Juan G: Artillery Music was a subdivision of World War III Records that released a few tribute albums and Prototype's Trinity CD. I ran that division of the label, and since then, World War III and the parent company (American Music) went separate ways. So I took the imprint Artillery Music and released this latest AGENT STEEL CD, Order of the Illuminati, in conjunction with AOS / The End Records. Now I am involved more behind the scenes with another company and at the same time see the everyday operations of AGENT STEEL. You are right, it is very time consuming and it can be rather hectic juggling around projects, from rehearsals/writing sessions to record label executive operations. But, to be honest, unless some label walks up to us and gives us a shit load of money, this is the way it's gonna be for now.
SW: What artists have you signed to the company?
Juan G: With Artillery Music, I brought in PROTOTYPE, whom I think are great musicians and very talented writers. Also, CAGE, who are now recording on their own but I gave them a good push-start in the United States. World War III division signed more of the extreme metal bands like ABORYM, HATE, FOG, DIABOLICAL, and lots of others. As far as future releases through Artillery Music, you can expect an AGENT STEEL mini-CD with a single off Order of the Illuminati with bonus live tracks from our older albums (street date to be determined).
SW: From a standpoint as both artist and label executive, what's your take on all the computer technology regarding free downloading of music? Are you for or against it?
Juan G: Well, it's obviously wrong to download songs for free, but at the same time you can find some great new music and, in the bigger picture, some of these bands can be discovered this way. So I am not so opposed to file sharing, but ultimately it does hurt the artist from a financial perspective, and all the time that was put into the recording sessions not to mention the hours of songwriting. I am not sure what the solution is but something has to be done about it, that's for sure.
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