Ill Niño - Dave Chavarri
Questions: Stuart Millen
Formed in New Jersey back in 1998, Ill Niño have forged their way to the top of the heap with their unique metal sound. Combining Latin rhythm and Spanish riffs with chugging guitars and crushing drums, the five-piece have released six full-length studio albums and toured the world. 2014 will see the band return to Australia for a run of shows as part of the annual Soundwave Festival.
In a rare moment away from his music, management, production and family duties, founding member and drummer Dave Chavarri spoke to Caught in the Mosh about touring, new music and taking a shit on the tour bus!
Ill Niño are heading back to Australia for Soundwave 2014. You must be looking forward to returning?
Totally man. We had an amazing response last time when we did Soundwave three years ago. It was great. We had a great slot, in between Dimmu Borgir and Slayer. We rocked out slot. And we just can’t wait to get back, for many reasons. We can’t wait to see a lot of our friends in the other bands and Soundwave is one of the greatest festivals in the world. I’ve been to many festivals around the globe, everywhere from the UK to Germany to the US and it’s definitely the best. The coolest festival there is.
You’ve recently finished the punishing American Epidemia Tour where you played 26 shows in just 30 days. How did the tour go?
It was great! We had an amazing response to the tour. We’ve been working our arses off. The band’s been around for almost 13 years now; we’re reaching our 13-year anniversary in a couple of months and we were stoked. A lot of fans came out and had a great time. We played a lot of our older stuff and we were able to come up with a cool setlist with a mix of old and new songs. It was great. We had an amazing turnout. It was an amazing situation all round.
Most of the songs you played on the tour were from Revolution Revolución, rather than your latest, Epidemia.
What thought goes into choosing your setlists for shows? Do you play what you want or what you think the fans want?
We play for our fans. The reality is that we play what our fans want to hear. We pay a lot of attention to Facebook, asking fans what they do and don’t want to hear. But you know, it’s tough. It’s tough when you’re doing an hour and 20 minute show and you’re doing 14 or 15 songs and you have seven records out. There are 12 or 13 tracks on each record so there’s a lot to choose from. It gets kind of hard; sometimes some people want to play certain songs. But we had a good balance. On this last tour we played two songs from the new record and we generally play a minimum of two songs from each of our records. We played four or five songs from Confession and another four or five from Revolution Revolución
In a rare moment away from his music, management, production and family duties, founding member and drummer Dave Chavarri spoke to Caught in the Mosh about touring, new music and taking a shit on the tour bus!
Ill Niño are heading back to Australia for Soundwave 2014. You must be looking forward to returning?
Totally man. We had an amazing response last time when we did Soundwave three years ago. It was great. We had a great slot, in between Dimmu Borgir and Slayer. We rocked out slot. And we just can’t wait to get back, for many reasons. We can’t wait to see a lot of our friends in the other bands and Soundwave is one of the greatest festivals in the world. I’ve been to many festivals around the globe, everywhere from the UK to Germany to the US and it’s definitely the best. The coolest festival there is.
You’ve recently finished the punishing American Epidemia Tour where you played 26 shows in just 30 days. How did the tour go?
It was great! We had an amazing response to the tour. We’ve been working our arses off. The band’s been around for almost 13 years now; we’re reaching our 13-year anniversary in a couple of months and we were stoked. A lot of fans came out and had a great time. We played a lot of our older stuff and we were able to come up with a cool setlist with a mix of old and new songs. It was great. We had an amazing turnout. It was an amazing situation all round.
Most of the songs you played on the tour were from Revolution Revolución, rather than your latest, Epidemia.
What thought goes into choosing your setlists for shows? Do you play what you want or what you think the fans want?
We play for our fans. The reality is that we play what our fans want to hear. We pay a lot of attention to Facebook, asking fans what they do and don’t want to hear. But you know, it’s tough. It’s tough when you’re doing an hour and 20 minute show and you’re doing 14 or 15 songs and you have seven records out. There are 12 or 13 tracks on each record so there’s a lot to choose from. It gets kind of hard; sometimes some people want to play certain songs. But we had a good balance. On this last tour we played two songs from the new record and we generally play a minimum of two songs from each of our records. We played four or five songs from Confession and another four or five from Revolution Revolución
You have a great relationship with your fans via Facebook.
You invited them to participate in the filming of the video for your latest single Forgive Me Father. How’d it all go?
It was amazing! We were talking about what we wanted to do for the actual video. We were talking to our record label and we were talking to the director and they were like “OK, we want to get actors” and we said why don’t we get our fans? Why don’t we use our fans, people who would really want to get involved with the video? It was kind of us honouring our fans. Thanking them for having our back and for being part of the Ill Nino family for so long. So we incorporated out fans into the video. They all had an amazing time. We had a meet and greet afterwards. We all chilled with everybody and we all had an amazing time. It was cool.
What’s the Ill Niño writing process? You’re all spread out around the country. Does that separation make things difficult?
No, not really. We’ve been doing this for so long. Like I said, we’ve been doing this for almost 13 years. We’ve sold over a million records. We’ve had our trials and tribulations and a lot of ups and downs. So we figured out a way, a format, so to speak. Everybody in the band writes their own riffs and creates ideas. Then after about four or five weeks, everybody gets together in a room for two or three weeks and we just jam out, the old fashioned way. We jam out together, we put things together, we say “hey, I like that” or “I don’t like that”. Every member’s opinion is extremely important in this band. It’s kept the nucleus of the band alive for 13 years. Then after we’ve jammed on stuff for a bit, we choose the best songs and pretty much go for it.
Speaking of writing… Your last three albums have been released every two years. Going on that schedule, you’re due for another in 2014. Have you had any thoughts on new material yet?
You know, we’re actually going to beat everyone to the punch. Everyone is expecting something from us in October or November 2014 but we’re actually looking at releasing a record in the summer of 2014. That’s our summer, which will be around July or August. We’ve already started the writing process, already started discussing ideas for the record. And it’s going really well so far. Some of it’s really cool, really memorable. And that’s what we’re trying to do at this point; be more memorable. And I think that’s what’s keeping Ill Niño alive for 13 years. We’re an original band and we don’t try to follow anyone else. We’ve never followed trends. Just as different styles of music come and go... from nu metal to trash metal, to the American wave of heavy metal and all the bands that have been blowing up and those that have been coming up and down... we decided not to follow trends and not to follow a stepping path, but to create our own path of Latin metal. And we’re happy with that. We’re content with that. Like I said, we’ve been doing this for a long time. And we don’t plan on going away any time soon. And at the same time, we’re proud of creating a different style of metal and sticking to our own guns, so to speak.
You invited them to participate in the filming of the video for your latest single Forgive Me Father. How’d it all go?
It was amazing! We were talking about what we wanted to do for the actual video. We were talking to our record label and we were talking to the director and they were like “OK, we want to get actors” and we said why don’t we get our fans? Why don’t we use our fans, people who would really want to get involved with the video? It was kind of us honouring our fans. Thanking them for having our back and for being part of the Ill Nino family for so long. So we incorporated out fans into the video. They all had an amazing time. We had a meet and greet afterwards. We all chilled with everybody and we all had an amazing time. It was cool.
What’s the Ill Niño writing process? You’re all spread out around the country. Does that separation make things difficult?
No, not really. We’ve been doing this for so long. Like I said, we’ve been doing this for almost 13 years. We’ve sold over a million records. We’ve had our trials and tribulations and a lot of ups and downs. So we figured out a way, a format, so to speak. Everybody in the band writes their own riffs and creates ideas. Then after about four or five weeks, everybody gets together in a room for two or three weeks and we just jam out, the old fashioned way. We jam out together, we put things together, we say “hey, I like that” or “I don’t like that”. Every member’s opinion is extremely important in this band. It’s kept the nucleus of the band alive for 13 years. Then after we’ve jammed on stuff for a bit, we choose the best songs and pretty much go for it.
Speaking of writing… Your last three albums have been released every two years. Going on that schedule, you’re due for another in 2014. Have you had any thoughts on new material yet?
You know, we’re actually going to beat everyone to the punch. Everyone is expecting something from us in October or November 2014 but we’re actually looking at releasing a record in the summer of 2014. That’s our summer, which will be around July or August. We’ve already started the writing process, already started discussing ideas for the record. And it’s going really well so far. Some of it’s really cool, really memorable. And that’s what we’re trying to do at this point; be more memorable. And I think that’s what’s keeping Ill Niño alive for 13 years. We’re an original band and we don’t try to follow anyone else. We’ve never followed trends. Just as different styles of music come and go... from nu metal to trash metal, to the American wave of heavy metal and all the bands that have been blowing up and those that have been coming up and down... we decided not to follow trends and not to follow a stepping path, but to create our own path of Latin metal. And we’re happy with that. We’re content with that. Like I said, we’ve been doing this for a long time. And we don’t plan on going away any time soon. And at the same time, we’re proud of creating a different style of metal and sticking to our own guns, so to speak.
You were involved in the amazing Roadrunner United CD back in 2005. It looked like you had a lot of fun with Trivium’s Matt Heafy on In the Fire. What was it like to be involved in the project?
It was great! Matt’s an amazing writer. Matt and I get along really well in the studio. I try to become part of the project that I’m working on and it was really cool. I’m a huge Mercyful Fate and King Diamond fan. He’s been one of my favourite artists since I was a kid, a teenager. And when I got the opportunity to be a part of that project, I was stoked! I was like, wow, I get to play with one of my favourite artists. It was kick arse!
Are there any other childhood favourites that you’d like to work with?
It’s not really working with someone, but I had a really cool situation with Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden. I was playing drums with Soulfly, who I played with for a bit, right before I started Ill Niño, in 1999. I remember we were the main support for Iron maiden for 30 days in a tour across the United State. I’m playing there with Soulfly and during the second song I have Nicko McBrain watching me play. He was one of my childhood heroes and there he was, sitting behind me, drinking a beer, watching me play. And after that, he invited me back to his bus to have a beer with him. The funny thing is, I don’t drink! But I was forced to drink that day. It was “yeah, all right, I’ll have a beer with you man”. Peer pressure man, peer pressure!
You played drums on Soulfly’s version of Black Sabbath’s Under the Sun and Ill Niño have released an EP with a bunch of covers. Are there any other tracks you’d like to have a bash at “ill Niño-ing”?
No, not really any covers, but one thing we’ve been talking about, throwing around, is the idea of an Ill Niño acoustic EP. It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time. Something we’ve wanted to do. To do something acoustically, for fun. And again, we don’t want to follow trends. Metal bands don’t do the acoustic thing. Rock bands do that. Alice in Chains, Nirvana. Bands like that end up doing acoustic CDs. But metal bands don’t. We don’t want to stick to the same elements as everybody else. We’ll do it and if people don’t like it, fuck ‘em (laughs). It’s something we want to do. Artistry has become very compromised, squeezed. People are basically putting records out because they have to put records out, because a label tells them to. But that’s not the route we want to take.
You have a new side project called Cry for Liberty. I believe pre production started in August? What’s happening there?
I’m actually flying out to Los Angeles in about a week, to start playing drums on that record. The stuff will start out a lot more commercial, a lot more radio driven. There will be some alternative rock style tracks on there too. I’m trying to expand my horizons, trying not to stick to just one thing. I’m a musician at the end of the day and I like to be able to expand, musically, and try different genres of music. And it’s been amazing. Cry for Liberty should have a record out early next year. March or April of next year.
It was great! Matt’s an amazing writer. Matt and I get along really well in the studio. I try to become part of the project that I’m working on and it was really cool. I’m a huge Mercyful Fate and King Diamond fan. He’s been one of my favourite artists since I was a kid, a teenager. And when I got the opportunity to be a part of that project, I was stoked! I was like, wow, I get to play with one of my favourite artists. It was kick arse!
Are there any other childhood favourites that you’d like to work with?
It’s not really working with someone, but I had a really cool situation with Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden. I was playing drums with Soulfly, who I played with for a bit, right before I started Ill Niño, in 1999. I remember we were the main support for Iron maiden for 30 days in a tour across the United State. I’m playing there with Soulfly and during the second song I have Nicko McBrain watching me play. He was one of my childhood heroes and there he was, sitting behind me, drinking a beer, watching me play. And after that, he invited me back to his bus to have a beer with him. The funny thing is, I don’t drink! But I was forced to drink that day. It was “yeah, all right, I’ll have a beer with you man”. Peer pressure man, peer pressure!
You played drums on Soulfly’s version of Black Sabbath’s Under the Sun and Ill Niño have released an EP with a bunch of covers. Are there any other tracks you’d like to have a bash at “ill Niño-ing”?
No, not really any covers, but one thing we’ve been talking about, throwing around, is the idea of an Ill Niño acoustic EP. It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time. Something we’ve wanted to do. To do something acoustically, for fun. And again, we don’t want to follow trends. Metal bands don’t do the acoustic thing. Rock bands do that. Alice in Chains, Nirvana. Bands like that end up doing acoustic CDs. But metal bands don’t. We don’t want to stick to the same elements as everybody else. We’ll do it and if people don’t like it, fuck ‘em (laughs). It’s something we want to do. Artistry has become very compromised, squeezed. People are basically putting records out because they have to put records out, because a label tells them to. But that’s not the route we want to take.
You have a new side project called Cry for Liberty. I believe pre production started in August? What’s happening there?
I’m actually flying out to Los Angeles in about a week, to start playing drums on that record. The stuff will start out a lot more commercial, a lot more radio driven. There will be some alternative rock style tracks on there too. I’m trying to expand my horizons, trying not to stick to just one thing. I’m a musician at the end of the day and I like to be able to expand, musically, and try different genres of music. And it’s been amazing. Cry for Liberty should have a record out early next year. March or April of next year.
So, you’re touring and writing for Ill Niño, you have your own management company, your own production company and now a new band, Cry for Liberty? When do you take a break? What do you do to relax?
Relax? Ha! I don’t relax! That’s the problem. And besides all that, I have a daughter, she was born in Australia, her name is Tiana and I’m married to an Australian woman, her name is Hailey. And Hailey’s my rock. She keeps me grounded amongst all this craziness. And it really does get crazy! I’ll be in the studio in the same city, maybe half a mile from my home and I’m working on music and I’m recording or whatever and my wife is texting me to say “hey, do I even know you any more?” It gets pretty nutty man. But you know, you sleep when you die! (laughs). That’s the way I look at it. You know, I don’t drink. I’m big on letting people know I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I don’t party. It’s not my thing. I’ve never been that guy, the drinking guy or that smoking guy. I think that’s what keeps me sane. It's what keeps me healthy enough to be able to perform with two different bands and to produce bands and to have a management company and everything else...
So with everything you have going on, do you ever get a chance to go out and see live music?
I do. I go to festivals a lot. We have a festival tour in Europe in August where we pay in front of about 600,000 people in about 13 days and yeah, I get to check out bands. I definitely make time to go to different stages and check out bands. It’s always good to keep your mind open and keep fresh with new music. There a lot of great bands that are coming out on different labels like Nuclear Blast, Century Media, Roadrunner, Victory records, AFM.
Well, you’ll have plenty of great bands to check out when you’re here for Soundwave next year! Another reason to look forward to it.
Yeah, we can’t wait. We’re going to destroy Soundwave. We have some shit up our sleeves, so just beware! Beware of Ill Niño.
And one final quick question... What’s a shit grinder?
A shit grinder? (laughs) oh man... OK. A shit grinder is put in the back of tour buses in America so you can actually take a shit. You’re not supposed to take a shit on any tour buses because the piping isn’t big enough to support paper or shit waste. When they install a shit grinder, they basically install pipes that are big enough to haul your shit from point A to point B (laughs).
Relax? Ha! I don’t relax! That’s the problem. And besides all that, I have a daughter, she was born in Australia, her name is Tiana and I’m married to an Australian woman, her name is Hailey. And Hailey’s my rock. She keeps me grounded amongst all this craziness. And it really does get crazy! I’ll be in the studio in the same city, maybe half a mile from my home and I’m working on music and I’m recording or whatever and my wife is texting me to say “hey, do I even know you any more?” It gets pretty nutty man. But you know, you sleep when you die! (laughs). That’s the way I look at it. You know, I don’t drink. I’m big on letting people know I don’t drink, I don’t smoke and I don’t party. It’s not my thing. I’ve never been that guy, the drinking guy or that smoking guy. I think that’s what keeps me sane. It's what keeps me healthy enough to be able to perform with two different bands and to produce bands and to have a management company and everything else...
So with everything you have going on, do you ever get a chance to go out and see live music?
I do. I go to festivals a lot. We have a festival tour in Europe in August where we pay in front of about 600,000 people in about 13 days and yeah, I get to check out bands. I definitely make time to go to different stages and check out bands. It’s always good to keep your mind open and keep fresh with new music. There a lot of great bands that are coming out on different labels like Nuclear Blast, Century Media, Roadrunner, Victory records, AFM.
Well, you’ll have plenty of great bands to check out when you’re here for Soundwave next year! Another reason to look forward to it.
Yeah, we can’t wait. We’re going to destroy Soundwave. We have some shit up our sleeves, so just beware! Beware of Ill Niño.
And one final quick question... What’s a shit grinder?
A shit grinder? (laughs) oh man... OK. A shit grinder is put in the back of tour buses in America so you can actually take a shit. You’re not supposed to take a shit on any tour buses because the piping isn’t big enough to support paper or shit waste. When they install a shit grinder, they basically install pipes that are big enough to haul your shit from point A to point B (laughs).