Interviews: Quinta Essentia

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Death Metal/Black Metal/Heavy Metal band, Quinta Essentia, from the USA. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

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

Mostly through being inspired by different things that I was reading at the time. Specifically, Quintessence by Lawrence Krauss, which is an astrophysics book. Also, aspects of philosophy deal with the spirit above the four elements (early Greek). In general, just studying and reading about different concepts that have to do with transcendence, searching deeper into the meaning of existence and things of this nature.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

First heard bands like Sabbath, Slayer, Megadeth, and Metallica at around the age of 9 or 10 and then got very interested in the bands they mentioned as their inspiration. I would always find the interviews in magazines at the bookstore or record stores so that I could see what new and interesting music I could find by reading what the bands I was into were saying. Certainly, at some points, I wanted the darkest and heaviest possible but that's fairly typical of a young/hungry metal fan. There was no YouTube or Google then, so you had to depend on what you could find at the record store by looking at the cover and hoping that the music was as good as the artwork. Earlier than that, as a child, I grew up finding old records in my parent's closet like: Are You Experienced?, the first couple of Zepplin albums, and Cream-Wheels of Fire which were not defined influences of mine as much as catalysts to get me searching. I asked my father years later..where the fuck was the Black Sabbath in your record collection? I can cut him some slack for not having Sabbath (haha!) because he had a massive horror book collection that was also very influential on the kid version of me.

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

Yes, Matt Barnes (the other guitarist besides myself) and I knew each other from playing in different bands around the same scene for about 6 months before we clicked and started working together. Now, we've been doing it for 19 years.

4. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Music for me is a look behind the veil, a key to the gateway, the vibration of the cosmos, the universal language, the platform of frequency that can heal and create. Definitely, there are many heroes to give props to here but I'd have to say that the journey of life and beyond is inspiration to create songs. When you put into the formula that you can speak things through literature in lyrics that coincide with the music and the music sounds like what you are singing about, you've got all of the elements to be able to resonate with your fellow humans through shared experience and through revealing your ideas in a way that is part of your DNA and is truly a part of you.

5. Where was your last gig?

Memphis, TN on 6/17/23, Birmingham, AL 7/29/23, Huntsville, AL 7/22/23

7. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Breathe and think of why you are there in the first place

8. What bands have inspired you the most?

Too many to list here and very difficult to say just one or two because none is greater than the other

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

A strand of hair

10. What do you think of your fans?

With great appreciation. It's great when you can see that you've impacted someone in a big way and with the intent of postive influence. The people who take the time to listen and visualize our art and music help enable us to continue as well as keeps the music living on long after we are all dead.

11. What do you think of our site?

Nice site and set up for easy navigation. Glad to see the support for these bands! 

12. Something to add?

Since it's such a big part of the concept, how do you incorporate and come up with concepts for Quinta Essentia's music?

A good bit of reading and researching is done to find source material. It's really just intriguing concepts that look into where we may have come from. When looking deeper into things like wireless technology and the story of humanity's past, there are some very interesting things to dissect that involve Tesla's technology and that of ancient Egypt. The same exists with astrological knowledge of the Dogan and Sirius. Also, the Sumerians apparently had accurate calculations for some things that they never should have according to history's timeline. They seem to have been far advanced compared to what is believed to be in the story of their history. Information has been passed down. 20 years ago, ideas like this were taboo, but as information is shared across the world quickly, these ideas are becoming more common.

For the album, we adjusted our tuning. The thinking was that music is certainly vibration and we have wanted to experiment with this. We've tuned our instruments to D 432 hz. on the recording, which is 1/4 step lower than being in 440 D standard as an experiment.

In the bigger picture maybe, this is even a contribution to the art of the world by putting this music out there. But, hey, it's also no more or less artistic than simplicity of subtlety. In the lyrics, we've incorporated concepts on the seven steps of the alchemical transformation which has a physical world representation or parallel for each of the chemical steps. Also, we've incorporated concepts about ancient civilizations that existed long before an ancient disaster reset the world that could have been very advanced. There is a song about combining humans with machines and genetically altered human beings titled "Beyond the Veil, A Greater Horizon". The title track on the album is about transcendence through natural meditation as well as through psychedelics in a ceremonial setting.

13. Quinta Essentia is a band that has been around for 18 years, do you feel satisfied with how your musical career has gone so far?

It’s a tricky world out there navigating how to release and promote music. By default, I end up managing, booking, promoting, printing merch, running social media, and organizing timelines for the release of materials, just because we initiate writing songs out of pure enjoyment and inspiration. We will continuously work on the promotional aspect to push the releases out there. We are satisfied in general, but of course want to expand and get the word out about our music. We will continue to write, release, and evolve. Matt stays busy in Monstrosity and I'm staying busy with Hellwitch for live shows although we do have shows planned for Quinta Essentia to support the new album. Would we like to make some other things happen with the span of our release reaching new people and doing more shows abroad? Yes! We've done some but yes, for sure, we'd like to continue to grow. We would like to expand with Quinta Essentia. We are looking for opportunities to get out there with the new record with the years we've put into doing this and the finances that we've dedicated to making this happen.

14. What plans do you have for 2024?

We will release the new album on the streaming platforms towards the end of March (March 29) as well as a new lyric video for a song called Beyond the Veil, A Greater Horizon. vinyl, tape, and CD versions of "Evolution of Ethereal Wisdom" are also in the works. We've just printed new shirts for the new album, and we are already writing new music. We have an arsenal of material to play at shows and we hope to see you out there. I hope to see some of the people who have read this out at Milwaukee Metal Fest 2024 or overseas this year!