Genre: Power/Speed
Metal
Country: U.S.A.
Questions
by: Nick Parastatidis
Answers by:
Larry Barragan (Guitar)
1. Hello. How
are you? How are things in the HELSTAR camp at the moment?
LB: Hey
Nick, how’s it going? We’re doing good man. We have a little bit of a break
right now but we’ll be starting back up next month with some shows in Chicago
and a couple in the West Coast as well. All in all pretty calm right now.
2. You have a
new album under the title “Vampiro”. How long did it take you to compose and
produce it?
LB: I guess
it was about a year and half in the making. I pretty much write and record as I
go along. I use a drum program just to get a feel for what the songs might
sound like and I record the riffs as they come.
3. In my
opinion “Vampiro” is the musical continuation of “Nosferatu”. Do you agree on
that? Which are the new elements that you introduce to your sound with this
release?
LB: I
wouldn’t really say it’s really a continuation, you know, this album has some
elements that were on “Nosferatu” but musically this album is quite a bit
heavier. I think the thing that connects the two albums is the mood. When James
said he wanted to do this I knew I was going to have to write something that
had a darkness to it and a gothic feel.
4. Let’s talk
about the lyrics. I think that this is a concept album too. My question is do
you continue the “Nosferatu” story here in a way or is it a completely new
story? Can you tell us a few things about it?
LB: It is a
concept album in the sense that all the songs on it are about vampirism. The
songs don’t really connect as a story. They’re all stand-alone songs but they
all deal with different subjects. Again when James said he wanted to do this,
his initial thought was that we would do the whole album about all the Christopher
Lee movies but, you know, those movies didn’t have the greatest story lines.
They were great movies when we saw them as kids but when we went back and
watched them I knew it would be difficult. So what I suggested to James was
that we broaden the scope of what he wanted to do. The songs are all about
different movies but most of them are about particular scenes in those movies.
You know when movies are made out of books the movie can’t reproduce all that’s
in a book and the same goes for the songs. So we condensed the lyrics and we
tried to write about the scenes that were our favorite parts of all these
different movies.
5. How do you
explain this attraction of yours to the world of vampires?
LB: I don’t
know really. The first movie I saw was “Taste the Blood of Dracula” and I was
about 6. My brother and I went to see it and you can image it scared the fuck
out of me. That was it. I was fascinated with all horror after that. I think
the thing that attracts me about Dracula and vampirism is the darkness and the
violence and the romanticism that’s all rolled up into one. The hatred for God
and the feeling of betrayal by the one that he basically dedicated his life to
and, you know, the search for his lost love and the deep despair.
6. Your new
album finds you in David Ellefson’s label. How did you achieve this deal? What
made you choose this label? Are you satisfied so far?
LB: Well we
go way back with Dave. We opened for MEGADETH back when they release “Peace
Sells”. EMP Underground has been great to us. So far, you can see that all the
bands are being cared for very well and that’s one of the most important things
for us. A lot of times and band will put out an album and, you know, if that
band is not a priority they get pushed to the back. That’s not the case with
EMP.
7. Do you
think that “Vampiro” can bring new fans to the band and also can it make
younger generations get interest in the past HELSTAR releases?
LB: I don’t
know really. I can tell you that almost every time we play someone will come up
to me and say I never heard of you guys but I’m going to look you up now. It
seems that the “Vampiro” is so far very well received. I guess we’ll have to
wait and see.
8. How have
the press and fans received the new album so far? Which was the best compliment
you have received and which was the most bizarre comment that you got about the
new album?
LB: The
most bizarre thing to me has been that the album is too long. That just doesn’t
make any sense to me whatsoever. It almost makes me feel like asking so your
attention span is only 30 to 40 minutes? If that’s the case then just listen to
one half today and the other tomorrow. Best compliment, we’ve received, hmm,
we’ve had a few reviews that have given us perfect ratings and that’s pretty
cool. I mean, no one wants to read bad reviews. I don’t care who you are. All
in all the reviewers have been very kind to us.
9. I think
that you have been asked so many questions all these years. I would like from
you to think a question that you have never been asked before or you would like
to be asked and also answer it…
LB: Man, that’s a tough one. I don’t know. No one
has ever asked about why I play guitar and the reason for that is quite funny.
I really wanted to be a drummer but my older brother talked me out of it. He
said you don’t want to be a drummer. That guy is always in the back! You should
play guitar. That guy is always up front and there you have it. That’s really
why I play guitar and not drums.
10. Thanks for
your time answering my questions. I wish you all the best. Hope to see you for
live shows here in Greece. Please close the interview in any way you like…
LB: Ah, thanks Nick. We hope to be in Europe
around the end of February. I hope we can make it to see you guys. Thanks to
all the fans for your support throughout the years. We’d be nothing without you
guys. Cheers!
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