Nobody in their right mind would accuse Robb Chavez of being a lukewarm heavy metal fan.
The 55-year-old education consultant is the human dynamo behind Robb’s MetalWorks, a San Antonio-based video show that this summer celebrated 30 years of turning fans on to the hard stuff. The program got its start on Time Warner cable access, but has since morphed into a YouTube phenomenon with a worldwide following.
This year alone, Chavez has conducted interviews with genre luminaries including Gary Holt (Exodus and Slayer) and Billy Milano (M.O.D.) along with Texas acts ranging from San Antonio prog-metalers Donella Drive to longtime Houston institution Helstar.
Along the way, Chavez has promoted heavy metal shows in San Antonio and Houston, building on Robb’s MetalWorks’ reputation, and at one point, he even helped curate an Institute of Texan Cultures exhibition and concert showcasing the Alamo City’s heavy metal history.
Despite the three decades of hard work Chavez has poured into Robb’s MetalWorks, he’s emphatic that it’s a labor of love, not a business venture. He approaches the show as a fan and said he’s turned down multiple cash offers from bands and promoters eager to secure a slot on his program.
“I’ve never monetized Robb’s,” Chavez said. “I have my own career. I don’t need that revenue, so it’s never been about that. I never wanted it to be about money because when you do that, you lose integrity.”
Chavez has put out the show with longtime help from JB Zavala, his photographer and video editor, and videographer Richard Sanchez, making it a true team effort.
The Current caught up with Chavez to talk about the longevity of Robb’s MetalWorks, its rewards and how long he plans to keep it up. This story was edited for length and clarity.
In 2009, you briefly retired from doing the show. How long did that last?
I started a PhD program and I said, “Well, I do too many things in my life and I’ve got to lay one down.” And I couldn’t lay family down. I couldn’t lay work down. I couldn’t lay anything else down. So I had to lay down Robb’s MetalWorks. And I was married at that time, but my wife was like, “No, no, you don’t have to retire the show. Keep going.” I said, “I can’t do everything. You want me to go crazy?” So, anyway, to make a long story short, the retirement only lasted about a year and a half. I think the last episode aired in the fall of 2009, and then I did my first interview back in the summer of 2011.
Did you end up finishing the PhD program?
No, actually that’s why I came back. I did a year of coursework, and then at the end of that first year, my marriage started falling apart. I knew I was going to get divorced, so I didn’t go back. I didn’t like PhD work anyway. … And then when that decision was made, my guys, my crew guys were like, “Oh, so does that mean you’re going to bring the show back?” And I was like, “Yeah, just let the dust settle a little bit and we’ll get back to it.” But there was a lot of change and transition that we adopted upon our return.
Was that when you decided to focus on YouTube and online delivery as opposed to cable access?
Yep. I have two guys that have been working with me for almost 20 years. And one of the guys — his name’s JB Zavala — when he first came to my staff, he was a student at Northwest Vista in video and audio. And so he’s always kind of been the visionary on the tech side. And I remember when I decided I was coming back, he said, “Robb, we cannot go back to Time Warner Cable.” That was my intention, actually, but he talked me out of it and he said, “We’ve got to utilize YouTube and MySpace, at that time, and broaden our audience to the world — not just San Antonio.” And I was captivated by the idea of broadening our audience. I knew I was going to have to buy new cameras and new editing equipment and stronger computers. It was going to be a huge investment on our end — both financially and the learning curve with all the new tech. But we did it.
Did it pay off with a wider audience?
Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, we have close to 18,000 followers on our Facebook, which is our primary social media. We have, of course, followers from all over Texas, but also Mexico, Australia, Austria, Germany. We have fans from all over who watch the show. And I’m glad that Facebook provides those types of analytics to us. The other day I got some new stickers in, and posted, “Where are my top fans? I’ll send you some stickers.” And one of the guys commented on the post and asked, “Would you ship to England to Liverpool?” And I said, “No, I can’t do that.”
You’re old enough to remember when San Antonio was considered the Heavy Metal Capital of the World. Would you like to see it regain that title?
That’s something that I think we would all love to see again. But the market is just different now. It’s so diverse now. And let’s first talk about that from the underground perspective. So, back in the ’80s, if somebody said, “I’m in the heavy metal scene,” it was, “OK, great. We get you.” You knew they were into those old bands that made up the scene — Watchtower, Helstar, all those bands. Now the scene is just so diverse, if you told someone, “Yeah, I’m in the metal scene.” Which part of the metal scene are you? In the black metal scene? The thrash metal scene? The prog-metal scene?
Yeah, I’ve heard people describe it as being very stratified.
Yeah, and that’s it. And that stratification has gotten even worse because of social media. Everyone has their little cliques. Everyone has their genre that they follow. And I hate to say this, but sometimes metal fans can develop tunnel vision.
And that’s one of the things that I’ve always [been proud of] about Robb’s, is that we embrace all genres of metal. That’s why I started Robb’s: because I’m a fan. I enjoy all genres of metal. All of those genres I just mentioned, I listen to them all. And all of those different bands from those different genres I’ve had on Robb’s because I just love it. But I think that stratification has prevented some of the centralization of metal in our city and across Texas. But people in Texas especially — Texas musicians and also the fans — still have a reverence for San Antonio because they remember that history.
We still have clubs that will play metal, and then, of course, Robb’s has been here for a long time. The last two bands I’ve interviewed here in my home studio, they’re not even from San Antonio. I’m going to release an interview today with a band called Haserot, which released a wonderful record just this month. And they drove from Houston to come interview with me.
And then the week after, a band from Austin called Bannerlord drove down to interview with me. That speaks to the reverence people have for Robb’s MetalWorks.
One of our goals has always been to introduce new bands to the city. But now I get to do it to the city and the world, so it’s a wonderful thing. The whole medium and landscape of music has just changed so dramatically in the past couple decades.
How long do you expect to keep doing the show?
I love working with bands and listening to music and editing video and stuff like that. So I just feel like I still have more moments to capture. I still have more bands to work with. And, believe it or not, I think one of the things that helps me to believe that is that I see musicians who are in their 60s and who are still kicking ass. … Like these guys still do it because the passion still burns within them. And that passion still burns within me.
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