The band Hangar was formed in November 1997 with the initial aim of playing covers of some of the bands all the members liked. At the time, Hangar was composed by Michael Polchowicz (vocals), Cristiano Wortmann (guitar), Felipe Trein ( bass) and Aquiles Priester (drums). After several rehearsals, the first ideas for compositions began to appear and the first song written was “Absinth”. Hangar..s debut gig on the 23 rd of July, 1998 was very important to the band, for the audience that showed up was much larger than expected (using bills,the group had announced that they would play covers of bands such as Stratovarius, Helloween, Dream Theater, Primal Fear, Yngwie Malmsteen among others). From this date on, the band felt that they could aim higher and began composing the songs that later would be included in their first CD. Word of the good results of the gigs they had played soon got around, besides great reviews from the specialized media.
With a fulminating career, they were soon discovered by the metal lovers in Porto Alegre, and with only a year of existence the band was already opening gigs for the band Angra. Gustavo Capitâni took over the bass since Felipe had left the band due to personal reasons. With this opportunity, Hangar established itself as the revelation of southern heavy metal in 1998. After this gig, the natural consequence was the recording of their first CD. Thus the band entered the studio in November to record the album Last Time, which would be released in March, 1999. The current bass player, Nando Mello, only joined the group after the recording of this CD, the bass of which was recorded by Cristiano.
During the year 1999, the CD Last Time was promoted in the main heavy metal magazines of the country and all reviews were very positive and brought immediate results to the sales of the CD. Hangar performed in various cities in the interior of Rio Grande do Sul and in October 1999 played a gig at the now extinct Black Jack Bar in São Paulo. At the end of that year, the band suffered a new alteration with the departure of guitar player Cristiano Wortmann, due to musical differences. In his place, after various tests with guitar players of Porto Alegre, in came Eduardo Martinez, from the extinct band Panic, which during the 90..s was of great importance to the national heavy metal scene.
Soon after, the drummer of the band, Aquiles Priester, took part of various gigs with Tritone, a parallel project with Frank Scolari, Eduardo Ardanuy ( Dr. Sin) and Sérgio Buss (Steve Vai) and was also invited to record the album Nomad, of the former Iron Maiden singer, Paul Di..Anno. The album was released in March 2000, followed by a national tour. The gig in Porto Alegre was opened by Hangar, and was very well received by the public.
In 2001 the band got great news when Aquiles was confirmed as Angra..s new drummer, the biggest name of Brazilian melodic heavy metal. Up to now, Aquiles already recorded three studio albums, one EP and a live album with the band, besides having done three world tours.
In the beginning of August 2001, the successor to Last Time was released: Inside Your Soul. The album was recorded in São Paulo at the Creative Sound Studio and was released by the record labels Die Hard Records and Rock Brigade Records. The novelty of this album are the sound elements that Eduardo Martinez brought to the new compositions, besides some keyboard arrangements composed and performed by keyboard player Fábio Laguna. The album also includes a musical trilogy entitled The Massacre that speaks about the discovery and colonization process of our country. All of this made Inside Your Soul a much heavier, faster and more elaborate album than its predecessor, Last Time.
During the same year, Hangar also took part of the project Shakespeare..s Hamlet Project, of Die Hard label of São Paulo. The project reunited some of the main heavy metal and hard rock bands of Brazil, interpreting the lyrics of the famous masterpiece in unprecedented compositions written by the bands. Hangar participated with the track “Hidden by Shadows” and Michael Polchowicz also lent his vocals to the operatic “To Be”.
In February 2002, Fábio Laguna became a member of Hangar. In July of the same year, the band got together in Porto Alegre to record the demo of the song “Forever Will Be”. The band wasn’t able to follow-up its new compositions due to Angra..s extensive tour, which prolonged itself throughout the year.
In February 2003, Hangar performed for the second time at the BMU (Brazil Metal Union), counting with the participation of Angra..s vocalist Edu Falaschi on the track “To Tame a Land”. That same month, the band did a tour in the northeast of Brazil, performing in seven of the main capitals of the region and playing to a very expressive number of fans. On Rádio Cidade, a radio station of Recife, the song “To Tame a Land” reached number one in number of executions of the year 2002, according to the general audience of the radio, including all styles of music played. In July, the band reunited again to play two more gigs in Rio Grande do Sul, one in Porto Alegre and the other in Caxias do Sul.
Still in the second semester of 2003, the band began composing some songs that would be included in the following album. As Aquiles was living in São Paulo since 2001, the reunions became more sporadic and many people began to believe that Hangar would end its activities very soon. However, the band is still united in spite of the physical distance and the various engagements Fábio and Aquiles have with Angra. At the end of that year, Mello, Michael and Martinez recorded all the material that had been composed until then on a demo tape, with only guitar, bass and vocals. In July of that same year, Hangar was invited to participate in a tribute to Journey. The chosen song was “Ask The Lonely” and Edu Falaschi participated in the backing vocals. The tribute was never released, but the song can be checked out in a live performance by Aquiles in the DVD Inside my Drums.
In January 2004, Martinez and Fábio got together to start arranging the songs previously selected by the band. The third stage took place during carnival the following month when Aquiles, Fábio and Martinez got together to finish the arrangements and record the first demo of the new album.
In January 2005, the band finished the vocal arrangements of the six new songs that would be part of the demo that would be presented to record labels all over the world in search of international contracts. In the first semester of that year, singer Michael Polchowicz left the band, since the new material was leading them in a direction completely different to everything the band had already done and both parts agreed it would be in everyone..s best interest.
After a new period of total inactivity, Hangar went through a long period of auditions to choose a new singer. After exactly a year, during which more than 50 candidates were auditioned, Nando Fernandes was chosen to be the new voice of Hangar. His debut happened in October 2006, at the Expomusic Fair in São Paulo where he took part of three showcases that were marked by a lot of energy. Thus began a new phase in Hangar..s career. Nando rapidly incorporated the spirit of the music and the power of his potent voice brought another dimension to all new songs already composed by the band and also to those that would be written after he joined the band.
Parallel to all this, the band began recording their new album, The Reason Of Your Conviction, at Mr. Som Studio in São Paulo. The recordings took place in various stages during the second semester of 2006, being concluded in January 2007. Ten songs composed by the band were recorded as well as a cover of the song “Breaking all the Rules” by American guitar player Peter Frampton. The new album was mixed and mastered by Tommy Newton at Area 51 Recording Studio in Celle, Germany, in March 2007. Tommy has worked with bands such as Helloween, Conception, Ark, Elegy, UFO etc. Hangar..s new work is a concept album and speaks of the human mind and all alterations that can occur during a frustrating period in a normal person..s life. This person discovers new sensations through the death of other people. In a desperate search for forgiveness, he discovers that he became a potential serial killer and spends his life trying to re-counter his equilibrium.
The Reason Of Your Conviction marks the beginning of a new phase in Hangar..s career and now the band is preparing for the world-wide release of their new album, that will take place in July in Japan, and in August in Brazil, Europe and the United States. |
