Nine Circles

—

I was subjected to a constant bombardment of music since birth. My Dad was a gospel music performer. My Grandma and Great Grandfather on my Dad’s side of the family were blue grass and country musicians. My earliest memories are of people singing, playing piano, guitar, banjo etc..around my house. By the time I was 5 years old, my Dad was forcing me to perform with him at various churches and gospel concerts.

I have yet to achieve the level of success I have always hoped for, but TORO will!

The first “rock” show I ever played was at a coffee shop called “Above Bookstore.” I was 14 and a nervous wreck. I had four originals and two cover songs for the set list. I got onstage and couldn’t remember anything about my four original songs, not the lyrics, not the riffs, nothing. I was forced to play the two cover songs three times each! The cover songs were Danzig – “Mother” and Type O Negative – “Burnt Flowers Fallen” and I absolutely butchered them! An embarrassing introduction to gigging to say the least. Haha.

One thing I have noticed recently at metal gigs is the great turnout of younger people. That is always a refreshing sight. It’s what keeps the life’s blood of metal flowing. As far as negative aspects of the scene, it’s the flip side of the coin to my last sentence. More people need to go out and experience shows in a live setting. Watching clips online is fun and I do it myself, but nothing can substitute a live show.

I do think it’s a great thing for people to get behind causes as long as they are genuine with their stance. As far as issues we insert into TORO, I write lyrics in a way that can be deciphered in a variety of ways. I always know what they mean to me, but you can get any meaning you want to out of most of them. I don’t like to explain too much of what is behind the meaning of a song. I always felt that it should be up to the listener to decide.

I think I was 11 or 12 when I got into metal. Right out of the gate it was Black Sabbath, Metallica, Slayer, Dio…the basics. Pablo (Davila – guitars), Adam (Mitchell – Guitars and vocals) and I grew up in the pre internet days, when MTV actually played lots of videos. I was basically attracted to any band that was “heavy” or that scared the hell out of me! My family was devastated at my interest (obsession) with metal. My Dad forbade me to buy, listen to, or watch anything that was metal. I had to hide my music collection from him. He would eventually always find it. He would burn or throw away entire CD collections, metal magazines, and posters. He sent me to Christian school because of metal music. I just wore my Slayer shirt underneath my uniform, hahaha. All that did was fuel my fire more to play heavy music. My Dad didn’t understand and I’m glad he didn’t, because if he did I may not have stuck with it this long.

That’s a tough one. I would just say to always stay open minded and to keep a watchful eye for young and hungry bands.

With TORO we want to write, record, and perform songs that are not only of the metal genre but of a wide variety of sounds, styles, rhythms, and perspectives. Songs that WE love first and foremost. We put a lot of thought into making this a band that we could all appreciate. Our main goal now is to keep writing and playing out as much as possible. We give it everything we can in a live setting. I, for one, am never satisfied with a performance if I am not physically injured in some form or fashion.

I am listening to the brand new Suffocation album as we speak! Morbid Angel’s “Gateways to Annihilation” has been virtually living in my stereo for months. I’ve been listening to “Invisible Birth of Death” by Savagist a bit lately as well. That being said, metal is by far not even close to the only genre we are influenced by or appreciate. The styles of music that revolve within this band are so vast it would take far too long to dive into right now. We love MUSIC. Not just metal, but we love music.

Sincere.