- MuzicNotez: First off, it’s an honor to be doing this interview with you, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us.
- Follow No One: Your welcome. The honor is all ours.
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MuzicNotez: Introduce yourselves, what are your names and rolls in the band?
- Follow No One: Rich Hall & Pedro Murino Almeida
Rich is the primary vocalist and songwriter with Pedro handling all guitar work and songwriting along with Rich and backup vocals.
- Follow No One: Rich Hall & Pedro Murino Almeida
- MuzicNotez: How did you meet and form up? How long have you been together?
- Follow No One: Pedro writes music for all types of media, including film, and had finished a track that was intended to be placed in film. He actually found me on an entertainment site on the internet and asked if I’d be willing to write the lyrics and sing the vocals for the song. This was back in 2016.The song ended up being our first single, Guardian Angel. We we’re pretty happy with the results. We’re still rocking!
- MuzicNotez: How did you come up with the name Follow No One?
- Follow No One: I’m really glad you asked that question. Volvo has used our name in a campaign ad for some time now and we still haven’t gotten our car. But to answer your question, one day, I was just looking at a photograph of a man standing out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by mountains and that’s what came to mind. It stuck with me. The mountains stuck with me too. I moved to Colorado.
- MuzicNotez: Who were your musical influences, idols, or bands growing up that have helped mold you into the band you are today? Or helped mold the music that you create?
- Follow No One: Quite a few between the both of us. I can’t say we draw anything on a large scale from any one artist. Vocally I would have to say Ronnie James Dio, Tommy Shaw and Lou Gram. On the guitar side of things, Pedro has an amazing style that’s reminiscent of Randy Rhoades, Steve Vai, Satriani and John Petrucci.
- MuzicNotez: What’s the greatest concert you’ve ever been to or performed?
- Follow No One: Dream Theater was an incredible concert. I saw them in a club setting in El Paso, TX. The sound was amazing, which allowed me to hear how technically sound they were. They just blew me away.
- MuzicNotez: What’s the ultimate goal you want your music to achieve, or for you to achieve in your career as a musician? Any particular message you wish to send?
- Follow No One: The ultimate goal would have to be to win a Grammy and to do something in our music that helps keep Rock Music alive and well. As you guys know, there isn’t money in indie music so much. We do it for the shear love of it.
- MuzicNotez: You recently were rewarded with an award for Best Rock Act of 2019, how does it feel to have your hard work rewarded like that?
- Follow No One: Winning the award was awesome. Not necessarily because of the award itself, but all of the other fine Rock Acts that were nominated, almost 14, I think. It gives you some motivation to keep going. That is for sure.
- MuzicNotez: What’s your songwriting style like?
- Follow No One: Every song is unique. We don’t really have a ‘style’ per se that is pervasive through the songs. Each song comes about a little differently. The one thing that makes our style unique is the approach, I guess. Pedro treats most songs like he would any other type of musical composition. Some of the conversations I have with Pedro require me to use my dictionary with some of the musical terms he uses. Pedro is a pro’s pro that’s for sure and he’s a blast to work with.
- MuzicNotez: What else are you working on? What can we expect to see and hear from you in the future?
- Follow No One: Our New Single Bring Me Peace will be dropping October 30th. This song is quite a departure(in a good way) from our prior releases and we think it will be a great addition, but we’ll let the fans decide that.
- MuzicNotez: Anything else you wish to say about yourself or your music? Any message for your fans?
- Follow No One: To celebrate our Award with our fans, we are giving away a free copy of the single that got us there, Your Time of Dying. Just visit our site and signup for free and grab your copy!