Simultaneously with the band’s April release of “Despúes de Mil Siglos”, its first professionally recorded album with the current lineup, Dioses del Tiempo is also officially dropping “del Tiempo” from the name and working solely under “Dioses”, a pet name given to Latin alternative band by their veteran fans.
The decision comes after years of back and forth of whether a shorter name would be more marketable, a decision numerous bands- even the legendary The Doors, which was first announced as The Doors of Perception- have made. Gerald Lopéz, lead singer to the alternative rock band and founder of Dioses del Tiempo, and Paúl Barajas, guitarist of the band, explain the need for the changes and also present their new album, which consists of a musical guest appearance by Cesar “Vampiro” Lopez, former band member of Mexican rockers, Maná.
Gerald Lopéz: “When I started “Dioses del Tiempo” in 2000 with the original members, the idea was to make music that was heavily influenced in a combination of Latin soul and classic rock music. Now, with the current members: Efraín Bárcena, Paúl Barajas, and Daniel Gómez, we are keeping that same spirit alive and with it will be releasing our first album, Despúes de Mil Siglos, in April of this year.
Paúl Barajas: “When the former band was on hiatus, Gerald was trying to re-launch it with new members and under a new name. “Londres” stuck for about one month before it was decided to go back to Dioses del Tiempo. But since a lot of people don’t know that we are back, for now we are promoting ourselves with the same band name until the album comes out. And from that point on, we will be strictly “Dioses”.
Gerald Lopéz: “The album will consist of ten tracks, six of which are songs that I wrote years ago and four of which are new songs that were written with the new members. This will be the first time that we go into the studio to professionally record a full-length album and it’s a good way, I think, to start fresh.”
Paúl Barajas: “Antes de Dormir” is one of the songs in the album and Gerald wrote it about a girl very close to him and who was sexually abused as a child. Essentially, it talks about the fact that although the abuser got away with the crime, he will eventually pay for it in life. It’s a dark theme, but musically, it follows an untraditional form of laying out rock music, which typically follows a 4/4 time frame.”
Gerald Lopéz: “There’s a famous jazz song called “Take Five” that follows a 5/4 time signature, and I’ve always wanted to do a rock song in the same frame. So in “Antes de Dormir” I played with it and with the help of the band, made it happen. Another song in the album is called “Lejos de Aquí”. That song is about a family member that was diagnosed with the bipolar disorder and describes how his mind was far from the reality of here.”
Paúl Barajas: “There’s also “Decir Adios”, which is a song about breaking up, and “Despúes de Mil Siglos”, a song where Vampiro will perform as guest guitarist. So as you can imagine, us being huge fans of rock en español legends, it’s a great honor to be able to work with him.”
Gerald Lopéz: “We’re trying something new with the album and have created a website where fans can preview the songs. “Antes de Dormir” and “El Hombre Ciego” are currently streaming. And as we get closer to our upcoming gig at the House of Blues where we will be performing with Vampiro and other local rock bands, and as we get closer to the release of the album as well, we will be releasing more songs as well.”
FIN
The return of Dioses del Tiempo to the House of Blues in West Hollywood marks the first time they play the venue since 2005. Local bands Vida Tinta, 5senti2, Niko Terra and Vispera will also perform in the Tuesday, January 24th showcase presented by Adan Valdez Productions.
