Interview Juan Garcia, EvilDead….

Hello Juan Garcia how are you doing?

Juan Garcia: Doing well thank you; It’s been a very interesting year so far. Lot’s of work with Body Count and the new “Carnivore” release in March, 2019 and now the new EvilDead “United States of Anarchy” album coming out 30-October, 2020. This year has been a bit rough as well with this Covid19 pandemic, and all the lives lost worldwide; very sad in many ways. it’s been a frustrating year in many ways; it’s important to stay positive and I hope everyone out there is wise, and uses good judgment by being safe, following protocol, and help each other out when possible.

Please tell us something about your hometown/city?

Juan Garcia: Los Angeles is a super busy city and it keeps growing in population every year! There’s so much traffic on the highway; it creates gridlock with all the cars. I think for the most part we’ve done a good job keeping Covid in check as a city; most people are following protocol. There are no live concerts happening at the moment and I don’t see any happening for anytime soon. The weather has been amazing laterly on the West Coast, there were a few months there where we had all these fires happening which was creating horrible air quality throughout the state of Califonia. At the moment things are starting to improve which is a great thing.

The new album: “United States of Anarchy” will see the light of day on October 30th 2020 via Steamhammer/SPV. How was it to work on this album and release it in a world we probably did not think it would/could happen: “Covid19”?

Juan Garcia: Yes, We are very proud of the upcoming new EvilDead album. It was a bit difficult to maneuver through all the recording sessions in the middle of a pandemic, but I’m very proud of all the band members and their contributions to this kick ass new album, and also our producer Bill Metoyer did an amazing job with all the distractions from the pandemic. There were moments through the process that we thought it might be better to release the new album in 2021, but we decided against that idea since it’s been way to long since a new EvilDead studio album; it’s been 29 years!!!

Please tell us about the writing process and time in the studio? 

Juan Garcia: A good portion of the songs were put together by Albert Gonzales, with Rob Alaniz, and A co-writer friend of ours whose contributed to our material in the past. We started the basic drum tracks in early November, 2019 in a suburb or Los Angeles with Bill Metoyer producing. Once we got the basic drum tracks; we started exploring different guitar tones for the new album, trying different combinations of amplifiers and guitar cabinets. Once we found the ideal sound for the mass of the new album we dove right into guitar rhythms with Albert, and once the basic rhythms were completed we jumped into the bass tracks with Karlos Medina, we took our time with the bass. I layed down additional rhythm parts, and additional guitar textures, some guitar solos as well. Phil Flores jumped right in and started working on the vocal tracks; this took sometime because we were in the middle of a pandemic, so scheduling the recording sessions was not so easy. In between vocal recordings, Albert and Rob would come to the studio to check on things, and Albert would lay down some killer additional solos, and ideas, we added back up vocals, then continued recording lead vocals. We would take the material home and listen closely; we made some changes to some things. I re-recorded some of my parts, then Albert re-recorded additional parts as well; we even went to another studio to record additional guitar solos to get a different fresh vibe. It was a grueling process no doubt about it. I am very proud of everyone’s contribution, and we cannot wait for the fans and metal community to hear our new album.

When I think about the title of the new album, i think about the whole black lives matter thing and other people who stand up for their rights/freedom on the whole planet. It looks like the world is shaking on it’s foundation…What are your thoughts about this…when you call the new album: United States of Anarchy..?

Juan Garcia: Well, there are lyrics about social-issues that’s for sure, it’s interesting how it makes you think about the Black Lives Matter movement, a good portion of those lyrics were penned a long time ago in the 90s by a co-writer friend of ours Bob Rangel. Phil also contributed lyrics as well to songs like “The Descending” and “Seed of Doubt” and also “A O P / War Dance” it’s an interesting combination of thought provoking lyrics that EvilDead is known for that’s’ for sure. As a band we do not shy away from controversy in our lyrics. This album has lyrics about war, religion, social issues, governmental issues, environmental issues; it’s an EvilDead record what do you expect?

I really hope you guys and the rest of the bands can tour and visit Europe again. Do you see any light at the end of the tunnel or will the so called: “New Normal’ without the big festivals etc will get the overhand..?

Juan Garcia: Eventually once this pandemic goes away which I think it will. We have plans to tour and promote our new release. I would like for us to play festivals, and club shows as well. We cannot wait to meet the fans who’ve supported the band for so long through all the years. This album is dedicated to our fans and the metal community alike. These songs come off real good live, and we hope everyone can stay safe so we can get back to what matters and that’s concerts, music, and having a good time.

Why the cover song: “Planet Claire” will only be released as a bonus on the LP/Vinyl and not on the CD-Digipack album?

Juan Garcia: The record company needed a bonus track for the LP/Vinyl version, and also the digital version of the album. We had this idea to cover “Planet Claire” for a long time; I think we did a great job making it sounds heavy and unique. Phil did a real good job with the vocals, and Albert did a great job with his solos not only on this song but the whole album.

Why you guys choose this  song from the B-52’s to cover and use it for a bonus in the LP?

Juan Garcia: Like I mentioned, the record company needed a bonus track, and requested it. We had an idea to cover this song way back in the day, like in 1988-89 but never did. In a way I’m glad we waited and forgot about the cover song idea. Because it fits the times perfect; it’s such a strange year and “Planet Claire 2020” is a weird song to cover no doubt, we like strange, we like challenges, and I think we did a great job with this song. Most importantly, we had fun in the recording studio.

When you think back about the 80’s when the ‘golden time’s’ of Metal where at a high level and you guys played with Dark Angel, Possesed, Cryptic Slaughter, etc what are your thoughts about this time more then 30 years ago..?

Juan Garcia: Well that was an amazing debut show for us as a band! In a way the 80s have somewhat returned in Los Angeles in my opinion. There is a whole new generation of thrash/metal heads supporting this style of music in our hometown. It’s not exactly like the 80s but similar in many ways, we are proud of our generation by introducing the youth to this kind of music, and we are proud of these young metalheads discovering and embracing thrash metal. The 80s were special era and I think once we get passed this pandemic you will see a massive appreciation for live music once again.

What where in the 80’s some of your favorite bands/artists and now 2020..?

Juan Garcia: For me, bands like Kiss, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest were very inspiring. Later on groups like Mercyful Fate, Metallica, Megadeth, Saxon, and Riot as well. There were so many killer bands in the 80s that inspire and created heavy metal music. As far as current bands that I like now, well for a few years I thought  the Power Trip album “Nightmare Logic” is killer. It’s real sad what happened to the lead singer Riley Gale, I’m very proud we got to work with Riley on the Body Count song “Point The Finger” and also the music video. Power Trip is kick ass. Municipal Waste also is another band that I keep an eye on, their music has a positive vibe and there are great live.

Do you have a last word or something that’s on your heart you want to share with the readers of Bonavox.nl in The Netherlands?

Juan Garcia: Thank you for the support and be sure to check out the new EvilDead album “United States of Anarchy” cheers! And we hope to see you in 2021. You can always find us at www.facebook.com/evildead.official for updates.