Esther Gutierrez: Mother of the Thrash Scene
Credit W.B. Fontenot
By Jason Roche
More than 1,000 fans are expected at this year's Thrasho de Mayo festival, drawn by rising upstart local metal acts and some of the genre's heaviest hitters.
But no one expected it to get so big. Particularly not Esther Gutierrez, a housewife who put the first one together at the Whisky A Go Go in 2006. At the time, she had no idea she was helping to birth a resurgence in Los Angeles thrash metal.
"I was just a mom helping her son's band," Gutierrez explains, adding that back then she knew next to nothing about the genre. Her son, Carlos, had just turned 18 and was drumming in Fueled by Fire, a local metal group primarily playing backyard shows. "Initially, they were having trouble booking club shows because they were all teenagers," she says. "I felt for the kids and wanted to help them out."
More »
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
