Richie Londres Of Sol Invicto
Anthony: So what have you been up to the past week man?
Richie: Were just cutting our teeth on the next EP really. Just kinda focused on that. Now weve obviously, its been nice to see how, the first one was a nice experiment to see what kind of reception it was getting. It was nice to put out an official bit of music for once because obviously we hadnt put anything out officially before. So yeah that was nice to watch how everything was being pushed around and seeing what everyone was seeing about it. We just kinda got straight back into the studio. And started working on the next batch of stuff which will be ready pretty soon man. Its all shaping up quite nicely.
Anthony: Awesome. Well I want to ask about, Im assuming its going to be Initium 2 but I want to ask you about specifically how far as reception goes the whole Dose of Metal deal [This is a reference to a review of Sol Invicto that was less than sparkling]. What was up with that guy?
Richie: Nah it was brilliant. I dont know my humor is quite like that. I like that kinda humor. When I read it I knew it wasnt, with stuff like that I knew, people shouldnt take themselves too seriously because obviously everyone in the worlds got opinions about you know everything. And at the end of the day you can only make it and if people like it thats cool, if they dont then its the same deal. And personally I wouldnt want to make something that everyone liked because that would mean you are doing something wrong really. So um its nice to do something that has got a specific audience. But I just saw a review they did of the remix for the Diamond Eyes and I could obviously tell it was quite tongue in cheek and I checked out the website and it was, and thats the way they do it and its quite funny. And I just read their review and it really mad e me laugh, and the new EP, the Initium EP and I just hit the guy up and I said Im going to send this to Steph. And the guy was like no, no, no dont send it to Steph. So it was cool and I was like no, its no problem man, the review actually made me laugh. And dont worry about it man, its all good and thanks. At the end of the day anyone who takes the time to review something even if they hate it, its still a review. So um, thats the way I see it. The guy said do you want to do an interview. And I said yeah so he sent some questions over and it went down like that. So, but thats kinda how I like to handle that. I think I do, Ive been following the EP cause we do it directly so I get to kinda follow where it goes so I track it for a little while just to see how its kind of moving around. So I think people are quite surprised when you hit them up directly. I did that to a few websites. I was like hey man, hows it going? They were like oh, uh, oh youre from the band. And Im like yeah, yeah. So its fun, I put people on the spot. But its good Ive got no problem with, I dont get upset with stuff like that. It normally works out well.
Anthony: And I have to say that the fact that you do kind of track it and see where its going and contact people, I really respect that. I feel like as far as musicians go it feels like a lot of, even small musicians are really hard to reach sometimes.
Richie: Absolutely man. I think theres that whole, you know because when I started doing music I didnt really have the business side of it in my mind too much. I started playing guitar and I used to play in a few metal bands, you know nothing serious, just jamming stuff. And I just had an idea that one day it would all kind of work you know and I think most people do. And then um, yeah early on when I realized it wasnt just going to happen out of nowhere so I kind of took the frame of mind, if I treat this like a, sounds really cold but if you treat it like a business, even though its not a business, you have to add that element into it as well. And in the previous band I was working on which was this kinda Spanish hip hop Motown sort of project I kinda did a lot of hands on stuff with that. So I basically managed it, produced it, did all the driving, promotion, basically everything. So I got to learn a lot behind closed doors about how it all worked. I actually really enjoy this side of it as well especially you know it feels really good talking to people who are into the stuff not just kinda selling yourself going check this out what do you think. If people keep coming and going oh yeah I really liked it, do you want to speak about how you did this and I really like that kind of aspect of it. I think its important. I think a lot of musicians would probably benefit from it if they, its almost kind of like if you hold back your ego a little bit, not really like oh Im unreachable. Youve got to be approachable these days I think. A bit of a mix of the 2 I think so.
Anthony: So as far as that goes do you think that it should be the job of the musician to essentially promote themselves and take a step back away from record labels or what do you think of that in particular?
Richie: In my opinion its more of a case of youve got to do what it takes if you really want to get somewhere. I think because of the way the industry has gone there is no development anymore with the major labels, they are not interested in you know, and Ive experienced it first hand, I know people whove experienced it firsthand. You cant turn up to a major label with a project, with an idea even if youve done quite a bit of work. They want to see the finished product so unless youre prepared to either sign away everything, you know sign away all your rights to your music and all your kind of ideas and let them deal with it, theyll be happy with that. Or they want a finished product with a fan base; they want everything taken care of. So I think that the position that you are put in now is you have to do that for yourself, its not a case of, ideally all I want to do ideally is just make music and send it to people thats pretty much it. By the way its worked is Ive got a lot more results by going out there myself than, like I said I think you have to enjoy it as well. Either you have to have someone that, in your kind of group that enjoys it or if you can find someone thats happy to help you promote your stuff. I think its very important that these days not so much in the past but I think now people have got to take that on board especially with the internet you can basically reach all their fans instantly. So its not a problem anymore I think.
Anthony: Well I know that the current lineup is yourself, Ajay, Bobo and Steph correct?
Richie: Yeah thats correct.
Anthony: How do you guys find that time, especially with, you know youve got altered beats going and stuff like that, how do you find time? Are you having to do like scratch tracks and then come in and come over it with something? Or how does that dynamic work in your guys work, on how you guys create?
Richie: It kinda varies. And I think thats why it has taken a little bit of time to get going because initially when we got started I was just starting to work with Steph and trading stuff backwards and forwards, seeing what works best. Because obviously people work differently in different situations. Some people like to have a full track to listen to that they can play along to. Some people like to have just a bare drum track and then backwards and forwards. Once we worked out a system, its just a case of keep sending each other music backwards and forwards. Steph might have an idea for a guitar bit so hell upload something. Ajay might have something for a bass line that he sends to Steph and we just keep trading stuff and it seems to work really well. When we get the time to, me and Ajay have been out to LA to go do some tracking with Steph for a couple of weeks. The Deftones were just here 2 weeks ago so we got Steph in the studio for 3 or 4 days. And we just kind of jammed out and chilled out. Theres no real, the best way to do it for us is to get together and not really think about anything, just throw some ideas down. And then myself and Ajay will get in the studio and start arranging stuff and see what weve got from the sessions and send it back to Steph, then send it over to Eric. Yeah thats kind of all, but its kinda free form stuff at the minute but I would like to, when we do the album I really want to get everyone together in the same place for like a good 3 or 4 weeks and have that album sound. Because at the minute, you know it is kinda difficult with the Deftones touring a lot, Cypress Hill tour a lot as well. Alex has got his own thing going on, Ive got my other projects going on but this is quite a main focus for me and Alex over here so every chance we get well put some sound into it.
Anthony: Im sure its gotta be nice to not have any specific commitments to it either. I mean obviously youre committed to it in the fact that youve invested your personal time, but you dont have a label breathing down your neck for something to get done. Its like you said more organic.
Richie: Its nice I mean, it is good to have, I mean sometimes in the past Ive set deadlines or Ive made the mistake of saying oh were going to release something by this date. And its more just to kind of get us going and then youll find something happen and you cant reach that date. So Ive kinda learned from that lesson before so I dont, we just kinda make it and when its ready were just going to put it out. So there are benefits to not dealing with a label at the minute. A label is obviously, there are some good labels out there like um Ipecac is a great label for good independent music and stuff like metal. And there are a lot of independent labels and they kinda act like the old labels used to. But these days I think theres a lot of pressure and I see a lot of bands get signed and then theyre pushed into this kind of schedule and then they never get a chance to actually sit in the studio and write a lot of music. Its oh weve got to get the single out by this date to hit this target and blah blah blah. So it does turn it into more of a job than a passion. So were gonna try, like I said the main thing for us is to get the music out to the people really. And then just go from there and if the right label wanted to work with us and they understood what we wanted to do then that wouldnt be a problem. So well see what happens.
Anthony: So you guys, you had mentioned before that you were working on Initium 2. Obviously you guys have just started working on it but can you reveal any sort of feel that this one is going to have versus the first one, which was obviously a little bit more electronic, industrial, guitar riff throughout the whole thing? But is the sound going to shift or change that you foresee or hows it going to sound?
Richie: We are going to try and basically evolve it over the next 2 EPs into the sound that weve got in our minds for the project. The first EP, Initium, was quite experimental really. We had a bunch of stuff and it didnt really fit together too well cause it was all recorded at different times. So it was getting to the point where we, we didnt want to release something that didnt sound coherent. So we just threw it into the studio and just kind of butchered it, chopped it up and went crazy and didnt think about anything. And it really came together. And it wasnt, that literally was meant for the fans, it was the case of get the music out, its an introduction to what were doing. But weve got for the next EP its going to be a lot more riff based. We got a lot more from the library to pull from like guitar wise. And the tracks are actually built around the guitars and for the first EP it was built around the drums. So this is a different kind of feel. So this one will be a lot more lead by Stephs stuff and then well bring in the electronics around it. And that will progress the third EP which is a lot more, I mean its got Dan Ford from Sic in it and theres a lot more kind of straight forward metal sound. So were going to gradually just let it evolve and take its own path but definitely bring in more guitars. Um because thats a big part of the project and its just getting everything to mesh well together. The last thing we wanted to do was just put something out that just sounded like we just got a drum and bass track and then put guitars in it and then the other way around, we got a metal track and put some electronic stuff. It needs to sound like its own thing. So it was quite important for all of us.
Anthony: So Ive read your feelings on dubstep in ag nauseum in this last interview that came out in September and Im not going to ask you about ? even though I really want to, what you think about that guy but
Richie: Ive spoken to him a few times, sent him some emails and stuff and hes a cool guy. But that, I dont know what it is. Its just the frequencies they use, or the sounds that they use, me personally I just cant relate to it, I dont really , theres no question it sounds amazing in a club as far as the sort of presence of it but the kind of dub I like is like stuff like Scorn, Techno Animal, that more kind of industrial stuff. Its got a bit more grit to it. It just seems that the mainstream dubstep is very cut and paste its just like theyve thrown it together really quickly and a lot of it, a lot of the tracks just dont work. They just kind of jump from one bass ? to the next and I, thats my opinion. I think it could be done a lot better but it sounds like its all a bit rushed. You know? They are just trying to get it out as fast as possible.
Anthony: I definitely agree with that. Specifically with that guy Skrillex, I think is what it is. It just seems like he takes a bit of a song and then just like puts some wobbles over it and messes with the drums and the pitch and then puts it out and its like, this is garbage. This is absolute garbage.
Richie: I think theres a, it seems to tie in well with the times really cause dubstep is probably, I think its the first genre thats really tied into the whole technology side of things. Its very instant, very quick and I think its born out of that kind of feeling these days where everyone needs to know everything immediately without space or time. Its right where, lets play that, let me hear this and it kind of goes well with that kind of vibe at the minute and I prefer the whole thing where you discover something slowly and sit down and listen to something and dont skip through the tracks. That sort of thing. And I think dubstep is representative of the times for the youth at the minute, especially like teens and stuff like that. I think it will evolve eventually but at the minute it sounds like no one has really got a handle on it. And every one is just trying to get a piece of the pie. Thats what it sounds like to me.
Anthony: So for you personally, when you are making music what do you pull in for inspiration or do you just kind of do it in that organic mode or do you have different things that you pull ideas from around your environment and stuff like that?
Richie: Yeah. Id say for this project in particular Im really into like riffs. As in, if I find a riff that Im really into, that I could listen to on loop for like an hour, that kind of riff. And when Steph gives us a bunch of stuff Ill spend, you know, theres been times when hes just recorded an hours worth of riffs. Just starts with something completely different and ends up with something else, and Ill be happy to just sit there for a good couple of weeks just picking out all the different bits. Just picking out my favorite bits and they kind of inspire you to make something else. You might end up with, even a drum beat, if we get a loop going it will put a bass line in your mind. I let it kind of dictate itself. If it sort of evolves that way. And Im also working with Ajay who kinda helps. Because Ill do something and then Ill get kind of stuck so Ill give it to Ajay and then hell have a mess around with it, send it back. You know exchange tracks like that. And it seems to work quite well.
Anthony: Alright. So weve already touched on the fact that you guys have just started working on 2 and there is not really a date. Do you have like a region of time that its possibly coming out that you know of?
Richie: Yeah sure. Id like to get it out; at least we are going to try to get it out, by the end of the month if we can. And if not, then the first week in October. So itll be pretty soon. The tracks are already built kinda shaped in the way that songs go but weve just got to deconstruct them and then add in the electronic side of things and really mess around with it production wise. So theres a lot more foundation to go from on this EP than the last one. The last one was just kind of a crazy, we had like 20 minutes of crazy drums which we wanted to make sense of and then bring in different elements of recordings we had previously. So this ones a lot more structured but we are gonna take it apart and then rebuild it to one thing again. And the same with the next one as well. Weve actually written both EPs they just havent been finished. It just sounds like a bands demo at the minute. Its just drums and guitars and its cool. Its got a vibe there. So we are just going to take that apart and rebuild it to get it out within the next weeks. And then once weve done that one the same thing with the next one. And that will be out about 4 weeks later. So were hopefully going to have all these out by November that Is the plan. Its good, I think weve kept people waiting for long enough so. I think it will make me feel, I think all of us just want to get the music out there and let it kinda sink in. And once we get those 3 EPs out there it will give us a good idea of where we want to go with the album. And then I think from the album it will be, that will be the sound of such. So with these EPs we are quite sort of carefree, theres no plan. We just want to put them out. I think its quite funny how a lot of people expected it to sound a certain way. And I knew as soon as we finished the EP I knew everyone was going to be all like, where are the riffs and theres not enough of this. But that made me want to release it more. We dont want to do the expected. I didnt want to come out and just do the things that people expect. Id rather it evolved with the people weve got following the band now. Theyre the people that have built up a nice foundation for the music. Its just a case of it builds slowly over time and then when the albums ready well look to, thats when the live stuff comes into it.
Anthony: Well you had said that there are different guest drummers on each of the EPs. Do you guys plan on bringing in a permanent drummer once you start working on the album?
Richie: Yeah definitely. I think thats another way that these EPs are going to be good for us because it will give us a good idea of what, because obviously every drummers got his own vibe and there are advantages and disadvantages of using different ones. But yeah weve got a fix on one at the moment but weve got a problem because we are a studio project so its quite nice that we can work with different people because you get the different inspirations from that kind of thing. For live reasons it would just make a lot more sense, and wed be a lot more focused if we had just one, we were even toying with the idea of having 2 drummers. We could do that as well. The guys that we are using right now Dan is like, hes a great drummer to work with cause hes really focused and well give him a piece of music and hell go away and write an entire song on the drums just based on what weve given him and hell come back in and well mess with it. Hes ridiculously on point. Hes like a robot. And thats the sort of person for if you played festivals; youd want someone like that driving the bad cause in my opinion the bands weakest point is their drummer. So if youve got a really good drummer youre kind of half way there to putting on a good show. So thats really important to us. But we really like working with Dan so I think hes got the versatility for us to push it where we want to go with it. Especially with, we want to bring in a lot more of the timing elements and sort of Meshuggah style sort of stuff. So hes probably the man to go with. At the minute its quite open. Well just see what happens.
Anthony: Ok. Ive got 2 more questions for you man.
Richie: Yeah, got for it man. No Problems.
Anthony: Any guest vocalist or anything lined up for these EPs or even the album so far at this point?
Richie: Id say definitely not in the EPs. Possibly on the album but, obviously by bringing in a vocalist is changing the sound quite a lot. So thats something that we are quite aware of, cause that can take it in a different direction. So we are quite happy at the moment to run instrumentals, but thats not to say we cant, with the stuff were using, we can trigger sounds and mess around with stuff on stage as well so we can do that. The focus at the minute is on the music so as soon as you bring in a front man that kind of goes to the side really. So were kinda happy where were at. Like I said the same thing about the label, if the right person presents themselves, and it works then cool but our priority is to make sure the vibe is there with the band. It wouldnt be right just to chuck a singer on there and then the focus goes away from the music a little bit.