A while back I wrote about having a support group and I wanted to write about this person that has helped me a couple of times.
Gabriel Alejandro is an uber-talented person that has been all over the place. Music, comics, podcasts, and vlogs. He gives more than 100% on all his projects. During these pandemic times, he has delighted us with two new projects. I decided to ask him a couple of questions on that and a bit more.
TOLATH
TAG: Do you dare step into the realm of Tolath?
Tolath is a peculiar story that looks ordinary in the horror and sci-fi genre. It is written as an anthology, and it has aspects of our normal day-to-day life twisted in a bizarre ending. It brings new stories and also involves more local artists. This also makes the visual refreshing with the different styles of each one. Some of the artists are:
Samuel Mercado (Cover Art)
Elías “Gambit” Meléndez (Tolath, Unos Treinta Tiros)
Roberto Cruz (Death Cheats Life, Briathos)
Joel “Chizo” Vázquez (Alana, Doctor Casco)
Jonathan Rodríguez (Red, Travel, Repeat, Terror Tropical)
Eliana Falcón Dvorsky (Grim’s Soliloquy, Cosmic Fish)
On having multiple stories it brings diversity to what you are reading. It sounds obvious though, moreover, the quick expositions drive you straight to the twists. Right now if you want to get you hands-on Tolath you can get it through Amazon.
ABOUT TOLATH:
Q: What you wanted to accomplish with Tolath?
A: With Tolath I wanted to accomplish a few things. First, the name Tolath, has been with me since I was 14, 15 years old, and because it was the name of my first band. At that age, it was difficult and different, and we never had the chance to play outside practice. Years passed and I always wanted to have something with that name and, here it is!
Q: How did Tolath came to be?
A: Basically Tolath is my evident love for anthologies. My favorite TV series of all time is The Twilight Zone (1959-1961), and I prefer reading comics like Forbidden Worlds, Strange Worlds, and Weird Science, more than superhero ones. I don’t know, there’s something about creating a whole world and having just ten pages to tell a story that calls to me. I think it has to be something with the writer’s role in being a world creator, and other realities… almost like being some sort of a god. Besides that, I like the Future Shocks that were on the British magazines, 2000 A.D. These are short stories that end up in a twist. Also, on the writer community, especially in the comic world, there’s like a rite of passage, kind of a thing, where you have to dominate storytelling in fewer pages before trying to go through larger stories. This is me attempting to do all the things mentioned before.
Q: Do you have in mind another written project?
A: Right now I have various comic projects that have original content and some translations that are on their way. First is another piece of Tolath and another stand-alone story. They are already written, but I’m not going to do much nor publish them until I can properly promote the first Tolath. Because of the pandemic, Tolath hasn’t seen a physical copy. Second, are the comic translations. Last year I had the chance to translate some comics for the New York Federal Reserve. It is a three-part series, that I collaborated with a colleague from the Graduate Program of Translations of the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras. We recently sent the second and third installments of the series, so they will be out any moment now.
Tag: Bringing America Funk Again
Clearly you can hear that this album has been given all the tender love it needs. Their videos are running through social media, and they are funkalicious. I had the pleasure of hearing them a few years back, and it is a bliss seeing how they have expanded their repertoire.
Q: Besides bringing America funk again, what’s the message on the new album?
A: Doktor Zaius is a very interesting project. We are a funk band on a Caribbean Island, where the funk never developed. There were a few other manifestations, but its pure version never prosper. That’s part of the message.
The other thing is, that we allude to our album title with our political ideals. We are very liberal, with one of the members being more extremist on his ideal. We have observed closely what’s going on in the world politically and how the ghost of fascism has gotten its grasps masquerading itself on security, religion, and nationalism. It’s curious how many administrations try to scare people with words like communism, socialism so people don’t see the abuse and systematic abuse they coy go through. Just imagine that the current president of the United States has designated “Antifa” as a terrorist organization when it truly means anti-fascism. So, anyone that opposes fascism is Antifa. But there are those who use their power to try to rewrite reality and the worst are those who allow themselves to be manipulated and believe them. We are watching all of you.
Q: Where did the name of the songs come from?
A: The song titles come from the observations we make about the world and about the current state of affairs. Willy (guitar, voice) is the one who mostly invents them and they are always metaphors, allegories of what happens. For example, the album starts with “Internalize Mahogany” which tells the story of a white man who longs to return to the past to “good ol ‘days” and creates a time machine. In the US, that feeling of going back to the past is very particular because, while for many people the past was “good”, for others it was not. And by that, we mean the racial problems that exist in the nation. Many speak of the past as if it were the golden years, but it is because they were not affected by segregation, Jim Crow laws, or lynchings.
Another song, “Badunkafunk“, tells the story of the struggles that have existed. One side in particular, which many do not know (or do not want to remember), is that the communist Russians were part of the allies to liberalize Europe from fascism. Well, that song narrates the anti-fascist struggle from the Russian perspective.
Finally, we have “Tide Pod”, which I think is one of my favorites because of the topic it touches. We all remember the challenge of eating detergent (Tide Pod) and we classify it as “the stupidity of technological youth” at its best. Well, for us, another great stupidity that has come as a consequence of the technological age and the internet is the radicalization of the extreme right that many fall due to lack of knowledge. Many people read these pages that promote hate, sexism, or racism and fall because they do not know how to argue against it and find the content “logical”. It is so easy to dismantle their proposals, but we understand that not everyone has read Ta Nehisi Coates, Judith Butler, or James Baldwin to know how to do it. Then they fall and you see them voting for equally lacking leaders.
Q: What’s next with Doktor Zaius?
A: Well, with the release of the album have come some videos for “Badunkafunk” and “Crazy Cat Lady” that can be seen on YouTube and other social networks of the band. There are already ideas for new songs, but we are looking forward to presenting the album live. Something similar to “Tolath” who is waiting to go around the circles of conventions and comic presentations.
Q: With the hiatus of the pandemic what is Avandra doing?
A: Avandra has been very, very busy. The same day that the curfew began we had the studio reserved to start recording the third album that is supposed to come out between November and December. As all that has been left in the air, several things have emerged. First, Christian, the lead singer, and songwriter, he began writing and completed an entire album apart from the third. Now we are going to remove that one before as if it were a “2.5”, and then we will do the third one. Second, we have released several videos with another on the way. The first was a music video for Helios Awakens, the first song from the second album “Descend,” which came out in April. Then in June, we released a “live” video like the ones international artists are doing on a song from the first album. That video already has more than thirty thousand views on Facebook and over two thousand reactions. We are currently working on another “live” video, but I can’t reveal what topic it is still, haha.
SHC is the most “relax” that exists. It really is a conversation between two buds and that’s it. So we take it easy. Ricardo is well into the comic industry for his work on The Comics Beat portal. He learns of things long before they happen, but we cannot disclose them for obvious reasons. Those that we can disclose are discussed in the program. Right now the most I expect in comics is the crossover of two of my favorite series: The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. This was announced before the end of the world and I do not know what it has come to be. Hill has posted advancements on his social media, so I guess he still has everything going forward.
This is just part of this talented guy. I urge you, if you can, see or hear his work. Some of the other artists he has collaborated with, have links, next to their names, and links to his projects are on the page as well.
Hope you enjoy this piece. If you like it, share it with your friends. Don’t forget to follow me on social media. Also, my book Reign of Darkness is available through Amazon on ebook and softcover. That’s all for now, so take care guys.
Nice, great article 👍