BLACK TIDE’S GABRIEL GARCIA: THE METALSUCKS NON-INTERVIEW
Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 11:44am by MetalSucks
We’re in the press area of the Rockstar Mayhem Festival, and Black Tide vocalist/guitarist Gabriel Garcia is wearing a shirt that says “VAGINA” in huge letters and chewing gum. When he sits down to talk with MetalSucks, he never even takes his backpack off. His answers to our questions are, to put it mildly, limited. He clearly has no interest whatsoever in talking to us.
Maybe it’s because he’s aware that we’ve written some not so nice things about his band before; maybe it’s because he’s anxious to get back outside in time for the Ladder Up an Ass performance; maybe the kid just hates giving interviews. In any case, Axl and Vince pretty much agree that this is the worst interview we’ve ever done. Check it out after the jump, and then make fun of us for failing to engage Gabriel, make fun of Gabriel for refusing to not be monosyllabic, and make fun of whomever the fuck else you like in our comments section.
How’s the tour going?
It’s going good. It’s fucking rad. Today was good. Good crowd.
How is it playing so early in the morning?
Well, it switches. It rotates. It’s good playing early sometimes because all the kids are ready for it and want to hear something.
Right on. So how do you feel playing for thousands of people? You guys were on Ozzfest so you’re used to this. You’re old pros.
Yeah, it’s awesome. Playing for big crowds is fucking rad. Ozzfest was amazing. We were on the main stage and we were the first band up. Over here everyone is up close, and it’s rad.
All the other bands are cool?
Yeah, everyone is cool. We hang out.
What about these nightly barbecues? Have you been to any of those yet?
Yeah, pretty much every night.
Has there been a Black Tide barbecue?
No.
Think you’ll do one?
Mostly it’s been the main stage bands doing them. I think Five Finger Death Punch did one.
Have the other bands put you guys through any hazing rituals?
Not on this tour, but it’s probably going to happen on the last day. It always does.
What are some of the craziest things other bands have done to you guys on the last day of a tour?
Well, on the Ozzfest they had a freak show and they all came out on our stage. There were midgets fucking running around and dildos flying around.
Are you guys doing any more tours after this one?
Right after this we have the Kerrang! Awards in the U.K. and Reading and Leeds or some shit like that. It’s like a 2 day thing. Then we come back here and do a tour.
Cool. So is there a new album on the horizon?
Yeah, our record came out like 5 or 6 months ago so we got another year of touring at least.
Have you been satisfied with the reaction your record’s been getting?
Yeah, totally. I think it’s doing awesome. I never thought we would come this far. It’s awesome.
Any final words for Black Tide’s masses of fans?
Pick up the album, come to the shows, buy some t-shirts, and make me some money.
-AR & VN
What is he, 14? 15? I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and cut him some slack.
And why did his shirt have chewing gum on it?
“Make me some money”? What a fuckin tool! Why don’t you go work at McDonalds you little prick….
Yeah, no. I don’t care how many not so nice things were said about them. There have been plenty of not nice things said about Dragonforce, and there’s still a pretty good sized interview from their singer posted.
This kid needs to learn if he doesn’t start putting a little bit more into his interviews, he’s going to learn the hard way that internet exposure is key when you’re in the music game. If no one likes Black Tide as people, they sure as hell aren’t going to put any money in their pockets no matter how young and talented they are.
He may be only 14, 15 but he sounds like a total fucking prick. No wonder he’s on Interscope, 50 Cent probably taught him how to come across as a tool the first day of recording.
Dude.. that was an awesome interview. Good interview.. it was rad.
Rad.
“Precious Roy, Precious Roy, making lots of money off of girls and boys..”
BUY MY WAFFLES!
This interview, as presented here, is words on a screen. No body language, tone of voice, facial expressions. The words the kid spoke are brief, curt at most. How can any of you infer assholism from that?
Vince (and/or Axl) even say that maybe he’s read the shit they’ve written about his band (none of it flattering). Maybe he was nervous. Who knows?
FUCKING LOL!!!
THAT IS ALL.
Gabriel Garcia certainly comes across as an intellectual and an impressive wordsmith. Well, no wonder Black Tide’s songs are only marginally weightier than American Idol’s latest. “Fucking rad” indeed.
This interview was fucking rad. Rad.
I never want to hear that word again.
I hate this band…they suck more than having my dick nailed to a burning building…
Should’ve interviewed the bass player. I mean, maybe that’s just my imagination but he seems like the friendly talkative one since on stage(at least in Atlanta) he did all the talking…especially when he pointed at me and told me to stop standing there with my arms folded -_-
Anyway! Gabriel didn’t say anything and never once looked like he was having fun.
maybe his down because he is no longer playing with alex nunez
Yeah know what was really rad? That Sifl & Olly referance. I miss that show.
by the way this ‘VAGINA’ kid answers his questions, it would’ve been more exciting if he had just said “I Like Turtles”* after the first question and call it a day!
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNry4PE93Y
good guitar playing… shitty song writing…. will only take them so far… oh, and rad bro
also i saw them on this tour and their live show contains the same amount of entertainment value as the interview i just read
and they are the jonas brothers of metal. i’m done
to be honest i think their musics pretty mediocre and ive watching several video interviews with them and they just come across as complete dicks in all of them so im not a fan of them in any shape or form
That’s a guy? Jesus, throw on some tight pants and from the back I’d never know.
Yeah, so, everyone who’s calling him an asshole, stuff it up your ass over the possibility that he’s read MetalSucks, you’re not going to be nice to people who just rag on you constantly, otherwise, carry on. ;)
As for DragonForce, who knows if they read the blog, they’re a considerably bigger band, but they’re also all much older than this kid.
I interviewed the band back in March when they toured with ATR Chimaira and LTC and he was the least talkative. I don;t know if he is shy of what. His last words when I interviewed him as well was “Buy The Record”. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he’s the less talking type. If you had interviewed Zach you would have got an earful. He’s pretty cool and open for talking and shit, along with the drummer and the old Guitar player. I don;’t know WTF happened with him.
You also have ti understand that they are probably upside down right now with interscope and probably aren’t really making much money off of these tours yet.
What a douchebag. Kid looks like a dork too.
Rad? What’s he going to say next? “Gnarly”?
Fucking.Raddest.Interview.Ever.
That’s really a guy though, you’re not fucking with us?
thye are preety gd live (i saw them at reading fest) but their music is a bit boring and it preety much been done before, but they are preety good players for their age! But man he seems preety cockey!
Had to reply, sidric, see: Ben Weinman.
That is all.
LMAO REVRANT
Ben Weinman’s music is not boring and it has definitely not been done before. Have you ever actually heard a DEP song? And is that your picture linked?
It is boring(in that it’s predictable), and it has been done before, DEP just takes all the credit for their little niche, my first concert was a DEP concert, and I will forever remember it as being torture.
Literally, I’ve told the story here before, the manager was nice enough to call me a cab because I was so miserable from sitting through their set.
Yeah, I put it there for people to mock, so I knew when they’d run out of clever insults.
Honest question: Musically, how is it predictable?
“I hate this band…they suck more than having my dick nailed to a burning building…”
really?
Something being boring and something being predictable have no correlation. If something is boring to you that is fine, it’s your personal opinion. It doesn’t mean it’s predictable.
We’ve gone over this numerous times, some use the turn of phrase “predictable unpredictability”, there’s no momentum with the band, simply because you can’t predict the complex time signatures, doesn’t mean you can’t predict they’ll be there in grandiose fashion time and time again. The band has changed some with Ire Works, but all of this “experimentation” and false praise people give them was done before they came along by other Mathcore/extreme metalcore bands, and they get very little credit for it. The worst part is they have the ego to simply say “Yes, we’re Gods and we made this” while doing the same damned thing over and over again. There are, to me, essentially no bands that experiment past their first album, when you bank on an experimental sound, you stop being “experimental”.
I guess if your singer is cocky(which was what I originally meant) and mouthy with an ego to match Dave Mustaine you can take the credit and still act like your balls belong in the mouth of every metal fan.
Didn’t mean singer there, keep thinking he is because he acts as the frontman of the band.
“The band has changed some with Ire Works, but all of this “experimentation” and false praise people give them was done before they came along by other Mathcore/extreme metalcore bands, and they get very little credit for it.”
Which ones? Are you referring to Coalesce, Converge, Botch, and Cave-In, or someone else?
Honestly, good or bad, “Calculating Infinity,” to my knowledge, was the only album of its kind in ‘99. The other bands I just mentioned did have similar sounds, but DEP really “pioneered” (to borrow from Wikipedia) that sound, similar to what Botch and Converge did. Many people proceeded to run with it in all three cases.
(For the record, while I love Converge, I’ve never considered them to be a vanguard of experimentation.)
As for your answer, it was what I anticipated, so I’m satisfied on that end.
“There are, to me, essentially no bands that experiment past their first album, when you bank on an experimental sound, you stop being “experimental”.”
Well, here we’ll disagree again. Even I realize that Disturbed has changed since their first album. Most good bands evolve.
Really, you’re arguing over the semantics of experimental. The question is what is the term “experimental” communicated with respect to? If it is the mainstream, then that’s another debate.
An experimental band relying on being experimental does not nullify their experimentation; an experimental band relying on a particular sound does, however. But most good bands, and even DEP, change their sound over time, so you could claim that DEP is being experimental. For instance, DEP incorporates far more pop into their albums than previously.
But, by taking your statement for face value, you are correct. Insistence on a particular method or sound from album to album does negate a band’s being “experimental.” However, I disagree in that I believe there are bands who don’t fit that category.
Botch definitely came to mind first and foremost, but there are also math “rock” bands that were present before math “core”. Though, Botch are by and large Mathcore with mixings of punk, and they were around long before DEP.
Well, Disturbed hasn’t changed all that much, they’ve bettered themselves, became more skilled, more affluent as a band, cut the fat, but by and large the same way of hitting a hook, their stop and start of the drums, the way they’ve played since the beginning, are intact, David doesn’t howl or shriek very often, but he still does. I guess it just comes down to what “sound” and “method” really are, and if they’re truly separate.
Experimental? Well I’ll quote the first meaning –
“1. a test, trial, or tentative procedure; an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle, supposition, etc.: a chemical experiment; a teaching experiment; an experiment in living.”
Though 4 in reality, being vague, is more befitting “4. to try or test, esp. in order to discover or prove something: to experiment with a new procedure.” when you start banking on the result of someone else’s work, you weren’t truly experimental to begin with, the experiment never began, and DEP saw mathcore, and decided to take a swing at it, they came in late into the game is my statement, and I don’t care for their claiming to have “pioneered” it.
If you really wanted to be semantic, I guess no bands are really experimental outside of their own path, without outside elements, it’s just the band deciding how far away from their “strength” they should go, the further away, the more experimental.
Though, to respond to your last two paragraphs, I think there are bands that remain entirely experimental, they’re often short lived however, and I doubt many(if any) reach the public eye, or even the eye of the metal public.
Get a life, people.
the only thing I have to say here.
Get. A. Life.
I give it about 3 months before this band is forgotten. This kid is just begging to have someone curbstomp his cocky ass.
Seriously people,
Someone should curbstomp your cocky asses.
What are you people doing other than sitting behind a computer bitching about a band?
A little respect never hurt anyone at least. And just to point it out the ‘cockyness’ is more sarcasm and deadpanning. Seriously people, you take things too seriously.
I’m not really talking to the people who have valid responces and explainations, and I’m not saying you have to like the band.
But half of you people are just bitching.
can’t stand the kid, can’t stand the music, can’t stand their existence.
please someone end this, Black Tide is the gayest thing out now.
Gabriel is freaking awesome!!!! He is soo hott!!!!! and he puts on a really good performance!!!!!!!
and gorefest23- you don’t know what the hell your talking about!!!!!
I don’t think he looks like a dork. And he’s young. Give him a break, he’s not talkative at all. We all can tell. I think he’s mature. I mean, at least he adds a little bit of words instead of just simply answering yes or no to every question. I personally admire them and how far they have gone. I do however, wish they still had alex nunez with them. But nonetheless I’ll make him some money for sure.
maybe it’s because he’s my age that i admire him so much.
Maybe he’s just being sarcastic about the last thing he said… or irreverent (probably because the way he thinks, or his age, who knows) maybe he’s tired of interviews, or he’s just not the talkative kind of person.
Perhaps he realized that the label (interscope) is just using them to get some money, and the results aren’t what they expect and he just feel bored about the situation and fulfill the contract… ’cause they have.
He’s so young, give him the benefit of doubt, he has so many things to experience in life from now on, it’s just a moment on his life, he hopefully will learn about all of this and grow mentally. If that happens and his personality stays the same way(a lil’ bit introverted) it does’nt matter, that’s what he is.
BTW the’re great musicians… and Zakk and Steve are good for talk in interviews.
i have two words for the people that are saying he’s an asshole and that his band sucks: SCREW YOU! he’s been writing and playing songs since he was 8 years old and if you don’t like him or black tide, don’t read the fucking interview, dumb ass! this is america and the kid can say whatever the hell he wants. just face it: black tide is awesome and haters are not, it’s as simple as that.
Don’t be haters, you guys are seriously jealous of him. Who gives a fuck he is not a freakin political speaker, he is the frontman for a rockband. And for any age he is so amazing, the fact that he is sixteen makes it even more incredible.
For one, he was a mere 16 years old in this interview, do you think he’s had much experience in this? No, it’s usually Zakk from Black Tide doing the interviews. He’s still young, he’s still a teenager, he doesn’t necessarily realize that how he answers questions, are going to be dissected by every reader to assume he’s an “asshole” just because he said “rad”? Most kids his age say that, believe it or not.
I watched a video interview of him with a different organization, and he seemed nervous, he’s still young, he’s not used to all of this publicity yet.
Secondly if he had read what they had written about Black Tide prior to the interview, then really he has any right to be an asshole, I wouldn’t give them a very good interview had it been me.
Thirdly, regardless of what anyone says, he’s talented. His band is talented.
Black Tide plays good fucking music, who gives a fuck what the interviews are like?
It’s all about the music in the end – and they’re damn good at what they do.
WTF ignornt guys you hate because they are good and have more fame than yours,srry but THEY play old school metal of 80 and remember so many bands i dont understand why the people say i hate this band iits like the jonas brother of metal WTF FUCK YOU GUYS black tide is fucking talent they fucking good SURE ALL THE PEOPLE HATE LIKE SCREAMO METALCORE AND DEATH EXTREME MELODIC METAL STUPID POSERS i hate hters of GOOD MUSIC FUCKKKK YOU ALL GUYS! BLACK TIDE ROCKS!!!