Texas: Home of Rock gods PanterA, your daddy's rock group ZZ Top, Rockabilly greats the
Reverend Horton Heat and new comers like Sparta, Bowling For Soup and Unloco. Also undergrounders like Blue October and the
Riddlin Kids and WWE RAW rockers the Union Underground. Texas is a homeland for some of the most creative minds in the music
industry today. At the heart of it all is the underground scene; the place were it starts for most bands. One band dominating
the underground scene in San Antonio and surrounding south Texas is MAD EX-13.
A Little Bio About The Band
MAD EX-13 was formed in September 2001 from the ashes of the earlier punk band Mad Existence.
After the group disbanded in 2000 singer James Magallanez and Bassist George Ransom decided to keep rockin' and formed MAD
EX-13 with James' brother Daniel and James playing a dual role as singer and guitarist.
The band's brand of punk rock has been compared to that of Unwritten Law, Face to Face, Green
Day and, the Foo Fighters. (I think they made the Green Day part up. I don't hear it but maybe I'm deaf.)
The band recorded a three song demo in George's garage in December of 2001, which helped to
create a buzz throughout the city of San Antonio and beyond. Their catchy songs and energy filled shows have earned them many
fans and steady stream of shows. MAD EX-13 can be heard playing in south Texas and surrounding areas and on college radio
station 90.1 KSYM. In 2003, MAD EX-13 released a 12 song CD titled "Black and White". In the words of James "Our CD just went
wood. Not platinum, wood." Nevermind what they say, what they say doesn't count. (Just Kidding.) I think it's good. (I really
think it's good but hey, what do I know? I'm just the average music junky who's listened to tons of stupid bands but hey,
that's just me.)
This CD talks about lost love and all that good stuff so yeah, you CAN relate to
it. It has many songs about broken hearts and all that good stuff. In fact, I don't think there's a song on there that doesn't
talk about love. But in light of that statement, this CD is not depressing; it's actually very upbeat. This three man group
includes George Ransom (Bass/ vocals) James Magallanez (Lead Singer/ Guitarist) and Daniel Magallanez (Drums/ vocals).
When they actually had time for me, they sat down (well less sitting, more standing
and walking) and did an interview with me about their music, their CD and the message they hoped to emphasize on "Black and
White". (But according to James there wasn't one.)
My first thing I asked them was to tell me a little about themselves. After arguing
over who was going first and getting an answer from Daniel that sounded like he was trying to go out on a date with someone;
you know the usual 'Hi I'm Daniel. And I like long walks on the beach and soft kisses...' I got some halfway normal answers
out of them.
Daniel Magallanez is the newest member of MAD EX-13. He began playing drums in 2001 and he says his drum work is a work
in progress.
George Ransom is the Bassist. He is one of the remaining members of Mad Existence. He has been playing the bass since
he was eight or nine.
James Magallanez is the Guitarist and the Lead Singer. He started playing the guitar in 1994 by helping Dieboy (the San
Antonio band). He joined Mad Existence in 1998 and after they broke up, decided to start this band.
On a local scale of one to ten, I asked them to tell me how big they think they are. They
said anywhere from a three to six (then they said they think they're a twelve of thirteen, but what do they know?) I also
asked what their whole take was on their CD "Black and White" was. They said they liked it, that it was fun, but they wanted
to do something else. They said that this CD was made just to see what they sounded like. James said that their CD was mainly
about experiences he had in Austin. "You know, broken hearts and all that good shit?"
When asked which song they liked the most on the CD James said "Black and White" or "Faithful",
George said "Sirens" ("It's a fun song to play." Or so he says.) And Daniel said "One for the Road" and "Depressed" (I'm happy
now, someone else likes "One for the Road" besides me.)
One of my more retarded questions for them was if you could go on tour with any
band, living or dead, who would it be? James said Alkaline Trio because they would blend well with them. George said Screw
32 (because he's never seen them live) or Megadeath. Daniel said Lag Wagon. Or (and they all agreed on this) Rush but they
said they'd be standing on the side of the stage and all the guys from Rush would be playing and looking at them like 'ha
ha you guys suck! Watch this...' and they'd play some riff that would show them up.
