Here's something you might be interested in.
It's Bobby Fernandez, the bass player from Symbolic on the phone, taking a break from band practice at their guitar player's home studio in Escondido.
Escondido?
"One of us commutes all the way from La Mesa," he says. That would be singer/front man Scott Bruce. "Otherwise, the rest of us live in North County."
In four years Symbolic have released as many CDs but really, the world at large outside of San Diego hasn't heard much from them. That, says Bobby Fernandez, is about to change. Europe, and points west, are on the band's collective radar.
But first, to give a reader a sense of the Symbolic sound consider this list of influences: Iron Maiden, Pantera, Jeff Beck, Metallica, Dream Theater, Queensryche, Rush, and Ronnie James Dio.
"We're a metal band, and really proud of it," says guitarist Steve Potts, originally from London. He writes much of the band's the music, which is as varied as are their influences.
"Our style isn't so pigeonholed," says Scott Bruce.
"It appeals to a wide variety," Potts says, "including thrash fans and hard rockers."
"The music has a power metal feel," says drummer Diana Cameron, "but not so out-there prog rocky that you can't head band to it."
Potts calls his lyrics spiritual but not religious. "Songs about the cycle of life, the continuum of life." Like that he says, and as such, open for interpretation.
Anybody ever miss the point? Yes, says Bruce. "Especially with our concept CD. The meanings weren't that obvious."
"I think maybe you can interpret [the lyrics] differently from the story line and put them in a different context and still be okay," says Potts.
The plan is to record a new CD of material with Cameron. She's the newest member of Symbolic and as such does not appear on any of their earlier records.
Cameron is a relative newcomer to drumming. "I didn't start playing until I was 19 or 20," she says. "My dad wouldn't let me. He said the drums are a man's instrument. You sit there with your legs open and you play."
Was her dad right? Yes. She says she performs on a large nine-piece kit at present.
Symbolic hopes to market their new CD in Europe, the UK, and Japan in the coming year. The reasoning is that American metal fans are so divided by genre that it's almost not worth marketing on home turf.
"It borders on the ridiculous how many genres of metal there are now." He's right when it comes to metal, when you consider that Viking, Stoner, Speed, Nu, Medieval, Doom, Extreme, Death, Glam, Drone, Experimental, Funk, Progressive, Pagan, and Folk are but a few of the many sub-genres of metal at present.
"It's gotten to the point where people only listen to sub-genres," he says. "But outside the U.S., fans still like it the way American fans did during the 80s and the 90s. "There was hard rock, and there was metal. And everyone was okay with that."
Symbolic: Brick by Brick Saturday, July 27, 619.275.LIVE, 8pm, $10 (Rushed, Blood Dancer, and Suicide Chords also perform)
It's Bobby Fernandez, the bass player from Symbolic on the phone, taking a break from band practice at their guitar player's home studio in Escondido.
Escondido?
"One of us commutes all the way from La Mesa," he says. That would be singer/front man Scott Bruce. "Otherwise, the rest of us live in North County."
In four years Symbolic have released as many CDs but really, the world at large outside of San Diego hasn't heard much from them. That, says Bobby Fernandez, is about to change. Europe, and points west, are on the band's collective radar.
But first, to give a reader a sense of the Symbolic sound consider this list of influences: Iron Maiden, Pantera, Jeff Beck, Metallica, Dream Theater, Queensryche, Rush, and Ronnie James Dio.
"We're a metal band, and really proud of it," says guitarist Steve Potts, originally from London. He writes much of the band's the music, which is as varied as are their influences.
"Our style isn't so pigeonholed," says Scott Bruce.
"It appeals to a wide variety," Potts says, "including thrash fans and hard rockers."
"The music has a power metal feel," says drummer Diana Cameron, "but not so out-there prog rocky that you can't head band to it."
Potts calls his lyrics spiritual but not religious. "Songs about the cycle of life, the continuum of life." Like that he says, and as such, open for interpretation.
Anybody ever miss the point? Yes, says Bruce. "Especially with our concept CD. The meanings weren't that obvious."
"I think maybe you can interpret [the lyrics] differently from the story line and put them in a different context and still be okay," says Potts.
The plan is to record a new CD of material with Cameron. She's the newest member of Symbolic and as such does not appear on any of their earlier records.
Cameron is a relative newcomer to drumming. "I didn't start playing until I was 19 or 20," she says. "My dad wouldn't let me. He said the drums are a man's instrument. You sit there with your legs open and you play."
Was her dad right? Yes. She says she performs on a large nine-piece kit at present.
Symbolic hopes to market their new CD in Europe, the UK, and Japan in the coming year. The reasoning is that American metal fans are so divided by genre that it's almost not worth marketing on home turf.
"It borders on the ridiculous how many genres of metal there are now." He's right when it comes to metal, when you consider that Viking, Stoner, Speed, Nu, Medieval, Doom, Extreme, Death, Glam, Drone, Experimental, Funk, Progressive, Pagan, and Folk are but a few of the many sub-genres of metal at present.
"It's gotten to the point where people only listen to sub-genres," he says. "But outside the U.S., fans still like it the way American fans did during the 80s and the 90s. "There was hard rock, and there was metal. And everyone was okay with that."
Symbolic: Brick by Brick Saturday, July 27, 619.275.LIVE, 8pm, $10 (Rushed, Blood Dancer, and Suicide Chords also perform)