EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: JAMES-PAUL LUNA OF INTRANCED

Having been in a number of phenomenal bands like White Wizzard, Holy-Grail and now the hard rocking Intranced, the very talented and seasoned vocalist James-Paul Luna is a certainly a man with plenty of interesting stories to tell. With such a rich history we could not pass on the opportunity to interview the man himself…

I absolutely love to interview bands and artists and discover more about their backgrounds and how they got to where they are now. And I get particularly excited when I manage to get interviews with great musicians I admire.

I remember listening to White Wizzard many years ago and High Speed GTO was one of the first trad metal albums I bought. And when I heard the infectious track High Speed GTO for the first time I was instantly captured. The vocalist at the time was the very talented James-Paul Luna who I felt really gave flair to the track! Years later I would see him in his following project Holy-Grail which again delivered high velocity heavy metal!

Moving on to 2024 and James- Paul Luna is now part of Intranced! And so I felt it was a great time to interview the man and find out about himself and of course his musical history.

TheNwothm: James-Paul Luna It is an absolute pleasure! How has your festive period been?

JPL: It was a good time overall thanks! I love to cook and dine with friends and family and it was a nice chance to do more of that

TheNwothm: And did 2023 treat you well? Was it a productive year?

JPL: 2023 was a heavy year but overall it did treat me well. Furthermore, yes it was productive because we recorded and almost finished mixing the Intranced debut full length. 

TheNwothm: Before we dig in can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself? 

JPL: I’m not sure if this constitutes as a “little bit” but I’ll give a few sentences.. I love to sing and perform hard rock and heavy metal. I have been fronting bands since 2001.  I also work in the film industry with Sets, Props and Art Direction. I am grateful I get to live a creative life while traveling the world performing and adventuring.

TheNwothm: I want to briefly go over some of your musical history! All the way back in 2007 you were involved in the band White WIzzard! During your time in the band you featured on the releases “White Wizzard” and my favourite “High Speed GTO.” What memories do you have from that period and do you have any favourite tracks that you loved singing?

JPL: This was a magical time indeed. Jon Leon, Tyler Meahl and myself were in an LA band called Jet Fuel and that project dissolved around 2005. After that  we joined forces with James J LaRue to start White Wizzard. Jon and LaRue really wanted it to be like Priest and Maiden and Tyler & myself were much obliged. Most songs were riffs that Jon and LaRue came up with. One of my fave tunes was the one that I wrote, High Speed GTO, in my grandparents back-house. Actually originally it was “High Speed Motorboat” hahah but we thought it would be cooler as “High Speed GTO” because that was the car that Jon Leon drove at the time and a much more fitting rockn roll type of name. Also cooler means of travel than a motorboat.  The bridge breakdown in GTO was the result of a riff that came from jamming with Tyler and his brother Blake Meahl (from Huntress & Trigger Renegade).

In those early days of White Wizzard we also had a second guitarist Michael Clemente which didn’t play on the records but added a great sound and energy to the live sets. I also really loved singing Celestina, that was a big hit with the old school rock fans and especially the ladies. The fun memory of this time was we just wanted to make old school metal like the British greats and the NWOBHM.

We did it for fun and basically for free, and barely promoted other than myspace! It was the myspace days then where you make these geocities looking, GIF-heavy profiles and post songs and promote by messaging people in friends circles. There was no instagram, no NWOTHM movement, and Spotify hadn’t come to the USA yet. I don’t think people even post led full albums on youtube then because it was pretty new at the time. Youtube was more for posting music videos and other media back then I think. 

TheNwothm: How did the idea of the High Speed GTO music video come about? The wizzard idea and the driving scenes make such a fun video!

JPL: Our friend Dave Vorhees came up with idea and he executed it quite ingeniously I might add. He wanted to make a throwback campy tongue in cheek 80s style video. Jon Leon had the infamous vehicle and the location in mind for the driving scenes. I love that location because it’s also similar to if not in fact the exact location for one of my fave cult 80s rock horror films “Hard Rock Zombies”.

TheNwothm: Let us move on to Holy Grail! The band got together around 2008 and broke up in 2022! In that time the band released three full length albums and a number of singles and EPS. How do you feel Holy Grail helped you to grow and develop as a musician? 

JPL: Yeah for sure! There’s a lot to say about this question. I feel Holy Grail helped me grow in every way possible, as a musician, business person, friend, lover, and human being. It was a profound experience with it’s dose of high highs and low lows. All this builds character and is the stuff that either makes or breaks you. It kind of broke me to be honest, but as they say – what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. However, I wouldn’t have had it any other way, my years with Holy Grail have been a very life fulfilling experience.

TheNwothm: “Crisis In Utopia” was a pretty epic album! What did that album mean to you?

JPL: I don’t think I’ve ever sat and wondered what an album meant to me.  But I can tell you a bit about of the mindset going into the album writing process of Crisis In Utopia and then kinda how it feels to me now. Going into making the record we wanted to break the mold and stretch the boundaries a bit. There was a small resurgence of these classic metal or trad metal bands yet also a big thrash metal revival scene happening so we wanted to blend the two in a unique way and try and make it our own. So we tried stuff that sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t.

For Instance, when I first came up with the chorus melody to “My Last Attack” I got self conscious & thought it was totally weird and cheesy… like too pop or something top 40. But alas.. everyone loved it and encouraged me to go with it. I’m glad I did because that ended up being one of our most popular tracks to this day and it really grew on me. We also wanted to do something larger than life and massive, as most young bands do I think.. go big as we could. We also had this bright eyed bushy tailed view of the world and the industry, and everyone seemed to want a piece of it. So as time went on and missed opportunities mixed with internal conflicts the dream and fantasy turned to harsh realities pretty quickly.

It was hard to keep the machine moving when it’s not firing on all cylinders or slowly trudging along. So for me looking back that album serves as a reminder that you can really give it your all- go hard and not care what people think and still make something great. It may not have been appreciated when it came out but I’m glad to know people are still digging it. It makes me sound old thinking of those young, wild, & carefree metal years. Hahah

TheNwothm: I was fortunate to see you guys many years ago live in Sheffield I believe around the Crisis in Utopia tour! The guitarists in the band climbed onto the speakers and did some duelling! Do you have any great memories from touring that album that will always stick with you?

JPL: Wow yeah, I have a plethora of memories from that time. However also a lot of fogged memories from my partying years.🙂 

I really liked the  big festivals we played like Wacken, Download, and Loudpark in Japan. Those all have stories within themselves for another time haha. Aside from that the tours with all the amazing bands that took us out created so many long standing friendships I still cherish to this day. If you want more details on the debauchery I can tell you in person over a cuppa

TheNwothm: Looking at the Holy Grail discography, If you were wanting to point people to tracks to discover the band, what ones would you point them too and why?

JPL: I think I would gauge the persons vibe and send songs accordingly. If I don’t know anything about them. I’ll probably say start with My Last Attack, Ride the Void, Call of Valhalla, Immortal Man, or Crosswinds. Those are the fun ones to play live and total crowd pleasers. The recordings are pretty rad too.

TheNwothm: You have been guest vocalist for a number of different bands including Children of Bodom and Night Demon just to name a couple. Are there any guest appearances you have been particular proud of? And is there anyone you would like to guest for in the future?

JPL: Its funny because I totally forget that I was asked to do those things until someone reminds me. I feel honored and proud to sing on any of those projects. I never sought out to be a singer though. Early 2000’s about 20 years ago now – I started singing out of necessity. I was playing bass in a band auditioning singers and we couldn’t find a singer we liked so I decided to give it a whirl and had my best bud play bass. Im just happy anyone would ask me these days. There’s a few friends bands I have talked about singing guest vocals with but haven’t worked out yet like Persekutor, Voltax, Skelator, Kyng. But I would really love to sing guest vocals for Rata Blanca, Sortilège, Riot, Glenn Hughes, Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, or Ritchie Blackmore, any of my faves.

TheNwothm: Moving on to the present! How did the Idea and the formation of the mighty Intranced come about?

JPL: This band came together when Fili and Ben were having trouble with Fortress lineup and asked me if I wanted to start some thing. Holy Grail had been dormant for a couple years, and I was looking to start doing some music and keep it very traditional. I had a couple riffs that didn’t get used in Holy Grail days and Fili had some song ideas in the archives as well. Luckily they all seem to work together nicely.. so we decided to start a band. Another big incentive was Trevor from Haunt had offered a tour if we can get a record out in time. I guess that was the big catapult and big thank you to Trevor for lighting the fire under our asses and taking a chance on us. 

TheNwothm: Fili’s other band Fortress are pretty kickass! Do you feel there is a bit of crossover in terms of the musical style between Fortress and Intranced?

JPL: Yeah, well Fortress broke up for a moment. That’s why we started Intranced, but it seems like they have worked things out and now there’s two amazing bands. I feel like with the new album Intranced leaned in to the more heavy rock of UFO, Scorpions, and Thin Lizzy whereas Fortress leans more towards the power metal side, but there is definitely some crossover.

TheNwothm: Let’s talk about the two EP’s the band has put out which are “Intranced” and “Rogue Warrior.” What can you tell our readers about the EP’s and any tracks you would like to highlight?

JPL: Thanks so much well first off, I’m very happy how they turned out. The first EP is six tracks then there is a single with 2 tracks, so it’s technically an EP and a single. Which we’ve recently reissued together with High Roller as an Enhanced CD and LP. Drums for all the songs were tracked at the same time but we did the first batch because they felt the most cohesive. The other 2 (Rogue Warrior & La Fuerza Negra) were a nice single. The EP was what got us going and it’s really fun to have that wild, raw energy right before a tour and just go for it without giving a rats ass haha.

For me, it was also a personal quest to dust off the cobwebs and see if I can still even sing haha. I have been wanting to incorporate more Spanish lyrics in my music and I love that Intranced gave me creative freedom to explore that. I also really enjoyed collaborating with Ben who is a talented wordsmith and drummer and Fili Bibiano master luthier, shredder, and prolific riff machine.

TheNwothm: And who were the team behind their creation? Did you do yourselves or were there other people involved?

JPL: We write, produce, and engineer most the music and recordings ourselves. However for the EP drums we had Carlos Cruz help us out to engineer the sessions. Nico Staub helped track acoustic instruments on the EP was how he met Fili.  After a few months we asked Nico to join us for a few ripping song writing jams we asked him to join the band on bass. So our first collaboration with Nico on bass was on the Rogue warrior single which had drums but not final music. I had a lot of fun co-writing Spanish lyrics with Nico for La Fuerza Negra getting the vocal demos tracked with him.  We also had him play the bass and finalize the tracks in Mendoza, Argentina.

The last piece of the puzzle was I was on vacation in Portland and needed vocals tracked to finish the single. So I got some contacts from Joel Grind and Gabe from Unto Others that led me to hire Mark at Dig productions to help me to finish tracking at Falcon Studios. We knocked out the 2 songs of vocals in 2 days and the single was finally done. 

TheNwothm: From what I understand, the band is in the final stages of mixing the brand new album! How has the whole writing and recording process been?

JPL: The record is mastered and finished the art with help of our friend and talented graphic designer Taylor Bourque.  We started the writing process on our first jam session with Nico and actually asked him to join the band the day Argentina won the World Cup. What a great day! We planned a trip to go to Argentina in May 2023 to have a writing session and demo the album. It was a great time.

We finished demos and continued to submit ideas before and after our summer tour and then finalised after tour in oct 2023. Tracked drums first then guitars, then bass then vocals. I think I can speak for the rest of the guys when I say this but we’re pretty happy how it all turned out. It took longer than we hoped and we had many hurdles that came our way but it was nice that we worked it out and got the album sounding the way we wanted.

TheNwothm: What can you say about some of the tracks on the album? Will the direction continue the style of the music that the band have already put out?

JPL: It’s 9 amazing tracks of good old fashioned rock n roll metal. Our 70s rock, power metal and Nwobhm influences really get to shine here I think. We really just let it rip. I think it came together nicely.

TheNwothm: When are you planning on putting out the new album? Do you have a rough date?

JPL: June 7 2024 is when it’s scheduled on High Roller Records.

TheNwothm: And what formats are you hoping to release it on?

JPL: High Roller records is putting it out on vinyl, cd, and even cassette.

TheNwothm: The Nwothm movement pretty much came alive in the early to mid 2000’s, which was around the start of your singing career! In your opinion, how do you think the scene has changed and evolved since then?

JPL: I was always a guitarist and bassist and started singing in rock bands around then cuz we couldn’t find a singer that we liked. I think the first thing I notice now Vs then is how much the recording process has changed. The technology and accessibility is far superior now than it was then. And classic or traditional metal wasn’t a popular thing then like it is today.

Secondly there’s so much more of everything, more music, more bands, more social media outlets and more of a scene now then there was. It also adds to more competition now then back then because the market is more saturated. I think this is a healthy thing though ‘cos it lights the fire in you to push harder. It felt like the Wild West back then in a desolate dystopian wasteland of metal. It was brutally hard to find bands to play with back then and even harder to explain what traditional metal or NWOBHM was to your numetal or blackened death metal mates. There wasn’t even the phrase NWOTHM then or if it was around I hadn’t heard of it yet.

Now that people get it and there’s a scene it also helps with finding producers and mix engineers that get the vibe and can tap into the old sounds. We probably have AI that makes NWOTHM tracks now so I guess we’re in the sci fi future today Vs being in the antique times of trad metal back then haha.

TheNwothm: Where will you guys be hitting the road in 2024? Do you have plans to go across seas?

JPL: We’re really hoping to get to Europe as soon as possible. We’ve sold quite a bit of stuff there and the fans there are rabid for the old school sound. We’re working out plans for the rest of the year already starting to plan for 2025. Some fun stuff on the horizon but sadly too soon to announce. More will be revealed!

TheNwothm: Where can people buy Intranced music & merch?

JPL: Bandcamp is the first place to head and then our social media profiles and High Roller Records as well.

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

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

JPL: Thanks for reaching out and asking to interview me. This was a lovely trip down memory lane. Send us any recommendations for festivals to play overseas or bands you suggest we should tour with. I hope I get to perform in UK or Europe very soon and get to hang with all the  NWOTHM and old school freaks like me. Best wishes! Cheers mate!