by Anabel Dflux
– Photojournalist —
Hardrock Haven’s photojournalist Anabel Dflux sat down with David Sanchez of Havok, at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood, CA, to talk about their music videos, future plans, and metal.
For more information, please visit havokband.com/.
[Interview Transcript]
HRH: Hey, thank you so much for doing the interview today! Are you excited to play tonight?
David: Yes! Excited to play every night.
HRH: Havok is your brainchild, what was your inspiration for forming the band, and what was your motivation for it as well?
David: Listening to Metallica made me want to start a band, and, after we started writing our own material and playing out more, I fell in love with it and wanted to do it for a living. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since I was 15, I’ve been aspiring to be a professional touring musician and pretty much mission accomplished at this point!
HRH: That’s how it should be.
David: It’s fun.
HRH: It’s always wonderful to pursue your passions.
David: You must, otherwise you will be a miserable fuck!
HRH: And you should be very proud about how much you’ve accomplished- many bands cannot say that for themselves. What advice would you give anyone wanting to pursue their own musical endeavors?
David: Write good songs, is where it all starts. If you don’t do that and do everything else right, then it’s all in vain. So, it starts with writing good music.
HRH: Very, very good point. Your most recent album, Unnatural Selection, is supposed to be the band’s last release on Candlelight Records. What are your future plans for upcoming albums?
David: We are going to shop around, we’ll see what happens. No plans to go anywhere yet, but there’s already some label interest and we’ll probably record a new album in 2015 or something.
HRH: Looking forward to it! What has been your favorite tour thus far and why?
David: English Dogs tour was really fun, we got to share a bus with those guys and every show of that tour was a rager. Like, being on a bus was amazing! Not having to drive and when you wake up, you’re already at the venue.
HRH: I bet! Your music videos have a lot of political iconography and powerful visual statements, why?
David: People need to be snapped out of it – The regular boob-tube hypnotism that everyone is stuck in. So when you sneak in some real life and problems of our modern society, people are taken aback by that. I think that’s kind of the point, people need to think for themselves, and if it takes brutal imagery to make that happen- so be it.
HRH: What was your favorite video to film?
David: I don’t know that I had a favorite to film, every video shoot was kind of the same: Lots and lots of head banging. Yeah, just, head banging really, really hard over and over and over and over to the same riffs.
HRH: And on that note, what does metal mean to you?
David: Metal to me is the best energy releasing music on the planet.
HRH: Yeah, you can really get your aggression out and all that feeling.
David: Absolutely, and people come to shows not only to see the bands but to also rage, to slam people around, and run around in circle pits, and bang their head, and yell and scream. You know, they’re not just paying to be a spectator, they are paying to be involved and metal is perfect for that.
HRH: What’s next for your band?
David: Touring, right now is the priority until we need to write and record a new album. Expect to see us on the road a lot.
HRH: Excellent, thank you very much!
David: No problem, thanks for having me!
