Article | BLACK SUN: Interview with bassist Santiago

BLACK SUN: Interview with bassist Santiago

05.09.2024 | 16:03

Originally founded in Ecuador by Nicolas, Christopher and Santiago, the collaboration with and recording of THUNDERSTONE guitarist Nino ensured that the South American melodic metal band became an Ecuadorian-Finnish collaboration that found a fabulous singer in Netta and the missing piece of the puzzle. Now there is a lot of news that we asked Santiago, the bassist of the band, about.

Hello Santiago. How are you? What's the mood like at BLACK SUN?
Hello Marcel, and thank you for this interview. The mood at the moment is pure excitement! We are very happy with the results and the feedback on our first two singles “Slay The Queen” and “Drown In Sin” and are looking forward to the next single “Rise” and the album in early September.

An Ecuadorian-Finnish collaboration sounds exciting. You have been a household name in your home country for a long time. But how did this collaboration come about and how does your origins influence your music?
It all started about nine years ago when we traveled to Helsinki to record our third album “The Puppeteer” at Sonic Pump Studios. There we met Nino and were good friends and over time this relationship became what it is now, a kind of brotherhood in arms. During these sessions Netta collaborated with us on a song and since then we have felt that she fits our sound perfectly. As time went on Nino traveled to Ecuador to help us produce and record a very ambitious project, a conceptual EP with a short film. At this point we started to toy with the idea of ​​Nino and Netta becoming part of our family. After the release we do a short tour in Ecuador with Nino and Netta as part of the touring ensemble and that's when we all realized that an Ecuadorian-Finnish band was possible. Everything felt very natural and creativity started to flow. A year later we recorded the new album.

Is it difficult to communicate over such a long distance, or is it easy to do in the age of Zoom and WeTransfer? How does it work for you?
Technology is such an important tool and it's very easy to use these days; that minimizes any possible difficulties, if there are any at all. At least for us it's very easy to communicate, we have a WhatsApp group and talk constantly, more about life than music actually haha! We really are a band of brothers and a sister, getting through life and trying to support each other. As for creative exchanges, we use the Hi Noiz studio or small home studios and send our ideas to Nino and Netta. Crazy, even a voicenote can do the job these days.

With Netta Laurenne you have found a fantastic new singer. What opportunities does having this powerful woman as a singer open up for you?
As mentioned, we were lucky enough to meet her in Helsinki and collaborate with her on the song “Let Me Be”. We knew immediately that she is a unique and excellent singer and that the possibilities with her are endless. Trust us, she is as versatile as it gets. We are all very impressed with her performance and technique that she shows on the upcoming album; and we know you will be too! We all feel that Netta was the missing piece of the puzzle for the success of this band and so far it has turned out that way.

The predecessor “The Puppeteer” was released seven years ago. What happens next?
We actually have material that was created after “The Puppeteer”, but to make a long story short: During the first recordings of the EP “Silent Enemy”, produced by Nino, we decided to part ways with our former singer, as creative differences were noticeable and our friendship, which we still maintain, began to suffer. Nevertheless, the EP “Silent Enemy” (including a short film with 34 international awards) was the starting point for BLACK SUN, with Nino involved both in the creative process and as a producer. We were able to finish the EP with Nino's help and a collaboration with great singers that Nino put together.

Your upcoming album is called “Black Sun”. I find it difficult to categorize you into a genre, as you have elements of power metal, but also melodic death and heavy metal. How would you describe yourselves if you could?
You're absolutely right about categorisation, we struggle with it too, but that's the beauty of music; we don't have to be slaves to one genre or put ourselves in an exclusive category. It's hard to tell from our previous albums that we've always had a strong connection to power metal, but in “The Puppeteer” and “Silent Enemy” you could hear some other influences. For us it's great to have a bit of everything, as long as it sounds and feels right; after all, it's metal and it has attitude!

'Drown In Sin' already impressed me as a song – Thematically, it's about the decay and evil of the human species. Can you explain that a little more? Is that the overarching theme of the whole album or are there other conceptual threads?
The new album will not be entirely conceptual, but there is a story we are telling through the music videos. When you watch the videos, you should pay attention to some details that we have incorporated in all the videos; some are more explicit and easy to spot, while others are very subtle or represent Easter eggs. The fact is that humanity and civilization have been in a constant battle since their beginnings, and most of all we have to be careful what we wish for. There are many facets to this battle – be it power, religion, faith or, what is even more subtle, our own mind or body –which we try to explore with this album to gain interest and to generate self-reflection.

I also really like 'Slay The Queen' – But isn't it good to have a leader? What happens if you kill the queen?
That's a pretty good and fun fact! We had a songwriting session in Ecuador with Nino, and the day we wrote the main riff for this song was the day the Queen of England passed away. Since we are still in the early stages of pre-production, we use the name “Slay The Queen” as a demo version (if you listen closely, it sounds a bit like SLAYER), and we approached recording vocals and writing lyrics for the song, we decided that the title is pretty cool and fits perfectly with the backstory we refer to throughout the album. The song is about time being the true ruler of our lives. The invisible force that robbed us of our days, our youth, our opportunities, our dreams and our power. We all have to bow down before time. It is the only leader that everyone has to obey, whether we want to or not.

What do you think are the differences between the current album and its predecessor “The Puppeteer”? First of all, we have Netta as the lead singer in the band. Also, the songwriting approach was completely renewed when Nino and Netta joined the band. We were able to develop more complex rhythmic and heavier approaches. With Netta as the singer, we can explore a wider range and walk in different waters. We are very excited to see how people will find our new sound.

What does it look like for you after the release? What else does 2024 have in store for you? Are there any plans to present the album live?
We plan to tour Ecuador at the end of 2024 and ideally we want to finish it with a performance at a big festival in Ecuador. We are also in talks to confirm a place at a big event in January. We can't say more about it yet, but we will let you know as soon as possible. Also, a tour in Europe is planned for 2025, of course Finland will be our base and we will plan some summer festivals in Europe.

How would you describe the Ecuadorian metal scene? How can I imagine it as a Central European?
The Ecuadorian metal scene is a very strong but small niche. Down here, the music scene is home to genres very far from metal (tropical music, reggaeton, anglo-pop, etc.) so it's pretty hard to get big venues, but the scene is growing thanks to sought after local producers and bands that do everything right.

What else would you like to tell our readers and your fans?
We feel like your questions have allowed us to talk a lot about our upcoming self-titled album. Thank you so much for that! We can end this great interview by saying that we are extremely excited about what is coming. We feel like this is our best work yet and we put a lot of effort into the details; not only in the songs, but also in the videos and some additional surprises that are coming next. Be sure to check out all the videos and enjoy what we have put together for your entertainment. Feel free to comment anything you want to ask on our videos and on social media. We will try to answer as thoroughly as possible!

Photo credit: Jose Xavier Cuesta

Editor:

Marcel Rapp