This month, our Song of the Month takes us to California, where we got a chance to discover the musical stylings of Boyce. Upon first hearing News to the World, off his self-titled album, villan and anirtak were impressed. The music starts off by smacking you in the face to grab your attention. Then, when you least expect it, you hear an instrument that is somewhat alien to metal music, a flamenco guitar. Yes, you read that correctly, metal and flamenco. As if that does not blow your mind, consider this, Boyce is a one-man band. To find out more about Boyce's music and the man behind the madness, read on.
From a very young age, Gregory Boyce has always been interested in music. In fact, most of his childhood pictures show him with some sort of instrument in hand. Now, I'm sure we all had those little kiddie instruments growing up, you know, the ones that a relative bought for you as a means to torture your parents? In Boyce's case, his parents always encouraged music. So much so that his mom would take him to see acts such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Ozzy. That is one awesome mom right there.
By age 10 Boyce found himself in a band, and had his first live performance at age 12, which featured him on guitar and vocals. Gregory continued with bands for a while, mainly in heavy metal bands, but admits that he drove them crazy. However, the type of crazy he refers to is the type we love here at Split Infinity Radio, the kind that doesn’t necessarily want to conform to the norm. Boyce realized that he loved so many styles of music and wanted the freedom to explore those styles in his own music. Let's be honest, if you were in a heavy metal band and said, "Hey! You know what would be awesome in this song? Flamenco guitars," there would most likely be laughs or dirty looks, followed by a couple "WTF"s. But, Boyce had visions in his head. He took those visions and his ability to play guitar, bass, drums and provide vocals, and set out on his one-man musical journey.
Along this musical journey, Boyce has strategically placed some guitars to assist in coming up with new music. Basically, he has one at work and one in almost every room in his house. Once he plays something that catches his attention, visions start forming and ideas start flowing. The end result could be a hard hitting song filled with anger, or perhaps something a little more on the mellow side, or maybe both. Boyce likes having songs that go through changes and also enjoys having lyrics that leave some interpretation to his audience. If his music connects with people, the amount of time spent on writing and recording are worth it to him.
We hope that you enjoy Boyce's music as much as we do and that you consider supporting him (http://www.boycemusic.com). As an independent artist, it's difficult to spread the word of your music. It is even more difficult when you are the only one funding the efforts. Boyce admitted to our DJ anirtak that he spent so much on production that some of the other goodies he wanted to include with album were omitted (i.e. lyrics, pictures). To that we say, don't worry about it. While lyrics and pictures are a great addition, having great music with top notch sound quality is more important. It gives the audience a chance to really hear the music and get lost in it.
We would also like to thank Gregory Boyce for taking the time answer our questions which provided insight into his music and life. THANK YOU!
