We are so excited to announce that our album release show will be on August 4th at Ram's Head Live!! This is a huge venue in our area, and we'll be headlining with 70 minutes! Grab your tickets today!

We spoke with artist and writer Rafer Roberts about his work on the It Was Metal graphic novel. Rafer wrote three stories in the book and drew one story. We first encountered Rafer on the comics convention scene through our mutual connection with Valiant Entertainment. Rafer is best know for his creator-owned projects Nightmare the Rat and Plastic Farm, and for his work on Valiant's Harbinger: Renegade and A&A: The Adventures of Archer & Armstrong. His new series Modern Fantasy debuts on June 27th from Dark Horse Comics.

It Was Metal featuring the work of Rafer Roberts is available now through A Sound of Thunder, Amazon.com and on Kickstarter through Friday, June 1st.

BUY FROM ASOT  -  BUY ON KICKSTARTER  -  BUY ON AMAZON

A Sound of Thunder: What are your thoughts on the connection between music and comics? 

Rafer Roberts: Some of my happiest memories of growing up were laying around, putting on my headphones, and reading a big pile of comics. So, for me, there is that emotional connection. But it goes beyond that. 

Comics and music have always been intertwined. One example is Superman. It's hard to think of Superman without that John Williams score popping into your head. Then you've got crossover between creators. Crumb did the cover art for Big Brother, Danzig wrote a line of comics back in the '90s, and Gerard Way has basically taken over a corner of DC. 

There's also the fact that for parts of history music and comics were seen as blights upon society. Comics and music have been accused of promoting sex, violence, the overthrow of polite society, and I say, yes. Yes they do. At least the good ones do, anyway. 

ASOT: What’s your favorite band? 

Rafer: Other than A Sound of Thunder? That's an incredibly difficult question to narrow down, so I'll just list a lot of bands I listen to and like:. Nick Cave, Faith No More, Ween, Pink Floyd, Hawkwind, Klaatu, James Brown, Monster Magnet, Black Sabbath, Dead Kennedys, Dead Milkmen, NOFX, Ella Fitzgerald, Sinatra, a few Harry Nilsson, The Turtles, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Blue Oyster Cult, Les Claypool, The Who, Guns 'n' Roses, Ennio Morricone, War, Leonard Cohen, Mojo Nixon, The Pogues, Rasputina, Reverend Horton Heat…and I'm gonna stop now. 

ASOT: First concert you attended? 

Rafer: First one ever was either Bo Diddly at some amusement park or the Beach Boys playing post-game at Yankee Stadium. 

First one on my own was Guns n' Roses Use Your Illusion tour at Madison Square Garden. Soundgarden was the opener and no one was into them at all. I remember that GnR took forever to hit the stage, but that the jumbotron thing was showing women in the audience flashing their boobs. I was a high school freshman's at the time, so that was pretty cool. Oh, also it was Gilby Clarke's second or third show with the band after replacing Izzy, and he fucked up a few times. The crowd seemed forgiving. 

ASOT: Last concert you attended? 

Rafer: It was actually A Sound of Thunder. But I fucked up and missed their set, like an asshole. 

Before that, if I remember right, it was Seu George doing his Bowie covers. Real good, super chill. 

ASOT: Do you play an instrument, and have you ever been in a band? 

Rafer: Ha ha! I used to play the sax, primarily in my high school marching band. I don't think I enjoyed playing enough to try to do it outside of school. I was the lead singer in a band in high school though. We did mostly classic rock, Led Zeppelin, Sabbath, Clapton. 

ASOT: If you had your own band, what kind of music would it play, and what would it be called? 

Rafer: I'd probably try to sing again, and I would steal the name of my high school band: Chübakka. 

ASOT: What comes to mind when you think of your work on your stories in It Was Metal? (Any particular challenges, favorite aspects, changes you made, etc.?) 

Rafer: For the Charles the 2nd one, the one I also drew, I was going for an old horror comic vibe, like an old EC deal. The narrative structure of the lyrics worked real well in that regard, and lent themselves to some fairly gruesome scenes. I had a blast drawing this. 

For "Obsidian & Gold", Josh sent me a lot of background and reference, detailing this real cool Blue Öyster Cult mythology. My challenge was boiling it all down to a 4-page comic. I focused primarily on how the Sound of Thunder song also adapted this mythology and focused on those aspects. My favorite bit was putting the band into this story. They didn't ask me to, but I kinda saw this comic as the video for the song and I really wanted to ape old videos where bands like Twisted Sister were akin to super-heroes commanding the power of metal. Roberto kicked some serious ass on the art and Trav [Hart, colorist] brought it to life with his colors. I'm really happy with how this one turned out. 

"Lifebringer" was a ton of fun, and I'll jump at any chance to work with Ben [Templesmith]. This one I looked at like an old Heavy Metal anthology piece, big and weird and trippy as hell. There's actually a lot more to this story, so hopefully people dig it so we can jump back into this world. 

ASOT: When working on It Was Metal, were you inspired by any particular comics creators, stories or characters? What references of your own did you bring to the story? 

Rafer: Well, aside from the influences mentioned in the previous question, I also looked at creators like Steve Gerber, Steve Englehart, Steve Bissette, and all those stoned writers and artists named Steve from the 70s. I mean, I do this with all my work, but I also did it here. (Also Rick Veitch, Alan Moore, and so on!) 

ASOT: What is your latest project that you would like to promote? 

I've got Modern Fantasy with Kristen Gudsnuk on art coming out from Dark Horse on June 27th. It's a slacker-adventure-comedy taking place in a world where every fantasy novel or D&D module was our ancient history. 

And I'm working on something with Mike Norton, Marissa Louise, and Crank! that hasn't been announced yet (but it's AWESOME). I'll be talking everyone's ear off about it on Twitter soon enough. 

ASOT: For new fans interested in checking out your work, with what one book or project should they start? 

If folks are into buddy comedies with a bit of surreal adventure, A&A: The Adventures of Archer and Armstrong. If gritty teenage superheroes are more their bag, Harbinger: Renegade. Slightly disturbing newspaper comics your thing? Check out Nightmare the Rat. Incredibly long psychedelic trips through one man's descent into madness? That's Plastic Farm. And, of course, Modern Fantasy, which comes out June 27th. 

Rafer’s web & social media links: 

Website: http://www.plasticfarm.com 

Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/plasticfarm 

Twitter: twitter.com/plasticfarm 

Instagram: instagram.com/plasticfarm

We interviewed artist Kendall Goode about his work on the It Was Metal comic anthology. Kendall is a multiple threat, having drawn, colored and lettered “It Was Metal”, which has already been cited in advance reviews as a stand-out story in the book. He was also instrumental in completing the entire collection, having lettered five of the book’s ten stories. Kendall is best known for his mini-series The Doorman published by Heavy Metal, and for his work on BOOM! Studios’ WWE comics.   

It Was Metal featuring the work of Kendall Goode is now on Kickstarter, where several of Kendall's original art pages are also available. You can also order It Was Metal from the A Sound of Thunder web-store, or, if you prefer to feed the big corporations, you can buy it from Amazon.com. 

Buy on Kickstarter - Buy on ASOT Store - Buy on Amazon

A Sound of Thunder: What are your thoughts on the connection between music and comics? 

Kendall Goode: Despite comics rarely having audio components, there’s probably a lot more inter-connectivity between music and comics than people think. Writers and artists create playlists of songs to go along with a comic, whether its music they used to set a tone for themselves or curating a soundtrack. Like any piece of media, songs can help expand the experience of reading a comic. 

ASOT: What’s your favorite band? 

Kendall: Probably Blink 182. 

ASOT: First concert you attended? 

Kendall: Franz Ferdinand/Death Cab for Cutie. 

ASOT: Last concert you attended? 

Kendall: Oh, it’s been a while. Sleigh Bells, I think? 

ASOT: Do you play an instrument, and have you ever been in a band? 

Kendall: I do not. In grade school I played a year of trombone and then the following year they made me change to tuba/sousaphone after another kid quit the band. Luckily, I moved after that year and no longer had to worry about being in that school band. 

In high school I was friends with a lot of music/bands people and goofed around for a single open mic night doing what I guess would be considered ‘singing’. It was awful. 

ASOT: If you had your own band, what kind of music would it play, and what would it be called? 

Kendall: I’m a big fan of Motion City Soundtrack and that broadly labeled pop-punk or emo. But maybe add in some pop like Robyn or Tegan and Sara. As for a band name...something like Date Knight or Professor Television. 

ASOT: What comes to mind when you think of your work on "It Was Metal"? (Any particular challenges, favorite aspects, changes you made, etc.) 

Kendall: I usually work digitally, so there’s always a learning curve to switching it up with pencilling/inking traditionally.* But the end result was something different than my usual work, especially with the more conceptual ideas presented in the short. Comic storytelling tends to lean toward straight forward tv-style narratives, while It Was Metal goes in a more music video/montage direction. 

ASOT: When working on (your story in It Was Metal), were you inspired by any particular comics creators, stories or characters? What references of your own did you bring to the story? 

Kendall: I definitely was trying to lean into as much colorful sixties Marvel Comics as possible. Jack Kirby and the grander, more out-there, visuals of superhero based sci-fi. I love Metalocalypse and the DoomStar Requiem opera so there’s definitely influence there, too. 

ASOT: What is your latest project that you would like to promote? 

I’ve mostly been doing work on BOOM! Studios WWE comics. I helped out drawing parts of WWE #16 and #17 and I have shorts in almost all of their over-sized special issues (Wrestlemania 2018, Royal Rumble 2018, etc). 

ASOT: For new fans interested in checking out your work, with what one book or project should they start? 

Kendall: The Doorman, a sci-fi adventure comedy mini-series written by Eliot Rahal and Daniel Kibblesmith that we did a couple years ago. It was published by Heavy Metal. 

Kendall’s web & social media links: 

Web: www.kendallgoode.com 

Twitter: @KendallGoode

We interviewed the legendary Bob Hall about his work on the It Was Metal comic anthology. Bob is best known for co-creating the West Coast Avengers, his long run as both artist and writer on the original Shadowman series, and for writing and drawing several popular Batman graphic novels. Bob has worked on many major characters and titles for Marvel, DC, and Valiant. He is also an accomplished playwright and director, and is a co-founder of the Flatware Shakespeare Company in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Bob penciled and inked the ten-page story "Phantom Flight" for It Was Metal. You can get the book and some of Bob's original art pages on Kickstarter through June 1st. CLICK HERE TO ORDER

A Sound of Thunder: What are your thoughts on the connection between music and comics? 

Bob Hall: Wow. Haven’t thought of it that way. Comics have their own rhythm and I often concoct the images so that a kind of “beat” is present.  Comics manipulate time, just as films and music do. 

ASOT: What’s your favorite band? 

Bob: Depends on my mood. I wish I could name you a metal band that was a favorite but metal has never been my favorite sound. I suppose that I always go back to Springsteen, particularly with E Street. I’m the right age for him, The Stones, The Beatles, The Who , The Kinks – and if I want to persuade myself to exercise I often put on George Thorogood. 

ASOT: What was the first concert you attended?  

Bob: If you’re talking ANY concert , it was the old folk group from the sixties, The Limelighters. (I’m that old.) My first R&B concert was Ray Charles. First rock was The Who. 

ASOT: Last concert you attended?  

Bob: Elvis Costello. 

ASOT: Do you play an instrument, and have you ever been in a band? 

Bob: God no. You wouldn’t want that. 

ASOT: If you had your own band, what kind of music would it play, and what would it be called? 

Bob: It would play whatever I wrote after I miraculously became musically adept and it would be called Doctor X after a masked pro wrassler I loved when I was 14. 

ASOT: What comes to mind when you think of your work on “Phantom Flight”, your story in It Was Metal? (Any particular challenges, favorite aspects, changes you made, etc.?) 

Bob: Trying to turn real people into comic characters is always a challenge but especially when you are only working from photo reference.  You never have a photo showing faces from every angle you need and while you can project what someone would probably look like from that angle, you can never be sure.  Beyond that I never feel my forte is drawing airplanes – but I love doing explosions. 

ASOT: When working on “Phantom Flight”, were you inspired by any particular comics creators, stories or characters? What references of your own did you bring to the story? 

Bob: I always refer to Wally Wood’s work when I do airplanes or other military weaponry. As for my own work, the ruined cities reminded me of work I did on Batman when Gotham was ravaged by an earthquake. 

ASOT: What is your latest project that you would like to promote? 

Bob: I’ll let you know as soon as someone hires me to do it. Anyone out there need a comic artist? (ASOT: We guess that means the answer is It Was Metal!) 

ASOT: For new fans interested in checking out your work, with what one book or project should they start? 

Bob: My best work is the stuff I wrote myself: Shadowman for the old Valiant, Armed and Dangerous when Valiant became Acclaim, and the DC “Prestige” projects:  I, Joker; Batman DOA; and It’s Jokertime. 

Bob Hall’s web & social media links: 

Web: www.bobhall.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bobhallcomicartist/

We interviewed artist Mike Ratera about his work on the It Was Metal comic anthology, for which he drew a short story based on "Els Segadors (The Reapers)", and about music and comics in general. Inteview disponible en català a continuació. Inteview disponible en español a continuación.

(Haven't pre-ordered the It Was Metal comic anthology or album yet? Please support the project on Kickstarter by clicking HERE.) 

ENGLISH VERSION (DESCOBREIX LA VERSIÓ CATALANA) (DESPLAZAR ABAJO PARA LA VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL)

ASOT: What are your thoughts on the connection between music and comics? 

Mike: Beyond the cultural parallelism between comics and rock (whose paths cross constantly) I have always believed in a great connection between the narrative and visual rhythm of a comic and the rhythm of a musical composition. Although the comics apparently lack sound, I always feel that visual narration has a rhythm, which could perfectly turn into music. It could be a harmonious or dissonant rhythm, or lyrical, or epic, or violent rhythm... depending on the scene we are drawing. In the same way, teamwork in comics, between the drawing artist and the colorist (for example) is similar to the work between musicians, who must harmonize by playing together so that the group works well. Definitely, comics have music. And everyone has their own music. 

ASOT: What’s your favorite band? 

Mike: I'm almost as old as rock and roll (laughs). In my youth, back in the 70s, I was crazy about the first metal bands, what was then called “hard rock”. I was a fan of the British groups of that time: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and especially Deep Purple. Then came many other European metal bands: UFO, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, and also American bands like Van Halen and Metallica. I'm a fan of all of them. And I also really like the British bands from the first punk era, like The Clash. But in my heart always will be Deep Purple and Motörhead in the first place, because their songs marked my youth. 

ASOT: What was the first concert you attended? 

Mike: Now is when I'm going to disappoint the heavy metal fans (laughs). If I remember correctly the first band I saw live was Blondie, in "Canet Rock" a very famous festival at that time in Catalonia, Woodstock style. That would be around 1976 or 1977 and I remember that I was very close to Debbie Harry. Better not tell you what we smoked then (again laughs). 

ASOT: What was the last concert you attended? 

Mike: It's been a long, long time since I've been going to concerts. That's because my artistic work occupies almost all my time. I listen to music from my computer while I draw in my studio. But at least I can say that my last concert was to see AC/DC in Barcelona (although it was a very long time ago, in a Galaxy far far away...). But of course I hope I can go to an A Sound of Thunder concert the next time they come to Catalonia! 

ASOT: Do you play an instrument, and have you ever been in a band? 

Mike: Although my grandmother told me that I have the hands of a pianist, I never dared to take that step. Musically I am disastrous. So I think I did very well to dedicate myself to something else, for the benefit of music (laughs). 

ASOT: If you had your own band, what kind of music would it play, and what would it be called? 

Mike: What a question, by Crom & the Seven Kingdoms and by all the gods of the Avernus !! Of course, it would be something hellish ... something between Viking Metal, Thrash Metal, with some name taken from H.P. Lovecraft or one of my old comics, when I was into horror-gore. For example, it could be called "HAMRAMR" (it's the title of one of my old horror series, in fact ... hahahahahaha) 

ASOT: When did you first hear A Sound of Thunder’s version "Els Segadors"? And how did you get to do comics inspired by this song? 

Mike: I think now is when it's time to get serious. I do not want to get too involved in the political issue here. But I am Catalan, and I also believe that all the peoples of the world have the right to decide their destiny. So I am a supporter of the independence of Catalonia, outside of Spain. Well, on October 1 we organized a referendum in Catalonia, which Spain tried to repress by all means, violence included. I lived that day in a very intense way, with very hard moments too. And I remember that a few days later, on October 4, I heard A Sound of Thunder’s version of "Els Segadors" for the first time on the internet. I do not get excited easily; those who know me know it. But after all I had lived the previous days, when I heard Nina's voice when halfway through the song she started singing in Catalan ... well, I could not help spilling some tears, while listening to her powerful voice. I will always remember the emotion I felt at that moment. What did I do then? I searched the internet and social media, until I found A Sound of Thunder and especially Nina Osegueda. Immediately I discovered that she is of Catalan origin. There was the explanation of why a Washington metal band had made this song. I did not think twice, I wrote a private message to Nina explaining what I had felt when listening to the song and that I was a Catalan comic artist and that I would be available for ASOT if in the future they needed something from me. I think Nina took about 5 minutes to answer me by saying something like "maybe we have something for you ..." and "Could you make some comic pages for us?" Nina told me that she would like the Els Segadors comic book to be made by a Catalan artist, so we quickly agreed. I also liked that she wanted an adaptation with historical background because initially I was going to propose a version with demons and zombies or something crazy (laughs). A few days later I was already involved with Nina and Josh conspiring together to see how we could do this. This is how we have come to do this first collaboration together, for "It Was Metal". 

ASOT: The song "Els Segadors" is a metal version of the current anthem of Catalonia. What is the song’s historical origin? 

Mike: The current lyrics of the Catalan anthem "Els Segadors" were written in 1899, but its origin is much older. The lyrics of the original song are a call to defend the freedom of the land. It includes the events that took place during the so-called "Corpus de sangre", a revolt carried out by around a thousand reapers in Barcelona, on June 7, 1640, which culminated in the death of the Viceroy. This uprising was the beginning of the uprising in Catalonia in 1640 or War of the Reapers (1640-1652). This is the historical moment in which we have placed the action in our Els Segadors comic story, which show at the end and in an epic way, the death of the Viceroy at the hands of our imaginary character the "reaper woman". 

ASOT: What comes to mind when you think of your work on the Els Segadors comic? (Any particular challenges, favorite aspects, changes you made, etc.?) 

Mike: It has been a short, but intense job. Although the story is only 4 pages, I wanted to do exhaustive research about the costumes of civilians and military in Catalonia in 1640. Although I always like to bring a fantastic touch to the appearance of the characters. For example, the dress of the Viceroy is very exaggerated, to differentiate it from soldiers or reapers. I've done a few sketches for the Reaper Woman, to fully define her appearance. And I've done some hyper-worked storyboards for the pages, following the script of my friend Marc Gras. This is where I should talk about my team in this work: Marc Gras was a student of mine in a famous school of comics in Barcelona where I have been working for many years: Escola Joso. Marc is a scriptwriter, comics artist and has also been an editor. I thought of him for the script when Josh and Nina asked me to adapt their song in comics. And the colorist on the story is Diego L. Parada, another ex-Padawan of mine, who has already become a great colourist, with whom I also work for the French market. We exchanged a lot of ideas among ourselves about the composition of the pages, and the elements that had to be highlighted, as well as details for the intonation of the color in this story, which is something like the direction of photography in a film. It has also been a pleasure to share all those ideas with Nina and Josh. I remember very funny moments discussing certain details about our Reaper Woman. (ASOT: Mike is talking about nipples!) 

ASOT: When working on the story, were you inspired by any particular comics creators, stories or characters? What references of your own did you bring to the story? 

Mike: I have an artistic trajectory of more than 30 years. So I have what I think is my own style and my own way of doing things. But when I'm working on a project that I really like, I'm deeply involved. For example, in Els Segadors there was no place for too many main characters, due to the short story format and historical references. But I came up with the idea of focusing the  attention on a character, who could lead the reader from one image to another. And since this character was going to be a reaper, I thought it would work very well if I were a woman. A revolutionary woman, a bit like the woman with the naked breast of Delacroix's famous painting "Liberty Leading the People" of 1830. And whose clothes were also all in red, and covered with blood and with one or two sickles in her hands. That would highlight a lot, and I also thought it important that the character was a woman ... maybe because Nina is the singer of a heavy metal band! And here is where I present another of my usual collaborators: the Belgian model Seffy Moon, with whom I have done many illustrations and covers. When I proposed to use her as the basis for our "Reaper Woman", she was delighted to participate! 

ASOT: What is your latest project that you would like to promote? 

Mike: "Stalag X" has just been published in the United States with The Vault as editor. This is a graphic novel Space Opera genre, which I've drawn whole and  where I'm co-author, along with two great American writers: Kevin J. Anderson (writer of best-selling novels, including all the latest in the saga "Dune") and Steven L. Sears (screenwriter of TV series, including "Xena, Warrior Princess" among others). It is quite possible that we do a continuation "Stalag X" or maybe a spin-off series. We'll see ! 

By the way: thank you very much for this interview! It has been a pleasure ! Long life to ASOT! VISCA CATALUNYA LLIURE !! 

Mike’s web & social media links: 

- Mike Ratera Blog: http://mikeratera.blogspot.com.es/ 

- Mike Ratera facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mike-Ratera-292038944155549/ 

 - Seffy Moon: https://seffymoon.jimdo.com/ 

- Stalag X: http://stalag-x.com/ 

- Escola Joso: http://escolajoso.es/ 

...........................................................  

VERSIÓ CATALANA 

ASOT: Què penses sobre la connexió entre la música i els còmics?  

Mike: Més enllà del paral·lelisme cultural entre els còmics i el rock (els camins es creuen constantment) sempre he cregut en una gran connexió entre el ritme narratiu i visual d'un còmics i el ritme d'una composició musical. Tot i que els còmics aparentment no tenen so, jo sempre sento que la narració visual té un ritme, que podria perfectament convertir-se en música. Vaig poder ser un ritme harmoniós o dissonant, o líric, o èpic, o violent ... segons sigui l'escena que estem dibuixant. De la mateixa manera, el treball en equip en els còmics, entre el dibuixant i el colorista (per exemple) s'assembla a la feina entre músics, que han harmonitzar tocant junts perquè el conjunt funcioni bé. Definitivament, els còmics tenen música. I cada un té la seva pròpia música.  

ASOT: Quina és la teva banda preferida?  

Mike:  Jo sóc gairebé tan vell com el rock and roll (rialles). En la meva joventut, allà pels 70s, em tornava boig per les primeres bandes de metall, el que llavors es deia Hard Rock. Jo era molt fan dels grups britànics d'aquella època: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin i sobretot Deep Purple. Després van arribar altres moltes bandes de metall europees: UFO, Judes Priest, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, i també bandes nord-americanes com Van Halen i Metallica. Sóc fan de tots ells. I també m'agraden molt les bandes britàniques de la primera època del punk, com The Clash. Però en el meu cor sempre estaran Deep Purple i Motörhead en primer lloc, perquè les seves cançons van marcar la meva joventut.  

ASOT: Quin va ser el primer concert al qual vas assistir?  

Mike: Ara és quan decebré als fans del heavy metal (rialles). Si no recordo malament la primera banda que vaig veure en directe va ser Blondie, en el "Canet Rock" un festival molt famós en aquella època a Catalunya, al més pur estil Woodstock. Això seria cap a 1976 o 1977 i recordo que jo estava molt a prop de la Debbie Harry. Millor no us dic el que fumàvem llavors (més rialles).  

ASOT: El últim concert a has assistit?  

Mike: Fa molt, molt de temps que no vaig a concerts. Això es deu al fet que el meu treball artístic ocupa gairebé tot el meu temps. La música l'escolto des del meu ordinador mentre dibuix a la taula del costat, al meu estudi. Però almenys puc dir que el meu últim concert va ser per veure els AC/DC a Barcelona (encara que va ser fa mooolt temps, en una galàxia molt llunyana ...). Però, és clar, espero poder anar al concert dels A Sound of Thunder la propera vegada que vinguin a Catalunya!  

ASOT: ¿Tocas un instrument i alguna vegada has estat en una banda?  

Mike: Encara que la meva àvia em deia que tinc les mans d'un pianista, mai em vaig atrevir a donar aquest pas. Musicalment sóc un desastre. Així que crec que vaig fer molt bé en dedicar-me a una altra cosa, en benefici de la Música (rialles).  

ASOT: Si tinguessis la teva pròpia banda, quin tipus de música tocaria i com es diria?  

Mike: Quina pregunta, per Crom & els Set Regnes i per tots els déus de l'Avern !! per descomptat, sería una cosa infernal ... alguna cosa entre Viking Metall, Trash Metall, amb algun nom tret de H.P. Lovecraft o d'un dels meus antics còmics, de quan jo feia terror-gore. Per exemple podia dir-se "HAMRAMR" (és el títol d'una de les meves sèries de terror, en efecte ... jajajajajaja).  

ASOT: ¿ Quan vas escoltar per primera vegada "Els Segadors" en la versió dels A Sound of Thunder? I com vas arribar a fer el còmic inspirat en aquesta cançó?  

Mike:  Crec que ara és quan és hora de posar-se seriós. No vull involucrar-me massa en el tema polític aquí. Però sóc català, i també crec que tots els pobles del món tenen dret a decidir el seu destí. Així que sóc partidari de la independència de Catalunya, fora d'Espanya. Bé, l'1 d'octubre vam organitzar un referèndum a Catalunya que Espanya va intentar reprimir per tots els mitjans, inclosa la violència. Vaig viure aquell dia d'una manera molt intensa, amb alguns moments molt durs també. I recordo que uns dies després, el 4 d'octubre, vaig escoltar "Els Segadors" a la versió dels A Sound of Thunder per primera vegada a internet. Jo no m'emociono fàcilment, els que em coneixen ho saben. Però després de tot el viscut els dies anteriors, en escoltar la veu de Nina quan cap a meitat de la cançó ella es llança a cantar en català ... bé, no vaig poder evitar vessar algunes llàgrimes, mentre escoltava la seva poderosa veu. Sempre recordaré l'emoció que vaig sentir en aquell moment. Què vaig fer llavors? vaig buscar a internet i a les xarxes socials, fins a donar amb els A Sound of Thunder i amb la Nina Osegueda. De seguida vaig descobrir que ella és d'origen català. Allà hi havia l'explicació de per què una banda de metall de Washington havia fet aquesta cançó. No m'ho vaig pensar dues vegades, vaig escriure un missatge privat a la Nina explicandole el que jo havia sentit en escoltar la cançó i que jo era un artista de còmics català i que estaria disponible per ASOT si en el futur ells necessitaven alguna cosa de mi. Crec que la Nina va trigar uns 5 minuts a respondre'mi dient-me alguna cosa així com "potser tenim alguna cosa per a tu ..." i "Podries fer unes pàgines de còmics per a nosaltres?". La Nina em va explicar que a ella li agradaria que el còmic d'Els Segadors ho fes un artista català, així que ens vam posar ràpidament d'acord. A més em va agradar molt que ella voldria una adaptació amb rerefons històric perquè inicialment jo anava a proposar-li una versió amb dimonis i zombies o alguna cosa així de demencial (rialles). Als pocs dies jo ja estava embolicat amb Nina i amb Josh conspirant entre tots per veure com podíem fer això. Així és com hem arribat a fer aquesta primera col·laboració junts, per "It Was Metall".  

ASOT: La cançó "Els Segadors" és la versió metall de l'actual himne de Catalunya ... Però quin és el seu origen històric?  

Mike:  La lletra actual de l'himne de Catalunya "Els Segadors" va ser escrita el 1899, però el seu origen és molt més antic. La lletra de la cançó original és una crida en defensa de la llibertat de la terra. Recull els fets esdevinguts durant l'anomenat "Corpus de sang", una revolta protagonitzada per al voltant d'un miler de segadors a Barcelona, el 7 de juny de 1640 i que va culminar amb la mort del Virrey. Aquest aixecament va ser l'inici de la revolta de Catalunya de 1640 o Guerra dels Segadors (1640-1652). Aquest és el moment històric en què hem situat l'acció en les nostres pàgines Els Segadors, que mostren al final i de manera èpica, la mort del Virrei a mans del nostre personatge imaginari la "reaper woman".  

ASOT: Què et ve al cap quan penses en el teu treball (la teva història en It Was Metal)? (Qualsevol desafiament particular, aspectes favorits, canvis que heu fet, etc.)  

Mike: Ha estat un treball curt, però intens. Tot i que es tractava de fer la història només en 4 pàgines, he volgut fer una exhaustiva investigació sobre el vestuari de civils i militars a Catalunya, en 1640. Encara que sempre m'agrada aportar un toc fantàstic a l'aspecte dels personatges. Per exemple, el vestuari del Virrei és molt exagerat, per diferenciar-ho dels soldats o dels segadors. He fet uns quants esbossos per a la Reaper Woman, per definir totalment el seu aspecte. I he fet uns storyboards hiper-treballats per les pàgines, seguint el guió del meu amic Marc Gras. Aquí és on he de parlar del meu equip en aquest treball: Marc Gras va ser alumne meu en una famosa escola de Còmics de Barcelona on treballo des de fa molts anys: Escola Joso. Marc és guionista, dibuixant i també ha estat editor. De seguida vaig pensar en ell per al guió, quan Josh i Nina em van plantejar l'adaptació de la seva cançó en còmics. I el color de les pàgines és de Diego L. Parada, un altre ex-padawan meu, que ja s'ha convertit en un gran coloristes, amb qui també treballo per al mercat francès. Vam intercanviar moltes idees entre nosaltres sobre la composició de les pàgines, i els elements que calia destacar, així com detalls per l'entonació del color en aquesta història, que és  una cosa que s'assembla a la direcció de fotografia en una pel·lícula. A més ha estat un plaer compartir totes aquestes idees amb Nina i amb Josh, recordo moments molt divertits discutint certs detalls sobre la nostra Reaper Woman.  

ASOT: Quan vas treballar (la teva història en It Was Metall), ¿et van inspirar els creadors de còmics, històries o personatges en particular? Què referències teves has aportat a la història?  

Mike: Jo tinc una trajectòria artística de més de 30 anys. Per tant tinc el que crec que és un estil propi i la meva pròpia manera de fer les coses. Però quan estic treballant en un projecte que realment m'agrada, m'implico a fons.Per exemple, a Els Segadors no hi havia lloc per a massa personatges protagonistes, a causa del format d'història curta i a les referències històriques. Però a mí se m'acudí la idea de centrar l'atenció en un personatge que pogués conduir al lector d'una imatge a una altra. I com aquest personatge anava a ser un segador, vaig pensar que funcionaria molt bé si fos una dona. Una dona revolucionària, una mica com la dona del pit nu del cèlebre quadre de Delacroix "La Llibertat guiant al Poble" de 1830. I amb la roba tota en vermell, i coberta de sang i amb una o dues falçs a les mans. Això destacaria molt, ia més em semblava important que el personatge fos una dona... potser perquè la Nina és la cantant d'un grup heavy metal! I aquí és on presento a un altre dels meus col·laboradors habituals: la model belga Seffy Moon, amb qui he fet molts treballs d'il·lustració i portades. Quan li vaig proposar inspirar-me d'ella per a la nostra "Reaper Woman", ella va estar encantada de participar!  

ASOT: Quin és el teu últim projecte que t´agradaria promocionar?  

Mike: "Stalag X" acaba de publicar-se en USA amb The Vault com a editor. Es tracta d'una novel·la gràfica de gènere Space Opera, que he dibuixat sencera i on sóc coautor, al costat de dos grans escriptors nord-americans: Kevin J. Anderson (escriptor de novel·les best-seller, entre elles tot l'últim de la saga "Dune ") i Steven L. Sears (guionista de sèries de TV, entre elles" Xena, Warrior Princess "entre d'altres). És bastant possible que fem una continuació "Stalag X" o potser una sèrie spin-off. Ja veurem!  

Per cert: moltes gràcies per aquesta entrevista! Ha estat un plaer! Llarga vida als ASOT! VISCA CATALUNYA LLIURE !!  

Els enllaços de web i xarxes socials de Mike:  

- Mike Ratera Blog: http://mikeratera.blogspot.com.es/  

- Mike Ratera facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mike-Ratera-292038944155549/  

- Seffy Moon: https://seffymoon.jimdo.com/  

- Stalag X: http://stalag-x.com/  

- Escola Joso: http://escolajoso.es/

........................................................... 

VERSION EN ESPAÑOL

ASOT: ¿Qué piensas acerca de la conexión entre la música y los cómics? 

Mike: Más allá del paralelismo cultural entre los cómics y el rock (cuyos caminos se cruzan constantemente) siempre he creído en una gran conexión entre el ritmo narrativo y visual de un comics y el ritmo de una composición musical. Aunque los comics aparentemente carecen de sonido, yo siempre siento que la narración visual tiene un ritmo, que podría perfectamente convertirse en música. Pude ser un ritmo harmonioso o disonante, o lírico, o épico, o violento...según sea la escena que estamos dibujando. Del mismo modo, el trabajo en equipo en los cómics, entre el dibujante y el colorista (por ejemplo) se parece al trabajo entre músicos, que deben armonizar tocando juntos para que el conjunto funcione bien. Definitivamente, los cómics tienen música. Y cada uno tiene su propia música. 

ASOT: ¿Cual es tu banda favorita? 

Mike: Yo soy casi tan viejo como el rock and roll (risas). En mi juventud, allá por los 70s, me volvían loco las primeras bandas de metal, lo que entonces se llamaba Hard Rock. Yo era muy fan de los grupos británicos de aquella época: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin y sobre todo Deep Purple. Luego llegaron otros muchas bandas de metal europeas: UFO, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, y también bandas norteamericanas como Van halen y Metallica. Soy fan de todos ellos. Y también me gustan mucho las bandas británicas de la primera época del punk, como The Clash. Pero en mi corazón siempre estarán Deep Purple y Motörhead en primer lugar, porque sus canciones marcaron mi juventud. 

ASOT: ¿Primer concierto al que asististe? 

Mike: Ahora es cuando voy a decepcionar a los fans del heavy metal (risas). Si no recuerdo mal la primera banda que vi en directo fue Blondie, en el "Canet Rock" un festival muy famoso en aquella época en Cataluña, al más puro estilo Woodstock. Eso sería hacia 1976 o 1977 y recuerdo que yo estaba muy cerca de Debbie Harry. Mejor no os digo lo que fumábamos entonces (más risas). 

ASOT: ¿El último concierto al que asististe? 

Mike: Hace mucho, mucho tiempo que no voy a conciertos. Eso se debe a que mi trabajo artístico ocupa casi todo mi tiempo. La música la escucho desde mi ordenador mientras dibujo en la mesa de al lado, en mi estudio. Pero al menos puedo decir que mi último concierto fue para ver a AC/DC en Barcelona (aunque fue hace muuucho tiempo, en una galaxia muy lejana...). Pero, por supuesto, espero poder ir al concierto de A Sound of Thunder la próxima vez que vengan a Cataluña ! 

ASOT: ¿Tocas un instrumento y alguna vez has estado en una banda? 

Mike: Aunque mi abuela me decía que tengo las manos de un pianista, nunca me atreví a dar ese paso. Musicalmente soy un desastre. Así que creo que hice muy bien en dedicarme a otra cosa, en beneficio de la Música (risas). 

ASOT: Si tuvieras tu propia banda, ¿qué tipo de música tocaría y cómo se llamaría? 

Mike: ¡Menuda pregunta, por Crom & los Siete Reinos y por todos los dioses del Averno !! por supuesto, sería algo infernal... algo entre Viking Metal, Trash Metal, con algún nombre sacado de H.P. Lovecraft o de uno de mis antiguos cómics, de cuando yo hacía terror-gore. Por ejemplo podía llamarse "HAMRAMR" (es el título de una de mis series de terror, en efecto...jajajajajaja ) 

ASOT: ¿ Cuándo escuchaste por primera vez "Els Segadors" en la versión de A Sound of Thunder ? ¿ Y cómo llegaste a hacer el cómic inspirado en ésta canción ? 

Mike:  Creo que ahora es cuando es hora de ponerse serio. No quiero involucrarme demasiado en el tema político aquí. Pero soy catalán, y también creo que todos los pueblos del mundo tienen derecho a decidir su destino. Así que soy partidario de la independencia de Cataluña, fuera de España. Bien, el 1 de octubre organizamos un referéndum en Cataluña que España intentó reprimir por todos los medios, incluida la violencia. Viví ese día de una manera muy intensa, con algunos momentos muy duros también. Y recuerdo que unos días después, el 4 de octubre, escuché "Els Segadors" en la versión de los A Sound of Thunder por primera vez en internet. Yo no me emociono fácilmente, quienes me conocen lo saben. Pero después de todo lo vivido los días anteriores, al escuchar la voz de Nina cuando hacia mitad de la canción ella se lanza a cantar en catalán... bien, no pude evitar derramar algunas lágrimas, mientras escuchaba su poderosa voz. Siempre recordaré la emoción que sentí en ése momento. ¿ Qué hice entonces ? busqué en internet y en las redes sociales, hasta dar con los A Sound of Thunder y con Nina Osegueda. Enseguida descubrí que ella es de origen catalán. Allí estaba la explicación de por qué una banda de metal de Washington había hecho ésta canción. No me lo pensé dos veces, escribí un mensaje privado a Nina explicándole lo que yo había sentido al escuchar la canción y que yo era un artista de comics catalán y que estaría disponible para ASOT si en el futuro ellos necesitaban algo de mí. Creo que Nina tardó unos 5 minutos en responderme diciéndome algo así como "tal vez tenemos algo para ti..." y "¿Podrías hacer unas páginas de cómics para nosotros ?" 

Nina me contó que a ella le gustaría que el cómic Els Segadors lo hiciera un artista catalán, así que nos pusimos rápidamente de acuerdo. Además me gustó mucho que ella quisiera una adaptación con trasfondo histórico porque inicialmente yo iba a proponerle una versión con demonios y zombies o algo así de demencial (risas). A los pocos días yo ya estaba liado con Nina y con Josh conspirando entre todos para ver cómo podíamos hacer esto. Así es como hemos llegado a hacer ésta primera colaboración juntos, para "It Was Metal". 

ASOT: La canción "Els Segadors" es la versión metal del actual himno de Cataluña... ¿ Pero cuál es su origen histórico ? 

Mike: La letra actual del himno de Cataluña "Els Segadors" fué escrita en 1899, pero su origen es mucho más antiguo. La letra de la canción original es un llamamiento en defensa de la libertad de la tierra. Recoge los hechos acaecidos durante el llamado "Corpus de sangre", una revuelta protagonizada por alrededor de un millar de segadores en Barcelona, el 7 de junio de 1640 y que culminó con la muerte del Virrey. Este levantamiento fue el inicio de la sublevación de Cataluña de 1640 o Guerra de los Segadores (1640-1652). Éste es el momento histórico en el que hemos situado la acción en nuestras páginas Els Segadors, que muestran al final y de modo épico, la muerte del Virrey a manos de nuestro personaje imaginario la "reaper woman". 

ASOT: ¿Qué te viene a la mente cuando piensas en tu trabajo (tu historia en It Was Metal)? (Cualquier desafío particular, aspectos favoritos, cambios que haya realizado, etc.) 

Mike: Ha sido un trabajo corto, pero intenso. Aunque se trataba de hacer la historia solamente en 4 páginas, he querido hacer una exahustiva investigación acerca del vestuario de civiles y militares en Cataluña, en 1640. Aunque siempre me gusta aportar un toque fantástico al aspecto de los personajes. Por ejemplo, el vestuario del Virrey es muy exagerado, para diferenciarlo de los soldados o de los segadores. He hecho unos cuantos bocetos para la Reaper Woman, para definir totalmente su aspecto. Y he hecho unos storyboards hiper-trabajados para las páginas, siguiendo el guión de mi amigo Marc Gras. Aquí es dónde debo hablar de mi equipo en éste trabajo: Marc Gras fue alumno mío en una famosa escuela de Cómics de Barcelona donde trabajo desde hace muchos años: Escola Joso. Marc es guionista, dibujante y también ha sido editor. Enseguida pensé en él para el guión, cuando Josh y Nina me plantearon la adaptación de su canción en comics. Y el color de las páginas es de Diego L. Parada, otro ex-padawan mío, que ya se ha convertido en un gran coloristas, con quién también trabajo para el mercado francés. Intercambiamos bastantes ideas entre nosotros acerca de la composición de las páginas, y los elementos que había que destacar, así como detalles para la entonación del color en ésta historia, que es algo así como la dirección de fotografía en una película. Además ha sido un placer compartir todas esas ideas con Nina y con Josh, recuerdo momentos muy divertidos discutiendo ciertos detalles acerca de nuestra Reaper Woman. 

ASOT: Cuando trabajaste (tu historia en It Was Metal), ¿te inspiraron los creadores de cómics, historias o personajes en particular? ¿Qué referencias tuyas aportaste a la historia? 

Mike: Yo tengo una trayectoria artística de más de 30 años. Por tanto tengo lo que creo que es un estilo propio y mi propia manera de hacer las cosas. Pero cuando estoy trabajando en un proyecto que realmente me gusta, me implico a fondo. Por ejemplo, en Els Segadors no había espacio para demasiados personajes protagonistas, debido al formato de historia corta y a las referencias históricas. Pero a mí se me ocurrió la idea de centrar la atención en un personaje, que pudiese conducir al lector de una imagen a otra. Y como éste personaje iba a ser un segador, pensé que funcionaría muy bien si fuese una mujer. Una mujer revolucionaria, un poco como la mujer del pecho desnudo del célebre cuadro de Delacroix "La Libertad guiando al Pueblo" de 1830. Y cuya ropa fuese además toda roja, y cubierta de sangre y con una o dos hoces en sus manos. Eso destacaría mucho, y además me parecía importante que el personaje fuese una mujer...tal vez porque Nina es la cantante de un grupo heavy metal ! Y aquí es donde presento a otro de mis colaboradores habituales: la modelo belga Seffy Moon, con quién he hecho muchos trabajos de ilustración y portadas. Cuando le propuse inspirarme de ella para nuestra "Reaper Woman", ella estuvo encantada de participar ! 

ASOT: ¿Cuál es su último proyecto que le gustaría promocionar? 

Mike: "Stalag X" acaba de publicarse en USA con The Vault como editor. Se trata de una novela gráfica de género Space Opera,que he dibujado entera y donde soy co-autor  junto a dos grandes escritores norteamericanos: Kevin J. Anderson (escritor de novelas best seller, entre ellas todo lo último de la saga "Dune") y Steven L. Sears (guionista de series de TV, entre ellas "Xena, la Princesa Guerrera" entre otras). Es bastante posible que hagamos una continuación "Stalag X" o tal vez una serie spin-off. Ya veremos ! 

Por cierto: ¡muchas gracias por esta entrevista! Ha sido un placer ! Larga vida a los ASOT! VISCA CATALUNYA LLIURE !! 

Los enlaces de web y redes sociales de Mike Ratera: 

- Mike Ratera Blog: http://mikeratera.blogspot.com.es/ 

- Mike Ratera facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Mike-Ratera-292038944155549/ 

- Seffy Moon: https://seffymoon.jimdo.com/ 

- Stalag X: http://stalag-x.com/ 

- Escola Joso: http://escolajoso.es/ 

Thanks to our fans, "Els Segadors" grabbed the people's choice award for best metal song at the The Independent Music Awards! We were proud to dedicate the award to Carles Puigdemont, who not long after was released from German prison. We owe our Catalan Legion of Thunder a lot, and we will continue to raise awareness for what they are facing. That includes a crowdfunding campaign by our friend, Hector Suñol (Ni un pas enrere! No Surrender!), whose music video for Els Segadors also won at the LA Music Video Awards. 

In December 2017 A SOUND OF THUNDER had the experience of a lifetime while touring Catalonia. In the aftermath of Catalonia's October 1st independence referendum, the band's cover of "Els Segadors", the Catalonian national anthem, went viral, prompting the band's first overseas tour. Emotions were still running high as the band played to passionate crowds all over Catalonia. Now A SOUND OF THUNDER and Catalan filmmaker IVAN MULERO are proud to present the official music video for "Els Segadors". Filmed at Barcelona's prestigious Razzmatazz club on December 6, 2017, the video captures the band and the people of Catalonia coming together at an unforgettable moment when political events, national pride, and metal music all collided.  

We're happy to announce that we will be playing with the Michael Schenker Fest at the Fillmore Silver Spring on March 6th! The Michael Schenker Fest features the three original M.S.G. singers; Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Robin McAuley, plus Doogie White (MICHAEL SCHENKER'S TEMPLE OF ROCK). We're selling tickets for $30 (that's a -$15 discount!) on our website! Grab your tickets from us here and we will see you at the Fillmore!