We recently had the chance to connect with Chris Zavala and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Are you walking a path—or wandering?
I think everyone kind of wanders in life but it’s what you do in the process. The way I see it is I am wandering but I am also building my own path on my way. Nobody really prepared me for what life is and it’s up to me to make the right decisions and the right moves. Do what you love in life and do it with a passion. Mistakes will be made but it’s how you pick yourself up that matters.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Chris Zavala and I am a founding member of the band Bare Knuckle Brawl. I play rhythm guitar for the band and I also write most of the riffs as of now. I also am the founder of Twin Cities Thrash. TCT is a group of thrash metal bands in the twin cities. We play shows together and we are definitely making some noise around the cities. There have always been thrash bands around the area but nobody has ever tried to make a “scene” for these bands. They used to just kind of play with all genres of metal but now they all have a home and can play shows together and help build the scene.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
My earliest memory of feeling powerful is when I was in fourth grade. We had a recess supervisor who had an issue with the boys and she would always ensure that the boys didn’t get to play outside for recess after lunch. I asked her, “Why are you punishing all of the boys when it’s only a handful of boys talking in line?”. She did not like that and said, “How about I let all the boys play but you have to stay here?” I said, “That’s fine, as long as my friends get to play.”. After that, myself and a group of boys went to the principal’s office to complain. She was not happy with the supervisor when she heard what was happening and she implemented a system where only the boys who were talking in line would get in trouble. After about a week, she tried to persuade the kids that the system was not working. She asked for us all to vote on if we felt it was a good system or not and we all unanimously voted in favor of the new system. This was when I learned that doing the right thing has a powerful impact on everyone around you.
When you were sad or scared as a child, what helped?
Music has always been my escape. Even as a kid, I knew I could slap one of my favorite CD’s in and lose myself to the music no matter how sad or scared I was and it would help me push through. It could have been lyrics or even a guitar riff that helped me get passed my emotions. To this day, I still put on music to help me through tough times. Some songs take me back to a time when I didn’t have a care in the world and it’s refreshing to feel those same emotions I did back when I first heard a song. I think it’s amazing that music can put you in a memory or even in an imaginary world.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
I try to be authentic as possible unless I’m on the stage itself. If you meet me at the merch table, I try to be the nicest dude around. I want people to feel good when they meet me because they make me feel good by coming to my shows. I appreciate every single person who comes and has a small chat with me. Without them, our music would only be heard by us. They are the ones who spread the word about our music and they deserve to be appreciated. It has happened to me where I meet a musician who I admire and the interaction we had left me feeling like they had a bad day or something. I don’t want to be that guy so, I’m always going to have a smile on my face when you meet me. I like to think that is who I really am. Just an appreciative dude who wants everyone to be happy and treated with dignity and respect.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
If I only had ten years left, I would probably drop all of my projects and spend time with my friends and family as much as I could. Although music is my passion, my wife and kids are my entire world. I love my children and my wife so much that I would drop everything for them in a heartbeat. I would want to make as many new and loving memories as possible because when I’m gone, all they’ll have of me are memories and I want them to be good ones. We love to go camping and I could imagine us spending all summer at campgrounds and state parks. I could have the worst day ever and the sight of my boys smiling at me because they’re happy to see me melts all of the bad away. They save me and they don’t even know it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bare_knuckle_brawl_?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Bare-Knuckle-Brawl/100091812481197/?mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=Y2HpCorqLwA6ODCQ&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2F19mJex5efB%2F%3Fmibextid%3DwwXIfr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrvy4pSCHDH7_w_uFOvf3Tw
Image Credits
Flyers and TCT logo done by nanu_nano_art (Instagram page)
Bare Knuckle Brawl logo done by Daniel Porta (Instagram page is thepitforge)
Personal photo taken by Cristian Pastrana with D/E Management & Studios
