Metal-Roos: Welcome Ricardo to Metal-Roos, it’s a great pleasure to have you here.
It’s such an honor for me to be here with you. Thanks for inviting Deus Ex Machina.
M-R: Tell us about Deus Ex Machina. How was this band born in the world of rock and metal music?
We were just a couple of friends who wanted to do music: Horacio (bass) Pedro (drums), and me (guitar/vox). As most of the bands, we started covering songs from our favorite artists. After a while doing that and a couple of shows, we started writing our own music. That’s when we released our first EP called The Modern World back in 2017, a job that will always be in my heart as the first formal music record that I’ve been involved in. But, to be honest, the final quality of the record wasn’t the best. That’s why we decided to delete that from the social networks and streaming platforms and record it again under the name Anarchy with a bunch of new songs that were written after Pedro left and Marcial (drums) and Kato (vox) came in. Anarchy is like the grown up version of The Modern World because it maintains the essence of the first lineup but takes a very big step forward with the work of the new musicians that are now part of the Deus family.
M-R: What are the main influence of Deus Ex Machina?
Well, I think everyone has its own influences. That’s quite cool because it makes us mix of a bunch of different t ideas to make something that for us is really cool. In our album you can hear references from The Beatles to Napalm Death going through a lot of things between that. And I don’t mean it in a technical point of view but in some concepts.
M-R: How was the reception of the (second) debut album Anarchy with the public?
It was really good. I mean, I really feel that people like Anarchy and that make me feel proud of our work. It took us so many time pre-producing / producing and post producing the album. Sometimes you go to bed completely happy after finishing a mixing session and you think something like “ok, this song is done. Let’s jump into the next one”. Then you get up the next day, listen to the song you mixed and it sounds like shit so you gotta start all over again until you really feel you’re done.
It was really good, after releasing Anarchy, we were featured as artist of the week in La Mega – that is one of the more important radio stations in our country (Venezuela). We got a lot of comments in our Facebook page, and some web sites shared the album. It is funny because a guy in YouTube commented something like “wow, really nice album, my mom showed this to me”. So, it makes me think that is actually a record that everybody could listen to and enjoy it.
M-R: Apart of that, previously a single was released, which is Don’t you know god hates? and is not included in the album. Was this decided before releasing Anarchy?
It actually wasn’t. Don’t you know god hates? wasn’t planned at all, not for Anarchy or even to be a single. But that’s how music works, sometimes you got this inspiration coming out from nowhere and you do something really cool with it.
It’s an instrumental song that’s full of anger. The video talks a little bit about the atrocities that the human beings have committed, and a lot of times in the name of god. That’s why it’s called Don’t you know god hates?.
The single had a very good reception much like the album. It was so much fun working on it because I did it with a different producer. In fact, if you hear carefully, the sound of Anarchy, and the sound of the single it’s quite different.
M-R: How do you see the Venezuelan metal movement?
There’re a few bands doing interesting things. Venezuela has always had such a talented musicians. And not just in metal genre, but in hard rock, punk, indie, and any other rock sub-genre. Obviously, thanks to the crisis, we’re experimenting a lack of spaces to show our music, but we’re always trying to turn around that situation.
M-R: Any future plans of Deus Ex Machina?
Sure! The tour will continue in 2020 around Venezuela. We’re also planning to release our first video for The Modern World. Plus, we will do some acoustics as well and may record some singles. We can’t stop doing music. I’ve a bunch of ideas for new songs, and in a future, a new album. But I think that for now, Anarchy still have a lot to give
M-R: Thanks for the interview, Ricardo. It’s a great honor to share time with you. Tell us your social media to follow the band and listen your debut álbum.
Thank you for having me; the honor fore sure is mine.
You can follow Deus Ex Machina on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify and YouTube
Interview Date: 2019-12-05
Interviewer: Jhossbert Gonzalez