Amethyst: Progressive Gothic Metal
Interview conducted May 10, 2021
By Dan Locke
The band begun in 2015 and was founded by Geo Leiton and Elias Vega. Lead singer Fabi Salas joined in 2016 giving the band its very own sound. That same year, KendalRodriguez accepted to join the band too and gave his work with stunning arrangements on every song.
What is your upbringing?
Hello my name is Elias Vega and I’m Amethyst’s bass player, I have studied music for many years and have worked with many musicians and traveled Europe and the Americas playing with different bands not only metal but in different genres too.
How did you discover music?
There was always music in my house since my early years, my older brother used to watch MTV and when I was a kid those guys from Duran Duran, Hall and Oates, Queen, etc, became my heroes, I used to play with action figures while listening music and interestingly I used to hum the bass lines but didn’t know those where the bass lines, I’ve always loved the low end.
How did you start to write music?
I’ve been writing music since the 90s really bad at the beginning but it was a whole process to know what works and what does not. When creating music, Geo, the guitar player, and I needed melodies and have something to put over the riffs and chords, so I started writing lyrics too and one of my favorite themes always has been history and middle ages, the dark ages, so we started creating some tunes with melodic lines that we could follow and highlight it with heavy riffs.
How did your band form?
We started out as many other bands but always looking for the right people to team with, there were years of trial and error, with many musicians until we stop trying and almost abandoned the whole project. But in 2015 we gave it a final trial, and we said to ourselves, this time we will do it differently, after a few more changes Geo offered to join in the vocals to Fabi Salas, who was singing in a rock covers band, she accepted and soon after Kendal joined in the keyboards, after that the band started working hard as we all had the same goal in mind and enjoyed what we were doing.
How did you get your bands name?
It was Geo who came up with the name, we were looking for something hard but beautiful at the same time, as this was the concept of the music we were creating. One day Geo’s son, Saul, suggested the name and it ringed, as the Amethyst stone is very beautiful but at the same time is one of the hardest minerals, just like the concept of the art we were creating.
Describe your music.
Our music varies from the different influences that each of us provides, we try to create fantasy realms when creating music something embellished with female voices over a heavy base, we could say that Amethyst’s music is like a fantasy artwork dark and magical at the same time.
What was your first performance as a band like?
It was a magical concert because even though we have played live separately, we have never performed together as Amethyst until a Tattoo Art School trusted our work and gave us a show, stage and lights just for us, it was awesome and we enjoyed it as much as the people there, we checked every detail to bring a really great show and it was totally worthy.
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP?
Yes, we are members of ACAM basically for licensing and in case of any issues.
What makes a good songwriter?
Writing lyrics requires practice and a certain capacity to say a lot with a few words, especially in the musical genre that we do, and a good songwriter has to be able to do this, create an atmosphere, a good opening a climax, and something for the listener to think about.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
The first song we made as Amethyst, was The Timekeeper, we recorded it and it was our very first single. Everything started with that tune, one day I woke up with the melody on my mind and after a while, I started writing some basic lyrics for the next rehearsal. Geo suggested a steady bass line but later we made some arrangements for that including the heavy riff intro that accelerates in a sort of dialogue between the bass and guitar to open to a slow-paced melody, The guitar solo in that song is one of my favorites.
What is the process of writing your music?
I think that we discover music rather than create it, it comes almost natural whenever the band reunites, sometimes from a jam sometimes the guitar player comes up with a riff then we develop it, the richest thing is to see how everyone is making their job to embellish the song, usually the melody I provide to Fabi, is taken by her reprocessed with her musicianship and then she delivers a 10x nicer melody than the original, same thing with Kendal who provides the more cinematic character to each theme. We don’t use software or computers in the process, we like this to make it like we did in the 90s just the instruments and our creativity.
Tell me about the single “Straight to Hell”?
This was the last single before we went touring Colombia, we had a nice set already but needed a tune people can engage. It was never intended to be a single, but people liked it when we played its we gave it a chance and we are really satisfied with the results. It’s a song about the human frailties, how you create your own hell by living a life of excess.
Why did you shoot the video at midnight on a cold December night?
Shooting a video is always a great experience and we love midnight and night time in general, the location where we were shooting was a large warehouse with sun entrances, so we needed a completely dark place where the lights and fog could make their job, so we decided to shoot it during a whole night and also enjoy some time together along with the Engage Films crew, with the pandemics we couldn’t reunite too often, so we took advantage of this shooting and had a great time as a band. We also needed to publish this new theme beginning in 2021, so December was our deadline to shoot it.
How was it to work with Latin Grammy Award engineer Erick Roman?
He has always been a great professional and we always record with him since our very first single. He is very serious and demanding when it comes to recordings but we love this as it is challenging and make us grow as recording musicians too thanks to him, we have worked in the best studios in the country and it is something really good for the band too.
What is your favorite track on your album?
We are still in the process of recording the final tracks for our album, and we are very excited with the results, these upcoming songs are the heaviest and there’s one that I really like, called “A goddess funeral” which talks about the myth of Echo, that I really like, but everyone in the band has its own favorite.
What are you’re feeling about streaming music?
It has its advantages because for promotion they are great, anyone can listen the songs from around the world and as an independent band we can gain spots in several platforms and expose our music to much more people than if we make it with just CDs as the industry was before. The disadvantage is that we need to adapt and there’s not a single formula that works for every band, it will depend on many factors, genres, etc. I feel that streaming has democratized the presence of music directly from the creators and as there are hundreds of thousands of artists it’s up to each one to develop the best strategy according to their goals.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Vinyl. The sound, the smell and the listening experience cannot be compared to digital. I grew up with vinyl’s, and interestingly I remember when I listened the first CD, it was Rse your fist and yell by Alice Cooper, and it blew my mind, no hissing! OMG! It was the future! and suddenly the future became retro, OMG the hissing of vinyl, that’s the real sound! Humans are never satisfied, I guess.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
Freedom, from that Alice Cooper album, it reminds me of the times when my sister and I played to be in a stage with a guitar (bass in my case), not knowing that years later I was going to be gigging in a rock band and performing abroad with our own music. Freedom raises your fist and yell!
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Yes maybe not killed, but seriously affected the whole live music business, Amethyst canceled tours abroad and local gigs because of COVID-19, but against the crisis, we need to reinvent and many just did it through social media live streaming, there were so many that it became nonsense by April 2020, every musician with a mobile started doing it performing basically for free and to worsen all there was Facebook with new restrictions for live shows, it was so hard for many friends in the performing arts area. Covid-19 has affected every single aspect in our lives so music won’t be an exception, but I think people are creative, and soon will be a new business model to overcome the Covid-19 impact, it’s just a matter of time.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I love to be busy, making new music, studying bass, physical exercise too, but also, I fell for the most known quarantine stages, baking deserts, watching movies and cleaning and sorting the house.
How do you stay healthy during the lockdown?
Busy mind I guess is one of the best medicines, I try to exercise a few days a week but due to a lesion I couldn’t go further, I even set up some weights and bars at home too. Nowadays I keep working with the band and some art-related side projects
Elias- How was it to participate in the Sangre Inmortal project?
It was an excellent experience to participate with some talented musicians from South America, there’s a lot of talent not discovered yet and this song called Sangre Inmortal (immortal blood) was performed by a bunch of musicians from many countries to state that metal music will never die it was a great opportunity to meet new musicians and make new friends.
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
Yes, I’m passionate about astronomy and everything related, and I love Lego bricks too, so I decided to build the Saturn V model and the best (or worst) part was to build a paper Launch Umbilical Tower for it, I started it before the pandemics but in 2020, with much more time I finally completed it, it is around 2.5 feet tall and it put some lights on it!
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. In October that is going to change at least on Facebook. Facebook is cracking down on livestreamed shows that include recorded music with new terms of service, preventing artists from using the platform for “commercial or non-personal” purposes, unless they have obtained the relevant licenses.
The updated music guidelines state that users “may not use videos on our products [which include Instagram] to create a music listening experience […] This will includes [Facebook] Live,” and stipulates that such content should be posted for the enjoyment of friends and family only.
How do you think this will change the landscape of Facebook?
Yes, again, everything changes so fast and if something was normal before, you cannot take it for granted, we need to adapt and recently I had this experience when I was watching a live dance show and suddenly Facebook silenced the music alleging author rights violation, which is ok, something everyone must respect, but what it made me think, if we are performing one of our songs and Facebook’s algorithm thinks we are not the authors and shut it off, it will definitely affect our performance, technology can be tricky sometimes.
How can bands keep their fans if they cannot play live in front of the fans and sell merchandise to them at the show?
We try to be in touch with them and post the latest news from the band and the things we do as Amethyst, through our website www.amethystzone.com, we have a store where they can find some merch, but it is not the same, when you’re in the heat of a concert. For instance, we usually made a release video party whenever we published a new video, and it is a cool experience where we can share with friend and fans, drinking and enjoying, but with the release of “Straight to hell”, it couldn’t be done, so we made a virtual event, which was very good, we engaged people with some giveaways and gave them a new side of the band sharing experiences we have had during gigs and live performances and all, but the screen distancing is still a barrier between us and the public, unfortunately.
Is pay to play still a thing? Now pay to play also means thinks like playlist on the internet and opening slots for a major band on tour.
It depends on the goal you have if it works for you that’s ok, in our case we work with sponsoring when it comes to shows, and fortunately, it has allowed us to make really great shows with nice stages, lighting, and pro sound, we make the concert ticket worthy for those who pay it and our goal is that people going to our shows leave the place saying wow! Pay to play means an investment too, so if you pay to be on a playlist, it better be a good one and it must have revenue for the band, you see, the thing about paying should not be a blind shot, but something calculated and strategic for the band to grow. For example, in 2019 we were the open act for the Swiss band Cellar Darling in Costa Rica and the show was really awesome, we didn’t pay to be there instead we got contacted by the organizers based on our art, so everything depends on the moves the artist want to make.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
We can’t wait to see ourselves performing in a dining table as in the Star Wars movie! That would be really awesome and futuristic! I have seen the Dio hologram and wow it gave me goose bumps, so amazing!
Did you know that the Grammys MusicCares can help artist? The MusiCares COVID-19 Relief has helped thousands of music industry artists and professionals during these difficult days. This is the most recipients helped, for any single event, in MusiCares’ history. The need remains great, and these unique times remain critical for music people. It has taken a community uplifting one another to get through this pandemic, and MusiCares has pulled together a list of additional organizations and resources to further support you. RELIEF RESOURCES. Have you applied for it yet?
Wow didn’t know about it! It’s really a great initiative and any help would be great for any musician, we have been the unseen victims and the most vulnerable population as we depend on events to profit, which have been grounded all over the world and also, we have seen the closing of many bars and clubs, the venues are rapidly disappearing, which is really sad not only for musicians but to whole families who depend on this income.
In the past, if a musician stop doing music, they find a new career. For example, David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) voice-over work for SpongeBob SquarePants. If you can’t do music, what would you like to be doing?
Well, I love to learn and have a special interest in traveling and aviation so, I think I would have loved to become a pilot I know this is a long career but it has to be something amazing to fly an aircraft, just like Bruce Dickinson! in the meantime I’ll keep studying French which I like too.
What is your happy place?
During the lockdown, I started enjoying home and after a hard work, cleaning and sorting now I can call it my happy place, the place where we make music, where I keep all my basses and where I can relax too, I also enjoy the beach but again during the lockdown, we cannot travel that much.
A lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks, Bob Dylan, Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative than the mechanical royalties paid to artist based on sales, airplay and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.
The lump sums being offered by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
Do you think you would be willing to sale your back catalog if someone like Universal is will to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
In the end, music become a business, I feel that such practices are similar to companies buying stocks of other companies or acquiring the whole set, let’s say Facebook buying WhatsApp and Instagram or Google acquiring YouTube, same with music if you have a really great product someone could be interested in getting it and do whatever they want with it. It could be risky too as sometimes the artists don’t know the potential their art has, meaning they can use it in movies, TV, or video games and some companies have an eye for this, in our case the songs belong to the band as creators and I think it will be a matter of team discussion to make a final decision.
Spotify’s ‘Stream On’ event on Monday (February 22), the company confirmed that more than 60,000 new tracks are now being ingested by its platform every single day. This means people are added new tracks uploaded to its platform every 1.4 seconds.
The figure, announced by Spotify’s co-Head of Music, Jeremy Erlich, means that across the course of this year, approximately 22 million tracks will be added to Spotify’s catalog. Spotify confirmed in November last year that its platform now played host to around 70 million tracks.
Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that, by the end of 2021, SPOT will be home to over 90 million tracks. And that in the early part of next year, it will surpass a catalog of 100 million for the first time.
But still back at the beginning of the year Spotify deleted 750,00 songs, mostly from independent artists. What do you think what that could mean to independent artist?
Independent artists always have it difficult as historically we need to make room for bigger names, bestselling artists, or big companies backing up their chosen bets. Opportunities are less than winning the lottery and these numbers really mean a lot, 100 million of tracks, for a streaming company it means no matter what we need to have it all, to sell it all, this means that art is transformed in raw material as a whole, and for independent artists, this could mean either to go with the flow and fit to mirror proven acts or to keep doing art and stand by themselves no matter what.
Sony Music in November and Warner Music Group in December, The ByteDance-owned video app revealed on (February 8) that it has struck an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more?
Oh no man, never say never but honestly, I don’t think so, I’m an old school guy but I actually asked this question to our front woman, Fabi Salas and here is what she thinks about this: “well, it’s not a secret that Tik Tok is one of the most used social networks and if we can reach more people from different ages that will be always cool so we can expand and expose our music on a platform like this, it actually could be very challenging.”
Danny Wimmer Presents just announced their 2021 Festival Calendar: Which includes the following live shows:
DWP Partners With Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival For July 23-25 Event In Mansfield, OH
Louder Than Life Set For September 23-26 With Newly Added Thursday Night Celebration In Louisville, KY
Welcome To Rockville Expands To 4 Days And Shifts From Spring To November 11-14 In Daytona Beach, FL
Aftershock Set For October 7-10 In Sacramento, CA, Almost Sold Out
Would you be willing to play these shows and what precautions would you like to have in place?
Absolutely yes we would love to travel and make a memorable performance there, I have been in L.A, NY, Florida, South Carolina, and the vibe of rock and metal music is really great there, it lives there when it comes to live shows, so it will be awesome for Amethyst to perform there, about the precautions I would have to say that alcohol needs to be applied (inside and outside haha), and to respect social distancing, soap and water, and masks all the time, and any indication authorities provide.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
This interview has been awesome thanks a lot to Unrated Magazine for this clever questions, information and excellent in-depth approach to our band Amethyst, and special thanks to the readers, if you make it to red it til the end, please let us know writing to our social media pages Facebook and Instagram @amethystcr or leaving a message in www.amethystzone.com. Thank you so much and as always, we wish you magic and fortune, keep on rocking!
