Seeing a band like Ankla at the Hard Rock in Orlando, FL and then walking out into downtown Disney is weird. Also weird is how nice and soft spoken Tony Castañeda and Oscar Santiago turned out to be. We met up with them right outside the venue and climbed a set of rarely used stairs to conduct our interview. What transpired during that interview is below.

Interview written and transcribed by j. ward.
Conducted by Luzviminda DelaPaz
Photos captured from video shot by j. ward

[COMA] You're notorious for keeping a brutal tour schedule, 110 shows in 130 days, how has this schedule effected the performance and chemistry of the band?

[Tony] I don't think it has effected it at all, it's just like going to any job. It just depends on how you're feeling that day but as far as the schedule goes, like anything else you adapt to it. You just have to be flexible and have it in you all the time, at least (want to) have fun.

[Oscar] I take it like a job too. I try to take a positive attitude to work. I just try to play and be happy with what I'm doing.

[COMA] Your former bassist, Edgar Gonzalez, left in 2006 due to health complications; any contact with him these days?

[Oscar] He's actually doing good and getting better. Unfortunately he's not playing with the band anymore but he's doing his stuff with his family and we hope the best for him. When we have time in LA we say hi to him and that's it, everything's cool but Tony is our bass player now and he's amazing, we've been working with him for a year and a half now and we feel really really comfortable playing with him and everything is fine with him but we hope the best for Edgar.

[COMA] It's nice to hear that from him right?

[Tony] Yes it is. All these guys are great musicians and I'm really honored to be playing with these guys cause, I tell them all the time, I'm learning as I go, so constantly these guys are teaching me new things and I just love to learn cause it just makes you that much better at what you do.

[COMA] Tell us about the album art for Steep Trails.

[Oscar] Steep Trails was a good experience. We recorded the album with Bob Marlette (Producer), he started working on the record with Ramón (Ortiz -Guitars) and Ikaro (Stafford – Vocals), Ramón wrote the music and Ikaro wrote the lyrics, when we had everything written, Ramón found an artist and he was inspired by what we had recorded and that's where his idea for the cover came from.

[COMA] During Ozzfest you got the opportunity to meet a lot of bands and make many new friends; do you anticipate any collaborations with any of these artists in the future?

[Oscar] Ozzfest opened a lot of doors for us and I'm open to play with every band that takes us out.

[Tony] As far as collaborating with other bands, like he said, every one of those bands that played on that fest was amazing and awesome, all around good people, good camaraderie between everybody at Ozzfest so we'd be honored to play with any of those bands.

[COMA] How has the Great American Rampage Tour differed from Ozzfest?

[Tony] The Great American Rampage Tour differed from Ozzfest where Ozzfest is a heavier style of music, there was a lot more heavier bands; I mean these bands are really heavy as well but it's just more of a different energy. In that sense it was different but one of the biggest differences was the fact that we had to get up early in the morning to be there at four or five in the afternoon.

[Oscar] For me Ozzfest was the best experience of my life so far. Playing in front of thousands of people compared to playing in a smaller club, the vibe is different. I really enjoyed playing in clubs too but it's different.

[COMA] We've read interviews where you list a lot of the older metal, Ozzy, Slayer, Megadeth, as inspiration for your sound now; are there any bands out now that inspire you like that?

[Tony] Well the older bands, I could list forever. Seplutura, Black Sabbath, those are some of my biggest influences.

[Oscar] Young people like us like Slipknot and Lamb of God. Lamb of God are really cool guys too.

[COMA] Ankla spent about five years playing together before you released your first album. This really gave you a lot of time to piece together Steep Trails, how has the band evolved since 2001?

[Oscar] The lineup has changed. Ramón started after Puya with Ikaro and then he called me for the percussion and I came in late to record the percussion and Pepe (Clarke) auditioned for the drums and he got it and then I moved to LA so we could start playing together. The band has (been together) five years now but this line up has been (together) for three years and now Tony has been playing for a year and a half.
(As for) the writing process, Ramón had the songs already, he found all the musicians and we worked on the sound and (Bob) Marlette got interested and we went to the studio in Los Angeles and we record(ed) the whole record. There were some complications so it took a year go get it done then we got to debut with Bieler Brothers.

[COMA] We've read there may be a new album in 2009, have you had any time to work on that between the last tour and this one?

[Tony] Ramón is constantly writing, brainstorming new material, ways to collaborate different styles together and his job never ends, it's not even a job to him it's a passion. What's going to be different now from the past line up is the fact that he's actually going to let us throw in a little bit of flavor that we feel would work with it and depending on is we are on the same page and we like the way it works then we will definitely roll with it.

[Oscar] A lot of Ankla's music came from the drums too and sometimes I jam stuff with him and the other guys and we use a it and make songs that way.

[COMA] I heard some flamenco in there too.

[Oscar] I like that and Korean rumba. We play styles from the Caribbean combined with harcore and death metal.

[COMA] That's it, anything you'd like to add?

[Tony] Keep an eye on our website myspace.com/ankla1. Check us out, we should be hitting your town sometime soon.

Anklas debut album "Steep Trails"is out now.
Visit Anklas official website at ankla1.com