Exposed Vocals Interviews Metalomaniacs guitarist Pedro Antunes
The Brazilian metal band Metalomaniacs was idealized by guitarist Pedro Antunes in 2013. After a decade playing covers of pop/rock songs in pubs, weddings and graduation parties, Pedro decided to do something which has real meaning to him, respecting his musical roots. He wrote some lyrics and riffs and started this project with one purpose: to play metal. The sub-genre would not matter. Metalomaniacs is a project to play any kind of rock and metal. Just as the lyrics of ‘Dia de Rock’ (Day of Rock) says: “doesn’t matter your kind of rock, being a rocker is the most important”. Although the band is still young, it started its activities recording in a studio in 2014, releasing the low budget album “Manual Psiquiátrico Volume I” (Psychiatric Manual Volume I) in December 2015. With humoristic and political lyrics protesting against the government of Brazil, Metalomaniacs is now carrying out its firsts steps outside the studio spreading its 10 songs and scheduling concerts to promote its debut album.
All lyrics and music by Pedro Antunes.
Pedro Antunes: lead and rhythm guitars, bass and backing vocals
Cézar Santon: drums
Mateus Sampaio: lead vocals
Special Guests:
Ian Bemolator: lead guitar in ‘Poder’
Marcelo Duarte: bass in ‘Pelancas da Paixão’
Digãozinho: acordeon in ‘Pelancas da Paixão’
Edited, Engineered and Mixed by Tiago Sampaio
Additional editions by Pedro Antunes
Mastered by Andy Costa at Zen Studios, Brasília, DF, Brazil.
Produced by Pedro Antunes
Recorded at PangaHouse Studio, Brasília, DF, Brazil.
Phone: +55 61 84081223
E-mail: [email protected]
www.facebook.com/metalomaniacs
www.instagram.com/metalomaniacs
www.youtube.com/metalomaniacsoficial
All rights reserved. Metalomaniacs © 2016
Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?
Pedro Antunes: Exposed Vocals was suggested to be added on Twitter. I then visited the website to know more about it. I found it very useful, friendly and a helpful way to show my work.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Pedro Antunes: I grew up in Brasília, capital of Brazil, in a good neighborhood. I asked my mom for a set drums and got a guitar. I just wanted to do something to spend my time and impress the girls. I never imagined being a professional musician and artist. When I was 19, I joined a band and realized that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Pedro Antunes: Metalomaniacs is the joining of ‘metal’ and ‘megalomaniac’. I love any kind of metal. I’m not limited to one, two or three subgenres. I love to hear and play from glam rock to death metal. Therefore, the name reflects this spirit.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Pedro Antunes: Well, this is a very delicate point to talk about. Of course it’s very nice to have opportunities to show your music and share it all around the world but the Internet is a ‘pull marketing’. The audience chooses what they want to hear. In the radio or TV the market works pushing all kind of content to his audience. What happens? We have a lot of amazing musicians and artists doing fine music in the shadows of Internet, without reaching their audience because their targets don’t know about their existence. Without support, it’s almost impossible to reach the right audience. Channels like YouTube and Facebook are charging the artists to spread their videos. So, if you don’t spend a lot of money doing that, you will not be known. I already shared my music for free, and I’m doing that right now, because I need to be known first. People don’t want to spend money in unknown artists.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Pedro Antunes: Rehearse a lot, work on your image and be professional. Don’t be late, don’t show up drunk or stoned, be diplomatic, smile and be kind with everyone. The rock ‘n roll way of life doesn’t have room in this business anymore, unless you’re a worldwide famous and profitable artist.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Pedro Antunes: Everyone screws up sometime. If you make a small mistake, keep going like nothing had happened. If the band destroys the intro of the song, apologize to the audience, make a joke and start it again. It’s normal. And it is normal to do terrible concerts. You can easily find terrible concerts from your favorite artists on Internet. Keep trucking if things go wrong!
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Pedro Antunes: I did presentations in other cities, but I never was in an organized tour before. I’m working on that.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Pedro Antunes: My inspiration is the social and politics issues in Brazil. We have a large amount of problems and we need to talk about them. I usually do the instrumental production first and then I start to think about what that song wants to tell me. I work in the chorus first and, after I find a catchy one, I work on the rest.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Pedro Antunes: We are on www.facebook.com/metalomaniacs, www.soundcloud.com/metalomaniacs and www.youtube.com/metalomaniacsoficial. We are finishing our own website and expanding to Twitter and Instagram too.
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Pedro Antunes: Really?!?! Well… I don’t know if I’m comfortable in sharing it, but you can easily find Scissors Sisters, Robbie Williams, ABBA and Celine Dion. Of course you will find much more than that, but these ones were the firsts who came to mind.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Pedro Antunes: Come on! My mom will read this! I would travel all over Southeast Asia and I would record the best album ever in Los Angeles with a great producer. Maybe I would pay Megadeth to open their tour too! Lol! No, I will pay them to open our own tour!
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Pedro Antunes: Yes, upgrade myself!!! I’m working on my ‘mixing’, because I want to be more independent and cut the costs of production. I’m working basically with plugins.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Pedro Antunes: We have to be very creative. First of all: Internet. You must share your music and jump deep inside the music community. Sharing videos and music on the Internet is the best way nowadays to be known and reach your audience. If you are able to synchronize that with regular concerts, it will be the best thing you ever do. In that way, you be able to update your pages with pictures, videos and keep the public interested on you.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Pedro Antunes: I think Megadeth or Metallica. I’m a huge fan of Dave Mustaine and it would be amazing to perform with them. Metallica has more audience, so it would be very challenging. Anyway, I think that Metalomaniac’s music would sound very familiar to their audience and we could take advantage of that to get more fans.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Pedro Antunes: Well, we just released our debut album in December 2015. We need to spread our music and work on it. I hope to get some support and be able to record another album by the end of this year.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Pedro Antunes: Probably drinking a lot and complaining about my miserable life! To be honest, something creative and related with arts. I could be drawing, painting, acting.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Pedro Antunes: My first album was the debut one from a rockabilly local band called Little Quail and the Mad Birds. It was funny, fast and furious. The second one was the turning page of my life: Countdown to Extinction from Megadeth. It made my first record sounds like a bunch of teenage girls smiling and running in a flower field in Norway. Megadeth blew my mind and I lost it after that. I became a full on headbanger. Now I’m very open minded and can enjoy any kind of music, however, the music must be really good.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Pedro Antunes: I think I’m doing fine. I have a fulltime job that takes care of my bills and finances my equipment, records and strings. I only wish I had more time to practice and to play music every day, but I’m handling things very well as is…
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Pedro Antunes: A lot of concerts and a new record by the end of this year!!!