Target are a Prog-Tech Death Metal 4 piece band out of Santiago,Chile.Target have developed a solid reputation in their home country and have been crannking up their brand of metal since around 2011 with 3 releases out the first being “Knot Of Centipedes“then the “Blackwaters EP” and the latest “Deep Water Flames” is really their crowning achievement so far and sets the Target guys up for a big future.Target have recently also released their music on Australis Records and are looking to really expand and unleash their brand of Metal to the rest of the world. Recently I got the chance to have a chat with Luis guitarist for Target.
Tech Death Powerhouse Target from Chile in South America thank you so much for making the time to have a chat with Crannk and Myself Jai’That Aussie Metal Guy’ I really do appreciate it.And congratulations on a really great album “Deep Water Flames” a really awesome release.
Jai; First off can you tell us a little about Target who are Target and how did you form?
Luis: Well, we’re a metal band from Chile, defined by the media as a death/post/prog metal band, but we defined ourselves as musicians who likes to mix different styles. We really enjoy the chance to write with no boundaries, so for us to be defined in a specific genre is only a coincidence.
The band started as a melodeath band influenced by the Swedish scene but as the time pass (including a few line up changes) the band started to seek for an unique sound. After several tries, we finally got a bunch of good songs, which were included in our first LP “Knot of Centipedes” where we started this amazing journey of experimentation and chaos.
Jai: When and how did you first get into playing music?
Luis :I started influenced by the big names in the grunge scene (by the year 1994-5), especially by Alice in Chains, but I was immerse into a lot of different rock and metal styles really quickly. I was in love with how fast thrash and death metal sounded to me and of all the melancholic riffs and atmospheres reached by black metal and post rock. So I’ve been musically raised immerse inside the dynamics of music.
Jai; How did you first get into heavy metal?
Luis :I fell in love with metal as soon as I listened to the “Chaos A.D” from Sepultura, it’s been a journey so far but I always come back to them when I don’t know what to do. Then I discovered all the classics and, after an intense research, I found myself immerse into a lot of bands and their influences.
Jai: What were some of the influences that have helped and inspire you as a musician?
Luis :My influences have varied throughout the years and I’ve found several sources of inspiration as time passes, but I could mention Pink Floyd, Swans, Mar de Grises, Criminal and Sepultura as the main ones. In each one of them I’ve discovered a piece of what I do today, so to me is really important to keep discovering new music as well as come back to basics once in a while.
Jai: What is the metal scene like over there?
Luis :Nowadays the Chilean scene is more active than ever, the bands are taking more risks in making music and there’s an interesting movement of professional young players bringing new blood to music here. Chilean bands are trying to tour over South America and Europe and investing more in production for their records. My only concern is that there’s a part of all these new players making music only from their laptops and selling them to the world as “projects” that you’ll never see in live performances, repeating the same tone and structure of foreign bands, and to me this could be a slow agony for metal music here in Chile.
I understand that it can be quite seductive to sell something as fast as a solo project made from your own room, but “that way” is killing all the rehearsal experience that gives you being growing up with your bandmates, challenging each other to be better everytime…to me is something highly important, to generate that connection for years and after a few years make a great record from the rehearsal room to the world. To me is irreplaceable.
Jai: What would have to be the one track you really love playing live and why?
Luis :I love to play our new album “Deep Water Flames” in its entirely, but it has a track order for a reason, so to me the most important song is “Inverted Gloaming” because it was the first song I made for this new era and it reminds me why it’s so important to be challenging yourself every day.
Jai; The latest release from Target “Deep Water Flames” is a feast of tech death delight, How did you approach the song writing and song creation on this release?
Luis :To make a tech death album it was not into our conversations, so if it sounds that way is just because is the result of a constant search for new sounds. To me it was very important to make a record quite different than “Knot of Centipedes”. I wanted to make a bunch of songs that defied the listener to immerse themselves into a journey, but at the same time to make songs that allow us to bring different rhythms characteristic from South America and they are not easy to create or to perform. It was quite challenging to have “groove” and slow parts within a same song.
Jai: Can you tell us a little about the recording process as well?
Luis: We tracked the album mostly in Orange Studios with Erick Martinez, we took the enough time in order to make sure that everything will sound and feel right and tight. We had never had the chance to be focused only in the recording process, so for the first time we did it with our heads and souls 100% on it and it was an unique experience for us. Our families understood it and support us so we felt free to spend maybe 2 entire weeks only tracking guitars and drums. For the mastering process we had the amazing chance to work with Jens Bogren, who has worked with worldwide names in the metal scene as Sepultura, Daylight Dies, Dimmu Borgir, among others, and it could not be a better decision. We also worked in my home studio for synths and a few arrangements.
Jai; The Track “Inverted Gloaming” rocks hard what is this track about and what does this track mean to you?
Luis ;As I mentioned above, it was the first song I made for the album so it’s quite important to me, I learnt how to open a song with no normal structure, there’s something funny on it. We experimented with clean vocals for first time with the help of Juan Escobar (Ex Mar de Grises) a closer friend and an amazing musician.
Jai; What else has Target got planned so far going into the rest of 2019?
Luis ;Well, just to keep promoting Deep Water Flames, trying to play live gigs as much as we can and start recording some demos for the next album, there are a few songs around so we want to be at the studio as soon as possible.
Jai; Target thank you so much again for making the time to have a chat with me.Keep Crannking the metal loud.
Luis : Thank you guys, remember to follow us in all our social media sites, and if you liked our music please find our albums and merch at the following webs:
https://targetchile.bandcamp.com/
http://www.australisrecords.com/store/
https://www.facebook.com/targetfromchile/
https://www.instagram.com/target_chile/
Target Chile are
Luis – Guitars
Andy – Vocals
Pelayo – Drums
Feña – Bass
Greetings from Santiago de Chile!
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