Jill Gainer is a Contributing Writer for Rock™Revolt Magazine, Founder of the Real Rock Star Wives Blog, author of the upcoming Real Rock Star Wives Handbook, and wife of Aaron Gainer; 12 Stones.

Aaron Gainer goes along as a Contributing Smartass to the interviews to drink, interject his nuggets of wisdom and have a designated driver that will help him take off his shoes and pants when he gets home. 

Hang on to your hats, kids…this is Jill’s first interview for RR  – and it’s a one helluva ride!  They can ask stuff and say shit that we can’t because they’re…we’ll they’re kinda rockstars themselves!  Enjoy!

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It’s not every day that Fargo, North Dakota gets a treat as delicious as the metal band Holy Grail.  We jumped at the opportunity of spending some time with the guys after the show, but not before my husband, Aaron Gainer of the band 12 Stones, calmed his music hard-on beforehand.  

The moment I set eyes on lead singer, James-Paul Luna (Vocals), his energy was undeniable.  Backing up the engmatic frontman are Eli Santana (Lead Guitar), Alex Lee (Lead Guitar), Tyler Meahl (Drums) and Blake Mount (Bass).  With all of the puzzle pieces in front of me live, I am here to attest that their set was spot-on to the recorded version that we’ve nearly played out in our car stereo systems.  I found it difficult to take photos, as I got sucked into the show.  Thankfully, I was able to accidentally take a few images that truly captured the energy of what I felt to be one of the best live metal performances I’ve seen in years.  That energy came through after the show as we entered the dressing room with James-Paul  and Eli.  But before we go onto the interview, here are the pics that I took….

Interview with Holy Grail

Jill/RR:  First thing first, I want to tell you guys that my introduction to ‘Holy Grail’ was my husband holding up his iPhone, plugging it into the auxiliary jack in the car saying, “Babe, you’ve got to listen to this!” The first thing I heard was the intro of the guitar dueling of “My Last Attack.”  My jaw dropped to the floor and for the first time in a very long time I said, “Holy Shit!” I was absolutely blown away; it was brilliant, it was beautiful, and it kicked so much ass! 

James-Paul Luna and Eli Santana/HG: (Laughs) Thank You! 

Jill/RR:  No seriously, both your albums are amazing!  We frequently listen to them on road trips and I have to tell you, my husband actually holds his hand up in the air as he screams in unison with your vocals. 

Aaron/RR:  Yeah, I have to say that you (James-Paul) and I are vocally very similar, and the first time I heard you was on Head Bangers Ball; Kamelot was hosting.   I saw you guys play “My Last Attack” and I bought the album online immediately off of iTunes – I was that blown away. 

Eli/HG:  That’s killer. 

Aaron/RR:  And that’s exactly in my wheel house.  I just interrupted so many apologies, back to my wife. 

Jill/RR:  I have a feeling this will happen frequently so we will go with the flow.  Keep in mind my husband has a serious crush on you guys, so please forgive him. 

Eli/HG:  (Laughing) He’s a color man. 

Jill/RR:  Exactly!  That’s why our relationship works so well, I speak and he stands on the sidelines giving the play-by-play.  There’s no competition, but yet there is and, well, we will probably talk about that on the car ride home. 

But, back to business now.  I have to admit that the first time I heard your vocals it brought back some fond memories of being an angst filled teenager, checking myself out in the bathroom mirror as I ratted the shit out of my hair, blasting Megadeth. Your voice is so unique but yet you channel so many of the metal greats from the 1970’s and 1980’s. I found out that you are very close to my age, so I am under the impression that you possibly did the same. Which vocalists did you craft your range and tone as inspiration? 

James-Paul/HG:  Well, for me, it’s actually a lot of 1970s hard rock stuff like Deep Purples’ Ian Gillan, Uriah Heeps’ David Byron but in terms of Metal it’s definitely Rob Halford, Ronny James Dio, Bruce Dickinson, and Paul Di’Anno. 

Jill/RR:  So did you sing in the bathroom too? 

James-Paul:  Yeah, I always sing in the bathroom. 

Jill/RR:  Speaking of things we do in the bathroom, I know you’ve heard it before, but I am a woman, damn-it, and I want to say… your hair is amazing…seriously all the jealous women in the world who swoon over your handsomeness want to know what the hell you do to maintain those luscious locks and what I want to know is why you aren’t endorsed by a hair products company. 

Eli/HG: (laughing) Let’s be frank here, the three women that actually attend our shows are dragged there by their boyfriends, I mean, come on…it’s a metal show. 

James-Paul/HG:  Yeah, I would have to say that most of the women that come aren’t there for our bodies, they are there for our hair. And no, we aren’t endorsed by anyone. 

Jill/RR:  That’s a damned shame.  When I saw your video online I thought to myself, their hair reminds me of ‘Extreme’ and I am actually disappointed that you didn’t bring your acoustic guitars in the dressing room to serenade me to a your own version of ‘More Than Words.’ 

Aaron/RR: (Laughs) Oh jeez. 

Eli/HG:  Oh, THAT ‘Extreme’! That would be a big Nuno….I mean no-no. 

(Everyone laughs) 

Aaron/RR:  I’m glad that happened.  Because, if I knew you were going to say that, I would have said “NO”… But that made it all worth it. 

Jill/RR:  You guys are dicks. 

Aaron/RR:  I’ve been on the answer side of the questions and I always hated the shitty ones…and the interviewer trying to be funny. 

Jill/RR:  Whatever, you can walk home. 

(Everyone laughs again) 

Jill/RR:  So you guys just released the video for the title track of your new Album, Ride the Void.  This song is amazing as is the entire album.   Aaron and I have found ourselves critiquing the tracks; I love the neoclassical undertones and the complexity.  Can you tell me a about your writing process and how you develop your songs? 

 Watch “Ride The Void” Video

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 James-Paul/HG:  It’s usually a lot of riff tapes, skeletons, forming a rough track, and for this last record Eli had a big part in the riff creation process.  I came and put scat vocals over it and tweaked those into real melodies and made lyrics out of it.  We kind of collaborated on a lot of the vocals; it was a lot of me and Eli.  We were pretty much in the studio every day, him and I, hashing it out. 

Eli/HG:  Our producer, Matt Hyde, brought it all together; we can be pretty scatter-brained.  He really tightened our song writing, he was a big part of that and pushed us to be better.  There was a lot of neoclassical influence.  I actually studied classical music in college and it was one of those things where instead of reading the notes, I really started analyzing it.  I got really nerdy on this one.  It was funny because Matt and I would get into these arguments, and it was without a doubt the nerdiest argument you’ve ever heard.  And then, we would go talk football and be buddies again later. 

Jill/RR:  Now, you guys just got off tour with Anthrax.  I may, or may not have a relative with that band.  Tell me the craziest experience on that tour and it better top the one I may or may not have heard from my brother-in-law.  GO! 

James-Paul/HG:  Oh, wow. 

Eli/HG:  Well, we thought this tour was pretty tame, but this one day everyone met up in Pensacola and had these things called Bushwhackers.  There was this huge storm and an elderly bartender who just got off work and just kept buying bushwhackers for everyone. 

James-Paul/HG:  And she let me bite her boobs. 

Eli/HG:  And, got a mouthful of wrinkles. 

Jill/RR:  I can’t un-hear that. 

Eli/HG:  But, when we were leaving she cried and told us that was the best day of her life. 

Jill/HG:  You bring so much joy to the retirement community…that’s so metal.(sarcasm) But, I am disappointed that you didn’t share the story I heard about Holy Grail owing Anthrax a naked performance and unfortunately for the people of Fargo, you were fully clothed this evening. 

James-Paul/HG:  Oh, God!  You know about that?  How do you know about that? (Laughs) 

Jill/RR:  I know everything.  So keep the answers honest from now on.  My husband and I have been listening and interpreting your lyrics.  For the love of Godzilla please affirm my beliefs that you guys love sci-fi.  

James-Paul/HG:  OH, HELL YEAH! 

Eli/HG:  Absolutely! 

Jill/RR:  Ah, Yes!  Aaron and I have lineal feet of sci-fi novels at our house.  We are total nerds and it is so amazing to be in the presence of like minded individuals.  My theory before we came down here was that all hot rock stars with long hair love sci-fi and you just confirmed that for me.  Thank you very much…and you both just got hotter. 

(laughs) 

Jill/RR:  Now, switching gears, let me tell you that I not only have insider information about you guys, I also have been doing some social media stalking.  Eli, I noticed that you are currently offering Skype guitar lessons.  How can our readers get a hold of you to take advantage of this badass opportunity? 

Eli/HG:  Absolutely! You can hit us up on our Holy Grail official Facebook page, send me a message and we can figure out a time.  We can do a half an hour or an hour.   It’s basically whatever people want to learn.  It goes from sitting there and talking about industry stuff, technique, theory.  Right now I am coaching a kid on song writing and it’s so much fun for me to do that.  Last night I had one of my students come to the show and he brought his Magic the Gathering cards.  He showed up with his dad and they brought a lot of food and beer and just sat up his Magic the Gathering cards. 

“Dark Passenger” Video Tutorial

[embedplusvideo height=”325″ width=”450″ standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/HP4H8recmHo?fs=1&hd=1″ vars=”ytid=HP4H8recmHo&width=450&height=325&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=1&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=&notes=” id=”ep3173″ /]

James-Paul/HG:  And the cool thing is, that I’m the only vegan in the band and his mom brought me vegan food.  She had never made anything vegan before in her life and was freaking out about it, but it was probably the best chili I ever had. 

Jill/RR:  I think it’s great that you guys connect not only musically, but on such a personal level with your fans. Bravo, you are a class act! 

Eli/HG:  Thanks, so are you. 

Jill/RR: (Blushing) 

(Aaron rushes in with a full tray of beers into the dressing room, but not before spilling one, creating a pool of dark lager Fargo ale) 

James-Paul/HG:  Hell yeah, dude! 

(Aaron hands them out and starts drinking the pool of beer from the tray) 

Jill/RR:  Good Lord Aaron! How many beers have you had?! 

Aaron/RR:  Not sure, you’re driving. 

Jill/RR:  You’re drinking spilled beer off a tray; you’re going to get salmonella! 

Eli/HG:  There is no chicken in beer, Jill.  God, your husband and I need to party… 

Aaron/RR:  Boom! You’re driving. 

Jill/RR:  Well, I see we need to wrap this interview up so we can get to the stereotypical events that occur after a metal show.  Now, I have approval from the higher-ups on this one.   It’s now YOUR turn to ask US, fellow touring musicians a question. 

James-Paul/HG:  Aw, shit!!! Nice! Yeah! (in “serious interviewer voice”) Um…so Aaron, can you tell me the moment you realized that the music industry wasn’t what you thought it was going to be? 

Aaron/RR:  (sighs) Yeah, painful. We were getting ready to go out on tour in support of our second album.  We sat down with the label and said, “We don’t want to do a video…we just want to tour.” 

The label said, “Ah, brilliant!  Yes, tour…no, video.”  Two weeks later we were in Vancouver filming a fucking $250,000.00 fucking video…I can’t say it enough, a $250,000.00 fucking music video!  And the only place it was seen was on FUCKING YOU TUBE!  Then, when we got home our album was shelved.  That was the moment I realized that the 29 years of dreaming about being a signed rock musician wasn’t going to be what I had always hoped. (hiccup) 

Eli/HG:  Holy Shit! 

James-Paul/HG:  Oh, my God.  We are so grateful to be with an independent. 

Jill/RR: You are, and thank you for also making real music, being such great people and those kind of musicians who actually play their instruments.  Well, thank you to James-Paul and Eli from Holy Grail for a great interview… 

Eli/HG: HOLD UP!!  Oh, no you don’t.  We get to ask you a question, don’t think we forgot!

Jill/RR:  Son of a bitch. (laughing) I thought for sure you guys had enough beer that you would forget. 

James-Paul/HG: (laughs)  Oh, No! 

Eli/HG:  So, You and Aaron have been together for a really long time.  That story you told us earlier about your anniversary was totally romantic.  You guys are awesome together.  Can I ask you, as a woman, how do you deal with your husband being a touring musician? 

Jill/RR:  Well, that is the ‘Holy Grail’ of music relationship questions, isn’t it? 

(Laughter) 

Aaron/RR: (rolls his eyes) Just stop, Jill. 

Jill/RR: (laughing) Well, the answer is; that it’s not easy at all.  I admit, in the beginning I had some trust issues, but Aaron did something that really allowed me to be comfortable in our relationship.  He would call me every day at least six times a day, sometimes for just a few seconds saying “Hey babe, got an interview, gonna be busy with sound check…call you back when I can…LOVE YOU”. 

Eli/HG:  Wow, that’s awesome. 

Jill/RR:  Yeah, you should try it.  I’ve been hearing your phone buzzing all through this interview.  Call your girlfriend… 

Eli/HG: (Busted face) 

Jill/RR:  I do think the key for all women in relationships with a touring musician is to understand that they are with an artist and you can’t change them.  Either… love them for who they are and all the faults they have or… move on.  There is no middle ground.  But, also the musician needs to make sure he leaves no room for suspicion. 

James-Paul/HG: Yeah, that’s great. 

Jill/RR: Well guys, always a pleasure. You are welcome at our farm any time for food, drinks and fire. 

James-Paul/HG:  Can’t wait and YES we are seriously coming. 

(Everyone hugs in a way that only touring musicians understand – because road gay is okay.) 

Check out Holy Grail ‘Ride the Void’ out now from Prosthetic Records.  And get your asses to a show, they are Gainer Family approved for a great time.   Upcoming Tour Dates HERE!

*Also, let it be known that about an hour of this interview was cut due to profanities, industry secrets about other musicians, and non-stop laughter. Holy Shit, no….Holy Grail, what a party! 

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