Aquila is a heavy metal band from South-western Ontario.. both furious and melodic; their sound consists of machine gun rhythms, intense guitar work and the catalyst: death metal vocals were all brought to the forefront of the audible threshold to result in a face punching listening experience.
Founded in 2006 by drummer Matt McGuire and guitarist Anthony Rimac while living together in Windsor Ontario, they decided to create heavy music and search for other members for the band. After Mike Percy (Bassist) and Matt Shelson (guitarist) joined the band, they tried out many different vocalists and finally called upon Mark Arruda to fill the role. Once this lineup was established, Aquila was born!
In June of 2007, Aquila entered the studio to record their first 3 song demo with Glenn Fricker of Spectre Sound, and then a second demo in early 2008. During this time, they played a number of shows throughout southwestern Ontario and began establishing a small, but awesome fan base among the southwestern Ontario metal-heads. In 2009, Aquila entered the studio with a new member, Chase Bryant (Bass) and began work on their debut album, Imperium.
After a rousing CD release party, Aquila embarked on the road with their good friends Odium from Hanover, and completed a 3 week tour of the east coast, followed shortly by an independant tour out West, throughout the praries, Alberta, and British Columbia. Aquila has booked over 110 shows and three full tours, from coast-to-coast throughout all of Canada. They have worked closely with CDN records to distribute their album, and have had the support of an awesome fan base in Ontario and across Canada to keep them motivated and excited about bringing their brand of metal to the ears and faces of music fans across Canada, and eventually the world.
Currently, they are hard at work on a brand new album and enjoying the return of two original members, Mike Percy (Bass) and Anthony Rimac (guitar). Also they have filmed a video for "Kill or Be Killed", directed by Glenn Fricker of Spectre Sound Studio and it was filmed in Leamington Ontario at the Leamington Boxing Club. Stay tuned for this metal machine to melt more faces, drink more beer, expose more tubes, and generally cause mayhem and destruction everywhere they go!
Lets start with some basics. Who are you guys? Where are you from and who is in the band?
Shelson - We are Aquila!
Our band is:
- Mark Arruda (vox)
- Mat Shelson (guitar)
- Anthony Rimac (guitar)
- Matt McGuire (drums)
- Shane Ivy (Bass).
All of us are from Southern Ontario. McGuire and Rimac are from Hamilton, ON and Oakville, ON respectively. Mark and Shane are from Leamington, ON and I'm from Windsor, ON.
I find that in order to find out what you (as a band) are about, we need to look at some roots. Where are your influences coming from (band and/or musician)?
Shelson - Anything that rocks! That includes stuff from the 70s and 80s, right up to this year.
Musically, each member of the band varies.. I could spend a couple paragraphs listing all the different varieties of metal each of us listen to! We all love the classics, like Slayer, Testament, and Pantera. The range of modern metal is so vast, that its impossible to list all the bands without boring you and the readers. If it rocks, and you can bang your head to it, we like it!
Arruda - Our influences range from anywhere from death metal like Cannibal Corpse to classic rock like ZZ Top, that's for sure.
Can you take through your filming and production of "Kill of Be Killed"? Where did you do the shooting for this? Who did it? What equipment were you guys using? Any contact info for other aspiring bands?
Shelson - Actually, that video almost didn't happen.. We had recently lost our new guitar player a day before the filming was supposed to begin, and we were stuck without a guitarist. That night, McGuire called up our original guitar player Anthony, who ended up driving down to Leamington practically the next morning to play in the video with us. It was a bad situation that turned into a silver lining for the band, because Rimac rejoined us that night, and we're stoked for him to be back with us again.
The video was filmed at the Leamington boxing club (Leamington, Ontario), and was done by Glenn Fricker of Spectre Sound; the same guy who we've recorded all of our material with since the beginning of the band, and he's been great to us. We just used our own gear in the video.. any filming equipment questions would have to go to Glenn. His website (www.spectresound.ca) and any bands in the Southern Ontario region looking for a good audio/video guy should definitely check him out!
Arruda - Yeah, we are very proud of our video,"Killed Or Be Killed", and we were happy to have our old bassist, Mike Percy, in the video as well. The video was recorded in March of last year.
How was the making of Imperium? Where did you guys go to record the album? Who did the artwork? Where can fans pick up a copy of your album?
Shelson - I personally love the studio experience, the pressure of being under the gun and putting your best musical performance forward, coupled with the creativity of making great art.. Again, Glenn from Spectre Sound did all the recording, mixing and mastering.
You can buy our album online at most major websites (Amazon, iTunes, CDBaby, etc) or you can contact us directly on our Facebook (www.facebook.com/AquilaMetal) or check out our on line store (www.aquilastore.bigcartel.com)
Arruda - Recording with Glenn is always great, the man knows what he is doing. We started recording Imperium back in January of 2009 and released it in June of that year. Mikio from Silent Q Design (www.silentqdesign.net) designed the artwork for us. We gave him the Roman battle theme and he ran with it. Mikio is a very easy guy to work with and he does awesome work.
Have you ever found yourself at a show where your music and sound was vastly different from the other bands on the bill? If so, What was the crowd reaction and how easy did you feel playing on that stage versus stages shared with similar genre bands?
Shelson - One night in Windsor we were double-booked to play a show at Windsor's legendary Coach and Horses (the most METAL bar in Windsor) and at Phog nightclub across the street. We did both shows; the Coach and Horses was a great show, but Phog was different. Most of the bands that night were indie/alternative bands, with acoustic guitars or turntables. Also, the bar is about the equivalent of a small coffee bar, and we're REALLY damn loud when we play. We all felt great, and ripped our set, but the crowd was so blown away by the sheer volume and force of our playing that people had to stand outside to watch us. I'm pretty sure we scared everyone right out of the bar.
Arruda - There are times where we're the "DEATH METAL" band playing that night or the opposite, we're the "LIGHTER" band playing that night. We just play our set and have a good time where ever we are at and eventually win the crowd over. Our sound is varied from song to song, so there is something for every metal head.
Where do you guys see yourselves in five years? Any big aspirations? Any mega festivals you would love to be a part of?
Shelson - Obviously we would love to play for the big crowds; to be direct support for guys like As I Lay Dying, Lamb of God, or any of the other big mainstream metal guys would give us a chance to show people we can step with the big boys. I think getting put on Heavy MTL or Heavy TO would be awesome.
Arruda - Playing big festivals and big tours would be great. But either way we are going to continue to write music and release music. We would love to eventually hit the road in the US or even Europe like the UK, that would be amazing.
If you had to summarize Aquila in one or two words, what would you convey to onlookers or aspiring fans?
Shelson - I would use two words... Lettuce and Tubes.
Odd question but I ask this of every band. Since there is an onslaught of bands and styles out there where some musical styles will mesh and/or clash with each other. What separates your music and style to any other act out there. Basically, what do you offer to fans that no one else can bring?
Shelson - We are still branching out and experimenting with different ways to write. I would say that what separates our style is that we put forth a no-bullshit attitude about our songs.. We put a lot of effort into making every riff sound tight, coherent, and rock-solid. A lot of bands today are trying to use the same song-writing techniques to sound 'heavy' or 'progressive', or they just sound very raw and unorganized.
Arruda - We bring a sort of synthesis of old classic thrash, modern groove, and death metal together into something that sounds like good, rockin' and rolling heavy metal. If you don't like us, you probably don't like it heavy! When people come to see us, they get their moneys worth.
Best city/venue you have played thus far and why?
Shelson - Without question, the Chubby Pickle in Windsor, our very first show. It was the show that started the band; we had about 300 people show up, and in all honesty we probably didn't play very well, but the reaction was amazing. We may as well have played for 30,000 people, and we were all so stoked on the show. It was the best show because of how good the crowd was for us, and how good we felt to be up there playing for them.
Arruda - Playing in Windsor, Ontario is always awesome. Since we have been lucky enough to tour across Canada and share our music. I would have to say The Distillery in Calgary, Alberta is one of my favourite places to play. For one, Calgary is a beautiful city with the mountains and all, but playing The Distillery was a great experience. Great stage, great lights, awesome bar staff, amazing sound, the crowd was awesome and also they had a back stage for us to hang. What more can you ask for when you're on the road?
And now for some fun, random questions that every musician likes to answer (or at least I like to ask em haha):
If you could have a single guest member on an upcoming album, who would it be and why?
Shelson - I would want Zakk Wylde to play a guitar solo for us! But that's just me. I'm sure the rest of the band would prefer to have another guy on the track; maybe the vocalist from Meshuggah, or the guitar/vocalist from Sylosis would also be awesome.
Arruda - I would love to have Rob Flynn from Machine Head, he's just an amazing songwriter and to work with him and pick his brain would be the best. He has written some of the best metal albums in the last 20 years.
If you had one band who you would be honored to share the stage with, who and why?
Shelson - Lamb of God, because we all collectively respect and idolize what they've done for metal in the last 10 years.. But I know everyone would love for Dimebag to still be alive so that we could get shown up by the absolutely dynamite machine of a band that was Pantera.
Covers are always fun to do when your jammin out in the studio, any songs in particular you guys like to play and have fun with or is it all original material?
Shelson - It's all original material, since we're focusing on writing our new album. But I would love to have a couple of covers in our back pocket when we have more time to work on them.
Arruda - In the beginning we used to jam to "Laid To Rest" by Lamb of God and "Serenity in Fire" by Kataklysm for fun. Now we focus on our own songs, and writing new material more. But it would be fun to cover Slayer though.
Favourite band/album of 2012 so far?
Arruda - For myself, Dyscarnate from the UK is one of my favourite new bands this year. Their new album, "And So It Came to Pass", is brutal as fuck.
Website: www.reverbnation.com/aquila
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AquilaMetal
Twitter: twitter.com/#!/aquilametal
YouTube: www.youtube.com/aquilabandtv
Myspace: www.myspace.com/aquilametal
Booking/Management: aquilametal@gmail.com
Good luck in the future guys!
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