​

                                                                                                              Valyear interview  29/01/22

MM: Can you tell us about VALYEAR who’s your biggest influences.

VALYEAR are four guys who are best friends and love making music together! There is me, Chad, the singer. Geoff Wilson on guitar. Joe Petralia on bass and Nick Mavroukas on drums.

Our influences are all over the map. I love bands like ALICE IN CHAINS, FAITH NO MORE, PANTERA, THE USED, MONSTER VOODOO MACHINE...but then I get down with BLIND MELON, THE BLACK CROWES, and ARC ANGELS. For me anything that makes me feel something. Geoff and Nick love IRON MAIDEN. Geoff listens to all the dual guitar guys, MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, stuff like that which is ironic since we are a one guitar band. He also loves AC/DC and BLACK SABBATH. Nick loves SLIPKNOT, RUSH, DREAM THEATER, and Joe is everything from JELLYFISH, who I also love, KINGS X, THE BEATLES.  Joe and I both love the old hair metal bands like SKID ROW and MOTLEY CRUE, especially the 1994 MOTLEY album with John Corabi.
 
MM: Where do you draw your inspirations and ideas from. 

Musically you would have to ask the fellas. They give me music and I write lyrics and melodies over top and then the four of us structure it. I can tell you lyrically my lyrics are pretty autobiographical. You can pretty much tell what I have gone and may be going through by my lyrics. Joe will sometimes touch up what I have written melodically if he can add a better flow and because he sings some of it live, like catches some vocal lines so I can breathe or catch a breath type of thing so we have to make it work in a live setting so he helps with that. But all song writing is very much a team effort. 
 
MM: What would you say is your Band's favorite song?

We love all our tracks so it is hard. It varies daily for me. But we are so proud of all our work it is hard to pick.
 
MM: Plans tour and festival wise for 2022

We have a lot of shows booked for 2022. Sadly with the pandemic we aren't sure what we are going to be able to follow through with. When we know whether or not we can play the shows they will be posted on our social media pages. Keep watch and stay tuned!!

MM: What can we expect from VALYEAR live?

We give 1000% always. We are energetic. We are dark.  You can see how much we love being up there by the way we interact with each other. There is a camaraderie up there with us that the audience sees and feeds off of and then we feed off that and it is a constant exchange. You will get your money's worth and then some when you come to a VALYEAR show! That is a fact!

MM: What do you like best and worst about touring.

What I like best is bringing our music to new people. There is really nothing I don't like about the treks we do.

MM: Which three Bands would be your ultimate touring buddies.

If you are talking about our local bandmates that we are close with, I'd have to say bands like CRAWL, GOD HELMET and 7 DAY RIOT, all from our home town. They are friends of ours and always fun to play with. I'd love to play with DEF CON SOUND SYSTEM. I love all Adam Sewell's projects. WYCKED TRUTH would be fun! But if I had my dream tour I would have to say throw us on tour with MOTLEY CRUE, IRON MAIDEN or KISS. Just to play to a crowd that big would be epic!!

MM: Whats the most memorable concert you've been to (other than 
 
For me I remember seeing PANTERA for the first time by accident. I had heard of them but I never knew who they were. I went to see SKID ROW and PANTERA were opening. They came out and I went nuclear! I had never seen, felt or heard that much power. I'd have hated to be SKID ROW on that tour. After PANTERA played nothing else mattered to me. I could have left after they played and been fulfilled and happy. I didn't but if I had I would have been ok.

MM: What do you feel has been your biggest accomplishment so far.Getting signed. Having our music distributed world wide. Keeping this band together and staying brothers for the whole time of being in this band together. Having four guys who love doing what we do as much as we do and maintaining the level of enthusiasm we keep. I feel very accomplished because of those things.

MM: Which are your Two favorite Albums of all time

Wow! This is going to be hard. I actually have a top ten list but since you are asking for two I would have to say ANGEL DUST by FAITH NO MORE and DIRT by ALICE IN CHAINS. Both those albums are perfect. Not one moment is unnecessary on either of those albums.

MM: Can you remember the first time you ever played live and how it felt to have people watching you?I sure do. I played in front of my high school when I was fifteen years old! I was shitting my pants but I owned it! I had everybody clapping and singing with me. It was a defining moment for me. It made me addicted to that stomach rush. That fear. That anticipation. It's almost like an orgasm. Big build up....then BAM! Big finish!
 
MM: Growing up which Bands posters did you have on your bedroom wall.

KISS,SKID ROW, MOTLEY CRUE. Then it changed to PANTERA, MONSTER VOODOO MACHINE, BLIND MELON, FAITH NO MORE. But I really dug bands that not only sounded cool and had hooks but their look was huge to me. They were like super heroes to me when I was younger. As I got older I strayed from the image side of it but it came back really quick when I started playing live. I wanted to look better than the dudes that just got off work. I wanted people to feel like they got their money's worth. Make them happy they dropped ten or twenty bucks. So I put effort into my look and image and started gravitating towards bands that did the same. So image became important to me again. I was told early on by record labels that people listen with their eyes too. I just wanna see some effort. Ya know? The music will always take presidence but give me some effort. Put on a nice shirt. Ya know? 
 
MM - Who do you think influenced the world of Metal / Rock more than any other Person

Oh my. There are a few bands in my opinion. On the metal side guys like OZZY/SABBATH, LEMMY, SLAYER, PANTERA for sure. People who did things their own way. So many to list but those are the first few that come to mind. On the rock side, guys like DAVID BOWIE, MOTLEY CRUE, THE CULT, people who at times were very basic but not afraid to be themselves at any cost. 
MM - What's the most important thing to the band right now?

Making the best music we can make. Being able to sit outside ourselves, listen to it and love it like we aren't in the band. Music we are super proud of and can stand behind with pride.
 
MM: If you could do a cover of any song which one would it be and why?

We have a few covers in our set we pull out at different times. We do SHUT THE FUCK UP by BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION, SUPERCHARGER HEAVEN by WHITE ZOMBIE, THE TROOPER by IRON MAIDEN, DIGGIN" THE GRAVE by FAITH NO MORE. We don't do them all at every show but we have them and a few more in our arsenal for when we want to have some fun.
 
MM: Tell us why we should listen to your Band

If you want your rock/metal with attitude, 
integrity and honesty. We are your band. We write, attitude filled, hook laden, honest, groovy, heavy music! We love what we do. We are fans of music as much as anyone else so we make sure we give what we would want and be the band we would want to watch and listen to. We respect our friends/fans. They are our people. We will always deliver. We work hard to do that!
 
MM: Four words to describe your Valyear

Heavy. Loud. Aggressive. Swagger.
 
Final Words for your fans and our readers

Please go stream the album! We are super proud of it and We know you will love it! Please follow us on all our social media. We want to know you guys! We are excited to get back out and play for everybody. We have a lot of cool things happening. We always have something cool in the works for our friends/
fans. Stay tuned. We are only getting started.

​

https://www.facebook.com/valyearband

​