Masheyti Romero has performed for over a decade with metal bands such as Lacerated Faith and her current endeavor Project BC. She sang with them during their first show in 2019, and since then Romero’s been shredding venues across Albuquerque and the Southwestern U.S. She’s met some pretty sick musicians along the way, including the members of the all-female bands Suspended and Nocturne. Starting at 8 p.m. tonight she joins them at the Launchpad (618 Central Ave. SW) for a performance that showcases some of the wickedest women in the city’s live music community.
The Paper.: Could you describe your sound?
Romero: Because all of us like all kinds of different genres and we’re a mix of all different genres, we literally just call ourselves just metal. We don’t use subgenres because then it becomes like, ‘But that song sounds like this, that song sounds punky, that song sounds metalcore, that song sounds like death metal,’ so we just keep it as pure metal. I think we sound like Avatar, because their music is kind of all over the place as well.
What are some of the band’s favorite venues to play?
My personal favorite was this one in Phoenix called Creepsville because it’s horror-carnival-based, so it reminds me of the aesthetic of Rob Zombie. I think my favorite local venue is Longhair Records, because that’s where we played our first show, and that’s where we played our five year anniversary. The owner Aaron is really supportive of the whole scene. It’s sentimental because that’s where we were able to show everybody who we were. Our logo is a cat, and his whole aesthetic is cats, so it just works.
What do you sing about? Could you describe your lyrical content?
I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and so a lot of the stuff that I sing about I’ve learned while going through my degree and certain aspects of my life. There are themes of domestic violence and themes of drug addiction and how they affect people. How you inherit those things and how they change. There’s the whole broken heart situation. I’m a total romantic softie, so I sing about that stuff a lot.
One of our songs is about sex positivity because women are treated differently if they’re sex positive. And to me, that’s kind of like a disservice to them, because it takes away the power that they have as women. Our song “Show Me What You Got” is basically saying “I like this, it’s okay to like this, be healthy about it, be mindful about it.” You don’t have to constantly hide yourself from the world and hide who you are, you know what I mean?
What are some bands that Project BC listens to? Where do you get your musical inspiration from?
I know the two guitar players get a lot of their inspiration from the music that they grew up with which is mostly centered around thrash music. There are elements of black metal in there. But for me, I get my inspiration from bands like Lacuna Coil and The Agonist — when Alissa White-Gluz was singing. Avatar is my favorite band. Bands like Killswitch Engage, that’s where I get my style.
Are you familiar with Suspended and Nocturne?
Me and Channy [drums, Suspended] go way back. I was in another band before Project BC called Lacerated Faith and I would play shows with Suspended. About 10 or 12 years ago I was new to this scene. I was barely 21, barely able to play bar shows and it was my first time being in a band outside of boarding school — because I went to Santa Fe Indian School — and so it was really nice to have somebody there to talk to and willing to show me what they were doing. I helped facilitate an Indigenous women’s show in Flagstaff, and we had Nocturne play. I’ve known them for over a year at this point.
Suspended, Nocturne and Project BC
Feb 28, 8 p.m.
Launchpad
618 Central Ave. SW
$10
Ages 21+