Interview with THE SUMMON
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Tell us a few things about THE SUMMON (Members, Starting Year etc).
The Summon started as a single man project by our guitarist Carlos Muñiz in January 2019, during two pandemic years The Summon only existed to develop recordings, such as our first two albums "Metempsychosis" and "The Reckoning". It was until December 2021 that Adrian Sanchez joined him along with Jesus Velázquez to start with live performances. After a year of small gigs and a few dates in Mexico there was an addition to our band, Luis Velázquez came into picture playing the bass, and few months later Jesus left the band and Hector Serrano became the drummer since then and once a few months went by, we realized that we could use the guitar skills from Luis so we could get a bass player, since Luis is primarily a guitar player rather than a bass player. That was when Roy Torres joined the band, and a few months later Luis left the band and we were down. To the four members that we are today; Carlos Muñiz in the lead guitar, Roy Torres on the bass, Héctor Serrano in the drums and Adrian Sanchez on the vocals.
You have recently released your album ''Deus Vult''. What is the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
Now that we are playing only songs from Deus Vult, seeing our audience chanting our songs, shouting with us or asking for new songs fills us with pride and confirms that we are on the right track. Some local media have listened to the material and we have had a positive response from them.
Label or DIY and why?
The recording, mixing and pre-mastering of Deus Vult was done with Summoner Records under the direction of Carlos Muñiz, our guitarist, we are confident in our abilities and knowledge to present a material with the quality to compete in the medium and we are very happy with the final product that we take to the digital media. Working with a record label is not out of the question, but for now it is not in the plans.
Is there any funny or weird story from the recordings or from your live shows that you would like to share with us?
When we were doing the "Deus Vult" recordings, our bass player Roy had just finished two of the songs, however, there was something weird in the sound of the bass, after a couple listens to the track, Carlos looked at him and asked "did you tune your bass before recording?" And Roy simply giggled and said... Oops, I guess not, let me check... And Carlos just blank stared at him like one of those "The Office" takes, staring at the invisible camera, while we all laughed about it.
Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
Digital Format, in these days, it is easier to get access to all the music in digital format with the best audio quality.
Your music style is Blackened Death Metal. Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
The list would be larger to be answered completely here, therefore, here are some of them: SepticFlesh, Emperor, Meshuggah, Celtic Frost, Bloodbath, Nile, Immortal & Behemoth to name some of them. However we enjoy bands from different genres and also have inspired us, such as Aborted, Cattle Decapitation and Dimmu Borgir.
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?
Time, time to be with friends and party time.
Describe your ideal live show as a performance band. Have you already experienced that?
When you start a band you have to be aware that there are going to be many issues to face, for instance, schedule issues, poor quality backline, insufficient PA, bad organizers in general. With that said, we consider a good gig a show in which we have less or none of this problems. We're glad to say that we have experience incredible shows.
What attributes do you think that a new Blackened Death Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
Mainly, being honest with yourself, when you make music from the truth and from emotions, you gain relevance because you transmit a message that connects with people without trying to portray something you're not fully engaged or you don't believe in, therefore we believe that uniqueness can be achieved through being truthful to yourself and the music you're creating.
Do you believe that Digital Platforms help the new Blackened Death Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a band to promote its work?
We consider that music must be shared on every existing platform, at the end, this provides more autonomy to the bands, it means there is more freedom to develop the creative process.
Do you see any differences between the Mexican Metal Market & the EU Metal Market (Labels, Bands, Fans etc)?
Well there are plenty of differences between our scenes, firstly from the music education that other countries receive aside from Mexico, where to study music you need to come from a wealthy family that's also interested in music so they encourage you, and if you're not privileged to have that, you'll find much more difficulties, on the other hand, the scene in other countries is more open to have new bands having gigs and doing a nice job, while in Mexico is difficult to start gaining audience if you're just a "newbie" in the scene, playing shows, making records and so forth. But none of this has or will stop us to continue doing what we love; we know that our job will take us outside Mexico.
Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Mexico (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
The underground metal scene has been booming after the pandemic which has been a pleasant surprise, there's plenty of bands and shows every week that are from different genres and audiences, however, there's also the issue of corruption where people paying have more chances to play at bigger gigs or headlining shows. But still there's an audience for every band and also music for all tastes, also there are different organizations focused on distributing metal, such as internet radio stations, influencers, streamers and media organizations that help bands reach the accurate audience.
Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
We are huge fans of SepticFlesh and Rotting Christ.
What are your future plans?
In the short term, we are promoting our latest album, furthermore, we are in process of composing our next material. As well as creating a music video and some dates around our country.
Thank you very much for your time & keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
Thank you very much for the opportunity!! It's a pleasure to participate in Filthy Dogs of Metal and to be featured in the webzine, keep rocking Deus Vult on all streaming platforms and spread our music with your friends, and enemies. Rock on!!
By Steve the Filthy Dog.
THE SUMMON CONTACT:
https://www.facebook.com/thesummongdl/
https://www.instagram.com/thesummongdl
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1sqjAmnSRQSF1NHUXRQOqH