LIVE LAUGH THRASH ANTI-PARASITE SHREADS THE SCENE

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*Editors note; Anti-Parasite has rebranded to “Parasite” after ACCESS’ Spring 2023 printed release.

The Salinas Valley is best known for being “the Salad Bowl of the World” with its rich agricultural landscape and crops. However, the valley is also home to a thriving music scene, with several local bands making waves in the underground music circuit. Among these bands is a hardcore group that has been turning heads with their raw and aggressive sound.

Anti-Parasite is a “hardcore boy band” of college students who share a love for music. It’s composed of vocalist Rafa Reyes, drummer Gabriel Reyes, bassist Jesse Hernandez, lead guitarist Jaime Salas and rhythm guitarist Mike Scott. The band officially formed after attending an art show with other local bands and sparked inspiration to create Anti-Parasite.

“Then afterward he came up to me and was like, ‘let’s do this band thing, let’s start a band,’” Gabriel Reyes said.

From that point on, the band began to practice and cover songs while finding their own distinct sound. They draw inspiration from a variety of music genres and artists like Muse, Dag Nasty, Gosh, Gojira and Shoegaze. By incorporating various sound elements, each band member could concentrate on their own respective instrument and play with the band’s interest in mind.

“I have just always been like really loud noisy guitars,” Salas said. “I feel like I’ve been able to translate that to like the music that we’ve been writing.”

The interaction they have with audiences at their live shows has a huge impact on their ideas of what being hardcore is. Although the crowds’ mosh pits have a lot of rage, the respect and appreciation Anti-Parasite’s community members have for one another balances it out.

“It’s honestly kind of surprising how diverse and friendly the scene is,” Scott said. “Just how open and welcoming the scene is and how safe it feels. It’s really cool.”

Anti-Parasite has managed to overcome the challenge of finding a community and loyal following for small bands, even without releasing any official music on streaming platforms. This was accomplished by using “memeculture” and humor to promote the band and its members on social media.

“We’re memed a lot, we get semi-goofy on social media and then people follow us,” Gabriel Reyes said.

The fears and anxiety band members experienced during the EP creative process have been little to none. Although it was a new experience, they said there was “no pressure” to record or play. As a result, the band has been fully able to immerse themselves in music they’re proud of.

“It was probably the easiest part,” Rafa Reyes said. “We just went in there, it felt nice, it was chill. We just kind of did our own thing.”

The next goal for the band involves branching out and performing at venues closer to the Bay Area. Rhythm guitarist Mike Scott is a jazz studies student at San José State University and he hopes to leverage his musical background and connections to help the band book shows.

“We’re just doing our thing and then people will happen to like it, you know?”

Anti-Parasite’s motto, “all oiled up and shit!” stemmed from a social media meme from one of the members. It’s now said and used during their live performances to represent how “grimy” and “hard” their sound is.

The band currently has a jam-packed schedule of live performances, school and work but when they’re not performing, their time’s dedicated to working on the band’s first untitled EP set to release late 2023. They described the album’s sound as being musically diverse, fast-paced, punchy and powerful.

“It’s pretty much already recorded but it’s still being mixed,” Scott said. “We’re shooting to have it out this year. That’s definitely our goal.”

“I think it’s definitely a goal that everyone has to first of all play outside the Salinas area,” said Scott. “We really want to get into the Bay Area scene, but as far as San José goes, there’s just been no luck.”

Despite the challenges they have faced as a small band, Anti-Parasite remains committed and hopeful for the future. Their dream is to boost their band’s influence to a spot where they can make a name and career for themselves in the music industry.

“I feel like we’ve definitely found that spark that we needed,” Scott said. “So, I’m really excited to see where the band goes.”