Black Tide

(From L-R: Steven Spence, Alex Nuñez, Gabe Garcia and Zakk Sandler)

Miami metal band Black Tide formed over four years ago, when their lead singer, Gabe Garcia, was 10 years old. Since then, they've built a steady fan base with appearances in Ozzfest and the video game Rock Band.

We chatted with guitarist Alex Nuñez (curly hair, yellow T-Shirt) and talked about house parties, classic rock and Leftover Crack.

You're Latino, right?

I'm Dominican-American. So is our drummer, Steven. Zakk is American and Gabe is from Nicaragua.

When did you start playing?

We were all pretty young. I was about 13, Gabe was around nine and I'm not sure about the rest. I never really was like, "Oh man I'm gonna play guitar and be in a huge band!" I just started playing after I got into bands and things just went really well, I guess you could say.

What are your influences?

I'd say the first two bands that I really got into were AC/DC and Hendrix. Someone got me an AC/DC CD and my older sis got me the Hendrix CD. I was obsessed with both! I don't know what it was, but it was so energetic and raw that it was all I would listen to.

What does your debut album, Light from Above, sound like?

I'd say a more modern approach to an older style of music. Loud guitars, heavy drums!

What's it like being in a metal band from Miami?

The metal scene is horrible in Florida, really shitty. It's super hard to get good shows going on, but hopefully things will start getting better down there.

How did people react to your 10-year-old singer when you first started playing gigs?

Haha, it was a little ironic playing 21-and-over shows when we were all under 15, but usually people would freak out and just be like "Oh man, these kids are f**kin' playing in a band!"

What's more fun to play? House parties or a festival like Ozzfest?

Aww man, that's a hard one, I love house parties but festivals like Ozzfest are already kind of like a big wild party, but if I had a choice I'd play house parties every day, haha!

What bands do you listen to that you're too embarrassed to reveal?

None! I'm not embarrassed at all about the music I listen to, but I guess I'd say someone I listen to that people wouldn't think I do is Regina Spektor. I think she's amazing.

Do you want to be in a band for the rest of your lives?

I want to be in music for the rest of my life, but I'm sure when I'm a lot older I don't think I would wanna do the whole band thing. I would love to produce and record bands some day.

What's more difficult? Playing your song Shockwave in the video game Rock Band or playing it in real life?

Haha, video game for sure! I'm not very good at video games.

What's in your iPod?

Toxic Narcotic, Leftover Crack, Phobia, Disrupt and a bunch of others.

What do you say to those who think you're too young to know about "real metal"?

F*** you.