Otan Vargas Interview from slovakian Staind Fansite
First of all, a huge THANK YOU to Ján Uhrinovský from the slovakian Staindsite www.staind.skfan.net for sharing this wonderful and interesting interview with us! 
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Otan Vargas, a Filipinian artist,currently living in New York,is known to Staindfans around the world mostly for his coverversions of the Staind songs. He is currently finishing his first album entitled "Alone" and because of that we decided to make a short interview with him and introduce him to our readers.
Ján: Hi Otan, since Slovak fans never really heard much about your music, we would like to ask you how did you become a musician and who or what led you down this path?
Otan: I came from a family of musicians, my dad was a folk singer and my uncles and aunties were in a band. I’ve been singing since I was a little kid but I never thought about doing it professionally, and it’s kind of something that my parents wouldn’t encourage me to do.
Ján: That’s interesting. Do you recall the first song you ever wrote?
Otan: I think the first song that I wrote is called “Let me go” I was in a band that time when I wrote that song.
Ján: As Staind fans, we sometimes find a hidden meaning to a song or a part of it in their lyrics. How about you, should we see more than is heard in your lyrics?
Otan: Like most of the songs that I write I don’t really know what it’s all about, I just write what I feel.
Ján: To divert from your bio a bit, next few questions should be about your music. As we said before,you should be releasing a new album soon and we would like to know what should we expect of it?
Otan: The new album is an acoustic album; basically it’s just me, my guitar and some vocal harmonies in some songs.
Ján: Are you planning to release a single from it to some local radio stations?
Otan: I’m not really sure if the local radio stations will play my songs, but I’m hoping that they will, that would be a big thing for me.
Ján: Do you have any favourite song from your own production/Staind song?
Otan: I don’t really have a personal favorite from the song that I wrote; every song has its different meaning for me. My favorite Staind song is Outside.
Ján: As you said before, you used to play in a band. Have you ever thought of using a band to accompany you while you play live?
Otan: I’ve been in a lot of different bands before, and I kind of admire these bands that stayed together for a very long time and become successful, because it’s not that easy to be in a band. But it’s not easy to be a solo acoustic artist as well. You have to do everything by yourself, which is kind of a big challenge for me. I think it’s all about the emotion of one song and not the instruments or the musicians who plays it. I go for what the song needs, So far the songs that I wrote only needs one person and one guitar to make it as it is.
Ján: When it comes to your fans, how do you feel about them?
Otan: Thankful, sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve any of the support that they’re giving me, Life becomes more purposeful when you know somebody is listening to what you say and that’s very inspirational for me.
Ján: How does your concert setlist usually looks like?
Otan: I play original and cover songs, I don’t have a fixed set list just a list of all the songs I know so I won’t forget what to play, and then I just go with what I feel singing at that certain moment.
Ján: Your upcoming cd is entitled "Alone". Is there something more to the title we should see?
Otan: “I’m not going to be here where I am now if I never felt being alone
I’m never going to be found if I wasn’t. I guess being Alone is beautiful thing then”
Ján: New cd usually surrounds a release party, when and where is yours taking place?
Otan: CD release will be held on December 4th 2009 at Lefty’s bar Lindenhurst NY.
All tracks are written and recorded by me.
Ján: Your new album is available for pre-order in your webstore,purchasable by paypal. Where else will your new album be available for purchase(iTunes,cd stores,e-stores)?
Otan: For now it’s only available on my website www.otanvargas.ning.com
I’m going to try to sell it through itunes and amazon so it will be a lot easier for you guys.
Ján: And my very last question - is there something you would like to say to the Slovak fans?
Otan: Thank you so much for the support, I’ve never imagined that I will have fans from Slovakia, or even just to have fans, thank you it really means a lot to me, I hope you guys are doing fine, looking forward to meet you guys someday, although I know we are far from each other, but nothing is impossible, I even have you guys as a fan, so I have no right to doubt now. Thanks again and may God bless each of one of you.
We would like to express a big THANK YOU! to Otan for taking time to answer our questions, we wish him only the best in his carreer and are looking forward to his new cd.
www.staind.skfan.net team =)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Otan Vargas, a Filipinian artist,currently living in New York,is known to Staindfans around the world mostly for his coverversions of the Staind songs. He is currently finishing his first album entitled "Alone" and because of that we decided to make a short interview with him and introduce him to our readers.
Ján: Hi Otan, since Slovak fans never really heard much about your music, we would like to ask you how did you become a musician and who or what led you down this path?
Otan: I came from a family of musicians, my dad was a folk singer and my uncles and aunties were in a band. I’ve been singing since I was a little kid but I never thought about doing it professionally, and it’s kind of something that my parents wouldn’t encourage me to do.
Ján: That’s interesting. Do you recall the first song you ever wrote?
Otan: I think the first song that I wrote is called “Let me go” I was in a band that time when I wrote that song.
Ján: As Staind fans, we sometimes find a hidden meaning to a song or a part of it in their lyrics. How about you, should we see more than is heard in your lyrics?
Otan: Like most of the songs that I write I don’t really know what it’s all about, I just write what I feel.
Ján: To divert from your bio a bit, next few questions should be about your music. As we said before,you should be releasing a new album soon and we would like to know what should we expect of it?
Otan: The new album is an acoustic album; basically it’s just me, my guitar and some vocal harmonies in some songs.
Ján: Are you planning to release a single from it to some local radio stations?
Otan: I’m not really sure if the local radio stations will play my songs, but I’m hoping that they will, that would be a big thing for me.
Ján: Do you have any favourite song from your own production/Staind song?
Otan: I don’t really have a personal favorite from the song that I wrote; every song has its different meaning for me. My favorite Staind song is Outside.
Ján: As you said before, you used to play in a band. Have you ever thought of using a band to accompany you while you play live?
Otan: I’ve been in a lot of different bands before, and I kind of admire these bands that stayed together for a very long time and become successful, because it’s not that easy to be in a band. But it’s not easy to be a solo acoustic artist as well. You have to do everything by yourself, which is kind of a big challenge for me. I think it’s all about the emotion of one song and not the instruments or the musicians who plays it. I go for what the song needs, So far the songs that I wrote only needs one person and one guitar to make it as it is.
Ján: When it comes to your fans, how do you feel about them?
Otan: Thankful, sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve any of the support that they’re giving me, Life becomes more purposeful when you know somebody is listening to what you say and that’s very inspirational for me.
Ján: How does your concert setlist usually looks like?
Otan: I play original and cover songs, I don’t have a fixed set list just a list of all the songs I know so I won’t forget what to play, and then I just go with what I feel singing at that certain moment.
Ján: Your upcoming cd is entitled "Alone". Is there something more to the title we should see?
Otan: “I’m not going to be here where I am now if I never felt being alone
I’m never going to be found if I wasn’t. I guess being Alone is beautiful thing then”
Ján: New cd usually surrounds a release party, when and where is yours taking place?
Otan: CD release will be held on December 4th 2009 at Lefty’s bar Lindenhurst NY.
All tracks are written and recorded by me.
Ján: Your new album is available for pre-order in your webstore,purchasable by paypal. Where else will your new album be available for purchase(iTunes,cd stores,e-stores)?
Otan: For now it’s only available on my website www.otanvargas.ning.com
I’m going to try to sell it through itunes and amazon so it will be a lot easier for you guys.
Ján: And my very last question - is there something you would like to say to the Slovak fans?
Otan: Thank you so much for the support, I’ve never imagined that I will have fans from Slovakia, or even just to have fans, thank you it really means a lot to me, I hope you guys are doing fine, looking forward to meet you guys someday, although I know we are far from each other, but nothing is impossible, I even have you guys as a fan, so I have no right to doubt now. Thanks again and may God bless each of one of you.
We would like to express a big THANK YOU! to Otan for taking time to answer our questions, we wish him only the best in his carreer and are looking forward to his new cd.
www.staind.skfan.net team =)
www.myspace.com/otanvargas
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