The Young Allan Barthelot
by Ryan Johnson
@lordryanjohnson
Allan Barthelot is a young and upcoming guitarist who you may know in the local metal scene. Allan plays guitars for a groove/progressive metal band named “Sacrament” that is currently working on their new EP which will be released this year. Talented and dedicated to his arts and craft, Allan is one of the guitarists you have to watch out for.
Beginnings.
“I got into music when I was really young, I don’t remember when exactly, around 5 I think. Mostly because of my dad’s musical tastes. He used to play a lot of classics (pop, country, rock) from the 60s-90s every morning. I got my first keyboard at around that time, and that was the first instrument I learnt to play.
Then I got a Chinese nylon guitar, with which I learnt guitar. Around grade 6 I tried to teach myself drums in the school music room, and I could kind of play drums too. My instrument of choice is, and always will be the guitar.”
Sacrament (Band).
“My band, Sacrament, is a progressive metal band. We play all original music, and our style varies from thrash to groove, even occasionally incorporating baila and jazzy vibes. We pretty much started in school (around 2012), but only got serious a couple of years back (around 2013-14). We’ve only released one single so far, back in 2013, but we’re currently working on an EP, which will be self-recorded, and self-produced. It’ll be out at some point during this year.”
Individuality Vs Band.
“The way we do this has varied throughout the years, and there’s really no finalised process of how we do things. Typically it’ll go like this: We just track down what we have in our heads into individual demos at home, using programmed drums and synths and then tracking our instruments over whatever we’ve made and then we listen to what we’ve come up with individually, and if its material that can (or cant:P) be used, we then head to the studio and try it out there. Once we’ve then jammed out something tangible, we re-record that at home and then repeat the same process until we’re happy with it. We’re still finding that happiness :P.”
Practice.
“It gets really tough because most of us do full time jobs, some of us are still in the process of finishing our education, and a couple of us aren’t even in the country. We somehow manage to make it to practice from at least once a week, to as much as 3 or 4 times a week if there is a gig drawing close.”
Life Outside of Music
“Other than the music, I am passionate about the software development process. I think this is a very good tool that anyone can use to shape the future. Right now, I’m balancing a part time freelance mobile app development gig and finishing my degree at SLIIT this year. I also LOVE food.”
