Active since 2011, Los Angeles, California’s Thrown Into Exile have made the most of their opportunities to gain traction as a DIY metal outfit. Between the opportunities to open locally for acts like At the Gates and Orbit Culture plus perform at major festivals across the USA and Mexico (including a full run on the official Mayhem Festival tour with Rob Zombie, Five Finger Death Punch, and Mastodon), they’ve release two full-length albums. Their latest EP offering Passageways takes on the styles of melodic death/thrash with a groove/modern sensibility, while lyrically chronicles grief, loss, and the process that comes through dealing with these heavy aspects of life.
We got the opportunity to chat with guitarist Mario Rubio about his early childhood music memories that led to his love of the guitar, why Passageways is the most mature offering to date, video shoot memories in the wind for “Desolation”, live show highlights including major lessons learned on their Mayhem Festival run, challenges they face as a DIY band, hobbies including prized vinyl possessions, and what’s in store for the future of the group.
Dead Rhetoric: What can you tell me about some of your earliest childhood memories surrounding music growing up? At what point did you start listening to heavier forms of music – and eventually want to play an instrument to start performing in your own bands?
Mario Rubio: My earliest memory of music was an Elvis Presley cassette that my grandmother ended up getting me after I found it in the house. Fast forwarding to late elementary school to middle school, that’s when I wanted to start playing an instrument. As every kid, when you start discovering metal, you start discovering bands like Slipknot and Slayer. My first concert was in 2003, Slayer, Arch Enemy and Hatebreed. Obviously, you see that, you think a life-changing experience. I found my real calling, but what made me want to play the guitar is when I discovered Cowboys From Hell by Pantera. I remember vividly when I was in middle school, I got that record and a Kiss – Greatest Hits compilation, those two records went hand in hand for me to get serious about playing the guitar. That was also one of Dimebag’s greatest influences, being Ace Frehley, that was a weird little side note about Kiss and Pantera there.
Dead Rhetoric: Did you have the support of your family when it came to getting an instrument and learning the guitar? Or did you woodshed on your own learning by ear and picking things up yourself?
Rubio: Definitely had to learn things by ear. As far as the emotional support, I had that from my family. My grandmother was instrumental in telling me to go for it, especially if it feels right. Help on learning the instrument itself, I had to figure things out on my own. Learning things by ear, watching videos.
Dead Rhetoric: Passageways is the latest EP release for Thrown into Exile. What can you tell us about the recording and songwriting sessions for this set of material? How do you see this release in terms of style and content compared to your previous albums Safe Inside and Illusion of Control?
Rubio: Realistically, if we are talking about sound-wise, things have definitely matured sound-wise. On Safe Inside, there was a bit of an identity issue with the music itself. When you are writing music in general, you are discovering what works for you and what doesn’t work for you. Same thing with Illusion of Control, although there were hints of where ideally I wanted things to go. Fast forward to Passageways, the recording process was a lot different. We had a lot more time with this, I could sit and analyze where we wanted to go with things musically. Lyrically it’s very dark in the sense of what it’s based around. The record deals with a lot of grief and loss. You could say it’s the five stages of grief with this release, a lot of personal stuff amongst the band and individual things personally that happened that led to the record sounding the way it does.
Dead Rhetoric: Was it a cathartic process to channel these experiences into maybe a positive outcome for the record?
Rubio: In a way of acceptance and understanding and being able to have an outlet to let this out, yes. Unfortunately, certain things happened, and the sad reality is, its life. It’s the proper way to allow yourself to process this. Different things to some degree we were able to heal, but other things you just can’t always completely heal from them.
Dead Rhetoric: You mention in the background information of this release that originally you were going to issue these songs as standalone singles, continuing the path you started over the past couple of years during the pandemic – but in the end released this as an EP. What factors came into play to change the mindset – and where do you stand in the ever-evolving music industry’s change when it comes to single releases versus EP’s/full-length albums these days?
Rubio: I think the reason we ended up going with an EP for this release is just because everything surrounding the writing process and what the lyrical content is. It made better sense for this to be its own thing. It encapsulates that mindset and what everything was during that writing process. It was a proper way of letting it all be what it is, and then continuing to move forward afterwards.
I think it’s more of an adaptation, learning, and rolling with the punches. Collectively, all of us as a whole – up until this year I’ve heard the term Tik Tok thing, maybe it’s a reflection of there being so much content, that our attention spans are very short. It’s few and far between where you are able to get and keep someone’s attention for 45 minutes to 60 minutes on a full-length release. When you do stand-alone singles, you are able to actually make an event out of (the release), keep pushing it non-stop. Which in a weird way goes back to the earlier days when people would work a single for months on end before you actually had the album release. Adapting to this mentality for a smaller band like Thrown Into Exile makes better sense to do. Try to captivate someone’s attention for five minutes or so, or an EP under 25 minutes. The smaller a band is, the shorter the attention span people are going to have for that band. You want to give your band a chance, as opposed to another major release for a major band on a bigger label.
Dead Rhetoric: Tell us about the video shoot for “Desolation” – what did you enjoy most about the treatment and storylines between the outdoor narrative scenes and performance footage? Any special stories to tell?
Rubio: It was extremely windy, funny enough, just like today in California. We drove out to the desert to film that video, about two and a half hours outside of California. The whole shoot itself was one big experience – it’s the first time we’ve spent that type of money into production as opposed to just doing a small performance piece. We poured a decent amount of money into the whole thing. We rented a snow machine, a bunch of stuff along with the creature that was created by the woman who created Corey Taylor from Slipknot’s new mask. It felt great to have a full-on team to come up with a treatment, and it was a full day for sure.
Dead Rhetoric: Your influences vary between numerous American and European acts across the modern metal, melodic death metal, and groove metal genres. What elements do you think are most necessary to make an ideal Thrown Into Exile composition – both on the musical and lyrical fronts?
Rubio: Lyrically it’s more just the reality of what life is and everything around it. Trying to tap into more the human condition, the skeletons of one’s closet and what really makes a person happy and sad – all of those rollercoasters of emotions. That’s where my output on that is lyrically. Visually I want to make things dark and moody. The music has to have some dark melodies and being able to tell a story musically while driving things home to have things make sense and be as cohesive as possible.
Dead Rhetoric: How would you describe the band’s outlook and philosophy when it comes to your live performances? What do you want the audience to take away – and what have been some of the more standout moments to the good or bad in the group’s career when it comes to playing live?
Rubio: As far as the band’s performances live, I would like to say that I think we are very high energy, very in your face. For the first time with the EP release show, we’ll be investing in some production, bringing a little more stuff into our live show to encapsulate the themes, the EP, the visual representation of the band to reflect the lyrical content and the music. Highlights – we’ve done a couple of shows with At the Gates, we did a couple of shows with Orbit Culture, and one of the biggest highlights was playing Ozzfest in 2017.
Dead Rhetoric: What was it like early in the band’s career to do the Mayhem Festival tour in 2013? What insight did that give you into how professional bands work on that kind of scale?
Rubio: It was more of being on schedule. Mind your P’s and Q’s when it comes to being a support band. Stay on time, do your soundcheck, get on and off stage when you are supposed to. Be respectful, put your head down and learn from the veterans. Learn from how the crew works, how the stage manager works around you, because they have been there long enough. You gain a lot, you want to try to absorb, learn, and take all these things in.
Dead Rhetoric: What are some the biggest challenges the group faces in making more of a footprint in the scene – both locally as well as nationally / internationally?
Rubio: There is no secret with this band that there have been numerous lineup changes. Having the stability with the band members, what the band is now and with the lineup that we currently have, there is the right chemistry and it’s the best lineup we’ve ever had.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received regarding your musical endeavors? And if other people come up to you asking for advice, what ideas or words of wisdom do you like to impart on them?
Rubio: It’s a marathon, not a sprint first of all. Bands that have overnight success are very few and far between. In the process, you have to come to terms with who you are as a musician and who you are as a person, and how that affects your output, your lyrical content, and the vision of the band- what makes you, you is what makes things unique as a band. You need a game plan and a solid identity, and the rest will follow. Songwriting will develop over time. Having people that are naturally talented as songwriters isn’t something you get overnight. You have to really work on that craft and hone it.
Sometimes there will be times where things are really great, and other times there will be low points. It’s better to have a good head on your shoulders to learn how to roll with the punches and keep moving forward. If you allow the outside world to dictate things – whether it’s other bands that are progressing further than your band, or things are changing, if you let the outside noise win, it can make you jaded or possibly jump on trends. You should stick to what makes you unique.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you feel about the state of the heavy metal industry on a global scale?
Rubio: I think heavy metal as a genre is progressing in a very good direction. The one thing we are noticing is there is a strong resurgence of death metal. Blood Incantation, Gatecreeper, Frozen Soul, Sanguisugabogg, and so forth. Those bands are cutting through, there is a death metal revival going on. Even the slam stuff like Peeling Flesh, extreme metal is still alive and well. It’s awesome to see. On the modern metal spectrum as well, Orbit Culture and Bleeding From Within, they are cutting through as well. Even Lorna Shore, metal is in a good spot. You can write extreme and heavy songs and not always rely on having that clean chorus or it’s not going to work. You don’t need to be so formulaic; you can just be yourself.
Dead Rhetoric: What sort of hobbies, interests, and passions do you like to engage in away from music when you have the free time and energy to do so?
Rubio: Vinyl – I collect vinyl but that is a big money pit. Especially if you are trying to hunt down whether its first pressing stuff, imports, or certain limited editions. That’s been one of my things – as much as I love video games I haven’t really had as much time to play video games. I do enjoy going down that rabbit hole, especially retro gaming. I have thought about getting into the collecting part of it.
Dead Rhetoric: What would you consider one or two of your most prized vinyl releases you own?
Rubio: Right now, I have an original Opeth – Ghost Reveries before the reissues started happening. I have the majority of the Slayer – Def Jam pressings. Most of them signed by three-fourths of the band. What else do I have on the pricey scale – the first Triptykon release Eparistera Daimones. That was about $200 I had to spend for that thing – and then after I bought it, a few months later Century Media ended up doing a re-issue of that, so I said great (laughs).
Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the agenda for activities over the next twelve months for the band? Will you continue to keep things DIY, or are you seeking out stronger label / management interest to expand things?
Rubio: I think it’s based on the moment. I have no problem doing things on my own, sending around releases, plugging our own things. If the right opportunity with the right label expresses interest, we will have the conversations. We will play a couple of dates with God Forbid, opening on their anniversary shows for Gone Forever. It’s the first time they will have played California in over twelve years. We have the Passageways EP release show in Los Angeles. December 3rd we are going to Mexico to play a show with Arch Enemy.