Interview: Youngstown, Ohio Based Alternative Hard Rock Band Alteras
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Alteras is an alternative hard rock band from Youngstown, Ohio and was founded with the common belief that making music was vital to their well-being. The band’s mission is to provide music for whomever who needs it most, touching the hearts of the listener is the main goal of each and every piece by Alteras. Our very own brand ambassador Jade Oladosu connected with the band for an exclusive interview during their tour stop in Raleigh on August 3rd.
After reading our interview with Alteras, be sure to follow and support them on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to stay up-to-date on all things Alteras! I encourage you to check out the band’s clothing line MisPrint as well!
What’s the origin behind the band’s name?
Alteras is a latin word that means “you change” or “you alter”. It kind of encompasses how we write our songs: we don’t write to produce the same type of song each time. ‘Broke’ and ‘Could Ever Love’ are two very different songs. One is a heavier post-hardcore song and the other is similar to a melodic ¾ waltz. The band name also represents the idea of embracing change.You never know if something is worthwhile if you don’t try it out at all.
When did you guys first start the band?
The band took on many forms before we became the band we are today. We started in high school playing music for fun and this continued on into college. Mike and I (referring to band members Mike Dulay and Jake Clansen) graduated from college and put our all into it. It took awhile for us to get the right members; we’ve been writing since 2010, but we officially performed with all of our current members in 2015.
The band current consists of Jake Clansen, Mike Dulay, Zack Orr, and Tony Costarella.
Where have you toured previously?
We’ve toured in 25 states total, mostly on the east coast. Our favorite state to tour in is Texas and we’ve already been 3 times since January! Texans really love metal music. One of our favorite places to go after shows is this place called Buc-ee’s: it’s like Sam’s Club meets Dave and Buster’s plus a gas station and every dream you’ve ever had.
What is the weirdest thing that’s happened on tour?
We played a show right outside of Newark, New Jersey in an industrial part of town. When we arrived at the venue, we see a cardboard sign placed outside on the ground that has “Show Parking” written above an arrow drawn in sharpie marker.
The venue is this huge warehouse surrounded by other warehouses, so seeing this sign and nothing else was a little bit questionable. Anyway, we go around the back and park, walk up to the venue’s giant front door (which also has the venue name written on cardboard in sharpie laying right next to it) and knock.
No answer. We knock again.
The door creaks open and this strange man peeks out the door and asks, “what do you want?!”
Confused, we nervously reply, “We’re here for the concert…”
He yells back, “Does this look like a concert venue to you?!”
He throws the door open and says he’s just joking. He introduces himself as Tito, the venue manager.
We performed in this huge warehouse with other local bands and it ended up being one of our best shows on that tour. But things still got weird after we performed. We finished up our set, and while we’re waiting for the next band to go the concert is crashed by S.W.A.T. officers. Tito, the weird guy, ends up getting handcuffed and arrested, but he was released the next day. We think someone might have called in the event to the police, thinking that something nefarious was going on in the warehouses late at night.
What other awesome things have happened on tour?
One of the best things about touring is that you get to meet so many different people interested in same things and same music and you vibe and get to know them on a personal level. It’s such a great feeling knowing that people you’ve met months ago on one tour are coming back to listen to you when you’re touring again in the same area.
We also get to bond with other bands on tour. You hear a lot of horror stories about bands having beef with each other, but we’ve grown really close with all the bands we’ve ever toured with.
Connect with Alteras: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter