Canada has produced some kick ass musicians and Last Bullet is yet another band who is ready to give you a taste of what’s in store with their new single “Sin”. The video for it was filmed in the 24th floor attic of Toronto’s historical landmark The Fairmont Royal York Hotel. This is the hotel that was the setting for SAW 5 and the same hotel attic in which Jim Morrison scratched his name in the wall. If you don’t believe this band has motivation, drive and above all, desire to create masterpieces worth our attention, you’re out of your mind because this band had to physically carry all of their equipment up 700+ flights of stairs to the attic just to film the video.
Last Bullet consists of vocalist, Bryan Fontez, guitarist, Brenden Armstrong, rhythm guitarist, Michael Silva, bassist, Will Shannon, and drummer, Christopher Galaz. They formed in 2009 and in these past seven years they’ve become extremely popular in Toronto. They haven’t quite become a household name in the US but hopefully that will soon change. Though technically they are seen as hard rock, they consider themselves an “everyone” band because the way they put it “they don’t care what you look like, where you’re from, or what you listen to, they will catch your attention and keep it”. Of course, there’s more to it than that but you should check them out for yourselves. It seems as if their souls intertwine with the music they play and the lyrics they write. They are true to their fans and believe whole heartedly that the live experience should always go above and beyond the recorded version of the songs.
Interview with Bryan, Brenden, Michael, Will & Chris – Last Bullet
By: Leslie Elder Rogers
Metal Exiles: You’re pretty well-known in Toronto already; how do you feel you are being received in the US so far?
Bryan: For the people who have heard our music, I think it couldn’t possibly be going better. Canada and especially Toronto can be very snobby and opinionated when it comes to Music. Especially when it comes to straight forward Rock N’ Roll. Where you guys in the US are more our style, if it rocks and you can drink a beer or shake your ass to it, you dig it, and we’re on the same page. All of the feedback from US stations, magazines, blogs and media have been very positive. We’ve gotten a couple radio stations add the song already and they’ve had fans call in who are super excited about it so I’d have to say it’s going well.
Metal Exiles: Bryan-you have a very extensive background in all styles of musical training, what was it that made you transition into rock as your preferred genre’? What made you switch from percussion to vocals?
Bryan: I’ve tried a little bit of everything, I listen to everything and I appreciate it all. But from my experience, there’s no genre of music in the world that is more dynamic than Rock. It can be mixed, fused and influenced by anything. It can be any tempo, any time signature, any key signature, played by any instrument. There are absolutely no rules of any kind and that’s why I love it. Rock is open to interpretation of what makes Rock, ROCK. It’s different for each individual. What draws me to it is the attitude, the sexiness, the confidence, the swagger, the aggression, the experience, the stories. It’s a genre that’s full of history and character. For some reason it moves me and speaks to me more than any other genre of music. Singing Jazz and Opera, playing Trombone in classical pieces back in the day, I loved it all. But I didn’t feel like I was fully getting out all of my frustrations, emotions, passions and inspirations. I always loved rock music but once I actually began playing it live with a band, I was hooked.
Metal Exiles: As a band, do each of you contribute to the writing of the music or is that basically left up to one person and if so, who and why?
Bryan: Our lead guitarist Brenden and I are the primary songwriters in the band. Ultimately we usually end up firing off all of our current ideas from best to worst and we’ll bounce them off each other and try our best to explain how we envision the song sounding or coming across until one of us becomes inspired enough to really want to hear how that song is going to sound finished. That's usually how a song goes from being just an idea to becoming a finished product. Brenden might come to me with a great riff idea, melody idea or rhythm idea or I’ll come to him with, lyrics, melodies, a drum beat, subject/theme or even sometimes a guitar riff I may have heard in my head that I’ll just sing and air guitar for him or play on piano. The rest of the parts we either come up with between the two of us and relay it to the others how we’d like to hear it played or sometimes we give them some generic guidelines and let them put their own spin on it, so they can make it their own.
As far as why? Anyone in the band has been encouraged and is welcome to submit any ideas they might have, it just by chance that it happens to be Brenden and myself submitting all of the ideas. But Mike has written a lot of lyrics in the past, most of the songs on our first Self-Titled EP were written by Mike. Songwriting isn’t for everyone and it’s definitely not easy, but if anyone in the band came up with an idea and we liked it, we’d definitely try it out and give it a chance.
Metal Exiles: Sin is a pretty awesome song so with the industry like it is today, why are you choosing not to release it on an EP?
Bryan: Thanks! We really appreciate it. I’m gonna answer your question with a question… What’s the difference? Whether we put it on an EP with some other songs, or release it as a single online, it’s still an awesome song and it’s still available to everyone all over the world. If your favorite band released an amazing song as a single, would you be less inclined to DL and listen to it?
At the end of the day the industry has changed drastically in a lot of ways, and because it can be such a struggle for an independent band to succeed, we’ve learned that it doesn’t make sense to spend money you don’t have on things that there is no demand for. Think of it this way, you can’t catch a shark without a fish on your line. So throw some worms on that hook and catch a fish first and then take it from there and see what happens. At our standards an album would cost over 40K. At this stage in our career it just doesn’t make sense to spend that kind of money, especially when you consider that we do everything ourselves, until that changes, we’ll probably be throwing a few singles out there to see what happens.
Metal Exiles: When I first heard Sin, I was amazed that I had not heard your music before. What are your plans to get your music out there so that more people in the US can get a taste of how great you guys are?
Bryan: The plan is definitely to keep releasing music to US radio and promote it as much as we can online, in magazines, on TV and any other media that we can. The only other thing we can do that we haven’t really is get our asses over there and tour all over the US. We’ve been dying to do it and it’s just a matter of time before we do. I think that’s ultimately the best way for us to spread our music in the US. We’ve always been told to go there, and a lot of our US fans keep telling us that you guys would just eat us up. It’s just been difficult timing and organizing for us. But I can tell you that it’s high on our list of priorities and I can see it happening very soon. So hopefully we get to play in a city near you and meet you in person! ; )
Metal Exiles: What is the general tone for the songs you plan to release?
Bryan: The tone for the next batch of songs we’ll be releasing are all over the place. People are gonna think we’re the most Bi-polar, Schizophrenic band in Rock music. We’ve got two more singles we’ll be releasing this year. One of which is called Bright Lights and is a super groovy, bluesy, Aerosmith-sounding type track and then the other is a dirty, sexy, 4 to the floor AC/DC sounding track called Southern Lips. We love Rock music in general so we really don’t allow ourselves to set up any parameters or rules when we’re writing. If we made it and we like it, then you can consider it Last Bullet and that’s that.
Metal Exiles: Bryan - I hear you are interested in trying out for the vocalist spot in STP. Would you continue careers with both bands if this happened?
Bryan: Definitely. I’ve put far too much work, effort, time, emotions, passion, blood, sweat and tears to give up on Last Bullet. If I were fortunate to have the opportunity to Front STP that would be a great opportunity for more than just myself. Imagine the connections I could make, and the opportunities we could potentially have for the band. Realistically, Last Bullet would have to cater to the schedule and requirements of a band like STP, but in the end it would be well worth it for all of us. There isn’t a band in the world that sounds quite like Last Bullet and I take pride in that. Why would I ever want to stop?
Metal Exiles: Bryan - What are your bandmates reactions to your desire to work with STP as front man?
Bryan: To be honest I haven’t really had a serious conversation about it with any of them, they know about it and they’ve been really supportive, they’ve shared links to my audition videos and made super flattering comments about my chances. Honestly these guys are my brothers, we’ve been through a lot together and I only want the best for them, so say for example a guitarist slot opened up in Guns N’ Roses, I’d personally be pissed if Brenden didn’t give it a shot because I know he’d absolutely kill it for them. Anything that helps us as individuals will also help the band. The very idea of having any chance at being the front-man of one of my favorite bands of all time is mind blowing and I’d be absolutely stupid if I didn’t give it a try. Especially if I knew that I’d be a perfect fit.
Metal Exiles: Do you have any tour dates planned yet for the US?
Bryan: None yet. But when we do, we’ll have it plastered all over our social media and website. You will know, because we won’t shut up about it. We’ll be very excited when that day comes.
Metal Exiles: Who would you like to see Last Bullet tour with if given the chance?
Bryan: STP would be awesome and a perfect fit. Guns N’ Roses might be an even more perfect fit. Aerosmith, AC/DC, Rival Sons would be really cool. Black Sabbath, The Cult, I could keep going on and on, but ultimately we’d be interested in playing with anyone who plays real Rock N’ Roll music.
Metal Exiles: Brenden, Michael, and Will – to help you obtain the exact sound you wish to render, what types of gear do you prefer to use?
Brenden: Tone is a very important aspect to our music in my opinion. A great, even simple, guitar tone makes a world of difference to a song and performance. I have spent a lot of time chasing what works for me, the band, and our live situation and this is basically where I've landed... I’ve always loved open, full, mid-range heavy guitar tones (think Angus and Slash) and I've typically achieved these using Marshall (or Marshall like) amps. Live I use a JVM... the sounds are solid, and the flexibility in terms of gain, volume, and reverb are extremely useful.
As for guitars, I've played Les Paul's for the majority of my musical career. They're big, bold, and powerful... they can do a lot of things very well (probably why you see them left, right, and center). More recently, I've been rocking a Gibson Firebird. The mini-humbuckers offer a very musical middle point between a full humbucking guitar like a Les Paul or SG and something more spanky like a Strat. The firebird has this raunchy, slightly brashy, grit that just screams rock and roll... I love it.
As for pedals, I'm always experimenting with different things to add color where needed. I'll typically run a boost, overdrive, fuzz, wah, compressor, octave, phaser, delay, and tremolo in my rig (sounds like I have a problem, no?)... but I almost always use them very sparingly or with very little of the effect blended into my main sound. I don't like to drift too far away from the "guitar straight into amp" type of sound.
Michael - I've tried a handful of different configurations in the past. Recently my orange Rockerverb 100w head combined with my 1972 Fender Telecaster reissue nails my tone right on the head. Those combined with a few choice pedals make up the rhythm tones you hear at a Last Bullet show. I also use a Gibson Les Paul Studio, as well as a Gibson SG in my arsenal.
Will - I've always enjoyed playing Fender basses, they're super easy to dial in a tone with and have great playability. I use an SWR Bass head, a Tech21 fuzz boost pedal and Dean Markley Bass trings.
Metal Exiles: Christopher – With Bryan coming from a percussion background, does he give advice to you about the drum beats or do you pretty much have open reign to do interpret it as you wish? What are your favorite brands of drums?
Chris - When it comes to creating a drum beat for a song; I have open reign to interpret what I hear but I also listen to any suggestions/advice Bryan may have. My favorite brand of drums is Tama Starclassic Birch and Bubinga.
Metal Exiles: Lastly, as a band, what do you think have been the most difficult obstacles to overcome to get where you are today?
Bryan: Money… Money, Money, Money and Money. And then after money? Time. People don’t realize how much things cost in this business. If you want to properly record one song with a producer who has a good resume and proven track record you’re looking at $2,000 minimum for one track, recorded, mixed and mastered.
Music video of decent quality? $3,000 minimum for editing, direction, set, materials, equipment, etc. Wanna release it to radio properly? That’s $2,000 minimum to have it sent and uploaded to every station in the country and then have a radio tracker follow up and fight to get it on the air for you. Want it featured in Magazines, Blogs, New Sites, Reviews and on TV? That’s $2,000 minimum to hire a marketing/publicity company to contact all of the media outlets to get you featured and out in the public.
So let’s do the math… That’s $9,000 minimum for ONE song. 9K to properly record, produce, mix, master, film, promote, release and market one single track in today’s music industry. That’s not even including the cost of our equipment, instruments, merchandise, van, insurance, rehearsal rent, and tons more. But we’ve poured tons of effort, money and time into this and we’re not about to stop now. In this industry it doesn’t matter how good you are, you have to pay to play. Record labels don’t help anyone anymore, they want profit. Period.
Aside from that the only obstacles we’ve faced are the lack of time we have to practice because of work, life and anything else that comes up. It really sucks because in order to be great at music, you need more time to develop and work on your craft, but in order to be successful you need more money, and so our entire existence as a band has been about finding the perfect balance between making time and making money so that we can improve but still keep moving forward.
Band website: http://lastbulletmusic.com
Facebook@ http://www.facebook.com/lastbulletmusic
Twitter @ http://twitter.com/lastbulletmusic
iTunes @ http://itunes.com/lastbullet
YouTube@ http://www.youtube.com/user/lastbulletmusic
Instagram@ http://instagram.com/lastbulletmusic
Soundcloud@ http://soundcloud.com/lastbulletmusic
Last Bullet consists of vocalist, Bryan Fontez, guitarist, Brenden Armstrong, rhythm guitarist, Michael Silva, bassist, Will Shannon, and drummer, Christopher Galaz. They formed in 2009 and in these past seven years they’ve become extremely popular in Toronto. They haven’t quite become a household name in the US but hopefully that will soon change. Though technically they are seen as hard rock, they consider themselves an “everyone” band because the way they put it “they don’t care what you look like, where you’re from, or what you listen to, they will catch your attention and keep it”. Of course, there’s more to it than that but you should check them out for yourselves. It seems as if their souls intertwine with the music they play and the lyrics they write. They are true to their fans and believe whole heartedly that the live experience should always go above and beyond the recorded version of the songs.
Interview with Bryan, Brenden, Michael, Will & Chris – Last Bullet
By: Leslie Elder Rogers
Metal Exiles: You’re pretty well-known in Toronto already; how do you feel you are being received in the US so far?
Bryan: For the people who have heard our music, I think it couldn’t possibly be going better. Canada and especially Toronto can be very snobby and opinionated when it comes to Music. Especially when it comes to straight forward Rock N’ Roll. Where you guys in the US are more our style, if it rocks and you can drink a beer or shake your ass to it, you dig it, and we’re on the same page. All of the feedback from US stations, magazines, blogs and media have been very positive. We’ve gotten a couple radio stations add the song already and they’ve had fans call in who are super excited about it so I’d have to say it’s going well.
Metal Exiles: Bryan-you have a very extensive background in all styles of musical training, what was it that made you transition into rock as your preferred genre’? What made you switch from percussion to vocals?
Bryan: I’ve tried a little bit of everything, I listen to everything and I appreciate it all. But from my experience, there’s no genre of music in the world that is more dynamic than Rock. It can be mixed, fused and influenced by anything. It can be any tempo, any time signature, any key signature, played by any instrument. There are absolutely no rules of any kind and that’s why I love it. Rock is open to interpretation of what makes Rock, ROCK. It’s different for each individual. What draws me to it is the attitude, the sexiness, the confidence, the swagger, the aggression, the experience, the stories. It’s a genre that’s full of history and character. For some reason it moves me and speaks to me more than any other genre of music. Singing Jazz and Opera, playing Trombone in classical pieces back in the day, I loved it all. But I didn’t feel like I was fully getting out all of my frustrations, emotions, passions and inspirations. I always loved rock music but once I actually began playing it live with a band, I was hooked.
Metal Exiles: As a band, do each of you contribute to the writing of the music or is that basically left up to one person and if so, who and why?
Bryan: Our lead guitarist Brenden and I are the primary songwriters in the band. Ultimately we usually end up firing off all of our current ideas from best to worst and we’ll bounce them off each other and try our best to explain how we envision the song sounding or coming across until one of us becomes inspired enough to really want to hear how that song is going to sound finished. That's usually how a song goes from being just an idea to becoming a finished product. Brenden might come to me with a great riff idea, melody idea or rhythm idea or I’ll come to him with, lyrics, melodies, a drum beat, subject/theme or even sometimes a guitar riff I may have heard in my head that I’ll just sing and air guitar for him or play on piano. The rest of the parts we either come up with between the two of us and relay it to the others how we’d like to hear it played or sometimes we give them some generic guidelines and let them put their own spin on it, so they can make it their own.
As far as why? Anyone in the band has been encouraged and is welcome to submit any ideas they might have, it just by chance that it happens to be Brenden and myself submitting all of the ideas. But Mike has written a lot of lyrics in the past, most of the songs on our first Self-Titled EP were written by Mike. Songwriting isn’t for everyone and it’s definitely not easy, but if anyone in the band came up with an idea and we liked it, we’d definitely try it out and give it a chance.
Metal Exiles: Sin is a pretty awesome song so with the industry like it is today, why are you choosing not to release it on an EP?
Bryan: Thanks! We really appreciate it. I’m gonna answer your question with a question… What’s the difference? Whether we put it on an EP with some other songs, or release it as a single online, it’s still an awesome song and it’s still available to everyone all over the world. If your favorite band released an amazing song as a single, would you be less inclined to DL and listen to it?
At the end of the day the industry has changed drastically in a lot of ways, and because it can be such a struggle for an independent band to succeed, we’ve learned that it doesn’t make sense to spend money you don’t have on things that there is no demand for. Think of it this way, you can’t catch a shark without a fish on your line. So throw some worms on that hook and catch a fish first and then take it from there and see what happens. At our standards an album would cost over 40K. At this stage in our career it just doesn’t make sense to spend that kind of money, especially when you consider that we do everything ourselves, until that changes, we’ll probably be throwing a few singles out there to see what happens.
Metal Exiles: When I first heard Sin, I was amazed that I had not heard your music before. What are your plans to get your music out there so that more people in the US can get a taste of how great you guys are?
Bryan: The plan is definitely to keep releasing music to US radio and promote it as much as we can online, in magazines, on TV and any other media that we can. The only other thing we can do that we haven’t really is get our asses over there and tour all over the US. We’ve been dying to do it and it’s just a matter of time before we do. I think that’s ultimately the best way for us to spread our music in the US. We’ve always been told to go there, and a lot of our US fans keep telling us that you guys would just eat us up. It’s just been difficult timing and organizing for us. But I can tell you that it’s high on our list of priorities and I can see it happening very soon. So hopefully we get to play in a city near you and meet you in person! ; )
Metal Exiles: What is the general tone for the songs you plan to release?
Bryan: The tone for the next batch of songs we’ll be releasing are all over the place. People are gonna think we’re the most Bi-polar, Schizophrenic band in Rock music. We’ve got two more singles we’ll be releasing this year. One of which is called Bright Lights and is a super groovy, bluesy, Aerosmith-sounding type track and then the other is a dirty, sexy, 4 to the floor AC/DC sounding track called Southern Lips. We love Rock music in general so we really don’t allow ourselves to set up any parameters or rules when we’re writing. If we made it and we like it, then you can consider it Last Bullet and that’s that.
Metal Exiles: Bryan - I hear you are interested in trying out for the vocalist spot in STP. Would you continue careers with both bands if this happened?
Bryan: Definitely. I’ve put far too much work, effort, time, emotions, passion, blood, sweat and tears to give up on Last Bullet. If I were fortunate to have the opportunity to Front STP that would be a great opportunity for more than just myself. Imagine the connections I could make, and the opportunities we could potentially have for the band. Realistically, Last Bullet would have to cater to the schedule and requirements of a band like STP, but in the end it would be well worth it for all of us. There isn’t a band in the world that sounds quite like Last Bullet and I take pride in that. Why would I ever want to stop?
Metal Exiles: Bryan - What are your bandmates reactions to your desire to work with STP as front man?
Bryan: To be honest I haven’t really had a serious conversation about it with any of them, they know about it and they’ve been really supportive, they’ve shared links to my audition videos and made super flattering comments about my chances. Honestly these guys are my brothers, we’ve been through a lot together and I only want the best for them, so say for example a guitarist slot opened up in Guns N’ Roses, I’d personally be pissed if Brenden didn’t give it a shot because I know he’d absolutely kill it for them. Anything that helps us as individuals will also help the band. The very idea of having any chance at being the front-man of one of my favorite bands of all time is mind blowing and I’d be absolutely stupid if I didn’t give it a try. Especially if I knew that I’d be a perfect fit.
Metal Exiles: Do you have any tour dates planned yet for the US?
Bryan: None yet. But when we do, we’ll have it plastered all over our social media and website. You will know, because we won’t shut up about it. We’ll be very excited when that day comes.
Metal Exiles: Who would you like to see Last Bullet tour with if given the chance?
Bryan: STP would be awesome and a perfect fit. Guns N’ Roses might be an even more perfect fit. Aerosmith, AC/DC, Rival Sons would be really cool. Black Sabbath, The Cult, I could keep going on and on, but ultimately we’d be interested in playing with anyone who plays real Rock N’ Roll music.
Metal Exiles: Brenden, Michael, and Will – to help you obtain the exact sound you wish to render, what types of gear do you prefer to use?
Brenden: Tone is a very important aspect to our music in my opinion. A great, even simple, guitar tone makes a world of difference to a song and performance. I have spent a lot of time chasing what works for me, the band, and our live situation and this is basically where I've landed... I’ve always loved open, full, mid-range heavy guitar tones (think Angus and Slash) and I've typically achieved these using Marshall (or Marshall like) amps. Live I use a JVM... the sounds are solid, and the flexibility in terms of gain, volume, and reverb are extremely useful.
As for guitars, I've played Les Paul's for the majority of my musical career. They're big, bold, and powerful... they can do a lot of things very well (probably why you see them left, right, and center). More recently, I've been rocking a Gibson Firebird. The mini-humbuckers offer a very musical middle point between a full humbucking guitar like a Les Paul or SG and something more spanky like a Strat. The firebird has this raunchy, slightly brashy, grit that just screams rock and roll... I love it.
As for pedals, I'm always experimenting with different things to add color where needed. I'll typically run a boost, overdrive, fuzz, wah, compressor, octave, phaser, delay, and tremolo in my rig (sounds like I have a problem, no?)... but I almost always use them very sparingly or with very little of the effect blended into my main sound. I don't like to drift too far away from the "guitar straight into amp" type of sound.
Michael - I've tried a handful of different configurations in the past. Recently my orange Rockerverb 100w head combined with my 1972 Fender Telecaster reissue nails my tone right on the head. Those combined with a few choice pedals make up the rhythm tones you hear at a Last Bullet show. I also use a Gibson Les Paul Studio, as well as a Gibson SG in my arsenal.
Will - I've always enjoyed playing Fender basses, they're super easy to dial in a tone with and have great playability. I use an SWR Bass head, a Tech21 fuzz boost pedal and Dean Markley Bass trings.
Metal Exiles: Christopher – With Bryan coming from a percussion background, does he give advice to you about the drum beats or do you pretty much have open reign to do interpret it as you wish? What are your favorite brands of drums?
Chris - When it comes to creating a drum beat for a song; I have open reign to interpret what I hear but I also listen to any suggestions/advice Bryan may have. My favorite brand of drums is Tama Starclassic Birch and Bubinga.
Metal Exiles: Lastly, as a band, what do you think have been the most difficult obstacles to overcome to get where you are today?
Bryan: Money… Money, Money, Money and Money. And then after money? Time. People don’t realize how much things cost in this business. If you want to properly record one song with a producer who has a good resume and proven track record you’re looking at $2,000 minimum for one track, recorded, mixed and mastered.
Music video of decent quality? $3,000 minimum for editing, direction, set, materials, equipment, etc. Wanna release it to radio properly? That’s $2,000 minimum to have it sent and uploaded to every station in the country and then have a radio tracker follow up and fight to get it on the air for you. Want it featured in Magazines, Blogs, New Sites, Reviews and on TV? That’s $2,000 minimum to hire a marketing/publicity company to contact all of the media outlets to get you featured and out in the public.
So let’s do the math… That’s $9,000 minimum for ONE song. 9K to properly record, produce, mix, master, film, promote, release and market one single track in today’s music industry. That’s not even including the cost of our equipment, instruments, merchandise, van, insurance, rehearsal rent, and tons more. But we’ve poured tons of effort, money and time into this and we’re not about to stop now. In this industry it doesn’t matter how good you are, you have to pay to play. Record labels don’t help anyone anymore, they want profit. Period.
Aside from that the only obstacles we’ve faced are the lack of time we have to practice because of work, life and anything else that comes up. It really sucks because in order to be great at music, you need more time to develop and work on your craft, but in order to be successful you need more money, and so our entire existence as a band has been about finding the perfect balance between making time and making money so that we can improve but still keep moving forward.
Band website: http://lastbulletmusic.com
Facebook@ http://www.facebook.com/lastbulletmusic
Twitter @ http://twitter.com/lastbulletmusic
iTunes @ http://itunes.com/lastbullet
YouTube@ http://www.youtube.com/user/lastbulletmusic
Instagram@ http://instagram.com/lastbulletmusic
Soundcloud@ http://soundcloud.com/lastbulletmusic