The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) hosted its 2018 Grammy Nominees Reception on January 27 at The Top of The Standard. The ASCAP Grammy Nominees Reception celebrated its talented artists, songwriters and music creators nominated for the 60th Annual Grammys.On the red carpet, we spoke with Juan García, who is a Cuban American heavy metal guitarist. He is probably best known as the guitarist for the thrash metal bands Agent Steel and Evildead and the power metal/speed metal band Abattoir. García is also the rhythm guitarist of Body Count, which is nominated for a 2018 Grammy award for Best Metal Performance for “Black Hoodie.” Body Count is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1990. The group is fronted by Ice-T.
Congratulations on your Grammy nomination. How exciting is it for you to be here at Grammy weekend?
Juan Garcia: It’s completely surreal. I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been to the Grammy’s before, never as a nominee, and in New York? You gotta be kidding me. This is amazing.
Where are you from?
Juan: I am from Los Angeles. I was born in Cuba. I live in LA.
So tell us a little about the album that you have out.
Juan: The band is called Body Count, the Album is called Blood Lust. It came out on March 31, 2017, on Century Media Records and we’re getting ready to perform at the pre-telecast tomorrow here at the Grammy’s at the Theater in Madison Square Garden. And we’re going to be going over to Europe in June, and doing all the festivals and that stuff.
Metal music is kind of niche. Do you hope that it breaks through to more popular culture? What are your thoughts on that?
Juan: I think it’s kind of cool that it’s underground to an extent. But I think it’s great that it’s getting more exposure now. One day I’d like to see it in the actual telecast instead of the pre-telecast, but I think bands like Metallica and Lady Gaga did a great job last year with their performances. So it’d be kind of cool to have the metal category included in the ceremony. I know it’s hard timing-wise to get everything in there. But it’s kind of cool they’re doing the pre-telecast and Body Count will be performing and it will be online streaming for 90 days after. Ice-T’s the lead vocalist. He’s on SVU Law and Order, he’s also the singer, he’s also a rapper. He’s the singer for Body Count. I’m the guitar player of the band.
And how did you guys link up?
Juan: I’d been a fan of the band since their 1991 debut album, and in 2014 they were looking for a new record deal. And I just so happened to kind of, through friends, hook up and then they needed a guitar player. In ’91 he released Body Count … the song “Cop Killer” was very controversial. It got pulled off the shelves and all kinds of things like that happened. And then they released another album called Born Dead on Virgin Records. But he started out as a rapper, and major actor, and has a passion for music and heavy metal.
