Finix is a heavy/speed metal band from NYC, drawing from ‘80s metal, thrash, and the NWOTHM movement. In this interview, they discuss their journey, influences, and latest EP, Midnight Heat. Let’s dive in!

Interview

TheNwothm: Hey there I hope you are well! Can you tell our readers who you are and where your are from?

F:Hey there, thanks for having us! Hope you and everyone are doing well, as well. Hahaha! We are Finix, a five-piece, heavy/speed metal band from the streets of NYC. Our line up consists of: Anastasia Luna: Vocalist Steffy Rodriguez: Bass Angel Valencia: Guitar Miguel Maldonado: Guitar Chris Trashed: Drums We are highly influenced by 80’s heavy metal, thrash, speed, as well as the growing NWOTHM movement.

TheNwothm: When did the band form initially form?

F:The band formed around 2015-2016 

TheNwothm: And how did you come up with the band name Finix?

F:We came up with the band name because like a Phoenix, we always rise back up from the ashes, that is to say, we faced hardships and setbacks, but we always come back We spelled it the way we did to differentiate ourselves from other bands with a similar name.

TheNwothm: You guys are based in New York! What is the scene like there for heavy metal? I know Tower are from there?

F:Yes, Tower is from New York, we played a show with them once last year. The heavy metal scene isn’t as big here to be honest, especially when we started, it felt like there was rarely anyone playing heavy metal. There seems to be a slight rise of it now, though, but just slight. Although that doesn’t mean people do not like heavy metal, as seen by the crowd that comes when a heavy metal band rolls through NYC. Basically the fans of heavy metal are there, but bands, not so much. 

TheNwothm: Anastasia can you tell us about your vocal inspirations and where you learnt to sing?

F:Originally I was classically trained and sung opera for 12 years. I started in my hometown in Russia, when was 7 years old. Once I came to the states, I started bel canto, a style of singing and opera of Italian origin, and translates to “beautiful singing.” But, my heart has always belonged to metal and I’ve always wanted to sing in metal bands. My vocal inspirations are Floor Jansen of Nightwish and Tatiana Shmayluk from Jinjer.

TheNwothm: What female fronted bands would you say are leading the way right now in heavy metal?

F:The female bands  that are leading the way in heavy metal in our opinion are Savage Master,  Solicitor, Sanhedrin. Some honorable mentions are Sign of the Jackal, Breakker, Angel Fury.

TheNwothm: Are you all self taught musicians or did you all take lessons?

F:Most of us are self taught musicians. Anastasia, as mentioned above, did study music. Our guitarist, Angel, eventually did the same after years of being self taught. But overall, I think we are mainly self taught musicians.

TheNwothm: Can you tell our readers about your first two demos the first released in 2019 and the second “Taste the Steel” in 2022. How did the ideas get flowing for those?

F:The 2019 demo was DIY, and had our guitarist, Miguel, on vocals. He felt he didn’t want to sing for the reason that he felt he wasn’t suited for vocals, and instead wanted to focus on guitar. So that’s how 2022’s Taste the Steel, came to be. We brought in a new vocalist, Christian Galindo, and included a new song, an instrumental. Angel wrote the intro riff for Taste the Steel, and showed it to Miguel. From there, we jammed, ideas flowed and were interchanged. Each contributed bits and pieces to create what the song is today. Being that we are fans of fantasy, Miguel wrote the lyrics, drawing influence from such things as Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, for example.  

TheNwothm: Out of the Eps can you each name a favourite song to play?

F:Serpent God    Anastasia: Taste the Steel    Miguel: Serpent God    Chris: Enchantress    Steffy: Serpent God    

TheNwothm: I love asking these kind of question! So there are five of you in the band! Who spends all the time in front of the mirror? Who gets all the attention at shows? Who takes ages to pack down gear? Who is the big eater and finally who has the best hair?

F:Our drummer, Chris, is probably the one who takes the longest pack his gear away, hahaha but that’s probably the case with most bands and their drummers! Steffy has the best hair. Miguel’s the big eater. Anastasia spends the longest time in the mirror hahaha! And Miguel and Angel get the most attention at shows. 

TheNwothm: And what do you all like to do outside of music?

F:Angel likes to play video games ,Miguel likes to watch and play sports ,Anastasia does live streams on YouTube and  Twitch, loves cooking and trying different hot sauces , Steffy is crafty and loves doing art projects ,Chris likes cooking, sleeping and when not Helldiving, can be found smoking hella weed.

TheNwothm: In 2022 you put out a couple of singles “Reaching Out to Paradise” and “Serpent God.” Can you tell us about the musical and lyrical themes of these songs and what inspired you to write them?

F:Reaching out to Paradise, was written when we were young and had aspirations in life, and a song like that needs positive and inspirational lyrics.  Since 3 member of the bands are of Mexican descent, Serpent God reflects the appreciation of our heritage. It’s homage to Quetzalcoatl 

TheNwothm: Are you guys big fans of classic formats like vinyl and cassette? If so are any of you collectors of any?

F:Steffy is the biggest collector of Vinyls. Angel prefers vinyl more than cassettes. Chris likes and collects both cassettes and vinyl.

TheNwothm: 2023 marked the release of your EP ‘Soaring Skies.” How do you feel this differed from what you had released previously? What kind of mindset did you have when you were writing that EP?

F:Since our previous demo was DIY, so our mindset was that we wanted the EP to have better production. So we went into a studio to record them professionally. We also decided to make it into cassettes. 

TheNwothm: What must is currently on your playlist? It does not have to be metal!

F:Post-Punk/ Darkwave such as Twin Tribes, She Past Away, Forever Grey. Retro and synthwave. Crust Punk/d-beat such as Wolfbrigade, Skitsystem. 80’s Disco and freestyle. And Mexican music such as corridos, corridos norteña and tumbados. Cumbias. Epica, Jinjer, Motörhead 

TheNwothm: This year marks the release of your brand new EP “Midnight Heat.” What can you tell our readers about the writing and recording of the EP?

F:Our recently released EP, “Midnight Heat,” features our new vocalist, Anastasia! We went to record with Mike Sabatini of the mighty Attacker at his studio, Band Mother Recording. The artwork was done by Pablo Romero. The lyrics for both tracks was written by Miguel, and was inspired by a previous relationship. The riffs where written by Angel and Miguel.

TheNwothm: Do you have plans for touring this year to promote the EP?

F:We thought about touring to promote the EP, but thought it better to save that for when we release our Full length, which we will aim to release sometime this year! We would still like to tour just in general though, not just for promotional purposes haha 

TheNwothm: How can our readers buy your music and merch?

F:Our music can be bought on bandcamp here:     

Bandcamp: https://finixheavymetal.bandcamp.com 

Merch can be bought here: https://finixheavymetal.bigcartel.com

TheNwothm: Where can fans follow you online?

F:As stated above, they can follow us on our BandCamp above, as well as our:

Instagram: Finix_heavymetal 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1XhA7x1grf/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@finixheavymetal?si=sUcfSoO3dZFwMhiq

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7nE3GuqCzjMJmwVaRRgd3p?si=UuITdvQ4T1WsoF_jqKRhlw

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

F:We would like to just say thank you to everyone who has supported us, to everyone who has listened to us, bought our merch. It really means everything to us, really, really does. So thanks! And lastly, thanks to TheNwothm for having us! We appreciate it! Stay heavy and keep it true!