From the slew of the young up-and-coming bands I have had a chance to listen to lately one that impressed me the most has been Virginia's A Sound of Thunder. When the chance came by to chat with the frontlady Nina Osegueda, I could hardly turn it down. This is how the conversation has unfolded ...
Congratulations on the release of your Out of the Darkness album. I have originally heard it a couple of months ago and submitted a quite enthusiastic review, but held up with an interview until I had a chance to actually purchase the hard copy and re-listen to the album a few more times. I am very happy to say that two months later my opinion of the album is unchanged, it is a very strong heavy metal effort. What is the general media, fans reaction has been so far? Does it very much track my enthusiasm, or has it been more “ho-hum”, “heard it before” sort of thing? How have the sales been so far, both the hard copies and digital downloads?
The general reaction has been really good. To be honest, it's a lot more than I was expecting! Leading up to this album we had basically no reputation outside of our local area, and no big money pushing us in the media, so it was awesome to see that people were actually willing to look past that and give us a chance. Most of the reviews were absolutely glowing and I can't tell you what a great feeling it is to know that people appreciate your music.
I remember that when the review appeared on our site you went on our forums and actually commented on the review and the reaction to it. Is the band actively involved in tracking the reaction to its latest effort?
Well I sure am! I'm always happy to go online and see what people have to say. I love talking to people, especially people who actually enjoyed it.
A relatively young band with a pair of back-to-back releases under its belt, does A Sound of Thunder receive many touring/booking offers, and what is exactly planned in support of Out of the Darkness?
We've received a few touring offers, including one currently that I can't mention, but for the most part we're self-financed and self-booking. Despite the success of our album, the truth is that we're musicians and not millionaires, so both love and money go into these projects. We'll be starting a Kickstarter campaign soon, to help fund our new album, and our goal is to really create a partnership with our fans. Even if we never become billionaire rock stars, if we can continue putting out music for the rest of our lives, we'll be happy.
Speaking of relatively young age for A Sound of Thunder, how did the band has come to existence? What is the history behind its formation and its current lineup?
Chris and Josh started the band with another singer, before i joined. After I auditioned (and made it, hells yeah!), we went through several bass players before we finally found Jesse. He's like the mild mannered glue that holds our puzzle together.
Northern Virginia/DC area has been in the press lately as one of the areas where median income grows, despite the struggles experienced in the most of the USA. It seems that the area is saturated with government contracts, outsourcing and some young demographics flocking to the growth. From that angle, how is the metal scene in the area, and whether any of the rich young yuppies attend any of the A Sound of Thunder local gigs?
Unfortunately, most of the young rich yuppies around her are more into the hipster scene. They're not much into heavy metal, especially our brand of traditional style. However, there's a lot of great metal fans around here and after touring the US, I must say, I was really thankful for the scene that we DO have. It's not as huge as in other places, but we're not starved for it either. In fact, we get some really awesome shows that tour through here!
The sound on Out of the Darkness is quite classic, rich, and at the same time somewhat varied from one song to the next. To me the album invoked the whole gamut of feelings, and being that I am a bit up in age it stirred memories of many a heavy metal band. How did the recording shape up and what were/are the influences on A Sound of Thunder sound?
Several of the songs on the album were already written before Jesse and I joined, but the rest were a group effort. Everything was arranged in rehearsal prior to entering the studio. Once we hit the studio, we just made a few minor tweaks to the arrangements. It was really about teamwork, and having producer Kevin Gutierrez' input was really useful in that regard.
On the topic of female fronted metal bands there could be as many opinions as there are people. With you fronting the band, the questions on that topic are inevitable. How does the band approach this topic? Are comparisons with Doro Pesch flattering or annoying?
I can't really be annoyed when compared to Doro. She's a great singer. Thankfully, I've never been compared to a bad singer! I've been compared to Nightwish a few times, but only because of our one song, The Night Witch. I'm not too upset about it, but I do want people to know that I can do a lot of things beside sing high and pretty. So yeah, bring on the comparisons, but please listen!
Having flipped through the booklet, I could see that you are one of the main lyricists for the band. The range of song topics as quite varied, but my favorite, Calat Alhambra has distinctive Spanish history flavor to it. Is anyone a history buff in A Sound of Thunder, or this is more of your ethnic/national background projecting itself? Can you comment on the other lyrics from the album?
I am a big history buff, and yes, I'm Spanish. My mom is Catalan, and I've been to Spain many times. I'm a big fan of European history, and I was so excited to finally be able to write a song about my nation's history. It's so metal and so many people don't realize it.
In life outside of the band – what are A Sound of Thunder members like? Occupations, hobbies, life stances?
I work a day job in DC. Lets just say I need to wear a suit! On my off time I love to draw and watch sports. Soccer and hockey are my favorites! Chris is a physical therapist and also writes fiction in his spare time. Jesse has a degree in anthropology and is a big video gamer. Josh studied political science in school and is a big comic book collector. We're all pretty goofy, have a lot of fun and laughs together, and generally don't take things too seriously.
Any final words for the readers of MetalReviews.com?
Thanks for listening, for buying the album, and for supporting us in any way you have. I can't thank our fans enough, and to our new fans, hang on tight...it's gonna get loud!

There are 1 comments on this interview. Last one on Sat Sep 15, 2012 12:20 pm
View and Post comments