Our favourite Latino metal band De La Tierra have been busy touring around the world since their debut self-titled album was released at the end of January! Lead singer Andreas Kisser caught up with Artist Direct to talk about how the record came together and his inspiration for writing such killer tracks!
Is trying something different the most exciting aspect of this for you?
Oh yeah, man! Most definitely! There’s a whole challenge to bring in these different musicians and do a band that brings together metal, Spanish, and Portuguese. It’s something great. I feel like a teenager again starting my first new band. It’s fucking great. It’s perfect because it’s not a like a reality show band. There’s no sponsorship or manager behind it. It’s very natural and pure. It’s four musicians who wanted to do heavy metal. It feels fantastic. I’m very happy with the album, songs, and the results. Now, we had the chance to do the first shows opening forMetallicain South America. It couldn’t be a better start for us. Everything is amazing. It’s awesome.
What brings everything together for you?
It’s the chemistry between us. We basically spent a year, 2012, writing demos. I wrote some at my house in Brazil.Alex Gonzlezwrote in Mexico. Andrs Gimnez and Sr. Flavio wrote in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We spent almost a year exchanging emails with demos and stuff. Everybody had his own style. As soon as we went to Buenos Aires at the beginning of 2013, we got to practice and play together for the first time in the same room, talking to each other and jamming. That’s where the band really started. The chemistry was great. We are musicians who have almost thirty years of history and experience working with different producers and playing every type of stage. That type of experience helps to be in a room and develop and arrange songs. The chemistry is what made De La Tierra possible. The ideas were open for guitars and bass. Flavio brought all of these new techniques and ways of playing bass in a metal band. It created something very special and unique. The passion we have to play with each other is the main thing.
Has your writing evolved?
I write music all the time. It depends on if I write for Sepultura or any other project. I keep my musical ideas flowing. I just write. I listen to many different styles of music. I still study classical guitar, which I love. I love the blues. I love so many different styles of music. Touring and traveling will always keep your ideas fresh. When I have an idea, I put it out, and I develop it later for the respective project. Any melody can work for any situation. I can present a melody in a Sepultura way or I can present it to an orchestra. The most important thing is to have that genesis for the idea or riff. The rest can happen later.
Where do you pull inspiration from outside of music?
It comes from everywhere. Of course, there are lots of books. I like to read about history and politics as well as biographies. I like philosophy. I’d say movies of course and traveling. I think traveling is the most important and intense source of inspiration. We see things by ourselves and not through the media. Sepultura has gone to play in places like Cuba, Indonesia, South Africa, and Morocco. We see so much and so many different things that it keeps our minds full of ideasnot only musical but lyrical as well.
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