Shattered Sun plays HOB Hollywood on Thurs., April 2.
Alice, Texas based hard rockers Shattered Sun make a stop at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on Thurs., April 2 as part of the “Dark Roots of Thrash II” tour. The small-town guys are also releasing their record label debut “Hope Within Hatred” April 21 on Victory Records.
Shattered Sun’s upcoming tour is in support of legendary metal bands Testament and Exodus, who have been creating mayhem for crowds since the ‘80s. This is the first national tour for Shattered Sun, and as lead vocalist Marcos Leal points out, “we’ve played a lot of shows in other states outside of Texas, but nothing of this magnitude. We will be getting out to most of the United States and touring for longer than we have before. It’s going to be awesome playing with these huge acts Testament and Exodus for the entire tour.”
In addition to Marcos, the six-piece band is: Daniel Trejo (guitar), Jessie Santos (guitar), Joseph Guajardo (bass), Robert Garza (drums) and Henry Garza (keys/samples).
Shattered Sun is looking forward to taking their band to the next level. Their first major tour coincides with their label release, which “has been in the making for a while, with all of the business that has gone on. But at the end of the day were just six guys that are ready to get out there and play our music. We’ve been waiting to do this for a long time, and we’re looking forward to getting our music out to our fans,” says Marcos.
It has been a long time in the making for the guys in Shattered Sun. As Marcos points out “when we first started playing, we paid our dues like all bands have to do, playing empty bars and playing as many places that we could play. Now the fan base is expanding so much. It’s awesome to see how it’s grown over the years. We’re excited man!”
“When we first started playing we would do stuff like rent out a place for $100, pass out some flyers, set-up our amps and just play. At the time it seemed like that’s the only place the band was going, but eventually we made the decision to put ourselves out there and see what could happen,” says Marcos.
That’s when the wheels were set in motion for the band. And “that’s when we got into the studio and put our own money into the project, from producing videos to recording our album,” Marcos says, “It’s been amazing to see where we’ve started and where we are now.”
It was when Shattered Sun first entered the studio that they really started to gain some momentum. While recording their E.P., the band signed a management deal with Breaking Bands, LLC, but it wasn’t all so simple. According to Marcos, it took almost two years to finish the record, but not because the actual recoding took so long.
The record took so long to finish “because there was so much happening at the same time we were recording,” says Marcos. In addition to signing a management deal, the band was forced to change its lineup and add a new guitarist to the group “which really sucked” according to Marcos.
It all ended up being worth it, as the band was eventually signed by the Chicago-based independent label Victory Records, based on the album they finished after much effort. It also propelled them into the position of being able to tour with metal legends Testament and Exodus.
On getting to play with these bands, Marcos says, “we look up to them and strive to be like them into the future. They have very loyal fans and that’s something we strive for as well. We’re excited to be able to learn from them.”
Though Testament and Exodus are the headliners on this tour, Shattered Sun will definitely bring something to the stage as well. “Our energy is one thing about us that makes our show special. We’ve always wanted to push it as hard as we can with our live show and we’ve always looked for ways to make our live show better,” says Marcos, “We’re a very energetic band and like to get involved with the crowd as much as possible. We definitely have a lot of high energy!”
“We’re the young bucks on this tour, so we’re going to bring it hard every single night” says Marcos, “We play the same whether we’re playing for 2,000 people or 20 people. That’s something we’ve always strived to do, and we’re a great live band – that’s what we do. Fans will see that about us and hopefully latch on to that.”
Catch the “Dark Roots of Thrash II” tour as it makes a stop through southern California at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on Thurs., April 2.
Learn more by visiting: http://www.breakingbandsllc.com/shattered-sun.html
House of Blues Los Angeles: http://www.houseofblues.com/losangeles/
“Hope Within Hatred” lyric video by Shattered Sun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro0FA_L_CiU