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Interview PRYMARY
A Talk With MIKE DI SARRO
METAL TO INFINITY
Thank you very much for giving some of your time! One of my regular questions kicking off an interview is to introcuce yourself and the rest of Prymary. What is the current line-up of the band?
Thank you, Stefan. Prymary is a progressive metal band out of Riverside, California, about two hours South of Los Angeles. The current line-up isSean Entriken on guitars, Smiley Sean on keyboards, James Sherwood on bass, Chris Quirarte on drums, and myself, Michael Di Sarro, on vocals.
How long has Prymary been in existence?
Prymary initially began in 1991 with Chris and his brother Robert in Riverside and over the next 9 years the band went through massive line-up changes. Chris took his time to find the right members to complete the band he had created. It wasn’t until 1999 when the current line-up came together and we have been writing music and playing shows together ever since.
CHRIS QUIRARTE SEAN ENTRIKIN
JAMES SHERWOOD SMILEY SEAN
What other bands have you and your fellow members played in before?
All of the members of Prymary have been in miscellaneous bands along the way. Smiley and I were in a Dream Theater tribute band called ‘Awake’ for a couple of years. We played a ton of shows and actually we met Chris and Prymary playing a mutual gig. After that show, Chris and James both joined the DT project which went on for another year or so. After playing every DT song we ever wanted it got kind of boring and Chris wanted to continue to work on Prymary. At that time he and I were mutual on me taking up the lead vocal position and after a while Smiley joined on keys.
Since last years Prog Power USA in Atlanta, when Prymary played the pre-party, James and Chris have been full time members of the band Redemption with Ray Alder, Nick Van Dyk and Bernie Versailles. Other than that, Prymary is the main focus for all of us at this time as we are so close to releasing our second album.
Are you guys involved in other things besides playing in a Metal band? Maybe some other interests than playing Metal?
I think all of us are mainly into Metal and have developed our styles based on that. But at the same time we are all music enthusiasts and appreciate a lot of different genres. Metal just has a certain level of emotion that other styles of music do not allow you to express. It really facilitates getting your point across, whatever that may be.
Can you name me a few bands that catch your ears nowadays. What is your favourite style of Metal, some names please.
Well, I suppose our favourite style of Metal would be progressive, or anything that is trying to push the boundaries of standard music. Some of the bands we are listening to now are Pain of Salvation, Andromeda, Fates Warning, Queensryche, Spocks Beard, Dream Theater, Tool, Primus, Spiral Architect, Steve Vai, Mercenary just to name a few.
Personally, PoS and Andromeda are on the top of my list right now, but there are a lot of great bands out there to discover. At last year’s Headway Festival I was able to catch Watchtower and was blown away by their technical ability and their whole stage presentation. So, as you can tell by those listed, we are pretty much into bands who push the limit musically and lyrically.
How would you describe or define Prymary’s form of Metal?
The music of Prymary is an eccentric form of progressive Metal with a combination of intricately syncopated parts and traditional Heavy riffs with ear-catching melodic choruses. We use aggressive riffs with odd time signatures that display mind-blowing instrumental ability followed with melodic vocal parts that are both aggressive and mellow (for lack of a better word). The way our individual styles come together to arrive at a final product is an amazing process and results in some of the most innovative, fresh sounding music I’ve heard.
Can you give me some detailed information about the influences or where did the inspirations come from?
Each of us has our own influences and we’ve developed our own styles based on them.
Chris is a big fan of Tim Alexander and Neil Peart and he has become one of the best drummers around.
Sean is into Randy Rhoads and Steve Vai, among others, and continues to work on his unique style.
I started with Metal back in the 80’s so a lot of my influences are from the power singers of that era like Bruce Dickinson and Geoff Tate mixed with some modern day Prog Metal people like Daniel Gildenlow, James Labrie and Ray Alder.
James is into anything that is way out there. One of his major influences is Les Claypool. James has developed his style and ability well beyond the average player.
Smiley has a lot of influences but his mentor and teacher was Derek Sherinian, so the foundation is solid. He has definitely taking his chops to the next level and has a very distinctivestyle of his own.
What kind of reaction has the band gotten from the world wide Metal maniacs so far. I guess a lot of them aren’t that familiar with Prymary at the moment?
Well, Stefan, that is our goal; to get everyone familiar with Prymary! Hahahaha. Since our first self-titled release in 2003 we have had a positive response from those who have heard of us. We have sold nearly 1000 copies and over 100 CDs in Germany alone, so it seems we have apretty good following over there. I think German people are into Metal and heavier music, more so than the US. The response from Japan has also been very good. So, it seems the people who are exposed to Prymary are digging it. So, as I said, the goal now is to get our music out there to be heard.
Who came up with the idea to start a Metal band and how was the search for the right musicians?
Chris is responsible for starting Prymary. If you read our lengthy band history section on our website you’ll understand how long it took Chris to find the right people for the band he had envisioned. I had always been working with other musicians on various Metal projects and the rest of the guys have always wanted to be in Metal related bands.
You’ve told me there is a new album on the way but I want to ask you to guide me through all the previous efforts of the band.
BeforeSmiley and I joined the band Prymary was rolling along and was featured on a Fates Warning tribute album, ‘Through Different Eyes.’ Our track was an instrumental of ‘Outside Looking In’ because Prymary didn’t have a singer at the time. From there, when the current line-up was complete, we finished our first CD that nearly completed by Chris, James and Sean. After we dialled in all the songs and Smiley and I added our marks we released the album in January 2003. We also wrote a song exclusively for Prog-4-You.com, ‘Tearing Through Weakness II,’ which appeared on their 2003 release, ‘Progressive Rock For You.’ Since then we have played many shows promoting the album. Some of the highlights include gigs with Kings X, Fates Warning, Seven Witches, and in Atlanta for the PPUSA pre-party with Stride and Katagory V.
Since the first release we have also been working non-stop on the next record andwe’ve all put our hearts and souls (and two years of our lives!) into this one. It’s going to be a monumental release for us.
What kind of response did you get from the older works? What about the label response back then?
As I mentioned above, the response from fans has been great. We have our own local following over here, including some die-hards who have never missed a show! The Prog and Metal communities have received the 1st album great and we continue to sell CDs around the world. We have been both praised and slammed (nothing too bad, though) by the people who have reviewed the record. I understand that it is impossible to appeal to everyone and we continue to take any criticism constructively. Anyless than perfect comments we read make us work that much harder to perfect our sound. But the majority of the reviews have been positive ones. The labels we have contacted have shown interest and we are confident that there is “the right” deal for us out there, but to date we have not entered into arecord contract.
Time to speak about the awaiting new album Mike! What to expect brother? Some more about the title, release date, influences,….would be great to know.
Alright,Yes!!! Hahahahahaha. The new album is going great; we have everything tracked except vocals. The name of it is ‘What Little Girls Are For …’ and it is a concept album based on the troubled childhood of Chris’ wife, Valerie. The controversial subject matter is very dark at times and the recording reflects a lot of emotion to bring the point across. It is way heavier that our first CD and I think it is going to have a little of something for everyone. Therelease date is still unknown but we are looking at sometime in early February. We will all be so happy when this record is done and we can go out and play some shows again.
Where do you want to support or promote the release? Do you want to spread the album world-wide or not?
We are going to promote the record through our current sources like our website, Metalages.com, Amazon, CD baby and various magazines who review our music. We are working on securing future slots at some of the progressive festivals like Prog Power USA, Baja Prog, and Headway Festival. Other than that, we plan on networking with other bands in the US and Europe to help promote each other. And, by playing as many damn shows as humanly possible! We would like to play in Europe before the end of the year, so I guess we’d better get busy.
By the way, how does a Prymary live act looks like?
Well, I’d have to say that our shows are pretty action packed. Sean is kind of reserved, but James and I are kind of psycho when playing live and we tend to get into it pretty radically. I think it helps to bring out the intensity of the music. I’m kind of fortunate, I just get to jump all around and sing, but, the music these guys play is extremely difficult at times and I just try to support them as best I can. I will be playing guitar for some of the future live shows so I will also try to contribute in that way also. I’m confident that the average Metal head is going to like what they hear and see. We do our best to please, hahahahaha!
Is there anyone in the metal community that you would like to meet or work with that you haven't worked with previously?
There are a handful of bands we would love to go on tour with. We try to hook up with projects that are similar to our music so we draw the right crowd. Pain of Salvation, Ulysses and Andromeda would be a few from Europe. From the USA, Enchant, Zero Hour, Fates Warning (again), Stride, and Dream Theater, along those lines. We would like to be the supporting act for a well known band on a US (and European)tour who draws a Progressive Metal crowd. I think we will go over great.
Thanks a ton for sharing your thoughts with me Mike. I truly wish you all the best with the new Prymary album and if you wish to speak some last words to our readers, go for it man!
I want to thank you Stefan for the interview and for the featured spot on your site. Prymary looks forward to meeting you and the people of the Belgium and Europe in the near future. Without fans to appreciate the music we create, we are nothing. So, although we create these albums on our own agenda, it is all for the enjoyment of the people who embrace it. I truly believe the talent lies with the members of Prymary to become one of the greatest Progressive Metal bands in theworld. We will continue to improve upon our entire presentation until we achieve the recognition we are working so hard to achieve.
HOMEPAGE PRYMARY
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