Anyone who knows me knows that the FaceBook group ‘Unsigned Metal Bands’ is my HAPPY place!!! Nothing makes me smile like awesome metal. But finding buried treasure makes me even HAPPIER!
Let’s be honest here: EVERYONE loves Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Black Sabbath, and Ozzy Osbourne. I love those guys! But metal is bigger than that. Sometimes the best metal is played in places other than your ‘top forty’ radio station, you know? Osyron … is one of those ‘beyond top forty,’ EPIC bands! And yep, I first ran across them in ‘Unsigned Metal Bands’! So without any further ado, friends and rock stars …
Meet my friend Reed Alton of OSYRON!!!
WELCOME, Reed, to virginiawallace.com! As a HUGE fan of your work, it is such an honor to host your band today! Thank you so much for taking the time to appear. Can you tell our readers how Osyron first got together?
Thanks for having me. Happy to be here, and yeah for sure. Osyron first started many years ago with Bobby and Krzysztof (guitars) back in their home province of Ontario, Canada. Eventually they moved out west here in Alberta and joined up with myself, Tyler (Bass) and Cody (Drums). We consider this line up to be the first, steady and consistent lineup the band has had. And we are happy with it without a doubt.
So just to clarify, what is your role in the band?
I sing, and I make the others in band feel better about themselves when I make a big mistake on stage. But the former is what I love to do, not the latter!
Metallica always labeled their lead guitarist Kirk as ‘The Peacemaker.’ He once said in an interview: ‘I try to set an example to the rest of the band how to be ego-less. That’s part of my beliefs.’ Keeping the band in a cohesive state requires massive empathy and communication skills. And if that’s part of your job, then I SALUTE you! But man, seriously … let’s talk about them vocals, now. You’re one part opera, one part death metal, and three parts good ol’ hard rock! What are some of your influences?
Well, I guess I have different influences for different parts of my voice and range. So there are many many many vocalists over the years I have looked towards for inspiration and influence. However to name a few I would say Dickenson, Halford, Benji Webb, Stu Block, Joe Duplantier, David Draimen, Randy Blythe, Phil Anselmo, Lajon Witherspoon, Chris Cornell and Dio to name a few.*I might have spelt some of their names wrong*
OFF THE RECORD I can edit, lol! (K, I didn’t edit! That was funny.) You said Rob Halford and Chris Cornell … you speakin’ my language, now! I’m listening to ‘Battle of the Thames’ as we type, one of my favorite Osyron songs. I sent that one to a good friend of mine, the popular romance author Callie Carmen. Callie isn’t a huge metal fan, but even she was like ‘wow … these guys should make soundtracks for movies like ‘Lord of the Rings.’ The three-way split between classical, death metal, and traditional hard rock absolutely FASCINATES me! How did y’all come up with that sound? And I’m sensing a higher level of musical education here … private tutoring, perhaps, or did someone go to a music college?
Well, we appreciate the kind words and support. We have had many influences as a band from different metal styles, rock and prog as well as thematic/soundtrack genres too. So together we blend them into our own take of these genres and create our own Metal Style. I classify it as simple Heavy Metal or Dark Prog but honestly, labels are for the listeners, not the musicians in my opinion. And no one studied any of their instruments beyond maybe lessons at the beginning of their journey’s. We are all hard working and dedicated musicians who try to perfect their own individual styles and crafts!
Holy SHIT!!! Y’all did that all on your own?! WOW!!! I was counting on you to tell me that someone done went to Juilliard, or some shit. Wow. So what is Osyron’s songwriting process? Is it a ‘let’s all jam and see what comes out,’ or ‘a couple of us write, and the band arranges’? DO tell!
We usually write based off of someone’s idea and we expand upon it. We never really ‘jam’ out the songs, but more or less piece them together through collaboration from a single idea
So I gotta ask … as an author, I usually go through two to three drafts before I submit a novel to my editor. So how many drafts does Osyron go through before going into the final mix?
Aha, fair enough. And probably two or three. We always have demos and pre production before we record the final version.
Yep. Brother, will you do the honor of repeating after me? Here we go: THE FIRST DRAFT IS CANNON FODDER!!! Can I get an ‘amen’?
THE FIRST DRAFT IS CANNON FODDER! Can I get an ‘amen’?
YES!!! And I wanna ask … I love the way Osyron arranges the bass. Osyron has this in common with Guns n’ Roses and Iron Maiden: the bass is exactly where it belongs. Just slightly louder than the drum, alongside the lead singer, but behind the lead guitars. I admire any band that puts the bass player in his proper place, because so many bands sideline the bass player. I hate that. So who is Osyron’s bass player? How did y’all find him, and what are some of his influences? I play the bass, so my answer would be Geddy Lee, Rob Trujillo, and Cliff Burton … but I’d like to know what answer he might give.
Well his name is Tyler and he is the sexiest in the band. So we decided to but him on bass to settle his ego. Aha, all jokes aside Ty is a secret weapon because he is first and foremost a very talented guitar player. He is able to write quality bass lines that are creative but never overly flashy. He also mixes all of our records and releases as he is a talented mixing engineer.
Do please tell Tyler that Virginia Wallace thinks he’s a fuckin’ BADASS!!! So what are some the challeges of being in band? Work/life balance, family/art balance … how does that work for Osyron?
Well to be honest we are all pretty easygoing guys for the most part. So we are able to balance most things fairly well. We also try to split up jobs and tasks evenly or as best as possible so we are all working together towards the same goal. I’d say thats what makes us a great team is we all have the same dream and aspirations and we work towards together.
As a die-hard ‘fan girl,’ I ALWAYS loved the comraderie of metal! Even if it meant getting bounced from the bar alongside my friends … and yep, that happened more’n a couple times! (Apparently, being ‘over-served’ is not something you’re supposed to do in public. Who knew?) So what advice would you give to a young/aspiring musician? What wisdom would you care to pass on to the next generation?
Aha, been there and understand that! Honestly, just to pursue whatever you love and don’t give up. It’s cliché but very true. We all haven’t stopped and are starting to see the success but it has been many years and many losses. So it will eventually happen, but ‘when’ is up to hard work and some luck.
Well said, brother … well said. I give the same advice to aspiring writers. THANK you for gracing my page today! I am truly honored. And I wish Osyron all the best going forward!
If you love metal with a dash of classical, Osyron has you COVERED, now!!! Thanks again, Reed, for taking the time to chat today! And Y’ALL, my dear friends and rock stars, may stalk Osyron at the following links:
https://osyron.bandcamp.com/album/momentous
https://instagram.com/osyronband
Cheers! – V
I meant what I said, “Wow… these guys should make soundtracks for movies like ‘Lord of the Rings.” Osyron has great talent, and being self-trained is quite an accomplishment. Heavy metal has never been my kind of music, but it always surprises me when Virginia passes along a metal song, and I end up liking it.
“When the White Night Falls,” novel is full of heavy metal and other forms of music. Give it a try. I loved it.
Damn right! As Jack Black so succintly put it: ‘YOU CAN’T KILL THE METAL!!!’