Hi! Tell me about your band and what kind of previous experience do you have as musicians?
Well, we are Target. We play death metal. We are from Chile, a beautiful country located in South America. About your question from previous experiences as musicians … mmmmm I think that all Target members have trained themselves unconsciously to reach the musicianship level we have today. We all have been playing for many years, in bands related to metal and others not, we are fans of music more than genres after all. Fortunately, we converge in the taste for extreme music and we make it a method of artistic expression, which really works and which makes sense with a concept that makes us happy.
Why did you pick your band name? How did you form? Why did you decide to play the genre or genres you do?
About the name! uff it’s an old story! It is not a secret that we chose that name in a quite naive and primitive version of the band. Over the years we have found a real sense and definitely our main Target has become to be as professional as possible and if possible to transcend with our art as a true contribution to the music of our country, Chile.
We try to not be influenced by any fashion trend in musical terms, which is something that is an important part of our manifesto. We are influenced by everything that really happens around our lives; music, movies, images, family, jobs, etc. etc. We see the band as an experience and an instrument to express artistically and stylistically how we see and we feel the extreme music and definitely it has no boundaries. We make the music that we feel in this determined time. Maybe that will change in the future, who knows!
What can you tell us about your latest record?
DWF is an album that we have been working on for many years, trying to re-invent ourselves from a stylistic and conceptual point of view. We never liked to put banners or pamphlets in the style we developed. We let the fans and specialized media made it for us. They called us prog-metal, post death metal, avant-garde death metal, tech death metal. I do not know … I like to define our art as an experience. Transmitting music and conceptual art from a cinematographic point of view is part of our “target” as a band.
What kind of album feedbacks are you waiting for?
This is something quiet hard to answer, but to be honest we always expect the best ones because we worked with that in mind. Although we have many expectations with the new album, there are many factors that affect the album has a good acceptance, such as media exposure, social networks, merch, etc. We think that although music is very important, administration inside the band and management is equally important and finally how to exhibit your product in a way that result attractive. We believe that we are working in a professional manner together with a world-class record label, such as Australis Records. Fortunately, all the feedback received to date has completely exceeded our expectations. People from all over the world telling us how our art has affected them in their lives have written us and that is something great and very motivating.
Are you gonna to make some world tour in the future? Do you think this is available for everybody option to tour around the globe? What do you think band have to do to get such opportunity?
It is definitely a dream that does not look so far today. As we always say: making things happen at this stage of our lives is complex. Synchronizing 4 lives is something difficult, especially when you have responsibilities such as jobs, family, children. But you know, it’s not impossible! We believe that in a near future a tour could be perfectly achieved. It is something that we would definitely like to do, and we have all the desire for that to really happen.
Do you believe in heavy music scene without money?
In these times I think it would be a utopia. The music business has changed a lot and artistic expressions have had to adapt to it. There are still some who resist, as a real resistance, and it is admirable. There are always different paths, everything depends on your goals. If you want to have a world class, production it will cost money and that is not an investment, it is an expense. It is an investment for the musician, for the soul. When you understand that, you start to enjoy it even more and you get rid of it.
What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
I think it is a contemporary way of consuming music in these times, and it’s something we cannot deny. I think that sharing music for free is an option for those who want to take it. We believe that the minimum is to be able to receive a retribution for your effort. Many hours of rehearsal, invest in equipment, transport to go to a concert, etc. A change of mentality is necessary, especially in our country, Chile.
Who are your musical influences? Have you ever think your band could be so famous as your favorites?
Our musical influences are part of a range of styles and sensations. We believe that life and its sounds in general are a great influence. From the most brutal death metal to the silence of a landscape of our beautiful country: Chile. Regarding bands, the list could be endless! Haha! We are definitely influenced by the Chilean metal contemporary scene, bands like; Necrofusion, BOA, Errante, Timecode, Bauda, Animus Mortis, All Tomorrows, Poema Arcanus, Inhumano, Coprofago, Recrucide … with all of them we are related in some way or another. Bands and styles of the world could be; Swans, Ulver, Bohren & The Club of Gore, Radiohead, Soda Stereo, Daylight dies, Mar de grises, Criminal, Decapitated, Deathspell Omega, King crimson, Ulcerate, Cult of Luna, Code Orange, Klone, Los Prisioneros, etc etc etc…
Do you have a formal music education? Do you think it’s a Kind of important thing?
Personally, I do not have formal education in music, our drummer (Rodrigo) does, as well as our bass player (Fernando). Luis (Guitar) and I come from just the desire and the heart to play in an extreme metal band and we have learned everything by ourselves. I definitely believe that education is one of the fundamental pillars of modern life, in our case it has not been an impediment to reach a high level. We have notions that have helped us a lot to develop our own techniques, maybe not the right ones, but they work quite well for both of us. We believe that the stylistic vision is stronger than the technique itself. That has helped us a lot to develop what we believe is our own label as a band.
How do you balance your music with other obligations – mate, children, job?
What a good question!! It is truly complicated to be able to balance personal and musical life. We are people who do not live by music. We have our jobs to maintain our lives, which at this age is a life full of responsibilities. Work, Family, Children and a huge etc, forces you to be very organized and effective with your times. Imagine, it is extremely difficult to synchronize four lives and make things happen. That’s why young people who make music and who still live with their parents, must to take advantage of the time!!!! Haha!
How do you handle mistakes during a performance? Or you can assure there are no any mistakes during your gigs? Do you get nervous before a performance or a competition?
I remember that at the beginning we focused a lot in to deliver a quality show, we played too many notes per minute but to be quite honest we’re pretty sure that no one understood anything!! Haha
We really enjoy what we do and when we do live gigs we let go of our problems. We believe that when you reach that level, you have a good time, you connect with the rest of the band and everything flows.
Always before play something happens in your stomach, fear or being nervous is part of what makes us human. But knowing how to channel these sensations is the magic of the matter. I think that Target is in constant evolution with respect to that, we feel sure of what we do, because it comes from our guts. It’s us, here and now.
What’s next? Thank you!
For now, promote our album Deep Water Flames as much as we can, play live gigs in Chile as much as possible to pay debts of not playing for many years. The album is causing great impressions in the world and we want to be in tune with that. We are evaluating playing outside Chile, there are several offers…now we have to order our lives, so that things happen. We see it probable. As we say; As we did not have anything before, now everything that comes is good and positive!
Many thanks to music world! remember to follow us on our social networks! You can find our albums and merch!
http://www.australisrecords.com/store/
https://targetchile.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/targetfromchile/
https://www.instagram.com/target_chile/
Big hug from Santiago de Chile!