Dear readers, we are pleased to present in this article an interview with a band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, that offers Drone Metal sounds infused with Stoner/Desert Rock and Jazz. With their debut album “Liminal Mass,” released in March 2025, Droni Eye Omi take us on a journey through dense, Psychedelic, and meditative atmospheres. Please join us in welcoming Droni Eye Omi.
Hi, it’s a pleasure to have you featured on our pages. How are you doing?
Brad: “Thanks for having us here. I’m doing great and just constantly thinking about drones.“
Ronaldo: “I’m doing great. I just got a new Schecter Hellraiser guitar. It’s what’s needed for Droni!“
What inspired the formation of Droni Eye Omi, and how did you two come together to create this unique sound?
Brad: “Ronaldo and I are friends and we both live in the greater Albuquerque area. We are in different genres of music, but we have performed together many times in an acoustic base setting. This was our chance to get together to meet on a different plane musically, something that gets us away from our more traditional bands, and allows us to tap into more of a spiritual musical thing.“
Ronaldo: “Yeah it’s really become therapy for us. We are able to dive deep into musical areas that we wouldn’t normally be able to attain. And since everything is spontaneous, it’s like meditation and living in the now, so to speak. Great for the soul and great for the world of music. And since I’ve been listening to Indian music for a long time… It was a no-brainer.“
Your music combines drone metal with psych and space minimalism—how do you approach blending these genres to craft a cohesive sound?
Brad: “We don’t really think about it. We just try to get ourselves high on our own music.“
Ronaldo: “Yeah, it’s not something that’s real conscious. We come up with some concepts at times to use as a launching pad for whatever ideas, feelings, and emotions that may arrive. Once I play a note, I’m listening for the next thing. I’m always trying to play what I hear. What’s in my mind. But with Brad, the sum is greater than its parts. I hear things that I don’t think either one of us played. There’s a ghost in the machine! Ha!“
With two distinct guitarists—Brad Frye and Ronaldo Baca—how do you collaborate on creating the dense textures and meditative heaviness that characterize your music?
Brad: “Our collaboration process is primarily conceptual. We will get together and hash out concepts of what we want to record. When we record or perform, it is 100% improvisational.“
Ronaldo: “What he said!“
The album “Liminal Mass” evokes a sense of transition or threshold. Could you tell us about the themes or concepts behind this debut album?
Brad: “Yes, exactly! Our concept was to create a piece of music that slowly evolves throughout. But is not necessarily arriving at any destination. ‘Liminal Mass is a state of transitioning or sort of being in a moment that will eventually get somewhere for that individual, and the mass is the massive amount of dense texture and sounds that we could create.“
Ronaldo: “Yeah it’s like standing on the side of the sun in a suspension of time and calmness while feeling the energy of such massive power, rattling your soul to ear deafening bliss. Or, the liminal center of a black hole pulling one in with its mass.“
Brad: “It’s what we think deep space sounds like. Circling a black hole, but never quite disappearing.“
Which artists or musical traditions have influenced your sound the most? Are there any non-musical influences that inspire your work?
Brad: “We were heavily influenced by the minimalism of Lamonte Young and the first Earth‘s first album “Earth 2”.
For Non Musical), Influences, for me personally, will be nature and space.“
Ronaldo: “I have many influences when it comes to music in general. For the Droni project, I would rely on Indian classical music, Vedic chant, and some Middle Eastern Sufi styles as well. Studying of Raga and Makam have led me to the understanding of how one may evoke emotions with the use of minimal notes. You only need two notes to create a mood. Brad may play one note and I may play another. A minor third is a minor third because of its relationship to the root.
And, yes! Definitely nature, space, and the nature of space. …The universe. Everything…“
Can you walk us through your creative process when composing and recording your tracks?
Brad: “Lots of guitar pedals! Ha ha! We do everything DIY. So, we record ourselves with our own gear. We have various guitar and bass cabinets and amplifiers. I use a baritone guitar. Ronaldo uses a guitar tuned to standard tuning, so we can cover a lot of frequency range. Ronaldo is also a recording engineer so he can mix and master our albums. This process allows us to be very free in what we do and work very efficiently.“
Ronaldo: “Yeah, first we’ll set up gear and talk about a simple concept that we might adhere to… Or not. Once the decibels reach a certain level, we can only converse via massive guitar sound at that point. The whole thing is a conversation with sound textures, on another plane.“
How do you achieve such dense immersive atmospheres?
Brad: “(Gazing into space…)“
Ronaldo: “With patience…“
How does your music translate into live performances? Do you incorporate improvisation or visual elements to enhance the experience?
Brad: “At the time of this interview, we have performed live, twice, for audiences. One was with visuals, and one was without. We prefer to have the visuals, but it’s not necessary. Our live performances have been very powerful, and I don’t think the audiences really knew what they were going to get, but they were very receptive to it. Not a lot of people here in New Mexico have truly experienced drone metal with guitars…so it’s definitely a new thing here.“
Ronaldo: “We’re hoping our music translates to people on an individual basis. We’re hoping that we can all take a journey together, yet branch out into your own space pod when needed. When we have visuals on the screen behind us, it’s inspiring and also helps us to connect to the visual artist. If it’s just stage lights, we just rely on audio journeys, which is what I’m used to anyway. Even though there was no live audience, we recorded our first album with Michael Pino’s visuals going on around us. So, yeah, there’s that!“
Are there any upcoming releases or projects you’re excited about? Where do you see Droni Eye Omi heading in the future?
Brad: “Yes, we have two albums already recorded. One will be a live album called ‘Live at Guild Cinema.’ That was recorded on the release day of liminal mass when we did our very first performance ever, in a theater. That will be the next album to come out… probably by the end of 2025.“
Ronaldo: “We just recorded at a cathedral. We popped up a whole bunch of mics throughout the place, and set up our amps, audio recorders, and video recorders. This is gonna be our next “studio” album. Perhaps we get video out of it as well. This is gonna be a bit different from our first album, especially as we attempted to do some binaural recording as well. The listener will be able to put on headphones and really feel like they’re in the cathedral with us. It’s gonna be a bit more angelic than the other recordings. So warn your demons! Really excited about this one!“
What do you hope listeners take away from your music? Is there a particular message or feeling you’re aiming to evoke?
Ronaldo: “I just hope they find the space within themselves that they’ve needed to go to. In this complex, crazy world, a lot of people aren’t really aware of the beauties of nature and chaos, and hopefully this tunes their minds and souls to remember who they are.“
Brad: “I don’t really care if people get anything from Droni’s music or not. Most people won’t “get it” or won’t listen to it. But for those who have taken the time to listen to it, we really appreciate that. Some people like it is background music, and some people like to be fully immersed in it and listen to it with headphones on.“
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians interested in exploring drone metal or experimental genres?
Brad: “Do it. Have fun and explore sounds. Music is a release and a creative outlet. There’s no rules. So just do what feels good for yourself.“
Ronaldo: “Pedals, pedals, and more pedals… When I first started playing guitar as a kid, I didn’t have a teacher. I could barely play anything. I would also get frustrated when I couldn’t play the simple stuff that I knew. Got my first Metal Zone pedal tapped into my guitar and amp, that I got from Kmart, and then I didn’t want to put it down. Had I not done that, I may have thrown my guitar out the window. Now I play classical, flamenco, gypsy jazz, and a bunch of hard shit that I don’t wish on anyone unless they want to go to down that f***in’ rabbit hole…“
I thank the band for sharing their insights with us and wish them all the best for promoting their debut album and for their future artistic endeavors.
Purchase “Liminal Mass” on Bandcamp: https://dronieyeomi.bandcamp.com/album/liminal-mass