M.S: Hi Benjamin, how is it going? Thanks again for being in MS.
BW: Hey M.S. Doing great, especially after just playing at the Jason Becker benefit last weekend. It was all out of respect and love for Jason Becker who was the guest of honor there in the sold out audience. Flametal was fortunate enough to have played along side legends like Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman, Ritchie Kotzen, Greg Howe, Steve Lukather and many more. As you could imagine, it was epic, so I’m still recovering from that event.
M.S: Some months ago you released “Heavy Mellow”, your third album which represents the consolidation of Flametal in the rock scene. How do you feel about this work?
BW: Heavy Mellow was really a solo album, where I played the flamenco guitars, cajon and palmas, and that was all the instrumentation. I had a great time arranging some of my favorite metal classics for Flamenco guitar in Tango, Rumba and Buleria forms. And learning the solos was a bitch, but a fun challenge (especially King Diamond). I’d love to do another album like that with more of my metal and rock favorites. Maybe next year.
M.S:By the way, why a cd with covers? Did you need a break to start writing more songs? Is this another sample to show that heavy metal and flamenco music are compatible genres?
BW: Well, I love these songs and want to keep playing them, even though I no longer play electric guitar. And of course I wanted to get some attention for Flametal. Not many people know about us. I’ve noticed that groups like Apocoliptica, Alex Schonick Trio, and Rodgrigo y Gabriela seemed to have gained worldwide noteriety by covering Metallica. I’m not going to play Metalica, but I did want to play great songs by great bands. Not necessarily the "hits" either. And yes, it’s another great way for me to illustrate the similarities between Flamenco and Metal. Also a great way to bring metal to people who would never listen to it (for instance, sometimes I play at country clubs and the old fart golfers really love Slayer and Yngwie. HA!)
M.S: When Uriah left Whitesnake, I thought he was going to work 100% on Flametal but we see that Angelina Saris in the band. Why did Uriah leave the band? Which band does Angelina come from?
BW: Uriah is one of the best bass players out there, I mean really incredible. I was so happy for him when he got the Whitesnake gig, but when he left, we needed a bass player. Angeline was already great and Uriah helped her learn the tunes. Eventually she became the perfect fit with Flametal. When Uriah came back from the first Whitesnake tour I wasn’t sure what to do because they both earned a place in Flametal, and for a while, they both played together on stage (Urian played and alto bass and doubled leads with me). It was fun. They’re both awesome bass players and each have a lot of work with other bands. I’m honored to have worked with them both. I’m lucky that all the musicians in Flametal are so fantastic at their craft.
M.S:Was it difficult for you to decide which covers would be in the cd? When you listen to it, we see that it could perfectly be one of your solo records, the power of previous works or parts mixed with electric guitars, isn´t it?
BW: The only difficult thing was finding songs with great vocal melodies I could make instrumental. I really wanted to do Death metal, but there is no melody in the vocals. Sure it’s very much like a solo Flamenco guitar album, but since the material is Metal…
M.S:A particular format like yours demands a constant update/renovation in concerts; with 3 released records, how do you see the band on stage? What do you offer in a Flametal concert once you have done more concerts through this time?
BW: We do our shows in two formats: one as Flametal (loud, with drums and vocals) and the other as the Skeletons of Flametal (quieter, acoustic with cajon). And in both formats we like to feature Flamenco dancing at the bigger shows lead by dancer Arleen Hurtado and guests. This last show she teamed up with another dancer and did tribal bellydance to "Sails of Charon"by Uli John Roth/Scorpions. The crowd loved it, I loved it. After seeing so many bands with 4 ugly dudes, sometimes you want to see some hot girls who can rock on stage too, ie Arleen Hurtado and Angeline Saris.
M.S:We see that the distribution of this third cd is still through cdbaby, Will you have physical distribution in the USA?
BW: I use CDBABY to digitally distribute to itunes, Rhapsody and other online music stores. I make CDs for purchase at shows but with all the record stores closing, I wonder: why even bother making CDs anymore? With these online stores people can purchase the music from all over the world. Besides, without a label, it’s way too difficult for me to be sending shit in the mail, you know? Unfortunately, the days of the CD are dead, just like cassettes. I predict albums coming on USB flash cards (size of business card) with full color printing on front and back. Actually that’s how I’ve done the promo copies of the new Flametal album! I’ve never seen it done by anyone else yet. (photo attached). I wont be selling it in this format (yet) but it should be available for download very soon.
M.S:Which plans does the band have now: release a new cd or keep on doing promotion of “Heavy Mellow”?
BW: I wanted the "Heavy Mellow" album to be publicised much more than it was, which was disappointing. But hey, whatever, shit happens. I actually have the new Flametal album "Vision" all completed, which should be available by by this summer. This album has awesome guest appearances from some of my favorite artists such as Marc Rizzo(Soulfly), Steve Stevens(Billy Idol), Glen Drover(Megadeth), Sean Reinert(Death) and more. This album is a "game changer" and defines a new genre. I couldn’t be more happy with it.
Flametal will continue to play our live shows in more and more places with myself, Thomas Perry, Brian Spalding and Angeline Saris.
M.S:On March 3rd, Steve Vai set a new world record on the biggest guitar class through Internet at Berkeley School. I think that you stayed there, isn’t it? Have you been offered teaching there?
BW: I lived in Berkeley California for a few years (I was Uriah Duffy’s roomate at his house). I doubt I will ever be teaching at Berkeley school of music (in Boston), because I never went to music school and I dont really know much music theory or how to read music. I can write it through the power of tablature programs, but I’m an "ear" guy. However I do teach once a week at a high school for the arts (OCHSA), where I have a Flamenco guitar class and a Flametal guitar class. It’s interesting.
M.S:That´s all. If you’d like to add something else…. Thanks for everything and we hope to see very soon a Flametal show.
BW: I cant wait to release the new Flametal! This is my passion, but doing it without label support is a bitch. It seems there’s really not much money to be made in metal unless you are one of the top 20 bands in the world. Flametal is not, but it’s a labor of love. The music industry is in limbo these days, with music downloads, and disappearance of CDs, record stores and record labels. I dont know how much longer people will be making albums instead of just singles and EPs, which is really unfortunate. But on the plus side, we may not have to wait a year or two for new material from our favorite bands, it may be just every three months or so. It’s gonna be weird.
David Aresté / Elena Serrano