Meet Last Bullet. This hard rock band out of Toronto is: lead vocalist Bryan Fontez, guitarists Brenden Armstrong and Michael Silva, bassist Will Shannon and drummer Christopher Galaz. I was introduced to Last Bullet through their new video/song “Sin”. I was captivated not just with the rock sound that was filled with thick riffs and that dirty rock and roll feel with vocals that have that sexy, rock raspy growl, but the fact that the lyrics said something. The song not only made me rock, it made me think.
What can you expect from Last Bullet? I would say they will reach out and grab you by the balls, giving you an energetic punch in the face of good-old-dirty-rock done right. Here is what the band will tell you, “We try our absolute hardest to embody every single aspect of live rock music that people genuinely love. We are lovers of music ourselves, and enjoy being entertained more than anything. We believe that every live show is it’s own unique experience that is governed by the setting, acoustics and energy of the crowd. We believe that every song should sound better than it does on the album, every single time, and that solely playing your instrument – no matter how well – is a massive disrespect to your audience. Every time we hit the stage we make it our responsibility to get your hips shaking, your heart racing and your head banging. We live and die by that creed.
Last Bullet is more than just a band, it’s an experience. We might play rock, but our music is for everyone. We don’t care how you look, where you’re from, or what you listen to, we will catch your attention and keep it, while raising both your pulse and the temperature of the venue. If that also happens to encourage dancing, screaming and increased bar sales, then so be it.” Now hear directly from Bryan Fontez, the lead vocalist, about the band, their latest EP, his ink, and much more.
Mel: Many bands today do not have lyrics that really say something, but that is not the case with “Sin”. You come straight out face to face with the listener and make us think. What was the motivation/inspiration to the message and lyrics of this song?
Bryan Fontez: Well first off, how many bands can you name that are talking about politics, society and things that have any sort of actual value or meaning right now? Not many I would presume, especially not any on mainstream radio. The lyrics depict a world that is choosing to ignore the consequences of their actions and would rather continue shooting themselves in the foot then be a part of the solution. Society has become more ignorant, naive and lacking in common sense than ever before. The song is about the perspective of a person who has cynically given up on the word, because of all the hatred, selfishness, greed and ignorance that is taking place and how people are choosing to just keep destroying the planet, be horrible to each other, solely on themselves and ultimately choose to simply exist rather than truly living their lives.
Mel: For fans that are not familiar with your band how would you describe what they can expect from a live show?
Bryan Fontez: Filthy, Nasty, Passionate, High-Energy, Intense, sexy, heavy, loud Rock N’ Roll music that will make you down your glass and shake your ass.
Mel: Can you tell me about your new ep that you are working on?
Bryan Fontez: When we went into the studio late last year, we recorded and finished 3 new tracks. We were going to release them as a short EP, but we believed that each song was strong enough to be a single, so we decided to focus on each one individually and give them the attention and effort that they each deserve. The next single will be released next month and the 3rd sometime after the summer. We have about 4-5 new and un-recorded songs written that we currently play live. A few of them are already crowd favorites and you can bet your ass that we’re extremely excited to get back in the studio at some point this year to record them and get them out to our fans and lovers of rock n’ roll all over the world.
Bryan Fontez: The tentative title for the EP was going to be “Long Story Short” because each of the 3 songs are so drastically different from each other and are a very good representation of how dynamic this band truly is. We really cover the entire spectrum of rock with these songs. It’s interesting to see how we’ve managed to make it work. As far as a release. We’re not quite sure what we’ll do with them when they’re all released, we may throw them together and sell it as an EP or we might just record another 4-5 songs and make an album. We’re not sure yet, we’re kind of feeling it out for now and seeing what happens. But regardless we’re just gonna keep writing new music, releasing it playing non-stop like we always have.
Mel: Do you have any tour plans that you can share with us?
Bryan Fontez: We currently have 2 tours planned, one in May and another later in September. Both will be focused on Eastern Canada. We’ve traveled all the way to the West coast but never the East. And then high at the top of our list is the US. It’s something we’ve always wanted to do but the timing just didn’t make sense, so we’ll do these tours and then figure out where to go from there.
Mel: Who have been your influences for your lyrics and sound (and why)?
Bryan Fontez: There are so many bands that we are absolute fans of who have influenced our music and lyrics. I could sit hear all day naming them all but if you listen to any of our songs I can guarantee that you’ll be able to pick out at least 25 different bands that we draw inspiration from. As far as our latest single SIN goes… The direct influences on that track musically and lyrically were STP, Velvet Revolver and a little bit of Alice In Chains.
Mel: Who would you like to share the stage with?
Bryan Fontez: Oh man… Anyone who rocks. AC/DC, the original Guns N’ Roses line up, STP, Danko Jones and a bunch of others. Newer? Rival Sons for sure, Royal Blood, Ghost. Pretty much anyone who puts on a f*cking GREAT show and cares about entertaining the audience above all else.
Mel: What is the writing process of the band? Do one of you or all of you write the lyrics?
Bryan Fontez: Our lead guitarist Brenden and I are the primary song-writers in the band. Ultimately we usually end up firing off all of our current ideas from best to worst and we’ll bounce them off each other and try our best to explain how we envision the song sounding or coming across until one of us becomes inspired enough to really want to hear how that song is going to sound finished. That’s usually how a song goes from being just an idea to becoming a finished product. Brenden typically comes to me with a great riff idea, melody idea or rhythm idea or I’ll come to him with, lyrics, melodies, a drum beat, subject/theme or even sometimes a guitar riff I may have heard in my head that I’ll just sing and air guitar for him or play on piano lol. As far as writing goes, there are no rules really. Whatever works works. I’ve written a song from a title, a drumbeat, a poem, a melody a phrase or even just an attitude. It’s up to you to figure out how to get the craziness that you have in your brain out and into the world. That’s ultimately the secret of good songwriting. Letting the song present itself to you and then finding the most efficient and concise way to translate it into reality.
Mel: Can you tell me your about your ink? Pick a piece and tell me the story of the tatt. Why you got it, what it means to you, things like that. Also how old were you when you got your first one?
Bryan Fontez: I’m definitely the member with the most ink lol, a few of the others have the odd piece but I’ve got 4 with more coming. My favorite piece is a wing that I have on my right arm. I fell off a motorcycle while on vacation in Cuba and tore most of the skin off half my arm leaving it permanently scarred. I had already come up with a design for a wing that I really liked the look of, so I was going to get it done anyway, the accident just happened to push me into getting it done a little faster and to this day it’s probably the piece that I get the most compliments and questions about. A lot of people ask me why I didn’t do the other arm, but the truth is I’m not a fan of symmetry for the sake of being symmetrical. I feel like things have more character when they’re unbalanced or unfinished sometimes. I just wanted the one wing and that was that… The artists name is Laura Blainey you can find her on instagram as “lolotatts”.
Mel: If there is anything you may want to add a tour story, a show story, so that readers can have a peek at the personal side of the band that would be awesome.
Bryan Fontez: Nothing in specific comes to mind, we’ve had a lot of crazy things happen to us on tour most of which I dare not repeat in public lol. We just want people to know that if they’ve been dying for some real rock n’ roll music played by passionate, honest, hard working musicians, then give our music a listen, keep in touch and visit LastBulletMusic.com for merch, info, show-dates, video’s, music and more. I promise you that we will give you one of the best experiences you’ve ever had at a live show should you ever get the chance to make it out and see us. That’s a guarantee. I’ll cover your drinks for the entire night personally if we don’t ; ) \m/
Now that you have had a chance to read about the band go, listen to their music. If you are a rock fan at all, you will love “Sin”. Be sure to check out Last Bullet on social media and more importantly, see them live.
