We recently connected with Chris Zavala and have shared our conversation below.

Chris, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I knew at a very early age that being a musician is what I wanted. I remember being in second grade and hearing my favorite songs. I’d write all of the lyrics down and tell my friends that they were my lyrics. I would imagine that I was on stage playing the songs as if I were in the band.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

It took a lot of hard work and dedication to learn how to play my guitar as proficiently as I do. I started at age eleven with a classical acoustic guitar. My dad said that he wouldn’t get me an electric guitar until I could play the classical. There were times I wanted to quit but I could never really put it down for good. Years went by and I never joined or started a band. When my grandfather passed away in 2021, I fell in a dark place. He was like a father to me and I lost my way for a little while. One day, I said to myself, “It’s either now or never.” That’s when I decided to either join a band or start a band. I began looking on Facebook for local musicians pages and reached out to whoever I could. I began putting a group together and it all fell into place. My band, Bare Knuckle Brawl, was officially formed on October 9, 2022 with myself and our original drummer. We instantly hit it off musically and began writing music. Our vocalist, Jorge, was the third person to join and I instantly fell in love with his style. I knew he would be the perfect fit. Then Isaac joined the band. I would see videos of him playing his bass and I could tell that he knew what he was doing. His first practice with us was pretty much flawless as he did his homework and came ready to play. Onu, our lead guitarist, was the next to join. We were in the process of recording our first single when he joined and I sent him the track before it was completed. He sent me a video of himself playing lead and I felt it gave off a very Megadeth kind of lead guitar vibe. We rushed him into the studio and he laid down his track masterfully. Our drummer decided to quit before the song was released and ultimately said that we could not use his contribution to the track. That left us in a tough spot but our producer, Will Maravelas of 14:59 Studios, put down drum tracks for us and knocked it out of the park. We weren’t out of the pit just yet because we still needed a drummer. Annihilation Process, a thrash metal band out of the twin cities, was playing a show and I thought I’d press my luck. I went early and talked to their drummer, Tom, and he surprisingly said he’d be willing to jam with us to see how things went. Things went well and we got the ball rolling. Fast forward a little less than a year and here we are with 4 songs total. I’m most proud of the fact that we have been lucky enough to get radio play here in the twin cities in less than a year of being together. Our community here is very supportive of its local bands and we certainly have felt the love. We are ultimately a thrash metal band but I feel what sets us apart from all the other local bands is that we all come from different backgrounds in the metal scene. Jorge comes from a Punk background. Onu likes power/melodic metal. Isaac and I are the thrash guys and Tom kind of just really enjoys all styles of metal. Collectively, we make a power punch of a thrash metal band.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a musician is seeing the emotion people have when I play. I put a tremendous amount of emotion in my guitar playing and I want people to feel what I feel when I play. I’m speaking to the audience through my guitar. I want them to hear and feel the passion, love, sadness, fear, and anger I feel in every riff. When I hear the crowd cheering and see them moshing, it fills my soul because I am in the moment of experiencing my life long dream and sharing what I feel inside.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The thought that drives me is to fulfill that dream I had as a kid. I want to be on the biggest stage of them all and play in front of thousands of people. Some people would call that selling out but I see it as living my dream. Swinging my hair on stage playing my guitar while the crown moshes and sings along. Smoke machines and pyrotechnics going off. Loud amplifiers behind me. That’s what I envision and I won’t stop even when I finally get there. These first four songs we have, Fisticuffs, Sicario, Divide and Conquer, and The Old Guard all push me to keep writing.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bare_knuckle_brawl_?igsh=YWQ3ZHk3NTNoMDEy&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/LmvxjdoB9eXuFzqE/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCrvy4pSCHDH7_w_uFOvf3Tw?si=oALNk9BNP4RxeiDY
• Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/2PY7gvMbhMMwoNNhbg0NhF?si=OI6ZhFV8QnaECAeJCP1AYw Apple Music – https://music.apple.com/us/artist/bare-knuckle-brawl/1683983686

Image Credits
All photos were taken by Cristian Pastrana with D/E Management & Studios.