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The Gauntlet: A Dozen Furies |
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It's not bad enough that Marc Serrano and A Dozen Furies were required to endure the embarrassment of the sometimes absurd trials and tribulations during their road to victory on the highly popular Battle For Ozzfest show, The Gauntlet decided it would be pretty entertaining to give them a hard time as well. In a conversation held just a couple of hours before the time of this posting, The Gauntlet's Erin Fox found out that ADF axeman Marc Serrano is not only responsible for taking part in one of the top 10 metal albums of the year, he's also custodian of a pretty fair sense of humor. The Darren Doane directed video for the band's pummeling cut "The Cycle" premieres on Headbangers Ball Saturday September 17th.
The Gauntlet: Hello, is this Marc from The Twelve Furries?
Marc Serrano: Yes sir...
The Gauntlet: So, what is it like for you to be a furry?
Marc Serrano: Well, you know, I've gotta keep myself groomed and all that, you know?
The Gauntlet: You know, I've seen a lot of pictures of furries parties on the Internet. Are those all guys in those suits?
Marc Serrano: What? Furry party?
The Gauntlet: Yes of course, you're for The Twelve Furries, right?
Marc Serrano: Man , if that's not one of a million different things that we have been called…
The Gauntlet: So you play metal?
Marc Serrano: Yeah, yeah. Well, It's a furry kind of a metal, you know?
The Gauntlet: How did you get into doing that?
Marc Serrano: Aw, man, you're killing me now…
The Gauntlet: It's gonna get worse. Just have a good sense of humor, man.
Marc Serrano: You said it's gonna get worse? Good, I'm glad.
The Gauntlet: So what makes you want to dress up in those cute furry suits and play metal?
Marc Serrano: Man, you know, you gotta try something new, you know? There was a big Furbies craze. Might as well just roll with it.
The Gauntlet: So you have a star on your record, right? Does that mean that you are religious?
Marc Serrano: No, not at all. We try to stay far away from mixing the metal and the religion.
The Gauntlet: Why did you put a star on your record, then?
Marc Serrano: There's no star on our record…
The Gauntlet: There's not? Let me look at it. No, wait, it's has a teddy bear on it. You guys have given us a teddy bear record.
Marc Serrano: That's the PC version, I guess.
The Gauntlet: I'm not sure what I've got here. What's the deal with the choruses in the songs on the record, man? Don't you think they're kind of wimpy in comparison to the rest of your music?
Marc Serrano: Ooooh…damn! That was rough!
The Gauntlet: Well you know, I mean it's like you guys will be going through this really heavy thing and then suddenly, it's like "What did these guys just turn into, a puss band?"
Marc Serrano: Hey, man, I think that's one of the shining parts of our music, if you ask me.
The Gauntlet: Are you doing those just because you'll have a harder time getting laid on tour if Bucky is screaming all the time?
Marc Serrano: (laughs out loud) That does help with the ladies, that's probably for sure.
The Gauntlet: So that probably takes away a lot of your free time to beat off, with all those wimpy choruses…
Marc Serrano: (laughs harder) I guess the more metal you are, the more you have to jerk off, the less ladies you're getting.
The Gauntlet: Why are you even doing this to begin with? Do you think that you'll make any money dressing in furry costumes and going out and playing metal? Believe me, buddy, you ain't gonna make a dime. Nobody in this industry makes any money. Everything is for trades.
Marc Serrano: Shit, man. I think if you ask me, you've got nothing but metal bands screaming all the time. It gets way too repetitive for me.
The Gauntlet: What do you call your music? Do you call it metalcore?
Marc Serrano: …No, I wouldn't say we're metalcore…
The Gauntlet: Well, you're not very cool then.
Marc Serrano: Yeah, I know. We don't follow the trends, I guess. Although some people may say that they think we are.
The Gauntlet: Well, what do you think of metalcore? Who is the best metalcore band going. I have to talk about metalcore because it's so hot.
Marc Serrano: Metalcore band right now?
The Gauntlet: Yeah.
Marc Serrano: Hm. I don't want to pigeonhole any bands by calling them metalcore. If you want my opinion, you want one of the biggest metal bands in my opioion, of course there's Lamb Of God, Killswitch, As I Lay Dying. Those are probably the big bands in metal right now.
The Gauntlet: Yeah, those are three great metalcore bands. Do you think people are calling it metalcore just to try to sell it, like you guys dress up in fuzzy suits?
Marc Serrano: You've got to give up on the fuzzy suit thing, man.
The Gauntlet: Well, The Twelve Furries is a very original idea and we think that it's important to give your activities the exposure they deserve. Say, do you ever look at The Gauntlet? It's a great site, mostly because of the metalcore bands that are on there.
Marc Serrano: I've been to The Gauntlet before. I believe there are some pictures of us from Ozzfest up on there, actually..
The Gauntlet: Yeah, we have pictures and ads and words and everything. The Gauntlet fuckin' rocks. So tell me, why would want to be in this band when you could actually do something where you can have a life?
Marc Serrano: …Like what?
The Gauntlet: Oh, I don't know, like a plumber. Fuck, Electricians don't do so badly, they do pretty well.
Marc Serrano: Shit…there's no soul in that.
The Gauntlet: So what are you trying to do here man?
Marc Serrano: I'm trying to make a living doing what I love, that's what I'm trying to do.
The Gauntlet: How is that working out for you?
Marc Serrano: It's not really paying the bills. But I get to tour and play, I feel like I'm reaching some kids with the music.
The Gauntlet: Right on.
Marc Serrano: Doing what you love and hanging out with your best friends, I don't know how you can ask for more than that.
The Gauntlet: Cool, cool. That's very cool. What do you guys do, just get all wasted and start playing your instruments? Is that how you come up with your music?
Marc Serrano: No, when we are writing or rehearsing or performing, we don't drink or do any kind of drugs.
The Gauntlet: Wow. So you guys are a straight-edge band, then?
Marc Serrano: No, we're not a straight edge band by any means, but when it comes to performing or playing, we don't party. We drink and things like that, but when it comes to performing, it's done with a clear mind, you know?
The Gauntlet: For real. Do you think it's better to watch the band perform if you're completely wasted?
Marc Serrano: Uh, well man, it just kind of depends. I guess it depends on the individual. Some people like to get fucked up and watch bands and have a good time. They enjoy watching music when they are wasted. Other people are gonna pass out and miss the show anyway.
The Gauntlet: Right.
Marc Serrano: I can't really say either way. I like to watch shows clear-headed, because I like pay attention to the music and pay attention to the performance. That's kinda my vibe.
The Gauntlet: How did you guys get lucky enough to get a record deal in the first place? That's a pretty hard thing to do…
Marc Serrano: Getting a record deal has a lot to do with luck, it's pretty much a competition amongst bands. That's kinda what it is, everybody gets their break one way or another, We just happened to get ours from a shitty MTV show.
The Gauntlet: Hey, MTV does have some shitty shows, what do you think is the shittiest show on MTV?
Marc Serrano: MTV is full of shitty shows. It ain't full of good music, I'll tell you that.
The Gauntlet: So you guys are going to be on the Jamey Jasta show then?
Marc Serrano: Headbangers Ball?
The Gauntlet: Yeah. The Jamey Jasta Show...
Marc Serrano: Actually our video is premiering this weekend on Headbangers Ball.
The Gauntlet: Well, hell, that's pretty cool.
Marc Serrano: Headbangers is pretty much the only show that's left for metal, it's the only place to see metal videos…
The Gauntlet: Do you really give a damn about other kinds of music?
Marc Serrano: I listen to soft stuff, I listen to heavy stuff, I listen to a little bit of cool country, so…
The Gauntlet: Tell me about the video…
Marc Serrano: There gonna be seeing a lot of headbanging, fireballs, explosions literally ten feet from us. It was a pretty brutal video to make. Your first video is basically a performance piece, showing the people what you can do. Metal videos aren't about storylines. It's basically five dudes rocking out and playing their instruments. It was definitely real brutal to make and fun.
The Gauntlet: I'm sure people will love it. Tell me what brands of gear you use. Do you play whatever they give you or do you play what you really like to play?
Marc Serrano: We were lucky enough to get some endorsements from the companies we really enjoyed as opposed to; a lot of bands take what's thown at them as opposed to getting the right deal. A lot of companies throw all kinds of stuff at new at you just because you're a new artist. We tried to pursue the gear we really like, what we really wanted, the gear that we were already playing. We play Jackson guitars and Mesa-Boogie amps, Keith plays Ernie Ball basses and Ampeg amps.
The Gauntlet: So you weren't willing to just settle for any free stuff you could get.
Marc Serrano: No, I've been playing Mesa-Boogie amps for five years now. Jackson Guitars is a big company and they don't give away any free guitars. We had to buy the guitars. We got a deal, but I could have gotten free guitars from a lot of companies. But still, I'd rather go with a company I'm familiar with, a guitar I feel comfortable with as opposed to saying "Here's five guitars, please play our guitars"
The Gauntlet: Tell us about the production on the album, it has some of the strongest production values that metal fans will hear this year. Right from the first notes, when you hear the acoustic guitar in the intro, you know that you're in for a great album. When you hear that tone, there's no way that you can't know that the rest of the record is going to be badass.
Marc Serrano: Well you know, instead of taking a major-label, big budget route, going for a big producer that knows how to do his usual routine, he has his ways, his routine and you're really just another project fro him, we came home and we did it with the guy that did our first EP, Braxton Henry and I've known Braxton for six years. He tracked the very first demo that I ever did for my first band. He knows us, he's a really good friend of the band. He's a musician and a guitar player. All around, he's one of our really good friends, so, he has never done anything major-label and we wanted to give him the opportunity. He knows us and he knows our music better than anyone else and he put the heart and the time into it. From the beginning, we wanted an amazingly sounding sonic record and that's the way we approached it and we had Josh Wilbur come in and mix it. He came in and added that whole extra element. Like you said, I think that it's one of the most solid sounding albums, metal albums to come along in a long time.
The Gauntlet: I agree. It's a fantastic record. Best of luck with the band, Marc and thanks for having a sense of humor, man. We really dig your band around here and hope that you do really well for yourselves!
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