the world. Had the pretty girl, the raddest style, plus he played guitar better than anyone I had ever seen (still does, by the way), just a total rockstar. As for me, I think I tripped him out haha. I was a little overweight, six foot two, dirty blonde hair, and I always carried a ridiculous amount of cds with me that I'd somehow shove into my pants pockets. I think he got a kick outta how wacky I was. I was a rude kid who didn't really know how to socialize with anyone. My world was just music and comic books. Anyways, I'd always try to get him to let me sing for his band, and one day I got that shot, and the band itself ended up breaking up due to a member not wanting to replace the singer. So, I had told AD that we should do our own thing, and Dread was born. We always wanted to have a band that was thrash tinged with a heavy metal heart and I believe we found that formula pretty quickly. As of today, AD and myself are the only remaining original members of the band. Back then, we had James Gonzales, who is a powerhouse drummer still to this day and a brother, and Mikey Armijo, who was this thrash obsessed teen, only 15 when we had met him, and he could and still can write
some of the most punishing riffs on the planet. He just lived and breathed thrash metal. Those guys still are some of the most relentless and dedicated musicians I've ever met. This time around, we're located in Los Angeles, California and we have a new guitar player, Vinny G, who's one of the most talented and dedicated guitar players out there. He puts his soul into his playing and it really shows through. We are more than happy to have him, and I believe he's the only person in the world who can compliment AD and myself on a true, genuine level. As far as the album, I handled drums and collectively the three of us all played bass on it. For our upcoming performance at Los Angeles Strikefest, we have Carlos Gutierrez of Blade Killer and Fueled By Fire filling out on drums, and Bobby Sins from Loss For Concern filling out on bass.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
There's really no crazy meaning behind the name. When I was 12 or 13 years old, I had envisioned having a band named Dread because it just made sense, it's short and simple, easy to remember plus it sounds great. So when AD and myself were tossing around names, it just made logical sense. It can be used in any context when speaking about genre, it just fits.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We used to be located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as mentioned above, but now we are located in Los Angeles, California. There are so many great things about both scenes. Just dedication to the music. Los Angeles is the bedrock for any type of musical style, so metal and rock 'n roll are certainly no exception here. The place to be if you wanna experience the best of the best.
For LA bands, you gotta check out Night Demon, one of the best metal bands to come out in the last ten years, and they absolutely destroy everything live. Blade Killer are brothers (and Sister!) to us, they absolutely are one of the best Los Angles metal acts in recent years and they are getting ready to drop an album that's guaranteed to blow everyone away. I’d also recommend Crematory Stench, dirty death metal for fans of Autopsy. Just killer stuff.
For Albuquerque bands, you gotta check out Torture Victim, they've been around making good tunes since before Dread even existed, plus they have an original Dread member, James, on the drums. The other band I'd check out would be Church Crusher, which is Mikey's new band, I believe they are gonna have an album out this year as well. I'd also recommend Suspended, female fronted metal, and they, like Torture Victim, have been around for a long time making music.
4. How would you describe your style?
I would say that we are a traditional heavy metal band with a rock 'n roll heart and a thrash body. But I also feel like the least amount of boxes and labels we can throw on the sound, the more broad of a brush we can use to paint with. We don't wanna be the same thing, every time. We want people to constantly find something new with each release we put out, while, of course, still retaining the same core values and sounds that make us Dread in the first place.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
We're gearing up to release our second album, "From This World to the Next," on June 1st of this year. Expect nothing but infectious hooks, killer riffs and heavy metal with a relatable heart and soul to the everyday emotions we all go through on a daily basis.
Our first album, "Brace for Destruction," was released back in 2010, and it's more thrash metal tinged than the new one, good luck finding a copy!
6. Do you have any new music in the works? 7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
Well, with the release of our new album, we're gonna be focusing on that right now as far as new music is concerned. But best believe we're gonna be back very quickly with yet another offering of great tunes.
The first show of the year for us will be the Los Angeles Strikefest taking place at The Regent Theater on June 22nd, 23rd and 24th. We'll be alongside such acts as Exciter, Razor, Nasty Savage, Morbid Saint, Night Demon, Nocturnus AD, Skeletal Remains, Blade Killer, Demon Bitch and Final Conflict, to name a few. We perform on the first day, the 22nd. We will be adding more dates as the year rolls along.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
I'd say longevity. We wanna take this as far as we can, to as many people as we can. We will continue to work hard and rock harder. We wanna be doing this all the time, so you can count on us bein' around makin' noise for awhile.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
You can find us on Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube under @dreadmetalrocks.
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
That's kind of a loaded question, isn't it? What does that really even mean? Well, I suppose I want them to remember how they felt. Whether our music incites happiness, excitement, sadness, anger or laughter, if it gets people to emote, then the mission has been accomplished. We wanna make people feel what we're doing.
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