Interview: Los Bastardos

In this new occassion we have had the opportunity to interview the Hardcore/Deathcore band Los Bastardos, from El Salvador. Check out this band and give them a like on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that? 

The name of the band came out planned. Our friends were always calling us "bastards" for no reason at all, so we took that idea, and we also found clever to call the band like that because in our country there are a lot of people born out from marriage, wich is what a "bastard" is, so we thought many people would feel identified with the name and luckily they did. 

2.Why did you want to play this genre? 

We alternate our music between hardcore and deathcore. We like to describe our genre like that, because those are the genres that we listen the most. We fell in love with them. We liked hardcore because of its lyrics, they're not enclosed in one subject only. There's a lot to talk about in it, but also we loved the positivity it spreads out. 

When it comes to deathcore it has been an all time favourite for us. We've been listening to so many bands from several years ago and right out of the bat we knew that was what we wanted to play. We like fast backbeat sounds in the drums, the blast beats, the breakdowns, we found it "brutal".

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed? 

Yes, we did. We've known each other since we were little kids. Our vocalist Angel Zelaya, our bassist, Fernado Zelaya and our drummer Alberto Amaya know each other since kidergarten. And we met our guitarist Neftali Benitez when all of us played in a soccer team together when we were like 10 or 11 years old. There was when the band's friendship began.

4. Each band member favourite band? 

Angel Zelaya's (vocalist) favourite bands are several, but the ones that he listens the most are Traitors, Black Tongue, Oceano, Nueva Etica, among others.

Fernando Zelaya (bassist) says he doesn't have a favourite band. But he listens mostly to metalcore, deathcore and some post-rock.

Neftali Benitez (guitarist) also doesn't have a favourite band. He listens from metal in general, to math rock, djent, downtempo, beatdown, hardcore punk, and some other genres.

Alberto Amaya's (drummer) favourite bands are Hatebreed, Madball, Overthrower, Despised Icon, Whitechapel, Virginia Clemm among others.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs? 

What inspires to write songs are our personal experiences and our social situation. We can say that our songs are based on how we see the world around us. We talk about emotions, political matters, personal struggles, friendship.

6. Where was your last gig? 

Our last gig was at a local bar called "El Medieval". We were invited to play at a band's first EP presentation show, along with other several bands.

 

7. Where would you like to act? 

We would like to go out of our country. We've been told that there's people who want to see us play live in Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and some other countries and we would like to make friends there, but we'll see what the future says about it.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

 We like to include close friends in our project. For example, Wens Rivas, a vocalist from a local band collaborated with us in the song Vox Populi, and also Diego Magaña in the song Esclavizado. We're planning to make a split with some local bands that we would love to make true.

9. Whom not? 

We're not closed to anyone. We see ourselves as an inclusive band.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that? 

Yes, we have. When we tell you to take it easy, to calm down, trust us. You forget all of that once you're in stage. Nothing compares to the adrenaline of being on stage and seeing people enjoying your music. When you finish your set, all you feel is a great satisfaction. Just put yourselves in a mental state of enjoying what you do. If you enjoy it, people will enjoy it. Being on stage is give/take relationship with the audience.

11. What bands have inspired you the most? 

Most of all, local bands. We've seen bands doing things right in a country that is hard to progress in music. Those bands hav the same love for what they do, just like us, so we can do it to. It's all about sacrifice, passion and love.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for? 

There was one time when a girl was really drunk and she was trying to hug us and kiss us, and when our time came to hit the stage, she was walking around us while we were playing, her bra strap and her hair got tangled with the tuning pegs of Neftali's guitar, she was messing around with the cymbals, and she touched our vocalits' penis ALL WHILE WE WERE PLAYING.

13. What do you think of your fans?

We love our fans. But more than fans, they are our friends. They're always there hyping up people in the pit, singing some songs, helping us spread the word in social networks. They're very supportive, but they're more important to us because we consider them our friends.

14. What do you think of our site? 

We think it is a very important open door for small unknown bands out there. It is a totally supportive site that doesn't ask anything in exchange to really support their music. It is a great tool to spread the word of core out there.

 

15. Something to add?

First of all, we'd love to thank to Breathing The Core for this interview. We really value things like this, it means so much to us that someone is interested in what we do as musicians. 

We also would like to give a huge thank you to Wens Rivas, form the band Hardend (go check 'em out here on Breathing The Core) for providing us the tools to improve our sound in our lates album. He was a huge part of this new creative process. 

And last, but not least, we are very thankful with the people that has been supporting us this whole time. Our people. We're nothing without them. 

Greetings from El Salvador, Centralamerica. LOS BASTARDOS, 503 PRIDE.