CANARY MAGAZINE

The Zeronaut: a Canarian Rock band with very good vibes, written by @loretosocorro

The Plaza de la Victoria (or Plaza de España) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is a place for walks and meetings where I have met two of the four members of the Death Metal group “The Zeronaut”. They are Ruyman (guitar) and Victor (bassist and singer) The other two musicians in the band are called Fran (guitar), Kuly (drums).

From the first moment the complicity between the colleagues and that rock melody, which is life and strength, has been present in the interview. Both are explaining in detail, complementing each other, like tidal water: with waves that come and go without stopping the murmur of the other.

As I approached the meeting place, I was wondering if the «Melodic Death» style is the softer music of Heavy, because of the melodic…

Quite the opposite. "Melodic Death Metal" is a variant of Heavy music, but even harder, it's a faster style and the music is more intense.

Where does this style come from?
Within Death Metal, and in the Swedish scene of the 90s, a more melodic variant appeared that kept that aggressiveness and speed of the style, but to mix it with the melody that the most classic Heavy Metal has, such as the Iron Maiden groups, Judas Priest... And with the most guttural voice. All this together resulted in a formula that they called the Goterborg sound and that arose in Sweden.

How important are solos in the music you make?
Everything is very balanced in the Melodic Death and it is, really, a technical exhibition of all the members of the group. For example: we have two guitarists, but there are no soloists. The two guitarists make melodies and solos. It is quite balanced.

Do you always sing in English?
Yes, for a lifetime. We have never heard anything in Spanish. It's a very Anglo style.

What is the secret to staying together for twenty years?
We've been thinking about it -Victor comments as he distills words with his gaze. adapt!

They both think the same and are clear that groups like "The Zeronaut" are people who come together and each component has its characteristics.

If we are not really colleagues among ourselves and we do not adapt to changes in life, jobs, family, many unforeseen events and schedules... then something is broken. There are people who end badly because they want this to become a job and we have tried to make this a hobby, which we then develop as a job. We want the band to work, but without overwhelming anyone in the group. Be flexible.

This conciliatory and respectful formula is like a magic potion where they have remained active incorporating the changes in their lives, without ceasing to make an effort each one, so that the group works and as they add: «Then, get along, have a laugh between the four of us. The key is to be friends and also respect that there is a group to which we dedicate our time.

When did you decide to get together and form a band?
Quite early. Victor and I -Ruyman speaks- are the ones who have been around the longest. When we were in high school we got together by chance and started building, doing things together. Before "The Zeronaut" we had a band called SCYTHE. That was walking and in 2003 we formed “The Zeronaut”.

Where did you get the name for the band?
Listening to a group called “Night in Gates”. We liked the message of one of his songs, which was titled like that, and which came to be "zero navigator, navigator of nothing..."

When they started they were high school kids. Should rock be brought to the classroom today?
In music classes all styles should be given. There are many kids who listen to this and find it strange. Whether they like it or not, the good thing would be that they know him within the school and that they respect him.

Ruyman remembers with Victor the concerts where they participated in the institute: »That is a beautiful link, playing at the end of the year party, meeting people at those events for young people.»

Rock is demanding and young people too, what is missing to bring it closer to the new generations?

The little ones have less space to develop and rehearse, to create. We wanted to play the guitar and we had places to go and two hundred friends who knew how to do it. We would go "to war", to see what would come out, to learn. Apart from the scarcity of common spaces, they are also bombarded with music from the radio-formula.

How do you live rock in the XNUMXst century?
Equal. Big band concerts are still the same. The problems are in the beginnings of any group.

The Zeronaut play their own songs and we asked them about the band's creative process.
Ruyman usually brings the riffs -comments Victor- and we work on them, together. We decide if it's okay, whether to repeat, what to discard….

Ruyman adds that he has the ideas at home. «Very raw, and I take it to the venue and there new things begin to appear, playing all together. Thus it grows and grows until it becomes a song. The letter is the last thing we do. So that everything is more balanced ».

They have videos on Instagram and the one of one of their studio recordings, it's one of those things that, with just one instrument, gets you hooked and a lot…

Do your compositions have protest lyrics?
Not especially, although it was at some point. They are more introspective lyrics and depend on the mood. It's about writing what's going on in your head at that moment and getting it out.

What is the hallmark of "The Zeronaut", in one word?
Intensity. We give it our all. We really like music that is very direct and that makes you feel.

Where can you hear them?
We have two physical albums that we move and, for a year now, they have also been on Spotify and on all other platforms. It was difficult for us to go digital because we are heirs to the 90s, cassette tapes, CDs and vinyl records. Digital has a good A side, and that is that everyone can listen to you, but there is also a B side, and that is that they make money with us, but as a small group, we don't see a penny.

How have the concerts been during these twenty years?
The most, it was Norway, in a fairly large festival. That was a recognition for us. That they call us to play at the place that is the cradle of style! And that people do it who don't know you at all, they are not your friends, and no one has approached them to tell them if we are good or not.

How did that opportunity come about?
a promoter -Victor recounts- who came to a festival in the south of the island and saw us play. We were opening for a Norwegian group and since they liked us, they made us a proposal for the following year in Norway.

Other concerts at festivals that have left their mark?
The “Metal Fest”, in Vecindario, was a very critical moment, due to the amount of people. They brought very large groups and it got packed.

And on the islands, how do the contracts work?
Here, it's word of mouth. When a powerful Metal group came and they were looking for opening acts, they thought of us, because they knew we were going to make the grade. It is important to know how to adapt.

Above all, we work a lot with invitations between bands: a group from Tenerife invites us there to play at something they organize and then we invite them to play here. Each event covers, more or less, for the other group to travel.

Any notable low moments?
Things always happen in live shows: you arrive at a site and the equipment is crap, you have a very strange schedule, the site that they had shown you does not correspond...

Everyone has good will, but you get to places where you wonder how we're going to get a show out.

Only once, in all our lives, did we have to say that we weren't playing. We were not yet the current group.

Otherwise, we have always pushed forward. We have touched on all the places that you can think of.

The presence of rock music in neighborhood, municipal spaces... close to the people is missing.

Why is this happening?
Heavy music has it difficult for the town halls to call us. Right now the colors don't matter, they bet on the ABC: groups of versions.

Musical creation is not rewarded anywhere. From the institutions they are not betting on supporting culture because creativity, creating is not encouraged. Not just metal, in general. There are many types of music and many people creating, but they are not supported.

Do the institutions offer what you like or influence what you like by always hiring the same thing?
When a stage is set up here, in the Plaza de la Victoria, you already know who is going to come, what they are going to play and it is understood, because people fill it up. But you have to think that in the end you are educating the public, so that all they want is to hear that.

It's incredible that there are no children or kids listening to Heavy Rock but repeated versions from the 60s. Where is the new music in concerts?

Is there a way to dose the concerts of the "versions"?
Even if it's one day a year, they should include groups of local Rock, Pop, Indi, Rap kids... We have the advantage that we work on something else, so we can create our own music without ties, but those who make covers are people that before they made their own music and this is going backwards.

If you spend many years doing covers, they already identify you with that and when you try to make your album with your own songs, the public doesn't accept it.

If they could choose to play with someone as an opening act or face to face…

By request…Metallica…!There are many bands that we would like to join, such as: “Dark and Tranquility”, “Sollwork” or “In Flames”. What we can assure you is that playing on a big stage has to
be a blessing, because it must be an awesome experience

In the multiverse, what would happen if there was no rock?
Rock must exist in all universes and multiverses. It is a music that, somehow, would have appeared yes or yes. Rock music and heavy music is something that human beings carry in their blood.

What is it like to be a rocker when you get off the stage, on a day-to-day basis?
The way of being, of dressing, of thinking, how you behave with your colleagues. You apply it even to your work.

The soundtrack of our lives is rock every day, with everything we do.

On Saturday, July 8 there is a party. They celebrate twenty years in style, how are those preparations going?

Pretty cool! – They laugh and it is that they enjoy even these previous moments-
We have found the last of our shoe because some colleagues set up the association: "Collective Torment". They are from our same farm, with our same vibe and our same philosophy. They are people who have a group, which is why they treat groups very well, and hence the success they have. You find yourself covered as if you were with your colleagues playing, whoever goes. They help a lot, they set up the venue and 100% of the contributions go to the musicians. They work very cool.

Where and when is the concert?
In Sebadal, in Corrientes street number 9. On the 8th at 20:XNUMX p.m.

What is the capacity of the venue?
About a hundred people and it is a cozy place, as long as it has a very soft capacity.
The place is like a return to the past: like El Paraninfo, Pub La Calle... that vibe and, also, with a very good team.

How are the reservations going to attend the concert?
They are being managed through "Entradium" and people are responding very well to this and all the calls. That is that paying to enjoy an event, to listen to music, is valued.

Buy concert tickets: https://entradium.com/es/organizers/tormento-colectivo

Are there other public and private places to continue moving live music?
There are many sites around the island that can be activated for this. Public places and that are
underutilized. And there are also grants to set up these things. We miss more movement on the part of the institutions.

There is only one place that is full of things on the island and it is the "Miller". Sending a dossier there and having a choice is brutal because there is an endless list.

Any musical surprise for the anniversary night?
The 20th anniversary of the group with the 10th anniversary of one of our albums, "Poetastro", so you know what's going through our heads.

Will they release any theme?
No, but you're going to hear songs that we've only played once live. It will be a long show, an hour and a half or so, that despite our age – they laugh, knowing they are strong-, we have trained and we can.

We are going to wear some t-shirts, made especially for that day, some more merchandising and even a funny surprise, which will come from the group's pocket, but which we really want, so that people feel like they are on a birthday. It's going to be an emotional day. It seems that people are coming who haven't seen us for a long time and who have been following us since 2005 or 2006.

How will "The Zeronaut" be performing 20 years from now?
We will be trying, and almost in 60 years. I imagine lowering the revolutions because it is a very physical music, but we will be. At the moment we have not loosened up and in 20 years we will continue to wage war. But, just in case, we will do the 30th anniversary and not rule out the 25th, because of what could happen. From five to five years, like the card.

Apart from the anniversary, are there other projects in mind?
We are just waiting to finish this to continue with our next album. We are about to start recording, for the moment we have started working with the music and we hope to have it finished by the end of this year.

It will be a new format for us, in EP: six songs. Halfway between a single and a record, to shorten the times, because that way we release more things and, in addition, costs are lowered.

Before saying goodbye, Ruyman gives us a sentence that could summarize what they have transmitted to me, when talking about these 20 years of music and friendship: "The love of art is the flag of all this, you can be lucky, but if not... it's also cool."