Progressive Metal and Tasty Pizza with Memories In Broken Glass

Saul Castillo and George Garcia of Memories In Broken Glass

Progressive Metal and Tasty Pizza with Memories In Broken Glass

The weather in Southern California was unusually chilly and rainy when Memories In Broken Glass made their way out to Anaheim Hills in support of their brand magnun opus entitled Enigma Infinite (Hammer Forged Records).  Unleashing a supremely solid performance on the patio at Out Of The Park Pizza, Memories In Broken Glass enveloped the area with their own dynamic brand of imaginative progressive metal.  In the midst of supremely tasty pizza and crazy weather, the stunning auditory entreaties from Memories In Broken Glass were nothing short of mesmerizing. Prior to their standout performance, we caught up with two of the members to discuss the magnificent Enigma Infinite, their current tour and exhilarating live shows. working with Robert Beltran (Shattered Sun) and other topics of intrigue.  Read on…

Introduce yourself and tell me what you do in Memories In Broken Glass.
Saul: My name is Saul Castillo and I am the singer.
George: I’m George Garcia, I play drums.

Why don’t you give me a little background on the band.
George: We started before I got into the picture, so that was probably around 2006/07 – I got in around 2008 with pretty much the members we have now besides the singer and our bass player, which has changed. But Randy got in around 2009 and Saul got in around 2 years ago.

Where are you based and what is your current music scene like there?
George: We’re based out of Alice, TX. The current music scene – we haven’t been in touch with for a little bit of time because it hasn’t been too happening out there. It was good when we first started, actually great. We owe a lot to our fans down there. I guess in the recent years there’s been a downfall in bands that have been from that region. So there hasn’t been much going on. A lot gigs down there with a few of the other locals once in awhile. Shattered Sun is from there so we’ll get together with them sometimes.

Memories In Broken Glass at Out Of The Park Pizza in Anaheim Hills

How is this current tour been going, and what have been some of the highlights?
Saul: It’s good, barely day 4 so there’s not a lot happening except for your typical car troubles. Nothing exciting. We still have about three weeks to go. So, hopefully – something down the road. Something exciting, maybe some sights.
George: The first few dates in El Paso and Austin were good. They were great. But as far as any major problems that we’ve encountered throughout the tour, nothing major. Just car issues, things like that. The actual shows have been great. Nothing to complain about.
Saul: It seems like this time we were a bit more prepared for anything that happens. So we’re good.
George: Previous tours we’ve usually had car trouble. This time we were a lot more prepared.

I see you’re playing a pizza parlor, that’s cool.
Saul: Good beer.
George: The pizza here is super awesome.

Is there any story or concept behind the album title Enigma Infinite?
Saul: It’s very simple. You listen to the entire album and you hear a compilation of songs that basically is either emotional or mentally. It just takes you somewhere, and it’s puzzling. How our lives – how we live, it’s all just an infinite puzzle. Something we’re just trying to figure out day by day – and that’s what these songs represent. A journey, our daily lives on a daily basis.

Select two songs from the album, what inspired the lyrics?
Saul: I really like “Ember” and I really like “The Constant.” I think those two are really strong songs because you have two different kinds of emotions. You can go from being angry and really pissed off while listening to “The Constant” and be very hopeful while listening to “Ember” feeling uplifted and the world is your oyster. Feeling like you can do anything you want to do.

Your producer, Robert Beltran. What did he contribute to the overall recording process?
George: A lot. He brings the best out of us in infinite ways. This guy – he’s a sixth band member. He has taken us under his wing. He’s helped us move forward in every way possible, with production, management, engineering, ideas. Just being a friend. He’s done a lot for us. So, if that answers your question, i’m not sure. But imagine a father to your band – not necessarily to you, but your band, that’s what he is. He helps in any way he can along with the label and everything. They’ve been very good to us. Our relationship with Robert is very solid. There’s time we bump heads, of course, but there’s times you bump heads with your family. It happens. He brings out the best in us overall.

What can one expect from a live show?
George: You can probably expect both sides of the spectrum when it comes to heavy music. Both something that hits you hard and heavy and something that hits you by surprise. You never know that a band can bring out feelings from within you that you didn’t even know that you had. Introspective feelings, emotional feelings that you didn’t know you had that you can get from listening to a band of our type of sound, because we are heavy. We do have an aggressive sound but we do also have soft sounds and mellow sounds that will also contribute to our arsenal of music..

If Memories In Broken Glasss could open for anyone either now or the past, who and why?
Saul: I would definitely say TesseracT and Periphery. I think that would be a really solid bill to open up for. I don’t know, just really killer bands.
George: They’re really good complimentary bands. Periphery and TesseracT – they’re within the same vein. We don’t sound the same and they don’t sound the same as us. Everybody sounds different and people that like them would probably enjoy our set as well. We have opened up for both bands before, but we would love to do it again. [laughs]

What’s up next for you guys after this tour?
George: More tour. Fitting more of the budget that we have into furthering our market, however that may be. We need to find out. We’re still in the process of finding out where we need to apply ourselves whether it be another tour or festivals, things like that. Definitely a lot of live playing for the album cycle and seeing where it goes from there.

Memories In Broken Glass is:
Saul Castillo – Vocals
Mark Martinez – Guitar/ Vocals
Justin Garcia – Guitar
George Frank Garcia – Drums
Randy King – Bass/ Vocals

Interview with Saul Castillo regarding his solo project The Individual here!

(Interview by Ken Morton – Photos by Jack Lue)

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