Written by Jeremy Johnson
(jjohn308@mscd.edu)
As guitarist for Miami metal band Black Tide, Austin Diaz is the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez, soaking young fans in slick, high-octane riffs and a tidal wave of massive, black sound. Just 18 years old, Diaz handles his ax (he now has three of them) like a seasoned lumberjack of the metal genre. Pretty incredible when you consider he learned his first 40-minute set with the band during an RV ride from Florida to Seattle. At an age when most people start thinking of college, Diaz and frontman Gabriel Garcia, bassist Zakk Sandler and drummer Steven Spence are literally learning life on the road, and they’re fast learners. Diaz takes time off from a U.S./Japan tour as opening act for fellow metal masters Escape the Fate to discuss lessons learned in the school of hard rock.
JJ: How would you describe Black Tide’s music?
Austin Diaz: I just say rock and roll. I mean we have songs that are labeled “metal,” but they don’t really sound “metal.” They sound to me like rock songs, like radio rock. We all have a variety of music selections, and we like to branch out in totally different styles. We wouldn’t want to categorize or limit ourselves, really.
JJ: Sure. But listening to your music, you can really hear a lot of early ’80s/late ’90s undertones, like Judas Priest and Mötley Crüe. Do you think those kind of musical similarities have helped you succeed commercially?
AD: Yes, definitely, because we go to these shows and we see a lot of older people who have brought their kids out. And they’re like ‘wow, you guys remind me of when I used to go to shows.’ It’s pretty cool to see both the old and the young coming out to our shows.
JJ: You guys are pretty young — too young for the bars, in fact. What do you do for fun?
AD: I like to go to shows, and I play guitar all the time. I like to hang out with friends. That’s pretty much it, dude. We just like to go around, raising hell. Every now and then, we like to go to the movies.
JJ: You guys have found a lot of success for such a young band. What do you think it takes for a band like yours to maintain focus and continue to find success in the music industry?
AD: Well, there’s a lot to learn at first. We’re all really young, so we’ve had this opportunity up until now to play our instruments all the time without the responsibilities of a job and stuff like that. And we’ve learned a lot more about how tour managers work. I mean, right now we don’t even have a crew, so we’re doing it all ourselves. It’s a matter of learning and having the time to learn.
JJ: If you guys weren’t doing the rock and roll thing right now, what do you think you’d be doing?
AD: I’d probably be in college. I have a lot of music training, but however, I’ve got this thing going on, which is what I really want to do. If we get a break, I may go for a semester or something, but I’m still undecided.
JJ: What’s the best part of your young career so far? AD: The best part is the free equipment, bro! The free equipment and seeing the world, those are my personal favorites.
JJ: Do you have any sound advice for the young dudes looking to follow in the wake of Black Tide?
AD: Yeah, dude. It’s fucking work, bro. I mean, it starts off when you’re in a band that you’re having fun and doing your shit. When I first got started we were all just a bunch of kids and we weren’t really taking anything too serious. It just happened that way. But you can’t be extremely serious. If you seem too focused on making yourself really good, it’s not going to happen like that. But if you focus on making your music the way you like it, follow your ears, follow your heart, that’s going to be it, you know? And if the big break does happen for you and you’re lucky enough to get exposure in front of the right people, then you got it.
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