Sean Balay: What are some things you do for fun?
Shiovanny Harris: I play soccer, pool. I go to metal concerts.
Balay: You go to metal concerts?’ You don’t look like the typical metal fan.
Harris:’ I only wear my metal shirts to concerts now. (laughs) I have the original band Death. I have an Obituary shirt and just a lot of underground stuff.
Balay: Do you typically listen to other types of music, or are you strictly a metal fan?
Harris: I’m actually Latino. I’m from Panama, so I listen to reggaeton, salsa, meringue, and I love classical music.
Balay: Which type of music do you listen to most often?
Harris: I’d say metal about 90 percent of the time.
Balay: What’s your favorite genre of metal?
Harris: I like death metal a lot.
Balay: How many metal concerts do you think you’ve been to?
Harris: I only started going to metal concerts last year, so I’d say I’ve been to 10 total.
Balay: What are some of your favorite bands?
Harris: It all depends on my attitude. Right now, I’m really into melodic death metal, so I’ve been listening to a lot of Insomnium.’ I also like Possessed a lot. They’re actually one of the very first bands to come up in the scene, so I really like them for what they brought to it.
Balay: Do you listen to any Norwegian black metal?
Harris: I started getting into Mayhem a little bit, but I’m more into the ambient bands.’ There’s this new band called Wolves in the Throne Room that I’ve been jamming a lot.
Balay: Norwegian metal kind of gives the scene a bad reputation with all the church burnings going on and the anti-religious statements made in the music.
Harris: It’s crazy.’ Those are the extremists who think black metal and its anti-religious message has to be taken seriously.’ The funny thing is I’m actually Catholic, but I don’t follow their beliefs. I listen purely for the music.
