An Interview with Sebastian from Tragic End

My name is Sue Ellen Kubiak, and today I have interviewed Sebastian from the band known as Tragic End, a band composed of talented, young men that are trying to make their mark here in San Antonio, TX.

Sue Ellen: How have things been lately? How's life? I see you're hair's still long and shiny as usual! (I wish my hair looked like that!)

Sebastian: Things have been quite productive...still doing local shows now and then, making new material, and still trying to saving up for that highly anticipated demo we'll be releasing soon. (By the way, thanks for the hair comment!)

Sue Ellen: Well, I know that some members used to play in a band known as Burning Winter. They were quite a hit here in San Antonio. They had some awesome concerts and great songs. Mind telling me what happened with the band?

Sebastian: Well, for personal reasons, some things are just better left unsaid. For the most part, the members parted on a bad note, so with that...I'm sure you can get the idea of what happened. Musical indifference was a standing matter with the few, but it was mostly head-butting.

Sue Ellen: How...um...tragic! Well, the past is the past. Now you're in a new band. Tell me more about Tragic End. How did you guys get together?

Sebastian: Well with the few parted members who were still close at the end of Burning Winter, we decided to still make music, but in a faster, deliberate way...which results in a more kick ass, new, and fresh genre. We met up with our other lead guitar, Santos, from school. We also met a guy named Gustav who played drums really well, but in time even breakups can happen in the beginning...so that is why we now have Robert, who is also really good, on the drums now.

Sue Ellen. Interesting...I'm sure everyone wants to know this, but where did you guys come up with the name for the band?

Sebastian: We actually had came with a few names before this one, and we tried not to stick with anything corny, so we decided to be named Tragic End...even though there were allegations that the name Tragic End was "EMO", we tend to prove people wrong at our shows and with the music.

Sue Ellen: What a way to prove them wrong...with strong guitar, bass, and drum work! What kind of sound are you guys trying to go for, anyway? Your music sounds really heavy...sounds like something for the 'Goth' crowd!

Sebastian: We're trying to reproduce something evil mixed with happy and sad emotions that make you want to cream your pants.

Sue Ellen: People creaming in their pants, huh? I'll leave that one up for the audience to decipher! So are there any messages in your music that you're trying to send to the audience? With song titles such as "First Taste of Blood" and "Corrupt to the Core", there's definitely something behind that!

Sebastian: Well with any band, the lyrical atmosphere must stick to a certain point of view and eventually retrospect from there. At the moment, most of the songs are about murderous tendencies, heart break, hypocrisy, and hate.

Sue Ellen: Negative stuff, but that's the stuff that good, hard rock music is made of these days. Anyways, who plays what in the band? What instruments are you guys currently using, and how long have you been playing?

Well, I, (Sebastian) have been playing bass for about 8 years now, I alternate with two instruments that I have at the moment: my 5 String F-50 ESP-LTD and my BROWNSVILLE 6 String bass. Jesse also uses an ESP-LTD Guitar. He's not too familiar with the specs, but he has been playing for about 2 years now. Santos uses a Jackson Guitar, and he's been playing for about 3 or 4 years now. Daniel, who is the vox (vocals), has been screaming for a pretty good while. Robert, who plays the drums, has been jamming for about two or three years now.

Sue Ellen: That's quite a bit of rocking. What are your personal influences in music?

Sebastian: My style of playing runs from the many inspirations of my favorite bands, which include Children Of Bodom, Norther, Wintersun, Three Inches of Blood, Warmen, Oceans, and Thy Serpent.

Sue Ellen: I like Children of Bodom. My brother actually took a great liking to them. Good stuff. Well, since we have your influences down, what direction do you see you and your band going?

Sebastian: In all due time, once our fan base has expanded more and we've accumulated the desired merchandise and media we wish for, we hope to tour the U.S. with other local bands and maybe spread the scene a little more, on a professional note. Of course, we need to try really hard to make people hear our music, as well as getting it out there to the ears of the really prestigious record companies. Those are the things that we hope to achieve in a long while, or maybe sooner.

Sue Ellen: Sounds attainable. Chevelle's done it. Disturbed has too. (They're my favorite bands!) They had a good shot and turned famous...and now it's your turn. How do you feel when you're up on stage, and the crowds going crazy for you guys?

Sebastian: We feel really good. It gets us more pumped, and makes us shake our head faster and perform mind boggling hair stunts. It also makes us not feel as idiotic as we already do!

Sue Ellen: Aw, you guys aren't idiotic! Anyway, what's the best part of being in Tragic End?

Sebastian: The best part is being able to speak out and confront the band with issues without worrying about ill tension. Even though the argument could start off with an ill tone, it all depends on the circumstances...but we like to uphold everything in a mature, professional way.

Sue Ellen: Sounds reasonable. Do you guys feel like brothers...or just separate people doing separate things? How's the teamwork in Tragic End?

Sebastian: At this point, each member can have their own persona on how things feel amongst one another. We're not strangers, nor just friends. We're just a few guys who can trust one another and storm up good ideas.

Sue Ellen: Well, hey, that's a form of teamwork. Not bad. What was the worst experience you guys have had on stage?

Sebastian: Once, we were jamming our asses off and look up at a crowd of only 3 or 4 people. Two of them included the singers' mom and girlfriend. My girlfriend was there too...and some other random person. (laughs) It happens to the best of every band, that's why we always site the bands that we're playing with, and the venue where the show is going to be held at.

Thanks so much for the time, you guys. Any final words before checking out?
Santos sucks (sic), Daniel absolutely loves to suck (sic), Jesse likes to gargle it in his mouth, and Robert likes it in the (sic). As for Sebastian...well, we all know he's downright kick-ass!!!!