Dan Sugarman

I definitely hope to be playing in Australia as soon as I possibly can man! And man, way too many guitars to run through haha I've spent a lot of years collecting them... Here's a list I took off of my website haha way too hard to recall all of this. I really need to invest in a massive wall hanger setup so I can have these around at all times... though, to be honest, I've only been using the Kiesels for the past year or so. Truly some of the best shit I've ever played.

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Kiesel K-6 Wenge Top USA
Kiesel SCB6 USA
Carvin DC600 USA
Jackson SL1 USA
Gibson SG USA
ESP EC1000VB Japan
Music Man JPX Chambered Body USA
Carvin CT624 USA
ESP Horizon N-II Japan
Takamine Nylon
Breedlove Performance Focus Series USA
Music Man JP Majesty USA
LTD EC1000FR Korea
Legator Ninja 7 Custom USA
LTD Horizon Korea
Acoustic Baby Taylor

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haha awesome question dude. Definitely one I've not thought about... so lets see what comes to mind first here. As for my best moment ever being ABRB, I would probably say its the time we went to Indonesia to play two of the most amazing shows we've ever played... that, or the first tour we had in South East Asia going through Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Hawaii. China may have even been at the start of this tour, I honestly don't remember after all the ridiculous amounts of flying and monotonous airport situations we've been in. Terrible, I know.

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My worst moment ever would be finding out that my mom was sick again when we were in Hawaii on the last night of that very same tour. Not being able to do shit about it from across the Pacific Ocean was the worst feeling ever. I lost it that night for sure. What a way to cap one of the best tours we've ever done. The mental switch that has to happen going from a tour like that into a situation at home as dire as it was is something that no amount of mental preparation could help.

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The double edge sword that is touring, am I right?

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Ah, thank you dude! For the most part, our writing process is nothing out of the ordinary in todays day and age... With the power and accessibility of computers nowadays, it's easier then ever to have a home studio and produce your own music. What we did on this last record differed a little bit from Instinct, but the general approach is the same. Ideas would come from each of us having expanded an idea as fully as we could in our own home studios, and then we would come together and flesh out the songs together if the song just wasn't quite there on our own.

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There is something to be said about having the ability to hear an idea you have in your head all the way through to the end in the comfort of your own creative space. And to have access to getting the sounds you hear "inside the box" so to speak (in studio), before you bring it into the jam space and jam it out. It really helps you with getting inside your own song and really exploring all the corners of it... if you haven't invested in some way to record yourself and your songs, then I definitely suggest looking into that. Before I made the move to invest, all I had was GuitarPro to hear my ideas back... the bane of existence hahaha investing in a studio computer and Logic was the best move I made in terms of a creative tool. Hope that helps dude!

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I've been there too my man... for years I was stuck doing all things musical by myself. Let me tell you exactly what I did to change that: I believe in myself, and I went for it. I kept doing my thing, pushing myself to get better every day and write better music more often, and every day I saw improvement. I challenged myself for years to write SOMETHING before I went to sleep every night (lucid creativity at those hours of the night), even if it was as simple as a chord change I hadn't messed with before, I would create, and then I would sleep and marinate on the idea. Before I closed my eyes, the ideas would be playing in my head, eventually lulling me to sleep. The next morning, new ideas would be there, I could play it better, and I would decide if it was something to pursue after school (at the time, I was in middle school). By the time I was a freshman in highschool I had cultivated enough of a style and some confidence in my playing to tryout for the best metal band in my highschool. They was called Anacrusis at the time - the name was changed to Fallen Figure when I joined the band. I was jamming with the older dudes as a 10th grader, and by the time they were in their senior year, they were over the band and playing metal - so they passed the torch to me.

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Alone again. But, this time I had more insight into what goes into a band. And so, I started writing a demo alone in my room and started looking for any musician talented enough to play it. The problem with that, is talent and a good personality are hard to come by. After a year or so of writing the first Demo, I had a lineup of good dudes ready to play my new songs live. The feeling was tremendous... playing your own music at a show and feeling that energy was something I became addicted to, for lack of a better word. Years of growing as a musician, band leader, and writer, lead me to meeting tons of like minded people. It's true what they say, that you are who you surround yourself with... there is no denying shit rubbed off on me when I started networking and becoming friends with other bands that I looked up to.That's when I met Lech and As Blood Runs Black. We invited Lech to come check us out and what we were working on, so he came to a practice to and was immediately into what we were doing. He actually became our manager that day. It wasn't long before he asked me to move up to the major leagues, and when he did, I was ready.

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My piece of advice? Believe in yourself. Do your work, put in your time - prove your worth as a musician, a visionary, and a band leader. Constantly strive to better yourself and to make connections with as many like minded people around you. Networking is a big piece of this, but not everything. Without developing yourself socially, in business, and in online etiquette when reaching out to certain individuals for anything from labels, sponsors, booking agencies, fans, hate mail, and anything else like that. At the end of the day, it comes down to you.

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- Get your shit together (have the gear, have the right members, have the songs, have the right attitude)
- Get out there and play as many shows as you can
- Create amazing music and be able to perform it flawlessly live
- Go to other shows and make connections with other bands and industry people, put yourself out there.
- Cover all your social media platforms and be on top of it, be reachable and interactive with your fans, because turning your fans into friends is one of the best way to establish a following.
- Present an image that is real, and marketable. Nothing is worse then trying to hard or not trying at all.
- Be original, and be humble.
- Allow people to tell you that you suck, and ask them why so that you can take the constructive criticism.
- Always under promise and over achieve. The extra little things go a long way in making yourself memorable.
- Add your own ideas to this list and keep it handy as you evolve as a musician and band

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Ahh thanks for the appreciation Rodrigo - I love this platform as well. The possibility to talk with you guys is so cool to me, so thank you for participating and being a part of this man. The show down there with AILD was incredible, such a surreal experience to hang out with them before and after the show... growing up in the metal scene, they were definitely one of my favorites at a certain point. To play with them in such an amazing city with such an awesome crowd was just unforgettable. We definitely miss Mexico City already, even though we were just there like a month ago haha we can't wait to come back. You guys definitely do it right down there. And as for your question, the new album is out, so I'm sure you already know how it sounds ;) But if you don't - it's raw, emotional, technical, melodic metal that has depth. It really means a lot to each of us in the band to have this album come out after everything that's happened, so thank you for all of your love and support <3 I mean it, thank you Rodrigo!

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I think it's a cool opportunity for die hard fans of any band to actually meet and hang out with the band in a private setting. It's also a cool way for the bands to make a couple of extra dollars on tour, which is ALWAYS an issue and ALWAYS a huge help no matter the circumstance. If a tour is bigger and fancier, that does mean they are probably making a little more, but it also means they have more crew to take care of, more maintenance, maybe an extra truck hauling lighting and stage gear... You never know, but my point is that the money coming in and going out is usually relative and equivalent when it really comes down to it, and earning some extra money by creating a stronger bond with your fans, and turning them into actual friends, to me, is an awesome win-win situation. What do you think about it?

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