In April of 2002 TexasMetalUnderground.com was able to conduct an interview with Bassist Sean Ross.  He gave us a history of the band as well as some of his recollections of the mid-80's Texas Metal scene. 

TMU:  What year did Syranax form?

 

Sean Ross:  Around 1984 or whenever the BADD Concert at Zilker was. (The 'Bands Against Dangerous Drugs' concert was a battle of the bands that took place at Zilker Park's Hillside Theater in Austin.)

 

TMU:  What does Syranax mean?

 

Sean Ross:  It really doesn’t mean anything that I know of. It was a warrior in some book.

 

TMU:  Who came up with the name?

 

Sean Ross:  Jamie was reading the book with the Warrior Syranax.

 

TMU:  How old were you guys when you started the band?

 

Sean Ross:  I was 14 or 15 Rick and Jamie was 16 and I can’t remember how old Ricky was but he was older than us.

 

TMU:  How did you guys meet?

 

Sean Ross:  Rick and me had been playing in a band for a while. Jamie we literally saw walking down the street with his bloody Les Paul and started talking to him, and Ricky was Steve Holland’s cousin or something and he introduced us.

 

TMU:  Your style of music was pretty different than other Texas metal of the time. How did you guys decide on the style of music you created?

 

Sean Ross:  We wanted to be harder and faster than the other bands in town without being a death metal band, more like Slayer.

 

TMU:  At the time most singers were trying to sound like Jason McMaster or Mike Soliz. How did Rick come up with his vocal style?

 

Sean Ross:  He never intended to sing. We had a singer up until the night before our first show but he walked during practice, Rick was the only one that knew all the lyrics. It kinda just happened and it worked.

 

TMU:  What were some of the bands you were into at the time?

 

Sean Ross:  We were into all the Thrash bands Slayer, Raven, Voivod, etc. as well as Hardcore DRI, Cromags, Lethal Aggression.

 

TMU:  How long was Syranax together before you played your first show?

 

Sean Ross:  Not long at all.  just a month or so before the BADD concert where we won 3rd (Matrix won 1st) but we were disqualified for raising to much Hell and still took third.

 

TMU:  Where did you rehearse?

 

Sean Ross:  Mostly in my garage or Jamie’s garage.

 

TMU:  Didn’t Manny (Mayhem) Moran design your logo?

 

Sean Ross:  Manny did most of our artwork but not the Logo, a guy named Mike did it. But Manny and Joe did all the other artwork we used on flyers and shirts.

 

TMU:  Who was the main songwriter in Syranax?

 

Sean Ross:  Rick

 

TMU:  Do you remember playing at a "Battle Of The Bands" at the Hillside Theater at Zilker Park? I think Matrix won but Syranax came in second or third, right?

 

Sean Ross:  Yea, It was the first time we ever played in front of anybody and our singer left the night before. Rich was singing for the first time and we really wanted to have fun more than anything else. It was a blast.

 

TMU:  Syranax had a more professionally recorded demo than most local demos of the time. How did this come about? Who financed it?

 

Sean Ross:  I along with Jason thought that we needed to do a really good demo since we were such a young band we wanted to somehow add some credibility to us and have people take us more seriously. The band all pitched in and came up with enough for the demo.

 

TMU:  What do you remember about recording at Cedar Creek Studios with Fred Remmert?

 

Sean Ross:  It was great being a kid in a great studio like that made you feel like a musician even if you were just a punk in a band just to get laid.

 

TMU:  Almost all the local demos (and WatchTower’s first album) were recorded at Cedar Creek. Did Fred give a special rate to Metal bands or what?

 

Sean Ross:  I don’t remember any special rate but he would let you record there and some other studios wouldn’t.   He helped us a lot since it was our first time in the studio, hell it seems kind sad now 24 hours and only 3 songs.   I wish I could get 24 hours in a studio again.

 

TMU:  How many copies of the demo did you guys make?

 

Sean Ross:  A lot at first.  W e would buy the tapes at Radio Shack and record them at my house on a few high-speed dubbers. I guess around 5000 or so but funny enough I don’t have one.

 

TMU:  What was it like playing at The Ritz?

 

Sean Ross:  It was a great place to play. It was like playing a concert not a club. I have never seen anything quite like it in Austin since.   It’s a shame the new bands don’t have a Ritz.

 

TMU:  What is your favorite memory about playing / going to shows at the Ritz? One of my favorites has to be an ear-splittingly loud Anthrax show there in 1986.

 

Sean Ross:  Seeing Motorhead at the Ritz was great.   So was seeing Slayer there. Playing there I think our first Headliner was great.   More backstage stories than I care to remember.

 

TMU:  Did Syranax ever play outside of Austin?

 

Sean Ross:  We played San Antonio at the Cameo quite a bit.   We also played Dallas and Houston.

 

TMU:  Did Syranax ever open for any Touring bands?

 

Sean Ross:  We did a small Texas Tour with DRI, and we were supposed to open for SOD but we broke up.

 

TMU:  How long was Syranax together before you split up?

 

Sean Ross:  Just a couple of years. But it seems like much longer.   I still have all the Mags from Europe that did articles on us.   Those few years seemed to go buy really slowly. I can’t believe it’s been more than 15 years.

 

TMU:  Why did you decide to leave the band?

 

Sean Ross:  We planned on going out on the road and made all the arrangements and at the last minute things started falling apart in the band, the ones who kept going after me and Rick left didn’t want to move forward. Tension in the band was real bad and on a whim Rick and I went and joined the service.

 

TMU:  How many basses did you destroy on stage?

 

Sean Ross:  2 or 3 best I can remember, hell most of those days are a blur.

 

TMU:  Who did the paint jobs on your basses?

 

Sean Ross:  I used to buy cheap pawnshop basses and paint them and do all sorts of shit to them just to be different. Spray paint is wonderful.

 

TMU:  Do you still play any instruments?

 

Sean Ross:  I still play Bass some. Up until a few years ago I was playing in a band with Doug and Ed who were great friends of Syranax.

 

TMU:  Do you still talk to any of the guys from the band?

 

Sean Ross:  I still talk with Rick.

 

TMU:  What do the members of the band do now?

 

Sean Ross:  Rick is a Cop, I am back in school, Jamie moved to Colorado, and last I heard of Ricky he was still in town but I haven’t seen him a several years.

 

TMU:  Do you have any old Audio or Video of the band?

 

Sean Ross:  I lost a lot of Video but I have some live Audio and a few practice tapes.

 

TMU:  Do you still listen to Metal or other Heavy music?

 

Sean Ross:  Yeah, but I have been out of the loop for a while. I want to try and find a young bad and try my hand at Management but I haven’t found them yet.

 

TMU:  Thanks Sean!