Getting set to go on tour with Exhumed, Cephalic Carnage, and Goatwhore, Havok are coming off of two strong albums and a tour with legendary bay area bangers, Forbidden. The band has plenty of momentum going for them and shows no signs of slowing down. Here to talk about the monstrosity that is Havok, Reviewfix.com got in touch with main man, David Sanchez.
Review Fix: How long have you been playing guitar?
David Sanchez: I’ve been playing for, damn, since I was 13 so I’m coming up on 10 years.
Review Fix: What gear do you use?
Sanchez: Esp guitars. All of them have emgs in em and then basically a noise gates the only thing I ever have on. I use a gain from my head. It’s a Madison divinity. It’s an original. Those are pretty hard to find.
Review Fix: Any effect pedals?
Sanchez: I don’t use much just a noisegate, a tuner, some eqs for added distortion during the solos and a delay pedal.
Review Fix: What is your favorite piece of gear?
Sanchez: Definitely the guitars. All the ESPs that I have are awesome. Its really the guitars with that madison head that really makes the sound so I cant leave that out.
Review Fix: Who did the artwork for “Time is Up�
Sanchez: Halsey Swain (Halseycaust). Shes done stuff for Toxic Holocaust and a bunch of other bands.
Review Fix: Why did you choose to go with “Time is Up†as the title?
Sanchez: It was the last song that we wrote for the album and it seemed like an appropriate title for the album and the album revolves around the theme that “Time is Up†in all the lyrics.
Review Fix: Are any of the songs older, leftover Havok songs or is it all new material?
Sanchez: It’s all brand new stuff.
Review Fix: Earlier in the year, Havok shot the music video for “Covering Fire.” What was that like?
Sanchez: We shot it in Tyler, Texas and it was super windy and we were in a tree farm. Fun times.
Review Fix: Havok will soon be touring with Exhumed, Cephalic Carnage, and Goatwhore. How do you feel about that?
Sanchez: I like all the bands and I think its really cool and were going out with Cephalic so that’s great because there the other Colorado metal band out there.
Review Fix:Are you nervous about being the only thrash band on a bill with mostly all death metal acts?
Sanchez: No not at all I think we fit in just fine. I think that’s the one thing that’s cool about our stuff is we can fit in just about anywhere.
Review Fix: You recently toured with Forbidden. What was that like? How did it feel to be touring with a band that nobody thought would get back together?
Sanchez: It was really cool. They’re one of my favorite bands. As soon as we got the call that we were on that we were so excited. They’re really cool guys too. That was a good one.
Review Fix: Havok’s gimmick is “No Karate in the Pitâ€. How did you come up with that?
Sanchez: It needed to be came up with by somebody. There is no really how did we come up with it. We said it and I said how come nobody’s ever done that? So we printed it.
Review Fix: Any plans on re-releasing the “Pwn ‘Em All†EP?
Sanchez: No. No plans on doing anything else with that so if you have it, hold onto it because it might be worth something that day.
Review Fix: Do you still sell copies at your shows?
Sanchez: No. We ran out a long time ago.
Review Fix: How do you do that signature high pitched sonic scream of yours?
Sanchez: I just literally scream as high as I can. The one in DOA is about as high as it can get. Thats the max right there.
Review Fix: Who would you say are your biggest influences?
Sanchez: I’d say James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Eric Peterson, Chuck Billy. Those are my huge huge influences.
Review Fix: Is there anything interesting you do that people wouldn’t expect?
Sanchez: Not really. I don’t do anything crazy. I’m just a normal dude.
Review Fix: What’s with all the Simpsons stickers on your guitars?
Sanchez: I love The Simpsons – especially old Simpsons. That’s what I grew up on and that’s where I get a lot of my humor. Every time I sit down and watch an old episode of The Simpsons, nothing beats it.
Review Fix: Any favorites?
Sanchez: I’ve got a lot of episodes. I’m a big nerd. Off the top of my head I’d have to say the “Frank Grimes†episode.
Review Fix: What do you do on your downtime?
Sanchez: I’m at work right now and what I do is rent a house for bands. I run the mix for sound.
Review Fix: What’s the Future of Havok after the tour?
Sanchez: More and more touring. We started writing some new material. We’ve just been screwing around. The new album should be out next year.
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