Posted in Whathaveyou on December 31st, 2021 by JJ Koczan
I mean, yeah, that’s a teaser. There’s not quite 30 seconds of music included and you just get a brief glimpse of what I’m going to assume is the Steven Yoyoda‘s cover art. And if you’re wondering what Monterrey, Mexico’s 3 Wheeler Band are doing it for, clearly they’re doing it In the Name of the Holy Riff.
One assumes that the ‘holy riff,’ like the holy grail, is a thing to be pursued into perpetuity — the search for the perfect expression of the thing. Hard to imagine that, if such a riff were to exist, Tony Iommi or Matt Pike didn’t already write it, to say nothing of Leif Edling, but hell’s bells, wading through the work of those three is the stuff of riff-archaeology adventures supreme, and I don’t know about you, but I would watch that movie regardless of who they got to put on the Indiana Jones hat or the Lara Croft shorty-shorts. Or, more likely, both. And in that case, it would probably be The Rock.
Wait. Did I just start a screenplay?
No word on an exact release date for In the Name of the Holy Riff — the album, not the film; that’ll be out by May with an even-grittier reboot penciled in for Thanksgiving — but the band’s thus-far-reveal-ready details and that teaser follow here:
3 Wheeler Band – New album teaser
3 Wheeler Band is working on final details of their third full album titled In the Name of the Holy Riff. It contains 10 new tracks full of heavy riffs and is being recorded at Madera Studios by our dear friend Abraham Madera in Monterrey, Mexico.
The artwork for the cover has been completed by the awesome stoner rock artist Steven Yoyada and our plan is to release the new album in 2022.
Attached you’ll find the teaser video for the album with a sound clip of the title track In the Name of the Holy Riff. This clip is a rough mix still and the sound is direct from the sound source of our instruments, no full mix, no master, no tweaks, just rock n roll straight to your skull.
The ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the varied responses of publics and governments worldwide, and the disruption to lives and livelihoods has reached a scale that is unprecedented. Whatever the month or the month after or the future itself brings, more than one generation will bear the mark of having lived through this time, and art, artists, and those who provide the support system to help uphold them have all been affected.
In continuing the Days of Rona feature, it remains pivotal to give a varied human perspective on these events and these responses. It is important to remind ourselves that whether someone is devastated or untouched, sick or well, we are all thinking, feeling people with lives we want to live again, whatever renewed shape they might take from this point onward. We all have to embrace a new normal. What will that be and how will we get there?
Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan
Days of Rona: Jose Maldonado of 3 Wheeler Band (Monterrey, Mexico)
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How have you been you dealing with this crisis as a band? As an individual? What effect has it had on your plans or creative processes?
As a band we have been really close using video calls and social media to connect, uploading some old tracks on Bandcamp and recently went back to rehearsal but only 2 of us, so it’s kind of hard right now to be all 3 of us in the same room jammin’ some tunes.
As an individual, I’ve been taking care of my Family, staying in touch with Friends and Family via video calls and I’m very fortunate to be able to work from home, so just trying to keep my mind busy.
On band plans, this coming August we are going to turn 10 years as a band and we were planning the anniversary gig and this covid crap hit us hard, so that’s on standby right now but we have uploaded music to our Bandcamp and are talking about making a video. Regarding the creative process this lockdown has helped us in working on some riffs for new tracks so we have been busy doing that. We try to stay positive about all of this and eager to get back on stage and have a good time.
How do you feel about the public response to the outbreak where you are? From the government response to the people around you, what have you seen and heard from others?
I live in Monterrey, Mexico, an industrial city northeast of the country (a two-hour drive from Texas). At first people were kind of freaking out and being really afraid of the virus and nobody was going out for anything except groceries and basics. Now, two and a half months later, people are tired of staying indoors, local government closed the Heineken brewery which makes, of course, Heineken but also Tecate beer and the people just freaked out, panic beer shopping until we ran out of beer. The brewery remains closed and currently there is no beer in the city and folks are just losing it. Besides, local and federal government communications are not clear and people are starting to go out a bit more. We hear similar stuff happening in Texas, so we are taking care of each other but we had enough of the lock down really.
What do you think of how the music community specifically has responded? How do you feel during this time? Are you inspired? Discouraged? Bored? Any and all of it?
The local music scene has responded great by doing a lot of online collaboration through videos and creating songs from the distance so yeah, the local scene has been busy, very creative and active on social media. And inspired? Yes, we and other band friends have been doing our homework, my side band Artesano de Piedra also uploaded unreleased tracks to Bandcamp, members of 3 Wheeler Band, Moonwatcher and Tres Cabrones created a new acoustic venture named Moon Dweller Trio and some other friends are taking advantage of the time they have on their hands to be creative. So we’re good, we all will come back stronger.
What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything? What is your new normal? What have you learned from this experience, about yourself, your band, or anything?
As a band 3 Wheeler Band will continue to work on new riffs and turn them into new tracks, we will be busy doing that and staying in touch with Friends/Fans and placing some CDs out for distribution in the States, so stay tuned for that.
Regarding our situation as a City and Country, we basically are not doing that bad regarding the virus, some government agencies are tricking numbers and giving out fake info. If you have Friends and Family in Mexico reach out to them and ask them directly, do not fall for the info shown in the media, they are just creating panic and fear.
Personally, just take care of you and yours. Do not lose touch with Friends, use technology to connect with them and don’t fall for the news in the media. Try to stay positive as much as you can. We will get through this and heavy music and live music will be back stronger than ever. And if you are enjoying some cold beer send some our way! Salud!
