Katon

Vocals

 

 

 

 

 

Katon, How’s it going bro?

Great we just returned from a very successful trip where we played Germany and France. Back to back, incredible shows.

The last time I got to sit down with you was at the L.A metal fest, it is great to see that things are going well for you and HIRAX. For those of our readers who are not familiar with HIRAX, please tells us about your lineup.

HIRAX consists of me, Katon W. De Pena on lead vocals, our brutal brothers, Lance Harrison – lead guitars and Steve Harrison – bass, Tim Thomas – lead guitars and Fabricio Ravelli – drums. At this current time we are busy traveling and touring and our fans base continues to grow bigger and bigger everyday.

Describe your music.

A mixture of traditional old school metal and hardcore punk crossover THRASH METAL MUSIC. We continue to stay true to our roots and have maintained our original approach to the style of music that we created over twenty years ago. We love what we do and we will NEVER SELL OUT!

You and your band were pioneers in the trash movement, and I give props to you for keeping it real. You have told me before about the passion for metal overseas, please discuss this and where you see that metal is most alive.

We have been lucky enough to have the BEST fans in the world… BAR NONE! The only bands who have similar fans bases to us are Slayer, Manowar, and Iron Maiden. The U.S. metal scene is great for us, but in Europe and South America / Mexico it is 10 times BETTER! the fans there are die hards and live, eat and breath REAL METAL!! It is very normal in those countries to see whole families – fathers, mothers and children, cousins, etc. coming to shows all together. In the U.S. you are lucky if you see that at all. The clubs there are great! They serve food and booze… it’s no big deal to see children at the concerts. Nobody gets hurt and everybody has a lot of fun. We, as a band believe that we will play our music in any country that allows us to do so. We haven’t given up on the American metal movement… but it still has a long way to go in comparison to the metal scenes in Europe, South America / Mexico, etc. The headbangers are very proud of their music. They wear it on their denim and leather jackets, no matter what the weather is like. They are simply the BEST! And we, HIRAX respect them!!

In true thrash fashion, you are still a do it yourself band. How much as this improved since we now have the internet?

That is a great question. The internet has helped 1000 times over!! Now we can get the word out about our music and concerts at warp speed! LIGHTNING FAST!! Anywhere in the world, people can find our websites www.HIRAX.org and get in contact with us regarding merchandise and tour dates. It is amazing! I mean, back in the early days… it took weeks through the postal mail system to trade tapes/music and send out flyers and photos to magazines. Now all you need is your computer and you can run your own business. HIRAX has always had a Do It Yourself work ethic. We always believed in playing the kind of music that we wanted to. REAL METAL!! We never intended to become a commercial band. We have strong beliefs and a hell of a lot of integrity!!! We know that the record industry makes it’s money off of trends. So to avoid putting our music and careers in a record company’s hands… we started our own label, www.BlackDevilRecords.com . Because we run it, we work HARD!! Harder than anybody else would! 24 hours a day / 7 days a week we concentrate and focus on HIRAX. That is why we are a successful metal band. It also helps that we have so much support from the fans!! Word of mouth is one of the big things that continues to gain us more fans. People hear about our live shows and our heavy music… and they want to know more about the band. You can punch our name HIRAX into any search engine and the information will come up. You could easily say that the internet has taken us to a whole new level worldwide.

What is the funniest thing you can think of that happened to your band this year, either on the road or at home.

To be honest with you…I am so lucky to have such a great band, a great wife, and a lot of really cool people surrounding me. There is always something really funny happening!! Usually when we are traveling in between shows and we are in the tour bus/van, we are constantly laughing with each other. There is an even crazier element to HIRAX… we have two brothers in the band – Lance and Steve Harrison – they are like yin and yang… night and day. So they are constantly making everybody fuckin laugh. They are a riot. When you are traveling through different time zones, on and off planes, jet lag, long road trips, etc. you have to have a good attitude, and it really helps to have a good laugh. Right now, I am having the time of my life!


I have read the book “Sound of The Beast” by Ian Christe, that you recommended to me. Tell our readers why they should pick up a copy.

If you are into thrash metal, it is probably the GREATEST book ever written about it!! Even if I wasn’t in it… I would recommend checking it out. It describes the beginning of thrash metal in HEAVY detail. This book includes all of the history that you need to know in order to learn how it all began. I mean … no book is big enough to give you ALL of the facts… but this one is comes close. There will always be the bands that fell through the cracks – but start off with this book and it will probably set you on a path to where you will want to find out about more metal bands. What I have learned over the years is that there is so many great bands in the 80s that it will take a lifetime to get caught up on all of it! I never had enough time or money to get everything. I am still a fan as well as a musician. I truly love underground metal!! When we have time, like a day off on the road we usually go to record stores looking for obscure metal records and CDs. We find the best stuff in every country we go to! I guess you could call us collector freaks. Metal is our life!!


I also caught you in a soon to be released DVD, “Get Trashed” the story of thrash metal, you were in it a lot. What was that experience like?

I still haven’t seen the movie yet. Every time there is a screening for it in a nearby city… I am usually out on tour. I have heard nothing but good things about it. People are always writing to me … telling me that they saw it and that it kicks ass. It was an honor for me to be interviewed for the movie. Who would have ever thought that over 20 years later… thrash metal would be seeing such a big resurgence in our music. It just goes to show you that you can’t kill REAL METAL!! It will always rise to the top.

What does the future hold for HIRAX, and what are your plans?

Touring and more touring. Recording more studio albums. Releasing our second DVD. HIRAX will be very busy in the upcoming years. 2008 promises to be a very productive year for the band. We will be working NON stop to spread our message of music! The best way to keep up on what we are doing is to visit our websites, www.HIRAX.org www.myspace.com/hirax there will be postings about upcoming CDs/vinyl being released and tour dates. We promise an INCREDIBLE LIVE SHOW for all of the fans to see! And a LOT of new surprises!!

Thanks for taking the time bro, is there anything else you would like to add?

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING HIRAX!! We will see you on tour when we come through your town! SCREAM like the DEVIL! HIRAX is coming!!

For more information / tour dates / photos / merchandise / contact / etc.
www.HIRAX.org