Bryce R. VanHoosen - SILVER TALON

💿Hi, it’s a pleasure for us to have on Hardrockheavymetal Bryce R. VanHoosen of SILVER TALON. Welcome!!

Thanks! Good to be here. 

💿 Can you tell us somethin’about your early days of your career? When is this all begun and which bands have influenced you?

For me personally, I was really initially influenced by punk rock. I wanted nothing more than to be in a punk band when I was younger, so for my 15th birthday, I finally convinced my parents to get me a bass guitar. 

So I got that, and I’ve been playing ever since. Since then my interests have shifted from punk to metal, and proggy/power metal in particular. The bands that have influenced me are King Diamond, Symphony X, Kamelot, Yngwie, Sanctuary, Mercyful Fate, Nevermore, etc. 

💿Your new EP “BECOMING A DEMON” is out! Can you tell us somethin’ about its composition process? We’re really impressed about that!

Yeah, well we started composing the songs that would make up the release back in the SPELLCASTER days.

A few of them were supposed to be on SPELLCASTER’s 4th LP (which never happened). 

So once that band broke up, I took all of my ideas and held onto them and started slowly changing them into Silver Talon songs. 

Of course when Wyatt joined the band, that definitely changed the sound. As far as my process for working riffs into songs, I basically start recording little demos on my computer with drum loops, then take them to the band and we jam em out. From there we’ll add little embellishments. So I’d say it’s like 75% me working alone, and 25% jamming it out with the guys. 

💿 The real “news” in music industry is the return of vinyl; What’s your feeling about this classic format and the current music “business”?

Haha, I’ve always bought vinyl, and it’s always been my preferred format of choice. The first record I ever bought was a split LP with Bay Area Hardcore bands Filth and Blatz (affectionately titled The Shit Split). 

Ever since then, I couldn’t get enough! That being said, I guess I never paid enough attention to see vinyl’s comeback as a ‘return’ - I guess because it was always something I sought out anyway. But it’s cool that people want records again! And the music business is what it is. A lot of people complain that there isn’t a lot of money in today’s industry.

 But I recently read KK Downing’s auto-biography, and according to him, he never saw a substantial income until the Turbo album. So I’m not sure that there’s ever been a lot of money as far as artists should be concerned. 

The only difference now is that labels aren’t interested in giving bands like $100k loans anymore. 

I don’t know - I just try to do my own thing in the industry and hope to at least break even. 

💿Can you tell us somethin’about your next live projects, after an intensive tour this month? 

We’re taking a bit of time to compose our follow-up to Becoming A Demon.

 This will be a proper full length, and out sometime in 2019 on M-Theory Audio. Given the music that we play, it takes a lot of focus for us to compose new material. 

I always aim to push myself to the absolute edge of my abilities, so the composition process can be a bit frustrating. It’s an adventure and extremely rewarding, but it’s not without some blood, sweat and tears. 

💿We love the cover of “B.A.D.”.Who made it?

The cover was painted by Portland artist Alex Reisfar.

 He’s also done work for Arch Enemy and Sabbath Assembly. 

I absolutely love his style! We gave him basically no direction, and he totally knocked it out of the park. 

💿 We see a growth passion for NWOBHM and Traditional HM.. new golden era or passion for vintage?

Probably a passion for vintage and nostalgia. That era of music is obviously incredibly influential, but the new music that attempts to sound old is frankly a little weird to me. 

Like, it’s all recorded with digital equipment, so it doesn’t sound the same - it just sounds like a lo-fi digital recording. But, I don’t know, I’m probably not the best person to ask about what’s currently going on in music. I’ll discover shit from 10 years ago and think it’s cutting edge… Proud to live under a rock I guess. 

💿  Thank you so much for your time! See you soon on Hardrockheavymetal!

Thanks much for the interview!

(Pics from band's Fb)

#NWOTHM