Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Contreras.
Daniel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I was about 12-13 years old, my dad insisted I should play an instrument. Him being a musician he wanted to pass along his love of music to my brother and I. After he had gotten my brother and I guitars he showed me how to play iron man from Black Sabbath and I was hooked! I’ve been playing guitar in original Bands and tribute bands since 2011. Music is how I was able to find myself at such a young age and has brought so much joy and happiness to my life over the many years I have pursued it.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Life always has its ups and downs, unfortunately I lost my wife to a seven years battle with ovarian cancer late last year. That has been the biggest obstacle I’ve ever faced. I decided to step down from all of the tribute bands I play in at the moment to take some time and really deal with all the grief that has come with that. I’m very fortunate that many of the bands have reassured me however long I need to take to deal with this time in my life that a spot will be open for me if I decide to return. Some people after I announced I was stepping down from the bands have taken it as I’m “quitting music” but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I have been working on an LP for my original band and trying to focus on progressing myself as an individual and musician in this downtime!
Entombment – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Until recently, I played in seven bands. Six of them being tributes to bands such as Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Whitesnake, Queensryche and a cover band called ” “strangle love”.
The tribute bands I played in are
Kill em all
Youthanasia
Among the living
Saints and sinners
Walk in the shadows
Then I have an original band called “Entombment” that has been a passion project for about three years now.
I think one thing that people have always pointed out is how passionate I look when I am playing. I truly love playing guitar and I always want to put on the best performance I can. Anytime I’m playing, I feel blessed and honored to be able to stand on stage and share a moment with individuals that probably love music as much as I do.
I think what I’m most proud of is how much I have progressed as a musician and a person by surrounding myself with so many amazing people in the music scene. I’ve met some of the most down to earth people playing music and I don’t know that I would have some of those people in my life otherwise! So I am eternally grateful for that.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
That’s a hard question to answer but I will try my best. I think at this point in my life as long as I’m progressing as a musician I’m successful in what I’ve always wanted to do, which is be the best guitar player I can be. I would love to be able to tour with my original band and start putting out music consistently and playing more shows. That would be a huge accomplishment to me. It had to take a back seat ride for so long I would love to get that back on track. I think that would be the ideal success I’m looking for, which is to be able to have a career from Music that my bandmates and I created.
Contact Info:
- Email: entombmentband@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Entombmentband/
- Other: https://entombment.bandcamp.com/releases
Image Credit:
Royce bishop “1122 studios”; Thomas E Moore
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