Interview with Juan Garcia & Bruce Hall By Mike Exley
Agent
Steel have always been the band to conjure up thoughts of the extra-terrestrial
and the generally ‘out there’, but, as Mike Exley finds out from guitarist
Juan Garcia and vocalist Bruce Hall, there’s much more reason for this
band’s longevity than just a few spells and a bit of hocus-pocus.
If
you were Juan Garcia, guitarist with Agent Steel, you may well have thought
you’d blown it in the UK. ? Sure, there’ll be a few people still buying the
material and older readers will remember their last visit to these shores in the
late 80’s when the band were promoting the classic triumvirate of ‘Mad
Locust Rising’, ‘Skeptics Apocalypse’ and ‘Unstoppable Force’, but few
people noticed the album ‘Omega Conspiracy’ in ’99 despite a deal with
Candlelight and even fewer would have possibly joined us in a romp through their
latest opus ‘Order Of The Illuminati’, coming out as it does in a
collaboration between Garcia’s own label, Artillery, King Records (Japan) and
Italian label Scarlet, were it not for a tour with Exodus through Europe, which
hit the UK. full in the mush and brought Agent Steel right back, to put the
situation bang to rights. Of course, this isn’t the same band we saw all those
years ago – vocalist John Cyriis has been out of the band almost as long as
Bruce Hall has been in, Juan spent years doing Evil Dead which never really
filled the gap, and the band has a new drummer in Rigo Amezcua who replaced
Juan’s long time Agent cohort Chuck Profus, but the set that night was full of
the old drive and desire, and, as Juan explains, he feels the UK. understood
just what the band were getting at despite not having them on the doorstep for
quite a while.
‘I
feel we made a really good impact, you know? It’s all part of a learning
process again; them about us and us about them again, because it’s been a long
time. It’s kinda like the whole deal behind the album ‘Order Of The
Illuminati’ too. Why that came out on our own label, why we were on that tour
with Exodus and Nuclear Assault rather than headlining etc….’
‘It’s
all about wanting control. I’ve been working for several years at a record
company called World War Three. We’d done some black and death metal, some
progressive stuff like Cage and stuff and had picked up a lot of ideas. WW3 lost
their distribution deal, and we decided that Agent should come under our own
wing, so I just kinda started to research how to licence stuff and keep it in
house at the same time. I got a deal with a friend of mine at a company called
The End and we just started moving this stuff to journalists we wanted and to
companies around the world we knew would work it. We’re seeing money back from
it already and that’s a first, I can tell you! Scarlet came first for Europe,
then King Records for Japan.’
Had
you learnt further from the experience of the ‘Omega Conspiracy’ record in
‘99 that had seen both Candlelight and Metal Blade work on the band?
‘Yes,
to a certain extent because we really felt that that album deserved more. As the
first album without John Cyriis, it was a vital time for the band, and really,
those guys didn’t exploit it too well. It was a strange time for the band back
then actually and I’m glad we’ve stuck at it because now there’s so much
more interest and people are being very positive about the outcome. John and the
band now get on really well actually. We spoke at length about the whole thing
and I really think it’s fine now.’
People
reading your website could make more than unhealthy comments about the
sentiments towards John and Chuck Profus still being very close to the band; it
doesn’t seem to give the green light to the new guys?
‘No,
that’s really not right. Bruce and Rigo are here now and the band is great,
but you can’t deny the presence and the friendship John and Chuck brought to
this band and continue to bring to this band. They were a very important part of
the progression of the band and no one forgets that. Chuck broke his hand before
a very important tour and we were very disappointed that he felt he had to
retire from playing, but that’s the way it has to be when you get older and
you learn about people more. It hurts for a while but in the timeless process of
Agent Steel, it doesn’t really matter. We had the songs, we had to record them
– and, in fact, Chuck called me just before we left for the Exodus tour to
wish us the best……!’
That
tour contained many bands who’s careers had ‘restarted’ – line up’s
that had reformed as you yourselves had in ‘99 (Exodus, Nuclear Assault, Grave
etc.). What are some of the most obvious differences now?
‘Musically,
we’re tighter than we’ve ever been, it’s like a second chapter for the
band, and we’re learning a whole new set of rules……; we’ve progressed
musically a bit more; I loved the old stuff, the thrashier stuff we used to
write, but it’s a little more expansive now…., and everyone seems more
comfortable with the direction of the music. Take Bruce. When he first joined
– on ‘Omega….’- he felt he had a big gap to fill, to fill John’s shoes
if you like; a lot of the lyrics he had to sing were about aliens and concepts
of X Files stuff and conspiracy theories, but he’s more comfortable now
because he’s been able to express his own ideas a lot more. There’s more
human emotion there and, of course, there’s still ‘conspiracy’, but it’s
on a whole different level.’
Ah,
yes. Those ‘Illuminati’. Just what the heck is an illuminati?
‘Well,
this is way deep but I guess it’s just exploring the idea of total control. A
bunch of very high up people who control all Government, the banks, you know,
everything around us. We freely admit not having evidence for this per se but
it’s a great idea for an album and lyrical concept. Bruce will talk about
people like David Icke, the English guy who goes on about all the conspiracy
stuff – he’s a bit out there (AUTHORS FOOTNOTE; Just a bit! Shows what
presenting children’s TV. can do for you, folks at home!!), but there’s a
lot of people who speculate that there might be some truth to it and you never
know? You could write a movie on that stuff and it kinda fits the Agent Steel
fun ethic too……. Fundamentally, it’s more in tune with the whole vibe of
Agent now. The music is more mature, more balanced. The songs are more mature,
hell; even the writing process is more mature because we all work in the same
place at the same time, which didn’t always happen….. It’s just a big step
forward.’
And,
as if by magic, Bruce Hall appears…………
‘Hey,
I really want to add a bit to Juan’s stuff there. ‘Illuminati’ is really
only half a concept album if you like. The first six tracks explore the whole
concept in a running theme, the rest kinda go off on different tangents, but it
comes down to a few basic ideas that grew out of books and conversations Chuck,
myself and Juan had had even before the songs. I read a lot. I mean, I’ll have
my head in a book all the time and if I trust the person I’m reading I often
take a lot from the text, my own personal slant on it. The Illuminati kinda grew
from people like David Icke as Juan mentioned. I don’t share his bottom line
agenda as such – he definitely has a confrontational agenda I would say, but I
observe his thoughts and I’m drawn to agree with them a lot. The world is
undeniably run by banks and big corporations – they certainly place people in
positions of power through financial backing and such like, so that’s where
the idea started. You have it in Europe with the EU. The amalgamation of power
into large bodies, like the United States Of Europe run by ghostly committees
and people in the background….. people losing their identity to the big
corporations – the illuminati. Big Brother is here! And the worst thing is
that it works, you know? When people realise, their privacy is going to be
history.’
How
different is this from your input on ‘Omega…’ say?
‘It’s
more political and less of the extraterrestrial, I’d say. There’s a sci-fi
theme of course; the idea of turning Jupiter into a second sun for the Earth by
igniting it’s gaseous layers with nuclear weapons and hence cutting out
darkness so that the people running the Earth can have total control is
unlikely, I’ll admit, but in theory, it’s fascinating. I’m also completely
down on the religious zeal in the world. It doesn’t matter which;
Christianity, Satanism, Judaism, Buddhism, whatever – I’m not interested
because everything they do which is bad, and there’s even some really zealous
people out there who would advocate Armageddon if they could get away with it
– is justified by their religion. Not good! See the light – religion has
caused so many problems, man!’
‘Seriously
though, when we came up with the ideas for this, Juan and I knew that you had to
keep to the feel of Agent Steel first and foremost, but also move the band
forward because obviously the past is the past in the long run. I’ve read that
I’m being compared to Halford or Dickinson, and all that’s nice; I mean, I
could do a wicked Kansas, I could step right into that band, but it’s very
important to better myself both lyrically and musically and take Agent Steel
forward by doing that.’
Carrying
on the reference to light as you did, do you think you’ve ‘seen the light’
so to speak, in how the band works as a unit? Juan’s back into the flow….
‘I
think you’ve just got to be more realistic. Unless you’re Metallica or
Slipknot it’s hard to make money and survive in the business now. You’ve got
to release records, especially with all the downloads and MP3 possibilities,
you’ve got to tour and sell merchandise and you’ve got to work harder and be
more truthful, in a way! I know critics talk about bands reforming and cashing
in on the resurgence of metal, or whatever, but if we wanted to cash in we’d
have been exposed long ago. You live by each record and you’ve gotta keep it
fun too. I love getting the lyrics from Bruce, putting the artwork together, the
whole thing. If you keep it close to the band, it’s way more enjoyable, for
us, at least.’
That’s
your secret then?
‘Sure.
Bernie produced the record, I co-produced it. The budget wasn’t as big as
we’ve had in the past, but that’s the way we keep it fun and it’s why
we’ve started to see something tangible from it. In the past, on
‘Omega…’ for example, we experimented more, dropped some of the tuning and
tried some different ideas, but, I don’t know, it didn’t seem appropriate
for this one. ‘Illuminati’ was all about our roots, standard tuning, no
bullshit, and it’s more of an Agent Steel album for me……… We just
released a single before Christmas – ‘Earth Under Lucifer’ – Lucifer not
Satan, by the way – the planet Jupiter renamed Lucifer exploding and being
like the second sun in the sky, having no darkness on earth – it’s one of
the parts of the ‘illuminati’ conspiracy. That included some bonus material,
live versions of some of the old stuff, ‘Unstoppable Force’, ‘Mad Locust
Rising’… Then we start writing again and we’ll see how it goes. We have an
idea for a DVD too, which was supposed to happen on the Exodus tour at the
Polish show in Warsaw; but that got moved and became unworkable so it’s still
to be finished when we go back there this year.’
Let’s
briefly talk about guitarist Bernie Versailles. He, of course, still has the
Engine project with Ray Alder?
‘Of
course and that’s very important. I have the record company, Bernie does
Engine when he can and it’s vital because Agent is such a strong entity for us
that you need to keep refreshed. Agent is a band that lives for the spirit of
Heavy Metal – ‘Order Of The Illuminati’ is, to me, a true Heavy Metal
record and you need to express other stuff to keep you refreshed. Take the solo
for example. Is it a dying breed or what? Not there in Europe but in the States
it only seems to be us, Exodus and the real Heavy Metal bands that keep that
part of the song. Take Metallica for example. No solos! I like some of the songs
on the record, but they spent a million dollars on it? I don’t hear a million
dollars, sorry!!’
On
your website there’s a quote from you which goes, ‘This album will fall
short if it aims to expand the fan base.’ Does this mean that you’ve now
decided who are your true fans and you’re going to really only, give them what
they want instead of trying to diversify? Bruce, discuss….
‘Hmmm?
No, I think that it’s now really silly to specifically target anyone
particularly. I for one have advocated changing the name of Agent Steel and
Chuck kinda agreed with this too. By doing that it would allow me more room
vocally because I have more of a range that could be explored but fundamentally
the music would not change because it’s what the whole band likes as a band. I
prefer some of the lower stuff vocally and I blend it with Juan’s ideas but
really you play what makes you happy and I’m totally happy with it as it is at
the moment. I just hope everyone who listens to it gets the point and enjoys
what we do.’
Juan
chips in. ‘I see Bruce’s point on this one but for me I’d prefer to have
no name at all really so there’s no preconditions. Have a symbol or something,
add the great music we all love as a band and see what happens. Who knows? When
we do the next album, you’ll all see the results………. If somebody did
that it would be cool, break the whole cycle thing of image that dominates metal
now. Would it be us? Well, we’ll write another twenty songs and we’ll put
out an Agent Steel album or a ‘symbol’ record, whatever. What is important
is the quality of the songs – call us whatever you like!’
Indeed,
bring it on and keep those conspiracy theories fresh. For more information on
the availability of ‘Order Of The Illuminati’ in the UK. write to agentmetal@aol.com.
Band Pic by Mike Exley © 2003
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