1. How long have you been a metalhead?
Jon Torres: Since Birth!
2. Describe your time
with Angelwitch?
Jon Torres: In a few words...Fragmented
and Frustrating. I met Kevin in 1989.I was in Laaz Rockit at the time
and we were both managed by the same individual. I tried to get in
contact with Kevin in 1982...I wanted to join AngelWitch as a second
guitarist so I sent a Warning practice tape to Bronze records C/O
Kevin Heybourne and he never received it. I (Kevin, Tom Hunting, and
I) had already recorded a 3 song demo at Prairie Sun Studios and then
added guitarist Doug Piercy from Heathen. By that time I had basically
had it with Laaz Rockit and they had pretty much run the course with
me as well so they fired me and I joined AngelWitch. We were scheduled
to do our first show when Kevin was deported back to England. He had
fired the manager and consequently he turned Kevin in for being in
the country too long...and working under a false Social Security Number.
That was the first stumbling block...I went over to England about
6 months after that so we could write some new songs and keep the
hope of Kevin returning alive. We had hired an immigration lawyer
and managed to get his papers in order for him to come back, but by
then he had decided that he no longer wanted to do AngelWitch. It
ended in late 1992.
In 1996 I got in touch with Kevin and he asked me if I'd like to reform
the band and possibly do shows in Japan. I agreed and began trading
riff tapes and writing new material...I traveled to England again
in 97 and we recorded a 3 song demo which never got finished. I went
back to the U.K. 3 more times to live there and the last time we had
managed to get AngelWitch some shows and that never materialized either.
By 99 I had spent quite a bit of money and time on AngelWitch and
didn?t really see fitting into their future. I left the band in August
of 1999.
3. What type of amplification do you use?
Jon Torres: At the moment I'm playing around with Line6
heads and Marshall Cabs. That could change at any given moment.
4. What is your guitar of choice?
Jon Torres:
One that plays great, and sounds good. I'm generally a Gibson
player, but I just got a Hamer guitar that I really like. Whatever
works...Brand name means nothing.
5. Are there any American
musical influences inside of Jon Torres?
Jon Torres:
Without a doubt Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus, Alice in
Chains, COC, Acid Bath, Savatage. And older bands as well, Kiss, Cheap
Trick, The Outlaws. Punk bands like The Ramones, The Dead Boys, Black
Flag, Bad Religion, The Dead Kennedy's. The list goes on and on.
6. What is the concept of your present band WarningSF?
Jon Torres: I don't really know if there's a concept behind
the band persay... "TheBand" is a bunch of old friends of
mine that I got together to re-record some songs that Brian Poole
and I had written between the years 1980 and 1984. If there is any
sort of concept it's the songs on the upcoming album "Aftermath".
It's by no means a new concept, but rather a redundent message that
countless artists and activists have been trying to drive home to
the populace of the world...Pay attention to what is happening around
you. In an environmental, emotional, and physical sense. When the
record is finally out...Listen to the lyrics and you'll see what I'm
speaking of.
7. What kind of music do you listen to yourself?
Jon Torres: I listen to a lot of different kinds of music...Reggae,
Fusion, R&B, Blues, Hardcore, Punk, Old School Metal, Industrial,
Goth. I think if it's done really well...The label that's put upon
it is of no concern...Not to me anyway.
8. I myself am
a musician too, what effects do you use?
Jon Torres:
I have a wide range of effects units...At the moment the only
stomp box that I use is a DOD Octaver...Line6 heads have the effects
built in so I don't use all of the effects units I had.
9.
Any hints on whats coming next from WarningSF?
Jon
Torres: Next is we need to get this record heard...Which ever
record label picks us up will have to get the product to the people.
That is job #1.
10. What style of metal would you say
WarningSF is?
Jon Torres: Old School European
Metal!! With a Bay Area twist of course.
11. The scene
has evolved, what direction will WarningSF take metal?
Jon Torres: I would say back to it's roots. We will continue
to write what we think is right for us. Were not going to turn into
Linkin Park next week, but by the same token we have new material
that is sick and twisted I think people will like.
12.
How long have you actually played the six-strings?
Jon
Torres: Oh Hell...What year is it again? I've been playing since
I was 15, but it's actually been a combination of the 4, 8, 12 strings,
Oh hell it's been almost 25 years.
13. How long has WarningSF
been alive?
Jon Torres: The band was spawned from
a band called Thunderhead...A lot of songs that are on the Aftermath
album are old Thunderhead songs...Warning was formed in late 1982.
We did shows with Metallica(W/D. Mustaine) Exodus, Blind Illusion,
Megadeth back in the day, but never really did anything with the band.
I ended Warning in 1986. It was revived in 2000.
14. What
are the ages of the members of WarningSF roughly?
Jon
Torres: I simply won't answer that! Just kidding! We range from
41 to 28.
15. Any idea when or if you guys are gonna do
any kind of a u.s. tour or maybe europe?
Jon Torres:
Hopefully starting in the spring of 2003. I really want to play
the east coast again as well as Europe?We shall be there. Look for
us.
16. Tell us about your other projects, (i4ni,Ulyssess
Siren and or others) what is the deal with them??
Jon Torres: I4NI was a band that Tom Hunting and I started
after AngelWitch...And I got Brian Poole in the band as well and we
were called Pleasure & Pain. We did some shows and needed another
guitar player...We tried out a few people...Jim Martin from Faith
No More was supposed to try out, but that never happened...We finally
got Bobby Gustafson from Overkill to come down and tryout...He seemed
to fit the bill and a week later he was in the band. We changed the
name to I4NI which was a band that Bobby had started in New York and
proceeded to do a 4 song demo and 1 live show. The compilation of
the first and second demo is out on Crookd Records. www.crookdrecords.com.
Ulysses Siren was the band I joined after Warning. Great band...Excellent
musicians and songwriters. That was an extreme band as well. Everything
was taken to the max. We almost ended up killing each other more than
once. We got back together about 4 months ago and some members had
grown up and some had not. We have excused our former parasites and
moved on. We have obtained the master tapes from the first and second
demos...We will be re-mixing and re-mastering them and re-releasing
it as a 7 song EP. If your at the Wacken Festival look for us...We
will have Siren and Warning merchandise available.
17.
How do you feel?
Jon Torres: How do I feel! Like
I've been rode hard and put away wet! You Dick...I will never EVER
be the same...This is all your fault! Your line of questioning was
absolutely scandalous!!!! You'll hear from my lawyer. This isn't over
mister. How dare you? I've never been so insulted in my life. Shruggs
and Hisses, Joseefus!
Interviewed By: Lord
Nocturnus |
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