Interview with YAATANA
!!!THRASH CROSSOVER FROM PORTUGAL!!!
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Tell us a few things about YAATANA (Members, Starting Year etc).
Yaatana is a whole made up of Miguel - Bassist; Leo - Drummer; Vasco - Guitarist; Jonhy - Vocals; we’re all inexperienced with music, and this is our first attempt to create something and seriously release it to the world. Despite this, we feel that since we started the band, we’ve evolved a lot as musicians and also as people. The fact that we have the responsibility of having a band and a dream requires work and discipline, something we all recognize and that has helped us immensely.
It all started as a project between best friends at a table with a few beers in July 2023. On August 2nd, we had our first rehearsal together, just for fun. We started getting more involved in the local scene, and we were offered the chance to debut at a new festival on the scene, "Xavalo Fest," organized by a friend of ours. From there, we’ve been dreaming of conquering more and more.
You have recently released your EP ''Anti-Control''. What is the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
Our recently released EP has had excellent feedback overall, both from the audience and the press. We’ve received feedback about our energy and enthusiasm, about the riffs on the album (especially the Title Track "NT CONTROL" and the single "Arma Nuclear"). We’re happy that we managed to convey that energy; after all, that’s exactly what we wanted with the release. The EP has songs with very impulsive compositions, and we acknowledge that. We thought about working on the songs again to improve them, but we ended up deciding that we wanted to convey the image of four kids who just started a band and promise not to stop. The impulsiveness of making fast and energetic music among four best friends is perfectly expressed here!
Label or DIY and why?
We prefer to work with a label. We feel that DIY doesn’t have as much reach as a label. It’s good for a release to have a wide reach and be known by many people. Of course DIY can also achieve that, but even so, we feel that a label creates more opportunities than DIY. We say this because we work with Gruesome Records, which has given us golden opportunities to grow. We feel they were the biggest bet we could have made!
(Yaatana and Gruesome Records at an open air Yaatana show)
Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
The whole recording of the EP was fun; we really enjoyed ourselves making it. It was very fun to record backing vocals, because we did it all together at the same time! We were always laughing. And also, peculiar things often happen at our concerts. For example, an audience member broke their femur. It was our first concert in the capital and, I think, our fourth concert overall. In the middle of the penultimate song of the set, the vocalist Jonhy signaled to stop the music when he saw someone got hurt in the pit. When we went to see what was happening, we saw that someone had broken their femur, and it was exposed. They called an ambulance, and we played the last song of our set, which at the time was about moshing—a bit inconvenient after someone left with an exposed femur. We ended up dedicating that song in the show to Lucas, who was evacuated from the concert with a big round of applause (the person who left with the exposed femur). The next day, Lucas posted a photo of himself in the hospital bed with the caption "You know the concert was good when you leave with a broken femur." From then on, he became known as Lucas Femur, and we even included him in the EP’s acknowledgments. We love Lucas <3
Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
It depends a lot on the situation. In terms of sound quality, CDs and vinyl are indeed the best, and to listen to music as complex as Metal, it's important to use a high-quality format! But in practical terms, the digital format is better because you only need internet access to listen to music on any mobile device, which makes it easier for general music listening. The cassette is a cool and "vintage" format, but it lags far behind in terms of sound quality and practicality, so it’s far from being our favorite.
Your music style is Crossover/Thrash Metal. Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
In the beginning, we were heavily influenced by Sepultura, Municipal Waste, Cro-Mags, and Gojira. Over time, some influences remained, like Sepultura and Gojira. However, we’re now trying to reach a sound more inspired by bands like Havok, Crisix, Warbringer, Pitch Black, and Power Trip.
Which things do you think a band should sacrifice in order to succeed? Have you ever sacrificed anything in your life for a better future for your band?
We believe that a band that wants a future must take its work seriously. Having a band demands a lot of personal time, and inevitably, we’ll have to sacrifice some things to focus on the band’s work. Besides, there are things we shouldn’t sacrifice entirely, like our studies—there always needs to be a Plan B. We think what we can sacrifice most are personal relationships and time with friends. Of course, there is time for that, but being in college with a band you want to take seriously is not an easy task, and if you add a real job into the mix, it becomes even more difficult and mentally exhausting. But very honestly, those who do what they love don’t get tired, and we still have a long way to go! Regardless of what we have to sacrifice, we’re ready for all the challenges.
Describe your ideal live show as a performance band. Have you already experienced that?
I think we’ve all experienced our ideal show, either at a Vai-te Foder live show, a Soulfly live show, or a Blood Red Throne live show. The energy those live shows gave us is something that can’t be explained, only by living in the moment. The combination of energy, music, and people makes a live show incredible.
What attributes do you think that a new Thrash Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
I don't think there's something we can create to be unique, to be honest, at least not now. However, I think a thrash band, above all, needs attitude and good music. A good example is the bands Havok and Warbringer; Havok has a more experimental sound that stands out in a good way. We think they have some of the best thrash albums we’ve ever heard; Warbringer mixes death, black, and thrash very well in their music and also creates a unique sound. Like Havok, I think they have one of the best thrash albums ever.
Do you believe that Digital Platforms help the new Thrash Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a band to promote its work?
We believe that digital platforms are a huge help for artists to promote their work. Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok, and YouTube are the best platforms to promote new releases to a much broader audience than, for example, the audience of a webzine. I think a release should reach as many people as possible in the first few days. Nowadays, besides good music, knowing how to use the algorithm to our advantage is a fundamental tool for a band to grow nationally and internationally.
Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Portugal (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
The Portuguese underground scene is experiencing an explosion of new bands, not only in thrash but also in crossover, hardcore, black metal, etc. There are also many new people like us, or even younger, creating bands and wanting to be recognized in the underground. I feel that we have a very strong underground scene in Portugal, full of potential, and I hope that in a few years, many of these new bands will gain international recognition and play at major festivals.
Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
We didn’t know anything about it and had never heard of it, to be honest. However, we did some research and found out that it’s a fusion of metal, Greek folk, epic stories, and mythology. We think it’s a super interesting fusion that does justice to the great stories of Greek mythology. It was the first time we heard about it, and we were positively surprised. It manages to convey all the epic energy it promises and the despair of black metal.
The last 4 years, worldwide in the world, we have faced many dark, strange & new situations in our everyday life (covid, lock-down etc.) Did all of this affect you positively or negatively?
During the pandemic, the band didn’t exist yet! Of course, the lockdown affected us a lot, but it also gave us more time to listen, discover, and learn more about metal. However, overall, those were very difficult times in our lives, not being able to attend concerts and being confined to the same place for months. We also believe that it significantly damaged interpersonal relationships worldwide.
What are your future plans?
We dream of conquering the world. It’s no easy task, but we are ready for what lies ahead of us. The next step for us, in terms of sound, is to distance ourselves from this EP and really work on musical composition and experiment with new sounds. We’re already working on an album (almost finished, actually) with much more care and much more complex visions, often beyond our level. That said, we’re constantly challenging ourselves to elevate our status as musicians. Even in terms of live performances, we recently had our first outdoor concert. It was completely different from playing in a venue. We learned a lot, and we hope to learn even more from new experiences. We want to keep getting better live performance after live performance.
Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
All we want to ask and appeal for is: keep an eye on us! We promise to bring new things, and we think you’ll like them. We aim to reach the top level, and we want the whole world to have Yaatana in their hearts. We all want to be World Wide Thrash.
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
YATAANA CONTACT:
https://www.facebook.com/yaatana
https://www.instagram.com/yaatana_official
https://yaatana.bandcamp.com/album/anti-control-2024
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Ao9Lgq8xy1J2TbpnxnQq2