1- Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What are you guys currently up to?
Kike Valderrama: We are about to release our new record “Death Comes With Silence” and getting ready for a Summer tour. We are also working on a new music video and a few other surprises for our fans. Definitely, trying to keep ourselves busy.

 


2- First off, could you make some history of the band?
Kike Valderrama: Let’s see, Headcrusher started around 2001 in Pereira, Colombia-South America. The band members at the time were still in High school or about to go to college. The band released an EP and toured the country during that period of time. In 2005, the band had some line-up changes and released its second EP which took the band to some big festivals in Colombia and Ecuador. Around 2007 the band put out its first record and toured for the first time in the U.S. After this experience, the band relocated  Austin, TX in 2008 and since then has had the same line-up and has been  part of the local/regional scene here in TX. We have played SXSW, Housecore Horror Fest, Barge to Hell, Rock al Parque (Colombia) and lots of shows with bands like Cavalera Conspiracy, Soulfly, Sepultura, Soilwork, Destruction, Shadows Fall, At the Gates, Decapitated etc.

 
3- How could you describe your sound?
Kike Valderrama: We definitely like to simply call it Metal. We prefer to stay away from tags and subgenres. However, I would say that there’s a lot of Death and Thrash metal in it. It is funny, we have heard from some friends and fans that we have a  modern sound while others tell us we have a very classic sound which is fine with us since we enjoy it both.  One  sure thing is we want to play real metal with no trends and no bullshit in it.

 
4- What are the band’s main musical influences?
Kike Valderrama: This is always an interesting question since we all have very diverse influences. I would say the Swedish Death Metal is a big influence. Also, the American  Death Metal has been a big influence too. Then, we also love the classic Thrash metal from the Bay Area and the East coast. Besides that, we like some progressive and hardcore music that has been influential at certain times in the different chapters of this band.

 
5- How has the feedback for your new album been?
Kike Valderrama: So far we just have shown the album  to friends and to some people from labels/zines/websites and it has been really positive. Everyone seems to agree that this is our heaviest record.

 
6- And are you personally satisfied with the final outcome?


Kike Valderrama: Absolutely! This is the way I always wanted this record to sound. It sounds real and you can feel this dark, pessimistic vibe throughout the whole album which is something we were really aiming for. I think is a great record.

 

7- How could you describe this opus in just 3 words?
Kike Valderrama: I am terrible at this type of questions. Heavy as Fuck- Real, Raw, Dark.

 
8- How was the production process for your new release?
Kike Valderrama: It was amazing. In our last two records we worked with Tue Madsen (Meshuggah, Dark Tranquility, Moonspell) and he did an amazing job. He blew our minds both times when he mixed and mastered those records. So, we knew we had to work either with him again or with someone at the same quality standards. So, we emailed about five different producers that we love their work. Four out of five actually got back to us in a matter of days and we took it from there. We ended up working with Jesse Gander from Raincity Records in Vancouver, Canada ( Japandroids, White Lung, Baptists, Bison B.C). He flew to Austin and we recorded the album in a week at the Noiz Factory and our own home studio. The mix and master were done in Vancouver by Jesse and Stuart Mckillop respectively. Jesse did an outstanding job. He really helped us to create the kind of record we wanted.

 

9- And how does the songwriting process work?
Kike Valderrama: The songwriting process I believe is pretty normal. Usually Carlos or David , the guitar players, have either a riff or a half song/whole song in their heads. They jam it with Alejandro ,the drummer, and after there’s a whole song already structured they work on arrangements and vocals with me and Gustavo (bass). Some songs get done in a couple of rehearsals some other songs take some more time and some others don’t even make it.

 
10 – Finally, what are you near-future plans?
Kike Valderrama: Our near-future plans are pretty much  to have the new record out there by July and try to give it as much exposure as possible. We have a really cool summer tour in the plans and will see from there what else we’ll do.

 

11- That’s all from our side, thanks again for taking your time to answer our questions. If you now want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Thank you guys at Queens of Steel for this interview. We are everywhere on social media (Facebook,Instagram,Youtube, Spotify, Bandcamp, iTunes etc). Check us out and let us know what you think.
Salud!
https://headcrusher.bandcamp.com/merch/death-comes-with-silence-pre-order-bundle
https://headcrusher.bandcamp.com/track/trails-of-devastation-3

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