Entrevista con Artie de Damn Your Eyes

Damn Your Eyes significa «Malditos Tus Ojos¨ en español. Originalmente es una frase en la canción «Sam Hall» de Johnny Cash en donde un preso por homicidio es condenado a la horca, y ahi en medio de la plaza la gente se reúne para ver su muerte, incluida su mujer a quien le grita «Hola Molly, espero que estes orgullosa, malditos tus ojos» Actualmente, la frase ha encontrado un significado mas pesado y poderoso en la forma de un grupo de groovemetal proveniente de Nueva York. Nosotros aprovechamos el lanzamiento de su nuevo video «Doom on You» para hablar con su guitarrista, el mismísimo Artie Alexander, un veterano de la escena Hard Core para que nos cuente un poco sobre la evolución de uno de los secretos mejor guardados de la nueva ola de metal neoyorkino.

Hola a todos, es un gusto poder hablar con vosotros. Estoy bien, los muchachos y yo estamos muy emocionados por el lanzamiento de nuestro ultimo video, ademas de eso nos estamos preparando para el Live Stream que tenemos a fin de mes. En este momento estoy en Nueva York, en  mi casa-estudio en Long Island hablando contigo, gracias por preguntar !

Afortunadamente estamos bien, esta pandemia ha sido muy dura para todos por muchas razones pero somos sobrevivientes y no nos quedó otra que adaptarnos y seguir adelante. Como banda rápidamente adoptamos la idea de usar la situación a nuestro favor.

Mucho, pero fue la oportunidad perfecta para hacer algunos cambios que eran necesarios, se nos unieron Darren Markoff en la batería (ex Koprotory)y Gabriel ¨Gabby¨ Abularach (ex Cro-Mags) en la segunda guitarra, estos cambios fortalecieron una base que ya era muy solida por lo que decidimos casi de inmediato entrar al estudio para presentar a los muchachos de la mejor manera posible y eso solo se logra con música nueva. Somos unos tipos muy positivos, sabemos que el mundo abrirá de nuevo y cuando eso suceda Damn Your Eyes estará ahí.

Unos cinco años, yo empecé en el 2015 pero no tomó seriedad como hasta el 2017. Para lograr que algo como Damn Your Eyes crezca y despegue se necesita la gente correcta y al final del dia necesitábamos estos cambios para encontrar la actitud correcta.

Yo siempre quise estar en la mejor banda de metal, Punto! Cuando Kenny y Oddie se unieron me di cuenta que esto daba para mas que un simple proyecto. Ha sido difícil cuando hemos tenido que separarnos de algunos integrantes pero tuvimos esta visión de la banda y no descansamos hasta que llegamos a ello. Darren es un mounstro de baterista que dedicó 24 años a una sola banda Korotory, eso me demostró que el es ambicioso y leal, cuando dedicas tanto tiempo a un sueño mereces todo lo mejor, ademas que se entiende a la perfección  con Oddie, ellos dos son la columna vertebral. Gabby y yo tocábamos con Harley Flannagan en los Cro-Mags, Gabby es un ser humano

increíble ademas de un músico sobresaliente y un gran guitarrista flamenco, definitivamente su aporte ha sido invaluable, cuando el se fue de Cro-Mags le ofrecí el trabajo y el acepto ahi mismo y aqui estamos ahora !

Esta es una difícil pregunta, la escena aqui cambió drásticamente desde los 90´s que es cuando yo empecé a tocar en clubes a los 16 años, lo que no ha cambiado es que la competencia es durísima, muchas veces de buena y otras de mala manera. Cuando empezamos nos dijeron que ya NYC no tenía una escena, eso solo significó que teníamos que trabajar el doble para crear una. Ahora con la pandemia tendremos que ver como cambió el panorama y eso será cuando todo abra de nuevo para hacer un recuento de los daños.

Serenamente y manteniendo nuestros egos a raya. Estamos demasiado agradecidos con nuestros seguidores y eso nos hace mantenernos enfocados en lo que es realmente importante aqui que es hacer buena música. Algunos dicen que el éxito es cuando la oportunidad y la preparación se encuentran, bueno, nosotros estamos preparándonos para eso, te puedo decir que nos gustaría irnos de gira y ver el efecto que nuestra música produce en la gente, tenemos nuestra mirada puesta en España, ir a Europa de gira seria un sueño hecho realida

Nosotros escuchamos de todo pero siempre escribimos lo que sentimos y nunca tratamos de copiar o sonar como otros. Yo siempre bromeo con que me gustaría ser el Tom Petty del metal. Tratamos de mantenerlo real y pegajoso, pero nuestras influencias son tan variadas que resulta imposible decir con exactitud, talvez la vieja escuela del metal de los 80´s y 90´s definitivamente Alice In Chains, Down, Gojira

La idea viene de la canción en si, y fue dirigido por Tom Flyn que ha trabajado con bandas increíbles incluidos los tres últimos videos de Lamb Of God, Tom y yo empezamos a discutir ideas y al final grabamos las tomas internas en la sala de estar de la casa de mi padre, los externas son en un parque en NY. Ahora estamos preparando un Live para el 30 de Enero como Tom de director, estamos ansiosos por hacerlo !

Nadie lo sabe ! Por ahora trabajamos muy duro  y el futuro siempre es mas alentador cuando trabajas conscientemente, definitivamente esperamos veros pronto en persona !

Gracias a ti ! Nos vemos pronto, saludos  España, a cuidarse todos un abrazo !

Damn Your Eyes means «Damn Your Eyes» in Spanish. Originally it is a phrase in the song «Sam Hall» by Johnny Cash where a prisoner for homicide is sentenced to hang, and there in the middle of the square people gather to see his death, including his wife to whom he yells «Hello Molly, I hope you are proud, damn your eyes» Currently, the phrase has found a heavier and more powerful meaning in the form of a group of groovemetal from New York. We took advantage of the launch of his new video «Doom on You» to talk with his guitarist, Artie Alexander himself, a veteran of the Hard Core scene, to tell us a little about the evolution of one of the best kept secrets of the new wave of New York metal.

Hi Artie, how are you? where are you right now?

Hello everyone, it is a pleasure to be able to speak with you. I’m fine, the guys and I are very excited about the release of our latest video, on top of that we are preparing for the Live Stream that we have at the end of the month. Right now I’m in New York, in my home-studio on Long Island talking to you, thanks for asking!

Everyone is fine? From what we’ve seen on the news, New York has been brutally affected by the pandemic.

Fortunately we are fine, this pandemic has been very hard for all of us for many reasons but we are survivors and we had no choice but to adapt and move on. As a band we quickly embraced the idea of ​​using the situation to our advantage.

Has it been difficult for you to stay active despite the cancellation of tours and concert venues closed?

A lot, but it was the perfect opportunity to make some changes that were necessary, we were joined by Darren Markoff on drums (ex Koprotory) and Gabriel ¨Gabby¨ Abularach (ex Cro-Mags) on second guitar, these changes strengthened a foundation that It was already very solid, so we decided almost immediately to enter the studio to present the boys in the best possible way and that is only achieved with new music. We are very positive guys, we know that the world will open again and when that happens Damn Your Eyes will be there.

How much does Damn Your Eyes have to be an active band?

About five years, I started in 2015 but it didn’t get serious like it did in 2017. To make something like Damn Your Eyes grow and take off you need the right people and at the end of the day we needed these changes to find the right attitude.

Although Damn Your Eyes is relatively new to the metal world, some of you are not, how did you come to this Line up?

I always wanted to be in the best metal band, period! When Kenny and Oddie got together I realized that this was for more than just a project. It has been difficult when we have had to separate from some members but we had this vision of the band and we did not rest until we got to it. Darren is a drummer monster who dedicated 24 years to a single Korotory band, that showed me that he is ambitious and loyal, when you dedicate so much time to a dream you deserve all the best, besides that he understands perfectly with Oddie, the two of them they are the spinal column. Gabby and I used to play with Harley Flannagan at the Cro-Mags, Gabby is a human being
Incredible besides an outstanding musician and a great flamenco guitarist, definitely his contribution has been invaluable, when he left Cro-Mags I offered him the job and he accepted right there and here we are now!

We don’t know much about the metal scene in NY, what can you tell us?

This is a difficult question, the scene here has changed drastically since the 90’s, which is when I started playing in clubs when I was 16 years old, what has not changed is that the competition is very tough, many times good and sometimes bad. way. When we started we were told that NYC didn’t have a scene anymore, that just meant we had to work twice as hard to create one. Now with the pandemic we will have to see how the panorama has changed and that will be when everything opens again to make a count of the damages.

2019 was incredible for you and the promotion of your first album ¨Kill the Outside¨ led you to open up to legends of the stature of Crowbar, Leeway and Carnivore, then came 2020, even so they have not stopped working publishing new material including three videos, how are you preparing for this 2021?

Serenely and keeping our egos at bay. We are too grateful to our fans and that makes us stay focused on what is really important here, which is making good music. Some say that success is when opportunity and preparation meet, well, we are preparing for that, I can tell you that we would like to go on tour and see the effect that our music has on people, we have our eyes set on Spain Going to Europe on tour would be a dream come true

 

Your album ¨Kill The Outside¨ has been looping in our office and fascinates us, it is full of magnificent riffs, everything sounds so refreshingly new and yet classic and familiar, we cannot say exactly what it is, what you would say are your influences and how are they reflected in your music?

We listen to everything but we always write what we feel and we never try to copy or sound like others. I always joke that I would like to be the Tom Petty of metal. We try to keep it real and catchy, but our influences are so varied that it’s impossible to say exactly, maybe old school metal from the 80’s and 90’s definitely Alice In Chains, Down, Gojira

They have a new video, whose visual idea was it and who directed Doom On You?

The idea comes from the song itself, and it was directed by Tom Flyn who has worked with amazing bands including the last three Lamb Of God videos, Tom and I started discussing ideas and at the end we recorded the internal takes in the living room. from my father’s house, the external ones are in a park in NY. Now we are preparing a Live for January 30th as Director Tom, we can’t wait to do it!

What does the future hold for Damn Your Eyes?

Nobody knows ! For now we work very hard and the future is always more encouraging when you work consciously, we definitely hope to see you soon in person!

Thanks Artie, it’s been great talking to you, I hope to see you soon in Europe!

Thanks to you ! See you soon, greetings Spain, to take care of all a hug!