Music News Headline Answers With Bleak Flesh's Matías Quiroz December 9th, 2019
Metal Pulp And Paper: Hello, how are you?
Matías Quiroz: Doing good I think, things are a bit turbulent in Chile nowadays. Our countrymen are protesting for a better life and my band totally support their demands.
MPAP: Thank you for taking the time to be a part of Metal Pulp And Paper’s 3rd installment of Recent Music News Headline Questions. It's great to have you answering them again. Always a pleasure to have you. Before we get started though, tell us a little about your band. And, of course, if you’ve got new music, or new music coming out soon, please tell us about it.
Matías: I’m the guitar player in the Chilean Technical Death Metal band Bleak Flesh. On August 6th we released a new LP called ...And Save Us From Silence with Marco Pitruzzella on drums. The album and official merchandise are available on our bandcamp site bleakflesh.bandcamp.com and on most digital platforms like Spotify, Applemusic, YouTube Music, Google Play, Deezer, Tidal and more.
MPAP: So, just in case the reader is new to this, and to make sure everyone is on the same page on how this works, we’ve pulled some recent music news headlines from the Metal Injection website and turned them into questions and get your answers and reactions. We’ve been doing this for a couple of months now, with different headlines each time, and it has been fun to read everyone’s answers so far. So, once again, please place seat backs and tray tables in the upright position, hang on, here we go. 1. Real Housewife Wearing Metallica Shirt Asked To Name 3 Of Their Songs, She Cannot
MPAP: Some talk show, on the Bravo! channel had The Real Housewives of Potomac star Candiace Dillard as a guest. She was wearing a Metallica’s Lady Liberty, ‘And Justice For All’ shirt, and a caller called into the show and asked the host of it if Candice could name three songs by Metallica. She pretty much had no clue who the band was, and obviously, she couldn’t name three songs by them either. Do you believe if you wear the band’s shirt, you should at least know maybe who the group is?
Matías: It depends, if you are a metalhead and you are wearing a band’s tee you’ll probably know the songs and discography plus the band’s bio etc. Some people wear this type of t-shirts because they look cool or just for fashion. Relax metal police! 2. Mosh Pit & Wall Of Death Break Out During The Village People’s Set At Riot Fest
MPAP: You would have never really expected something like this too of happened now, would you? And to be honest, I didn’t know The Village People were still together and performing, but they are. That just shows you metal music fans can always have fun even if it is moshing to songs like "Y.M.C.A.," or "Macho Man" by The Village People at a music festival. Now, what is something you’ve seen happen while performing, or while at a show that you weren’t expecting to see or have occurred?
Matías: From my teen days at hardcore shows in the late 90s, people doing skate tricks on mosh pits, guys flying over windows at party/gig houses, kids vomiting, musicians passing out on the front door/street/bathrooms, etc… Nice life. 3. Reminder: Metallica Will Never Play The Super Bowl
MPAP: Every year when the Super Bowl announces who is going to be their half time show, metal music fans are pissed off because it’s never a metal band or even a hard-rock band for that matter. For almost five years fans have wanted Metallica to host the Super Bowl halftime show. Fans also started a petition to get them to play at the 50th Super Bowl halftime show in 2015. Metallica would be an excellent choice to be a part of it, they’ve won Grammy awards, they are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and have toured just about everywhere in the World, and just recently they were named the World’s biggest touring act. What are your thoughts on this? Why do you think metal music is always going to get snubbed at the Super Bowl?
Matías: Think one part is logistics. Most Pop acts performing at the SB can do it with just backing tracks and dancers. And of course money talks. Pop industry is bigger than Metal industry. More money, more good for them! 4.Slipknot’s Corey Taylor Doesn’t Believe Drugs & Alcohol Makes You Write Better Music
MPAP: What are your thoughts? Do you think drugs and alcohol bring out the creativity in a musician or can kill it?
Matías: I live a clean life; I write my music sober. Some people get creative using recreational drugs too, it depends, human beings are individuals, unique. Multiple ways to an end. 5. Steel Panther Frontman: If I Could Bring One Musician Back From The Dead, It’d Be Motley Crue’s Vince Neil
MPAP: This headline started some mudslinging between both of the bands because obviously, Vince Neil isn’t dead; he’s just a bit overweight and can’t sing like he used to be able to do as he did in the 80s and 90s. I don’t see them ever going out on tour together anytime soon, but anyway, if you could bring any musician back from the dead, who would you choose, and why?
Matías: Chuck Schuldiner. He would be creating that beautiful melodic progressive music he always wanted to do with the mighty Control Denied. Timeless genius! 6.Green Jelly Track Down Deadbeat Promoter And Get Paid
MPAP: A promoter stiffs Green Jelly after they performed at Old East 765 Bar & Grill in Canada, and vocalist Bill Manspeaker, as he states in his cellphone video made looking for Marcus the promoter, 'I ain’t the guy to fuck with.' So, the band tracks down the promoter and finds his home and demands the money owed to them. It’s funny to watch because at one-point Manspeaker is knocking on his door, saying, "Little pig, little pig, let me in." In the end, Marcus ends up paying the band half of what money was owed to them, but at least he walked away with kneecaps still in place. So, has anything like this happened to you before, and would you do something like this?
Matías: No, I always try to research about promoters before making a deal. 7.Morbid Angel & Obituary Featured As An Answer On Jeopardy!
MPAP: Jeopardy has featured answers on other episodes about popular metal bands such as Megadeth, Rob Zombie, and Five Finger Death Punch, but never had any answers quite like this one. One of the writers on the hit television show has to be a metalhead for sure! So, in case you missed this episode, Alex Trebek said, 'Morbid Angel and Obituary are popular bands in this genre,' and contestant Dhruv Gaur answered with 'What is Death Metal.' Pretty cool when things like this are showing up on a popular television show. Now, if you or your band were to be mentioned on Jeopardy, what would the answer and question be? Let’s see how creative you are.
Matías: "Video games music, Bach, bath salts blast beats, Opera vocals from hell are popular features in this band" "What is Bleak Flesh." 8. Oops! Stadium Accidentally Leaves Ramstein Song Blasting All Night, Annoying Neighbors
MPAP: Someone at Budapest’s Puksas Arena just happened to leave the sound system on blasting the song "Deutschland" all night long, over and over. It’s an open-air stadium that’s under construction, so the loud music bothered all that lived nearby. That worker should have had a bigger playlist than just the one song; maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad then, right? So, since the subject of the headline is about something that annoyed people, let’s find out from you; what annoys you, whether it’s out on the road, at a show, in the recording studio, or even when you’re at home, what annoy's you the most?
Matías: Let me see, at a show, band's that use more than enough time to set the stage, c’mon guys, it is a live performance, not a rehearsal. In the studio, non-prepared musicians. At home, dunno, I have a very peaceful life. 9. Tool Threatening To Eject Fans From Shows If They’re Caught Using Their Phones
MPAP: Once again, cellphone use at concerts makes the headlines. If you don’t remember, but a couple of years ago during a performance of Maynard’s other band A Perfect Circle, 60 people were kicked out for filming the show with their phones. And even Jack White (The White Stripes) has a no cell phone policy at his shows. So, what’s your take on it? Are cellphones that much of a distraction to where the fan should be kicked out? Do fans need to watch the show instead of looking at their phones? Does it even matter since they paid for their ticket already?
Matías: As an Indie act, I really enjoy the support from fans that record songs and take pictures. In the social media era, spreading the word is more than welcome. Bigger acts tend to have a tiny bit more ego and of course watching the show, ticket sales, merch sales on venues are super important for everyone. I can almost understand their take on the situation but again, I think is a bit too much. 10. Windhand Robbed In Houston, Posts List Of Stolen Gear & Belongings
MPAP: This happens way too often, it seems. It’s hard enough to make a living being a musician, and then you have a douchebag, or douchebags, break into your trailer or van and steal all your stuff while you’re out on the road. So, when you are out on tour, what extra precautions have you taken so that this hopefully doesn’t happen to you?
Matías: We got robbed once, was like less than a minute. We went to buy some food, and boom, broken window goodbye gear. Nowadays we never leave our stuff outside by itself, extra pain in the neck but you never know. 11.Machine Head Show Paused, Partially Ruined After Fan Throws Beer On The Soundboard
MPAP: This happened at a show at the O2 Academy Brixton in London, England, and a fan, more like an asshole, threw a 32-ounce beer on the soundboard. After a 20-minute delay, Machine Head was able to finish the show, but not with the highest quality sound after that. First off, what a dick move to do something like that, almost ruining it for a sold-out crowd, and second, I’m sure soundboards aren't cheap, and third, who throws a 32-ounce full beer? I don’t know what beer costs there in London, but in the US, a beer that size would cost more than likely $30. So, what a waste to throw a beer. Anyways, has this ever happened to you where you saw something was thrown from the crowd, and it abruptly stopped the show for a while, and what happened?
Matías: Never happened to us. Seems like Tech Death fans know to behave at venues. You can enjoy the show without turning yourself into an idiot. 12.Australia To Shut Down Highway For AC/DC Tribute Bands In 2020
MPAP: How cool is this? On February 19th, 2020, marks the 40th anniversary of vocalist Bon Scott’s death, and the city of Perth is celebrating by shutting down six miles of the Canning Highway to celebrate so AC/DC tribute bands playing live on slow-moving trailers can drive through like a festival parade. In your hometown, what would you like the city to shut down for you or your band so everyone can celebrate?
Matías: I personally have no interest on a festival parade for Bleak Flesh. It’ll be nice if somebody remembered us a band who created interesting music and still listen to our stuff in a 100 years, 200, etc. That’s it, music must be our legacy… The rest is fine (celebrations, prizes) but i’m not into ego stuff. 13. Brazilian Researcher Names New Spider Species After Iron Maiden, Scorpions, & Angra Members
MPAP: Christina Rheims is a researcher in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and recently discovered four new spider species and happens to be a big fan of heavy metal music. Can’t get any better than that. She named the four new species Extraordinarius bruceickinsoni, Extraordinarius klausmeinei, Extraordinarius rickalleni and Extraordinarius andrematosi, after Iron Maiden's vocalist Bruce Dickinson, Scorpions vocalist Klaus Meine, Def Leppard's drummer Rick Allen, and Angra's vocalist Andre Matos. If she happens to find another species of spiders and you’re next in line to be named after, what would you wanted the spider’s scientific name to be?
Matías: “The Shredilous Matiasoni.” MPAP: Those are some great answers. On behalf of Metal Pulp And Paper, I’d like to thank you, Matías, for taking the time to answer these recent music news headline questions. We look forward to what your band, Bleak Flesh, does to finish out 2019 and beyond. Any last words for all your fans out there?
Matías: Big thanks for having me again. Support indie acts, buy merch, go to shows, streaming music doesn’t pay the bills. Enjoy music and try not to be an asshole, life is too short. Look for us online: Bleak Flesh, Technical Death Metal from Chile we are everywhere! Stay tuned to Chile, Latin America, Asia, Europe, we are fighting for a better life, politicians, government… Time to work for once! We are tired of being treated like second hand humans.