Imagine this---a combination of pummeling guitar assaults and sexy syncopated Latin beats. English and Spanish lyrics, the combo known as Spanglish and some Puerto Rican slang for good measure. Kind of a metal salsa. Hard to imagine? That did happen to a band from Puerto Rico who cut their teeth on Pantera, Public Enemy and Bad Brains along with the traditional Latin salsa beat. MCA was impressed enough to sign them, and now people are bound to take notice because this sound is rapidly gaining momentum around the U.S.:

By Chris Forbes

BB: Since we are doing this interview at this venue, what are your thoughts on the whole March Metal Meltdown thing?

PY: It is totally new for us. We have never played a metalfest before, but this is great. A lot of those bands are bands we listen to all the time and we are fans of them. It is an honour to share the stage with them.

BB: How is the music scene down where you live? Are there many places for bands of your type to play?

PY: No, not a lot of clubs at all. It is very hard to break out of Puerto Rico. Sometimes it seems like the scene is happening and then it's not. It comes and goes. It is tough without many places to play. If you play covers, it is no problem, but for original music like we do, it is hard. There is an audience for it, but we get little support from the media. Bands that are not from there are given top priority and stuff.

BB: How was it for you personally in the studio?

PY: It went very smooth, especially working with our producer (couldn't pick up on his name---Chris). One of the reasons we chose him was because he has done a lot of rock bands, but more importantly, he knew where we were coming from and we worked together. He never really tried to be a boss or anything. We did all the music ourselves, he helped out in spots here and there. He added an instrument here and there and in the ned we were very happy with the results.

BB: Do you feel that your strong point is as a live band?

PY: Oh, definitely. That is the main thing we got from everyone. People get the record and then see us live and say the record is great, but you sound so much heavier when you are live. More powerful, you know, stuff like that. When people see us live, they are blown away.

BB: How did you end up on MCA?

PY: We played an industry show in Florida, the Latin Billboard Awards, and a lot of record people were there. After the show, the word started to get out about our band. Soon after that, we wne to California and did a demo with a producer named Bob Ebsen, a really great guy. He was trying to get us a deal and we were also hooking up with our managers and stuff. So between the two of them, we made connections and everything sort of fell into place from there.

BB: Any touring plans?

PY: We are going to be on the road for a while. We are doing a 30 date tour with Candira, Madball and Hatebreed. After that, we might do a tour with Motorhead and then this summer we are going to be on the Ozz Fest, which is something we are really looking forward to. After August, we might open up some other tours. We love to play live.

BB: Well, I wish you well on those tours and thanks for this chat.

PY: You're welcome, and I hope you can come see us live again.

Copyright 1999, BallBuster, The Int'l Underground Hard Music Report