KYRA

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM BARNES
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/kyra
COUNTRY: United Kingdom STYLE: Rock / Hardcore / Alternative

NO DISRESPECT; BUT IT SEEMS THAT YOU GUYS PLAY LIVE A LOT MORE THAN YOU RECORD. THE BEST WAY TO GET NOTICED AND BUILD A FAN BASE IS TO JUST PLAY LIVE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE IT SEEMS IN YOUR CASE?

Yeah live is definitely the best way for gaining fans, although online sites such as Myspace are invaluable for reaching new fans especially in countries where we are unable to tour. We've been receiving a great response to our new music on Myspace from people all over the world, it's amazing!

The reason we haven't been recording all that frequently is because we wanted to do it right, quality over quantity is always the best in our opinion. We always strive for the best we can achieve at the time. We wanted the new songs to be better than the last EP so we took our time writing and didn't rush into the studio with the first four songs we wrote. Also we wanted to record in the best studio we could find but as we fund everything ourselves it took us a little while to save up the money for the studio time, the best don't come cheap haha!

THE BAND RELEASED A FOUR TRACK EP IN 2007 AND NOW YOU ARE RELEASING ANOTHER FOUR TRACK EP TITLED “THESE PRECIOUS THINGS” SOON; OR IT CAN BE DOWNLOADED AT:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/these-precious-things-ep/id347572032. WHY NOT MAKE THAT LEAP TO A FULL ALBUM YET?

Most of it comes down to money, there is no way we could fund an album ourselves at this time at the standard we wanted to do it. Plus I don't think we are really ready for an album yet, we are still very much an unknown band, we have a lot of work to do to build our profile up, that's what this EP is for.

I LIKE THE COVER PHOTO FOR THE EP. WHAT DOES THE BLEEDING HEART SYMBOLISE FOR YOU AND HOW DOES THE COVER RELATE WITH THE LYRICAL SUBJECTS ON THE EP?

Thank you! Well I guess the artwork is open to interpretation, the way I look at is that someone has given their heart to this girl but she couldn't care less about it anymore, paying no attention to it, leaving it on her dresser with the rest of her disposable items, the heart obviously being the precious thing. I think once you listen to the lyrics it's pretty obvious how it relates to the artwork and the concept.

Tom Barnes shot the artwork, he is an amazing photographer and a really great guy, he was my first choice when it came to searching for a photographer. He has worked with so many massive bands and is so in demand I think it's really cool that he still takes the time to work with smaller bands. You can check out his portfolio here - http://www.tombarnesphoto.com/

ARE THERE ANY SUBJECTS THAT YOU ARE TIERED OF AND TRYING TO MOVE AWAY FROM LATELY WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING LYRICS?

I don't think so the first EP was very aggressive lyrically and this one is pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum, when it comes to lyrics I know the most important thing to Daniel is that it means something to him and I think that comes through. His lyrics are very open and honest, he's never been one to write cryptic lyrics only he knows the meaning to, he's not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve.

EP’S HAVE PLAYED A MASSIVE ROLE FOR “EMERGING” BANDS WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING MUSIC OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO A WAITING PUBLIC, BUT DOWNLOADING SEEMS TO BE REPLACING THE EP; WOULD YOU AGREE?

Yeah it seems to be, I mean we have released our EP digitally first just to get things moving for us, that's a cool aspect of the digital side, as soon as we got the songs back from the studio they were sent to iTunes and before you know it people have it on their iPod! There is no waiting for the printing and pressing of the CD, and then sending the CD's out. It's all so much easier and quicker and that's why it's taking over, why wait when you can have it now? It will be interesting to see how our CD sales compare to the digital sales.

WHAT EXCITES YOU THE MOST ABOUT “THESE PRECIOUS THINGS” AND THE DIRECTION THE BAND HAS TAKEN MUSICALLY WITH THIS EP?

The most exciting thing for me about These Precious Things is the quality, working with such an amazing producer (Romesh Dodangoda) made all the difference, he took all of the hard work and stress out of the recording process, it was so relaxed. I can't believe that something that felt so easy came out so great! Musically I have never been more happy to be in Kyra than I am now, it's the band I've always wanted us to be! I genuinely love our music.

YOUR SONGS HAVE HEAVY “SCREAMING” PARTS BUT THERE ARE ALSO A LOT OF MELODIC “SINGING” PARTS IN THERE. DO YOU GUYS TRY TO KEEP A “BALANCE” OR IS IT JUST A CASE OF FOLLOWING A SONG AND SEEING WHERE IT ENDS?

A little bit of both I guess, we are allot more conscious now of trying to keep a good balance between the singing and screaming and making sure they blend well together, it just makes for a better song, rather abusing peoples ears by screaming constantly track after track. We expanded our style quite allot with this new EP. The second track 'So Where Do We Go From Here?' is the "pop-iest" song we have ever done, there is no screaming in it whatsoever.

With that song it was a case of following the vibe of the song and the lyrics, it was originally started in the mind set that it would be an acoustic song but once we tried it with the band it worked too well not to do it as a full band. We have a wide range of influences and enjoy allot of popier bands as well as heavier bands we've always wanted to incorporate the more melodic side into our music but we were just never very good at doing it in until now.

YOUR SOUND COVERS A LOT OF “GROUND”. AS MUSICIANS ARE YOU ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW GEAR TO EXPAND ON THAT SOUND OR ARE YOU GUYS HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU ARE USING NOW AND WHAT GEAR AND GUITAR TUNINGS ARE YOU USING AT THE MOMENT?

Yeah we like trying out new things to expand our music and improve our live sound, being the guitarist I am a big fan of effects pedals and I'm always on the look out for cool new ones, searching the Internet finding out what my favourite bands use. They can offer so much, just one effect can spark an entire song or help you accomplish styles you never thought you could. It's a delicate balance though, you don't want to over do the effects thing, a little goes a long way I think.

Coming away from recording These Precious Things I ended up buying two new pedals that I had used in the studio and our bassist (Gary) ended up buying two new pedals and a new bass! He has also recently bought a new cab. I'm also trying to learn piano now, I'd really love to be able to introduce that into our songs in the future, but I need to get good enough first!

At the moment I am using a Hughes & Kettner Trilogy Amp (through an Orange cab), it's by far the best amp I have ever used it's so versatile which is exactly what I need. I use two guitars live a Gibson SG Standard and a Gibson Les Paul Studio. All of our songs at the moment are in Drop D tuning. Pedal wise I use a Line 6 Distortion Pedal, a Line 6 Delay Pedal, a Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Wah Pedal, Two Boss Delay Pedals, a Holy Grail Reverb Pedal, and an Ibanez Tube Screamer, and of course a Boss Chromatic Tuner. The only thing stopping me from expanding my pedals more is lack of space on stage, I'll have to wait till we hit the stadiums haha! I don't know the exact details of what the other guys use but to the best of my knowledge:

Bass Equipment - Fender Jazz Precision Bass, Warwick Pro Fet Amp, Ampeg stack, Sans Amp pedal, Bass Big muff pedal and more pedals I can't remember!

Drums Equipment - Yamaha Jazz Fusion Kit, Sabien & Stagg & I think Zildjian cymbals, I think Remo drum heads and also some sticks haha!

I SEE YOU GUYS ARE PLAYING A KERRANG! TOUR WARM UP SHOW ON THE 20TH OF JANUARY. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR 2010 WHEN IT COMES TO THE TOURS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE PART OF AND THE REGIONS YOU WANT TO TRAVEL TO?

Well we were recently approached by a great new management company and we have signed up with them, we knew getting management was something we needed to do to step things up, cause we suck at finding shows haha! So hopefully there will be allot more touring in the new year, I think they are looking to book us a February tour and we will keep touring throughout the year as much as we can.

No ideas on who we will tour with yet, we aren't fussed really we just want to get out there and do our thing, obviously we'd love to be supporting cool massive bands or on tour with our idols playing to sell out crowds every night, but we're realistic and know that's not going to be the case, as I mentioned before we are not a very well established band throughout the UK and we have allot of ground work to do before any of the bigger tours come knocking but it's definitely where we have our sights set.

EVERYBODY ALWAYS WANTS TO HEAR A FUNNY STORY ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED ON THE ROAD. CARE TO SHARE?

Haha yeah we have a pretty good one. If you have ever seen us loading our gear in or out at shows you may have noticed our red van has a black roof? Well this wasn't always the case. It was the result of a disastrous trip for a gig in Dumfries (about three or four hours drive from where we live). Basically we got to the venue loaded our gear in then Gary and Daniel took the promoter with them in the van to find cigarettes and a parking space, I don't know the exact details having thankfully not been there, but basically Gary tore half the roof off the van by trying to get into a car park with a height restriction barrier our van was not designed to fit under haha!

The roof was made of fibre glass which covered them all and is extremely itchy stuff I'm told. So we are in Dumfries with our new convertible and no way to get us our equipment and our van home. All of this happened before the show too, but ever the professionals we stuck around to play the show trying to forget the burning question "how the hell are we gonna get home?" probably harder for Daniel and Gary to forget with the itchy fibre glass constantly reminding them haha!

So after the show and exhausting all of our ideas on how to get home the only choice we were left with was to drive the roofless van the four hours home! It wasn't the most relaxing journey we have ever had but it was the funniest! Also surprisingly the whole thing was quite a bonding experience for us and the promoter he even invited us back there for another show! We will forever be known in Dumfries as the band that tore the roof of their van haha!

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR ANYTHING ELSE FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

I guess just please support us as much as you can, buy a CD or a t-shirt, we are an unsigned band and do pretty much everything ourselves, we need your support to survive, to fund tours and to fund studio time etc. Please spread the word, tell your friends about us and come see us live!

Thanks!
Chris KYRA x

OUTCRY COLLECTIVE

PHOTO COURTESY OF OUTCRY COLLECTIVE
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/outcrycollective
COUNTRY: United Kingdom STYLE: Rock / Hardcore

THE BAND HAS BEEN GOING FOR A WHILE. WAS IT A CASE OF WAITING FOR THE RIGHT TIME TO RELEASE YOUR DEBUT ALBUM “ARTICLES”?

We have had enough songs to record an album for a long time but we wanted to graft something truly original. We have heaps of demos that sound great but will never be released. Every now and then I give them to fans if they ask. The album was in a troubled time for us. We had a change in drummer and musical direction but I'm really proud of it.

YOU RECORDED “ARTICLES” BY YOURSELVES. WOULD YOU SAY IT WAS THE BEST WAY TO GO NOW THAT YOU HAD TIME TO LISTEN TO THOSE RECORDINGS, BECAUSE YOU’VE GOT SOME “KILLER” TUNES ON THERE?

I think we were very brave to produce it ourselves. We built our own recording studio and it has a unique sound. I think in the future I'd like to work with an outside producer who wouldn't be afraid to speak his mind and put in some suggestions. The album has come out raw and sounds like four guys playing in a room which is exactly what we wanted to go for.

THE BAND HAS THAT RAW, NO “FANCY” STUDIO PRODUCTION TYPE OF SOUND. IS IT IMPORTANT FOR THE BAND TO SOUND THE SAME ON YOUR RECORDINGS AS YOU DO LIVE AND GIVE PEOPLE A FEELING OF THAT LIVE ENERGY?

People tend to come up to me after shows and say that we are better live and I agree. We like to play loud and you can't recreate a live environment with a crowd in the studio. I don't like it when albums by rock bands sound so polished that it could be a 'pop' record. We have left in feedback and mistakes to remind the listener that we're a real band - not a pieced together stick of candy.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY ALL THE BAND MEMBERS HAVE “GROWN” AS SONGWRITERS OVER THE YEARS, AND WOULD YOU SAY YOUR PLAYING, AND VOCAL STYLES HAVE CHANGED MUCH AS THE BAND HAS PROGRESSED?

Yeah we've gotten significantly better. When we were younger all we wanted to do was to play as heavy as possible. These days we listen to EVERYTHING and it shows in our songs. We have been writing new material recently and it's a departure again. I'm putting more melody into my vocals and pushing my screaming. The other three are so comfortable playing together now that they can just jam for hours. I'm really excited to hear the songs we're going to write in the future and our fans should be too.

DO YOU HAVE SONGS THAT YOU HAVE LOOKED BACK AND WONDERED, “WHY DID WE EVER THINK THAT WAS A GOOD SONG” OR IS EVERY SONG ONE WRITES AS A MUSICIAN A STEPPING STONE TO SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER MUSICIAN LATER ON?

There are some songs that haven't been used that I wish were out there because they were just so much fun to play. I don't love everything we've done, none of us do. We all have a different idea of our strongest songs but we tend to compromise well on which ones we'll play live. Every song is a stepping stone and sometimes you can step in shit instead but as long as you realise and clean you're shoes I don't think it's anything to be ashamed of.

TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR VIDEO FOR THE SONG “DEAD IN THE WATER”; WERE YOU AIMING TO PRESENT THE SONG VISUALLY AS CLOSE TO WHAT THE SONG WAS ABOUT LYRICALLY, OR WAS IT MORE ABOUT CAPTURING THE “ENERGY” OF THE MUSIC?

We got sent through a treatment of the video from Sitcom Soldiers and it sounded cool. We are at a point in our career whereby we are being heavily judged. People are hearing about us for the first time and they are going on first impressions. We're not hiding behind anything in the video - it's just us playing. I love the location - it was an old train workshop and it looked really cool with hundreds of tires being back lit. We all had some drinks and shot through until six in the morning. Visually we had to work to a budget but I'm pleased with it - Sitcom Soldiers are pros.

THE BAND CONFIRMED THE DATES FOR THE “TRIPLE THREAT TOUR” THAT FEATURES YOU GUYS, GAY FOR JOHNNY DEPP AND BLAKFISH A WHILE BACK WHICH STARTS ON THE 13TH. ARE YOU ALWAYS MORE IN A “RUSH” BEFORE A TOUR, AND MAKING SURE EVERYTHING WILL BE LOOKED AFTER WHEN YOU LEAVE YOUR HOME FOR A MONTH OR LONGER?

I have always left everything to the last minute when it comes to preparation for anything I've ever done in my life. I was up till 4 in the morning the night before tour labelling our merchandise. I have a check list of things to remember and things to do like turn off my electricity and hot water.

DO YOU GUYS BASICALLY LIVE ON TAKEAWAYS WHILE ON THE ROAD?

It's so hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle whilst on the road. We live on rider food which is basically sandwiches and crisps. I try and take care of myself but with all of the drinking, partying and crap sleep I'm not exactly looking my best. Eventually you get pretty sick of Burger King and pizza because they just bring regret. Don't get me wrong though - touring is excellent.

HAVE ANY OF THE BANDS YOU HAVE EVER PERFORMED WITH OVER THE YEARS HAD ANY BIG IMPACT ON YOU GUYS AS A BAND; THAT MADE YOU KIND OF “RETHINK” THE WAY YOU WERE DOING THINGS UP TO THAT POINT?

I think I've taken something away from every band we've played with like "don't do that" or "that's a good idea". At the moment I'm on the road with Blakfish and Gay For Johnny Depp and it's been cool because we're all different bands and we've been able to just be ourselves and have that be enough.

HAVE YOU OR DO YOU GUYS EVER PERFORM COVERS, AND EVEN IF YOU HAVEN’T WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE WAY PEOPLE AND BANDS HAVE USED COVERS TO GET RADIO AIRPLAY AND FURTHER THEIR CAREERS; IS THERE A RIGHT OR A WRONG WAY IN YOUR OPINION?

We've played the Doors's 'Roadhouse Blues' once for a charity show but that was an exception. We used to play RATM songs in practice and do the Strokes every now and then. I don't judge a band that releases a cover because it's hard enough as it is but I don't think we'll be doing it anytime in the near future.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR ANYTHING ELSE FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

We've been carving our own way in the rock world for a while now and we haven't taken any short cuts. We're going to be around for a while and we're getting better daily. If you like it loud and passionate then come check us out. Oh and Merry Christmas, Steve

FALLEN MARTYR

PHOTO COURTESY OF FALLEN MARTYR
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/fallenmartyr
COUNTRY: United States STYLE: Metal / Progressive / Thrash

YOU HAVE A VERY “EPIC” SOUND. HOW DO YOU GUYS NORMALLY APPROACH THE SONG WRITING PROCESS?

GABRIEL: I usually write alone, and Michael will write his songs alone, and we collaborate here and there or add ideas to each others songs, but we usually write separately. Once we finish writing a song, we tab it into a program called Guitar Pro, which then allows us to program drums and that lets us hear what it would sound like...then we add synths and tweak stuff up.

Then we record our own rough demos with the rest of the band....so all our songs get demo'd a lot before the final recording to make sure they are as solid as possible. We record our solos, go over drums with Jake, make sure the bass lines are solid with Doug, and it allows Ryan to write lyrics and vocal patterns without all the extra noise of a live band jamming.

THE BAND HAS VERY SKILLED MUSICIANS. IS IT HARD SOMETIMES TO NOT GET CARRIED AWAY DURING SONG WRITING AND LEAVE SOME “ROOM” ON THE SONGS FOR VOCAL PARTS AS WELL?

We just write the songs....we don’t really think about where the vocals will go...once we figure out where the solos will go we let Ryan figure out what to do with the songs. It might make things tough for him, but I think it helps keep things interesting because we never know what he’s going to do. Most metal "vocalists" would just end up screaming over crazy fast riffing, but Ryan will usually take the opposite approach.

He has the ability to sing cleanly, and was singing before he ever started the more aggressive screaming/growling he does. So its something we can use to expand our music. Plus, in my opinion, most people end of "singing" your lyrics for the most part...not everyone will walk around humming a growl or scream. So we feel like its a channel that really allows us to connect with people. Plus, we have concepts we want people to understand, so singing allows it to be heard a lot more clearly.

THERE ARE A LOT OF SAMPLES IN YOUR SONGS. WHO WRITES AND PERFORMS THOSE PARTS ON THE RECORDINGS AND HOW DO YOU INCORPORATE THOSE SAMPLES INTO YOUR LIVE SHOW?

The synths are actually a backing track, live we use a laptop and we have a rig set up that splits the signal so our drummer can play to a click track and stay on time with the synths, choirs etc and it splits the signal so the PA system only plays the synths with no click track. We write all the synth parts on our laptops, I have an understanding of music theory and can read music and have played other instruments...but...a lot of times music needs to be written not by knowing, but by doing.

It’s all about how the end product sounds ultimately. You don’t have to be a musical virtuoso to write and appealing song. But we have the technology now that you can create music using midi notes, and turn them into symphonies, or choir vocals, electronic sounds all sorts of things. It’s awesome to be able to experiment with sounds and make music just using your computer.

THE BAND RELEASED THE EP “THE SIX ROOTS OF TRUE WILL” A FEW MONTHS BACK, BUT YOU GUYS PROBABLY HAVE BEEN WORKING ON SOME NEW SONGS SINCE THEN. IS THERE A FULL LENGTH ALBUM ON THE WAY ANY TIME SOON?

We currently have 11 new songs in rough demo form, and plan to have a lot more. We are hoping to be able to put a full length out sometime, but we have touring plans that will be taking our focus away from that for a bit. But we will keep writing so we can be as prepared as possible, at this rate we may have over 20 solid songs by spring. And what we have written so far i feel like is very solid...no filler, and will also be a continuing story that picks up at the end of the EP.

THERE IS A GREAT BALANCE BETWEEN THE HEAVY AND MELODIC ELEMENTS OF THE BAND’S SOUND. WITH THE BAND ALREADY PERFORMING MUSIC THAT IS VERY TECHNICAL HOW FAR DO YOU THINK YOU GUYS WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE “FORWARD” MUSICALLY IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

There’s a lot of new things we'd like to try with the band, we just want to write music. Overall we are a metal band but we have many non-metal influences. I guess we will see how things unfold for us sound wise later. Also, we are always constantly practicing, and as we mature with our skill I believe our music naturally will to as well.

WOULD YOU SAY THE BAND HAS A “THEME” THAT RUNS THROUGH ALL OF YOUR SONGS LYRICALLY OR MUSICALLY?

Yes, it does...Ryan will explain his concept and I try to create the right mood for what I think compliments the story. I’d explain it, but we'd like people to get into the lyrics and follow it the way they think it goes.

YOU GUYS HAVE A GREAT SOUND. WHAT GEAR DOES THE BAND CURRENTLY USE AND ARE YOU ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW EQUIPMENT OR TECHNIQUES THAT CAN IMPROVE THE BAND’S SOUND EVEN MORE?

Thanks man! Myself and Mikey use 7 string guitars...I use Schecter and Mikey uses a brand called Agile (underground company; keep your eye out for that). Doug uses a 5 string Warwick bass. But I’m a firm believer that good equipment is only a small part of your sound. Your hands and technique will determine how clean you play and your style. My rig is really expensive, but if I make a mistake it’ll be heard loud and clear. So I think its all a matter of your playing ability. Practicing is in my opinion what gives you a good sound.

TALKING ABOUT SOUND. IF YOU HAD TO COMPARE WHAT THE BAND HAS ACHIEVED IN STUDIO WOULD YOU SAY THE BAND HAS COME PRETTY CLOSE TO ACHIEVING THAT SOUND IN A LIVE ENVIRONMENT?

I would say we do...there have been a few shows where we get rushed to set up and we don’t get sound checked properly and something may not go as we planned...i.e. not being able to have the synth or everyone else properly in the mix etc....but for the most part I think a lot of our sound is pretty spot on. And if something messes up...well it’s a live show, just got to keep playing, headbanging, and having a good time.

I SEE THERE IS ONE GIG A MONTH LISTED ON YOUR MYSAPCE FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS. I GUESS THERE WILL BE MORE ADDED SOON OR ARE YOU GUYS CONCENTRATING ON SONG WRITING FOR NOW?

We have really big tour plans for early next year, so we are focusing on that. We just want to practice as much as we can, and get everything as solid and prepared as possible. We have to sell presale tickets for our shows, and that can be stressful sometimes, so we just want to keep things as comfortable as possible for now.

LOOKING AT THOSE GIGS THAT ARE LISTED ON YOUR MYSPACE, YOU GUYS SEEM TO PERFORM ON THE SAME LINE UP AS MUSICIANS THAT PLAY A WIDE VARIETY OF HEAVY MUSIC. IF YOU LOOK BACK, WHICH ONE OF THOSE BANDS HAS HAD THE BIGGEST “IMPACT” ON YOU?

I couldn’t name one in particular...but we are all fans of progressive, forward moving music(metal and non-metal) and a lot of times its not the sound of the music that impacts us. Just seeing those musicians setting up gear; selling their merch; talking to their fans, or even watching their interviews online etc....that really has an impact on us to really push ahead and one day be able to share our music with as many people as possible.

ANY COMMENTS OR ANYTHING ELSE FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

Thanks a lot for reading this and the support! We are working on coming out and meeting all of you soon, keep an eye out for it!

HYPNO5E

PHOTO COURTESY OF HYPNO5E
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/hypno5e
COUNTRY: France STYLE: Metal / Experimental / Ambient

I HAVE NEVER HEARD MUSIC LIKE YOURS EVER AND IT REALLY MADE ME LOOK AT HEAVY MUSIC FROM A WHOLE OTHER PERSPECTIVE. WAS THAT WHAT THE BAND WAS ORIGINALLY AIMING FOR; TO CREATE MUSIC THAT WAS UNIQUE IN EVERY WAY?

GREDIN: To play music that has already been done is useless. When you enter the process of creation you’re supposed to translate your individuality into music, your emotions are yours only, so your music can only be different from any other. We wanted to create a total artistic show that’s why we ally visual arts with music, our movie is a big part of our music, if it is not on stage with us an instrument is missing.

WITH SONGS STRUCTURES THAT TAKE MANY DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS IN ONE SONG ALONE HOW DO YOU GUYS EVEN START TO PUT YOUR SONGS TOGETHER DURING THE WRITING PROCESS?

We find different riffs and try to see which ones fit with each other. Some riffs are better for opening, some others are better for outing, and between the two we try to find the right recipe for a tasteful cuisine.

WITH MUSIC THAT DRIFTS BETWEEN PEACEFUL, AMBIENT SOUNDS AND ALL OUT DOWN TUNED GUITAR DESTRUCTION, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY WAS THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE THAT HAS LEADED YOU ON THIS MUSICAL PATH TO WHERE YOU ARE MAKING THE STYLE OF MUSIC YOU ARE MAKING NOW?

I can hardly speak for Manu (the main composer) since he is not with me, but I think he would say Chopin, Liszt, or any romantic composer of classical music.

TALKING ABOUT DOWN TUNED GUITARS; YOU GUYS MUST BE USING SEVEN STRING GUITARS TO TUNE YOUR GUITARS THAT LOW; AND IF POSSIBLE CAN YOU TELL US WHAT TYPE OF GEAR YOU USE TO CREATE YOUR UNIQUE SOUND?

We use Ibanez 7-stringed guitars, and B.C. Rich bass guitars. Live we play on numeric preamps, and in the album we mixed numeric and tube amplifications.

THE BAND PLAYED ITS FIRST SHOWS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA A FEW MONTHS BACK. WAS THERE ANYTHING SURPRISINGLY DIFFERENT THAT YOU NOTICED BETWEEN THE MUSIC SCENE IN EUROPE AND THE PLACES YOU VISITED ON THE TOUR?

Hell yeah! Musicians are rarely considered in US entries, on the organisation side friendly people were rare to find. We never ask to be considered as rock stars, never, but we tour to meet people and share something with as many people as possible. Human relationships are pretty important to me, when you consider music as a pure business you make it uninteresting.

In Europe you get food, hosting, drinks, sound checks almost everywhere you play at, this way you talk to people, get closer to them… In the USA it happened that the people from the venues didn’t say one word to us, not giving a shit. What’s the point of having a live venue if you don’t like the bands coming to your bar?

I myself own a musical venue and consider it really interesting to get to know the bands I invite. Fortunately there were really good places we played in, with really good people, and I sincerely hope to go back and see them on our next tour in the US. I noticed that many bands came to play and then went away as soon as the concert was over, in Europe we tend to come long before the show to have a chance to drink together and get to know each others and then we leave the place as long a time as possible after the show so we can talk and/or party altogether.

WATCHING THE TOUR REPORT VIDEOS WAS A LOT OF FUN, AND THEY ARE DONE REALLY WELL. WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR VAN THAT KEPT BREAKING IN THE FIRST VIDEO AND HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE THE VAN YOU HAD IN EUROPE WITH THE ONE YOU HAD IN THE STATES?

The van we use in France is mine, it is an old van from 1995, and as any old van it plays tricks as to break while we’re going to play far north. I already lost one van once while we were travelling from Germany to Switzerland: we had done 4000 Kilometers (2485 miles approx.) in one month and it was quite exhausted! To tour in the USA we used a RV with 2 beds and a convertible couch, it was quite comfortable and it saved us hostel costs. It was a Ford and it held the tour quite well, driving an automatic car was strange at first (it was like driving a bumper-car) because you don’t have full control of what you’re doing but then it was fine.

DOES THE TIREDNESS THAT COMES WITH TOURING EVER CATCH UP TO YOU WHILE ON THE ROAD OR DO YOU FIND THAT NO MATTER HOW TIRED YOU ARE DURING THE DAY THAT YOU SOME HOW STILL GET THE ENERGY TO DO A SHOW?

We usually enjoy staying at the entry to chat with the audience so we tend to go to bed quite late. But when it comes to the live show the adrenaline makes it possible and tiredness is rarely felt during the performances. Still, I have to admit that I was jumping higher during the first American shows than during the last ones, in the end my whole body was adrenaline and dopamine, no muscle nor brain anymore.

THE BAND HAS A REALLY COOL VIDEO FOR THE SONG “DAYBREAK AT SLAUGHTER HOUSE”; TELL US MORE ABOUT THE VIDEO AND HOW THE BAND LIKES TO INCORPORATE VISUALS INTO ITS LIVE SHOW?

The “Daybreak at slaughter-house” video is made of Manu’s archives and we shot some more images to insert a more linear side into it. The video playing during the whole show is a filtered compilation of our own archives. It is not there to give the audience an interpretation of our music but to drawn them into an other world, ours.

WOULD YOU EVER CONSIDER DOING A LIVE DVD AND ARE YOU PLANNING ANY MORE VIDEOS IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

We are currently in Bolivia shooting landscapes and people to make the second film.We almost finished the making of a compilation of live and behind-the-scene footage from our first tour in the USA. We’ll be filming the second tour as well, I guess there will be enough tape then to make a DVD.

I SEE THE BAND HAS BEEN BUSY WITH A SIDE PROJECT CALLED “A BACKWARD GLANCE ON A TRAVEL ROAD” AND THE ALBUM OF THE PROJECT CAN BE DOWNLOADED FOR FREE AT http://www.dl-abackwardglance.com/. BY DOING THE SIDE PROJECT ARE YOU GUYS INSPIRED AGAIN TO WORK ON NEW MATERIAL FOR HYPNO5E?

It’s done. We almost finished the recording of the second Hypno5e’s album. Inside of it we put the violence we couldn’t put inside ABGOATR, so let me tell you that it will be pretty violent!

WAS IT FUN TO DO SOMETHING A BIT DIFFERENT WITH “A BACKWARD GLANCE ON A TRAVEL ROAD” AND EXPLORE THE AMBIENT SIDE OF YOUR MUSIC AS FAR AS POSSIBLE?

Fun is not the right word, in A Backward Glance On A Travel Road we expressed all the 5 years we had just spent on the Hypno5e project, giving up family projects, giving up school, giving up jobs, isolating from the moving city to spend all our time on it… I think all the dark side of our music expressed there. We were kind of depressed having to fight bare hands against the music industry wall, trying to have legitimacy; A Backward Glance On A Travel Road is a result of the low times.

WHAT DOES THE BAND HAVE PLANNED FOR THE REST OF 2010?

We come back to the USA on the “Metal as Art Tour” with Revocation and The Binary Code from January the 6th to February the 6th, and we go on touring by ourselves until the 6th of March to visit the states we couldn’t hit in one month. Then we’ll tour France from end of March to mid-April, then tour Europe until May, and eventually tour in Australia and Japan in June. This is what we plan to do and we’ll do our best to achieve, because that’s what we do.

ANY COMMENTS OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

First thank YOU for this interview, for your interest and your support. Having the opportunity to do it I’d like to thank all the people who kindly hosted us in their homes or venues during our last tour, it was really awesome, if you hadn’t been there we wouldn’t be coming back, so see you there once more!

BEING

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ICARUS PHOTOGRAPHY
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/musicforbeing
COUNTRY: United States STYLE: Metal / Progressive / Ambient

YOUR MUSIC SEEMS TO HAVE SORT OF A “SPIRITUAL” FEELING TO IT. I GUESS YOU GUYS AIM TO GIVE YOUR MUSIC AS MUCH EMOTION AS POSSIBLE?

Cas / Vocals: Absolutely. Music is a very emotional experience for both the creator and the listener. It shapes our memories, society, lifestyles, and perspectives. Spirituality is the very same, and many if not all spiritual pursuits involve or incorporate music on one level or another. The aim with our music is to reach a universality, one that can transcend any one category or genre and gather eclectically from all sources of inspiration. The hope is that our music will be appreciated by any ear that hears it on whatever level they see fit. We put a lot into our songs, but it is up to the listener to decide how much they take from it, and how it applies to their own lives and realities.

Josh / Drums: Emotion, I would say is what carries the band inspirationally. Without emotion, there would be no reason to be doing what we are doing.

Eddy / Bass: Definitely. Combining the group's points of views and expressing a wide range of emotion is part of our music's purpose and allure.

THE BAND’S SONGS HAVE THAT AMBIENT SOUND ALL THROUGH WITHOUT ANY INSTRUMENT “DOMINATING” THE OTHER. WHAT INSTRUMENT IS USED TO DO THE MAJORITY OF THE WRITING AND HOW DOES EVERYTHING GET ADDED THEN AFTERWARDS?

Cas / Vocals: I think its safe to say we take pride in being a band where ever member contributes equally to the writing and creative process. While there may be rough drafts recorded or programmed by a few individuals in different ways, mostly because of the geographical distance between us, as a song develops it really blossoms into a nice synchronicity between the whole band. What starts out as something very basic is elaborated upon and hashed out together. There is a synergistic feeding of ideas and suggestions, and everyone is more than capable of voicing what it is they like, and don't like; or, if they think they have a better idea all-together. We have many influences from all corners of the music industry both past and present, it would almost be counter-productive to limit ourselves to the ideas of just one. The chemistry is almost unbelievable, and we never find ourselves short of material.

Eddy / Bass: It all depends on who comes in with an initial idea. A lot of times when we get together for rehearsal one or more of us will have an idea in our minds, play it for the rest of the group, and start building off that idea. From there the concepts and ideas about the song are born.

YOUR VOCALIST HAS A VERY CLEAN AND CLEAR SINGING STYLE WHICH IS A BIT RARE THESE DAYS. WAS IT A CHALLENGE TO FIND THE RIGHT TYPE OF VOCALIST IN THE BEGINNING?

Josh / Drums: It wasn’t a matter of what type of vocalist we wanted; we had always known what we were looking for to compliment our sound. It was more a matter of finding someone who could fill the shoes, which turned out to be a much more difficult process than imagined.

Eddy / Bass: Yes! We had auditioned many vocalists claiming to be things they weren't, and were almost at a point of settling for someone mediocre, but after searching for 2 years, we finally got our break!

DOES THE BAND’S LIVE SOUND DIFFER MUCH FROM WHAT YOU HAVE ACHIEVED IN A RECORDING ENVIRONMENT AND HOW DO YOU GUYS PLAY YOUR “SOUNDSCAPING” EFFECTS LIVE?

Cas / Vocals: Our live sound is in the long term aimed to sound like the record, yes, but, the process of getting there has been a bumpy one. Hasty house sound employees and unfamiliar venues have made it difficult at times to reproduce all aspects of our songs with the level of accuracy we'd like, but we'd be fools to expect it to be perfect from the get-go. It does improve with every show, and we only see every error as an opportunity to better ourselves and make the next live just THAT much more worthwhile to those who come.

Josh / Drums: Our live sound offers a good balance between ambient effects, and djenty fullness. We are still in the process of finding the perfect balance to achieve our most effective live sound. Realizing that our “soundscaping” effects play such a large role in our uniqueness, we try to bring as much as it into the live shows as possible.

LIKE MANY OTHER BANDS THESE DAYS YOUR MUSIC DOES NOT FOLLOW “CONVENTIONAL” SONG STRUCTURES. DOES IT TAKE A LOT OF REHEARSAL TIME TO EVENTUALLY GET A NEW SONG RIGHT BEFORE RECORDING AND LATER ON FOR LIVE SHOWS AS WELL?

Cas / Vocals: Every member is very familiar with theory and the progressive music scene so, to us its not all that much different from rehearsing 4-chord blues or and power-chord pop or rock. Its just how we enjoy playing, so, when its something you enjoy and immerse yourself in on a daily basis it doesn't seem much different or any more difficult to do oneself. While we know most of the world finds comfort in what they are familiar with in music, there is a growing appreciation for complexity and innovation. We hope to help provide this for our listeners because its what we love to play most. Its exciting to grow up and watch the music scene mature over the years. We just hope to be a link in the chain to the right direction.

Eddy / Bass: Not necessarily. To me what takes up the most time is putting a song together and making sure all the parts fit per the specs of the band. Once we decide that a song is “complete”, we all get the hang of it fairly quickly.

Josh / Drums: Most of our rehearsal comes from the actual writing process. By the time a song has been “completed”, there isn’t much rehearsal needed.

YOU GUYS HAVE A COUPLE OF SONGS POSTED ON MYSPACE. DO YOU RECORD EVERYTHING YOURSELVES AND WHERE CAN PEOPLE GET THEIR HANDS ON YOUR MUSIC?

Cas / Vocals: We do in fact record all of what is currently available ourselves. We have slaved away to save up for two central in-home studios, alongside working countless hours to learn complex software and hardware in order to produce the sound and final product we wanted. We've just released our first EP, "Premonition", soon to be available on CDbaby, our upcoming website, and myspace itself. We hope to list on Itunes by the end of the year, and are saving and planning a trip up to Baltimore to record with one of our most respected musician friends, Mischa / Bulb from Periphery. We have a huge amount of respect for his recording insight and abilities and hope he will be the one to take the EP to completion.

WOULD YOU SAY THE BAND HAS FOUND ITS “SOUND” AND ARE THERE MORE THINGS THAT YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE TO ATTEMPT MUSICALLY IN THE NEAR FUTURE THAT YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT?

Cas / Vocals: Our main focus now is fine tuning the EP we have now, solidifying our live show, and getting up to Baltimore to give the songs the true professional sound we think they require and deserve to be taken seriously in this industry. We all work very hard, and don't get any handouts or help. I'd like to think we've found our sound, but each of us is also aware that there is no roof in music. We will continue to develop, refine, and innovate our sound to our own artistic needs, and to the desires of that of our fans. We like to deliver something that is always fresh, dynamic, and enjoyable by both the listener and maker. Just as we'd get bored playing the same style, the listeners would get bored hearing it. In the long term, we hope our fans can know they can always come back to us for something new, instead of the same 'ole same 'ole.

Josh / Drums: We definitely have found a “niche” or two that we would like to maintain throughout our writing processes, but are always excited and aspiring to create something even more worthwhile.

Eddy / Bass: I definitely feel we have a certain “sound” to the music, but would never limit ourselves to only one thing. As a group we will travel thru all kinds of music while still keeping “real” to our core foundation, being progressive/metal. That is the great thing about progressive music, it incorporates all genres!

MAKING THE TYPE OF MUSIC THE BAND DOES MUST TAKE A LOT OF GEAR TO GET THE RIGHT RESULTS?

Cas / Vocals: I'm a lead singer, I've used cheap house microphones before. Haha, that's a question for the rest of the guys! At least for live sound, that is. In the studio, I couldn't live without my M-Audio weighted 88-key midi keyboard, or the M-Audio external firewire audiobox. Also, Steinberg's Nuendo and Propellerhead's Reason are fantastic programs that have made our music what it is today.

DO YOU HAVE A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT THAT YOU KIND OF CONSIDER IRREPLACEABLE?

David / Guitars: Anything to do with our recording software or guitar sounds are irreplaceable. Years have been put into learning mixing techniques, and working with a variety of tones.

Cas / Vocals: Again, a question for the rest of the guys. Give me a house PA and mic and I'm set for live shows! As for in the studio, I really prefer an Audiotechnica condenser mic as opposed to a dynamic mic, and, a midi keyboard, at the very least for me, is irreplaceable.

WITH THE TECHNOLOGY OF TODAY YOU GUYS CAN MAKE THE MUSIC YOU DO VERY EASILY AND WITH MANUFACTURERS BRINGING OUT PRODUCTS EACH YEAR THAT MAKE IT EVEN EASIER FOR ANYONE TO RECORD THEMSELVES; DO YOU THINK RECORDING STUDIOS WILL DISAPPEAR EVENTUALLY?

Cas / Vocals: Well while music is easier to make now than ever, it is still a rigorous process, out of reach to many of people all over the world. We had to work for several years to even afford the hardware and software to record ourselves, and then by the time we could afford it, it almost immediately becomes obsolete. It doesn't help the common recording artist, and huge profits are reaped by the makers. Music programs are being cut, or replaced in schools, and the price of records discourage some from making music all-together. There is a lot of social stigma against those who pursue it as a "hopeless dream", but that is because those who stigmatize think we all are trying to be Michael Jackson, or Madonna; that we crave fame, or money.

If we find that much success, so be it, it would be a life worth living, but, if what we do positively impacts someone somewhere, and we enjoy playing it for them along the way, that to me is just as much a live worth living as the fame and glamour. In fact, by that line of logic, we've already won. Music shouldn't be used to get famous, or perhaps not even to make money, it should be separated from fame entirely. Music comes from the heart of the common man and woman. It comes during times of fear and happiness, strife and success. It tells stories, little, or complex, and changes lives, both in big ways, and in small.

Music is both the voice of the people, of the sounds we hear from our fellow man. I would love to see huge elitist recording studios disappear, not because what they do is bad or wrong, but because it prevents total creative sharing, and freedom. What the internet, and these programs, and even sites like Myspace and Youtube have started doing, is putting the spotlight on anyone with enough courage and talent to show it. Not everything is worth its weight in gold in these modern means of media distribution, but, there are definitely gemstones that, prior to this technological revolution, would very easily, and most likely, been lost to us, never to be known.

Eddy / Bass: I don’t think so. Even as things become more available to the average musician, I feel that studio’s will always have the advantage of experienced individuals who know the in and outs of recording. No matter how many programs are out there, you need knowledgeable seasoned people that know their stuff in order to get a quality professional recording.

David / Guitars: With all the options and software out there, if anything it’s made it harder. As more and more new software comes out, you are forced to relearn new tricks.We could easily steal easy templates on software, but everything we do with the band demands a lot of custom created tones and samples.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

Cas / Vocals: I would like to thank you for the interview, it really means a lot to us. We'd also like to thank all our family, friends, and fans who support us and make all we do possible, and worthwhile. We hope these are the first steps to something wonderful and beautiful for everyone involved; either way, it will definitely be a journey worth remembering, regardless of the destination!

[b]Heath Hughes, God, K80 (Behind every great man is a greater woman), My band members and my family.

David / Guitars: My mother, all my close relatives, friends, and the fans who demand more!

FALLEN FIGURE

PHOTO COURTESY OF FALLEN FIGURE
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/fallenfigure
COUNTRY: United States STYLE: Death Metal / Metal

WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELVES AS A “DEATHCORE” BAND AND WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NAMES THAT PEOPLE GIVE TO NEWER GENRES THESE DAYS AND THE IMPACT THEY HAVE ON THE BANDS THAT SUPPOSEDLY FALL UNDER THEM?

We would definitely not consider ourselves a deathcore band. I would describe us as a modern death metal band or even just a metal band. What we're doing and the music we're playing is just our generation’s personal interpretation of what old school death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation did 20 years ago. We're taking that aggression and mood, modernizing it, and then combining it with all of our own tastes and other various influences we've picked up a long the way. People can call it what they will, but we're just calling it metal.

And as far as categorizing a band and labelling them in a certain genre goes, that whole situation is a bloodied double edged sword. It's the listener that defines where a band belongs, and it's those same listeners and musical elitists that seem to have turned genre names like "metalcore" and "deathcore" into insults. Throwing up those walls around a band by confining them to a certain genre could be unintentional murder if the band doesn't have a means to break out of those metaphorical walls. Whether those means be the creative ability, money and support for that genres market, or just failure to replicate a certain sound that was achieved on a past record. It's a tough game we're playing, but its fun as fuck and we wouldn't have it any other way right now.

YOU GUYS PLAY SOME SUPER TECHNICAL TUNES. IS IT A CASE OF PRACTISE, PRACTISE, PRACTISE TO STAY AT THAT LEVEL AND ARE THERE STILL MORE THINGS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ACHIEVE MUSICALLY WITH YOUR INSTRUMENTS?

Ah, thank you man. Yeah, I'd say that it is somewhat a case of practicing to get to where we are at...but the tightness we achieve when performing these songs comes from the chemistry that we've built with each other through all the bullshit that we've been dragged through. Through countless hours of sitting in a van together on the road, practicing together and individually, playing shows & partying together, sharing beds, taking this band as seriously as we can, and having a common dream and goal...we've become a unit as a band.

I think that’s when a band really becomes more then just a group of people playing music together, and that’s what makes the music and performance real and believable. But that's not to say that we're happy with where we are at. We're definitely proud of how far we've come, but we plan on taking this band as far as humanly possible in a musical sense and in a literal sense, and there is still a very long way to go.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOUR MUSIC AS THAT IT IS NOT JUST TECHNICAL BUT THERE ARE PARTS THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY HEADBANG TO. IS IT HARD TO KEEP THAT BALANCE THOUGH?

Haha hell yeah! That's what we're all about man. Head banging, circle pits, weed, and metal. There's nothing better hahaha and as much as we try to please our own musical tastes when we're writing, we're always trying to make sure it has that groove that you're talking about. The one that takes control of your neck and commands you to bang your head. There is nothing else like it.

ARE YOU GUYS ALWAYS WORKING ON NEW SONGS AND HAVE SONG IDEAS “FLOATING” AROUND?

Always. We are constantly working on new material; we're just waiting for the proper time to bring all that shit forth. At this point in time we already have our first full length finished and ready to be put out...we're just waiting for it to be released. So right now isn't the best time to be actively working on new material as a band since the old material isn't even out yet, but that’s not to say we're not working on new shit individually though. We have a few new songs already laid out, about four or five new ones I believe.

Nothing is set in stone yet, but it's a positive direction we're going in. We've actually played one of them a few times live as our encore already haha. It's called "Expiration Day". In hindsight it probably wasn't the best idea to unveil that track yet, but since we're still unsigned and not necessarily in the "public eye", fuck it!

THE BAND ALSO USES BREAKDOWNS. SOME SAY BREAKDOWNS HAVE BEEN USED TO MUCH BY BANDS OVER THE YEARS BUT THE SAME THING WAS SAID ABOUT GUITAR SOLOS YEARS BACK BUT BANDS USE GUITAR SOLOS AGAIN ALL THE TIME THESE DAYS. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE ISSUE?

Comparing breakdowns and solos haha I've never heard that comparison before. They're total opposites in my opinion since it seems that a lot of newer bands these days are opting for the easy crowd pleasing breakdown over a badass solo, but I'm just taking your question too literally. It's the idea of musical trends that you’re talking about if I'm not mistaken. And we have both. We have a few heavy parts and breakdowns on our album, but so did Suffocation and Pantera though right? Suffocation is one of the greatest death metal bands of our time, and Pantera is one of the most legendary American metal bands of all time. You don't see people labeling them deathcore or metalcore, or any kind of "core" do you? It's all about the delivery and the way the music is performed and how the crowd reacts to that music.

That's one of the biggest misconceptions about us I think. The musical elitists come in and label us as something without fully understanding what we're about. Being labelled a "deathcore" act and then seeing us perform live are two completely different things. I'm not denouncing deathcore or anything; it just doesn't exist in the Fallen Figure camp. But breakdowns in general have become extremely monotonous and predictable. In my opinion it’s gotten this way because of how easy it is to get a 16 year old scene kid flailing his fucking arms...people just don't have to try as hard. I don't know...I could go on, but then I would just get as monotonous as the subject itself haha

IS THE SEARCH FOR A FULL TIME BASS PLAYER FOR THE BAND STILL ON?

Indeed it is. Fuck. How long has it been? hahaha We've had our old bassist Juan Ramirez from the band Dreaming Dead (www.myspace.com/dreamingdead) filling in for all of our shows so we haven't been looking as hard as we should be. Convenience turned to laziness perhaps?! But we are still looking and just recently decided to put the search into overdrive so we can find the right dude and move forward. We're looking for someone who is 18-25, has show experience, tour experience is a plus, professional gear, a drivers license and mode of transportation, some type of income (being in a band burns green, lets face it), can write and handle the written material, has an understanding of music theory, and Sonik will like you more if you play with your fingers. These are pretty detailed guidelines, so if you read this and think you mostly qualify; just hit us up and we'll talk it out.

FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO ONLY RECENTLY “DISCOVERED” YOU GUYS. DO YOU HAVE AN ALBUM OUT AND WHERE CAN I FIND AND BUY YOUR MUSIC?

We actually don't have an album out yet, but we're working on it. The album is definitely done though...so it should be out sooner then later. We hope. In the mean time you can stay updated with us and hear tracks off of our myspace page (www.myspace.com/fallenfigure). I'm also sure you can download some of our tracks from one of those music blogspot download sites if you feel like going on a cyber hunt for our music, but otherwise I'd stick with the myspace, facebook (www.facebook.com/fallenfigure), purevolume (www.purevolume.com/fallenfigure) or anything else you can find on the world wide inter web. And to those people who just recently came across us and our music, thank you for giving us a chance. We'll do our best not to disappoint haha

THE BAND DID A PERFORMANCE VIDEO FOR THE SONG WAKE UP. ARE YOU LOOKING INTO MAKING MORE VIDEOS BECAUSE IT IS ALWAYS GREAT TO VISUALLY SEE BANDS PLAY THEIR MUSIC?

Absolutely. As a band we've always been a fan of music videos, and the combination of music and a visual is definitely the most effective way to go about things. Whether it be album art, a live performance, or a music video...It's the full on visual and aural assault of the senses that gets the strongest and longest lasting reaction. And we are definitely going to be making more music videos in the future, that’s for sure. We're also going to be putting up more live videos, tour videos, and other forms of multimedia in the near future, so stay posted!

YOU HAVE SOME REALLY COOL SHOWS LINED UP FOR NOVEMBER. IS IT ALWAYS FUN TO GET OUT AND PLAY FOR AN AUDIENCE AND MEET OTHER BANDS AND THE PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT YOU?

Yeah, we have had some really cool shows lined up lately; it's an exciting time for us. Things just seem to be moving in the right direction and getting better day by day, it's fucking awesome haha. And playing out in front of people is one of the best feelings there is, nothing is comparable to it man. It's the reason why we're all in this band. And the support we receive from our friends and fans is what keeps us going. You're in on tour; you're cold, sick and tired. Motivation to pour your all into the performance comes in the form of a few kind words from a fan. Thank you to each and every one of you who has continued to support this band, hopefully we'll see you soon.

DO YOU STILL LEARN NEW THINGS ABOUT IMPROVING YOUR OWN LIVE SHOW AND THE INDUSTRY BY WATCHING THE OTHER BANDS YOU PERFORM WITH?

If we didn't take every moment out of the day to improve ourselves as a band and as individuals then we failed. It's as simple as that. Every day should be dedicated to self improvement and learning new things about yourself and others. Even if its only tiny progress, it is still progress none the less and in my opinion that is what every human should be constantly striving for in his/her life. Personal maintenance and upkeep of that progress is also incredibly important. For the sake of proving my point, let’s say you consider yourself a good friend. If you don't practice being a great friend every day, (or whatever it is that you believe yourself to be) then that attribute that you once considered a huge part of yourself slowly fades away. Loyalty, honesty, listening, respect, selflessness, and everything else "friendly" should be put into practice constantly.

Failure to maintain yourself is almost unnoticeable if you don't work on yourself ever day, and before you know it your an asshole! So with that being said, the answer is yes. We are always keeping our eyes out for things that can be improved upon. Playing out with professional bands with talent is one of the greatest opportunities that we could get right now. We can observe and absorb any knowledge that is kicked down our way and we were taking full advantage of that.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS; THINGS FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

Yeah man, thank you for the interview dude! We appreciate your level of seriousness in these questions, we’re tired of pointless interview questions already hahaha.

Stay posted for announcements on a release date for our record, upcoming tour dates, smoke weed, and thank you for the love and support we've received thus far.

We love you all.

STRENGTH WITHIN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MELISSA RUSSELL
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/strengthwithinband
COUNTRY: United States STYLE: Hardcore

ONE CAN HEAR A LOT OF OLD SCHOOL HARDCORE INFLUENCES IN YOUR MUSIC, BUT HOW WOULD YOU SAY THE BAND HAS TAKEN THOSE INFLUENCES AND MADE THEM SOUND “CURRENT”?

DAVID: When we first started the band we all decided we wanted to go back to the earlier sound of hardcore with every aspect of the music, from vocals to instruments. I grew up in the 90’s hardcore scene with a lot of music that wasn’t extremely technical but it was filled with a message and was just fun music. We wanted to create something that was filled with energy and kids could have a good time to. One thing that was important to me was that the music was able to stick in my head and have a catchy element to it.

I have nothing against all the shredders out there blazing a new trail in guitar skill and technicality. It is just not really what we are trying to go for. As far as making it “current” there are definitely aspects of our music that include the new-school “beat down” or whatever style you want to call it. We write music that we like and that pumps us up, I think age might also bring us forward some as we have some younger guys who come from the new-school of hardcore and add that new stuff into my old ears.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE BIGGEST “TREND” MUSICALLY AMONG HARDCORE BANDS THESE DAYS?

DAVID: I guess the breakdown is becoming something that gets out of hand with a lot of hardcore bands anymore. Discords are ruling the genre in a lot of places. I don’t want to sound like a hypocrite here…We have a lot of breakdowns ourselves but I think how you use them is pretty important in your music. What is your goal behind it? Are you just dropping a 45 second sludge breakdown because you figure out something else? I love breakdowns. Just used in the right context.

HARDCORE IS ALSO ABOUT BRINGING A POSITIVE MESSAGE TO PEOPLE THROUGH MUSIC. DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE REACHED ENOUGH PEOPLE SO FAR WITH THAT MESSAGE OF STAYING POSITIVE AND LIVING A STRAIGHT EDGE LIFESTYLE?

DAVID: I am not sure if we will ever feel like we have reached enough people with our message. Everywhere we go we see people who have so much crap in there life and are struggling just to make it through the day to day. Some of the stories I hear from people about things going on just makes me cringe inside. I don’t understand how we can do some of the things we do to each other in this world.

Some people take this as a weakness because we as a band care about the ones who are broken or messed up but our values and beliefs call us to care about those who are hurting. I have been through a lot of things in my life and the only way to get past the hate and everything else I deal with is to put other people in the front. I know the other guys feel the same, if we didn’t we wouldn’t be out on the road all the time away from friends and family trying to hopefully shed some light in a dark places.

THE HARDCORE “SOUND” HAS ALSO INSPIRED MANY SUB GENRES LIKE METAL CORE. WOULD YOU SAY THESE GENRES HAVE CAUSED HARDCORE TO BECOME HEAVIER OVER THE YEARS?

DAVID: I would have to say yes to that one. Yes, because I believe that in people’s minds hardcore is a ton of different genres anymore. When we first started we got compared to some crazy different styles of bands. I think one of the funniest things was when I read someone comparing us as a band to “Winds of Plague” and “Suicide Silence”. I have nothing against either of those bands but to compare us to them is kind of ridiculous.

I would never think of us as one of those bands but with the new generation of kids a lot of the boundaries in what “Hardcore” is have been generalized into one massive group. We are from where “The Devil Wears Prada” started off, they actually played some of there first shows maybe 2 minutes from my house and because of that we constantly get asked when we are adding a keyboardist…which is never.. Hardcore as a whole is getting heavier simply because defining what is and isn’t in the hardcore genre is getting harder and harder to put into place.

IS YOUR FIRST FULL LENGTH TITLED "WORDS TO SPEAK OF" AVAILABLE YET, AND ARE THERE A FEW SONGS THAT FANS WILL RECOGNISE OR ARE ALL THE SONGS NEW?

DAVID: It currently is not available yet. We are not entirely sure if we are just going to release the album on our own or shop it out to labels. We get a lot of messages asking for it and more than likely we will end up releasing it in January either with a label or without. We are very proud of it and I think it is a strong release from start to end. As far as songs on it, we definitely have the more popular ones on it like “Grave Digger” and “Stand United” but we also have some news ones on there that I think will surprise some people.

HOW MANY TRACKS DID YOU FINISH FOR THE ALBUM AND WOULD YOU SAY THE RECORDING PROCESS WAS AN EASY ONE?

DAVID: Our recording process is really enjoyable. Our drummer Travis has his own studio in his basement where we practice so if we write a new song then we can record it right then and really take it apart and make sure we are happy with each part of the song. It makes it where writing new songs is pretty enjoyable because unlike other bands that have to wait months to get into the studio and lay down there stuff we can have it within a week of writing it.

As far as tracks go, we have around 16 tracks as of now that could go on the album that will probably be taken down to 12 when it finally comes out. Some of those are re-done tracks from our earlier EP we released a year ago and those probably will not be on the record.

THE BAND ANNOUNCED IN AUGUST THAT YOU HAVE ADDED A SECOND GUITARIST, CHRIS CHAPMAN TO THE LINE-UP. THIS MUST HELP A LOT WHEN IT COMES TO THE SONG WRITING PROCESS?

DAVID: Chris has been a big help to us all-around as a band. He brings in an element that we were headed towards before but were still just skimming the surface of. Chris is all about the fast punk side of hardcore and he constantly is coming into practice with parts written that push us to explore that side more. If we would let him he would have the D-beats in every song. Dude is awesome hahaha.

IF YOU GUYS LOOK BACK AT THE “ROAD” YOU HAVE TRAVELLED SO FAR, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGES TO BEING A D.I.Y. BAND?

DAVID: Honestly the best part of it is that everything rests on us. I don’t have to worry about other people falling through on what they say they are going to do. We take everything we are a part of very professional and unfortunately that has not always been returned. Nothing upsets me more than when people are unprofessional and end up letting the ball drop. D.I.Y. ethics are so lacking in the hardcore scene a lot of times and it has always been the way to do things for me.

Getting your name out there comes easy to a lot of bands with labels and stuff. We have been working hard to get our name out there. A lot of fans are responsible for a lot of what we have from requesting us to venues and promoters to posting Myspace bulletins and stuff.

HAVE ALL YOUR SHOW EXPERIENCES BEEN GOOD OVER THE YEARS OR IS THERE A PART OF THE WORLD THAT WILL NEVER SEE YOU GUYS AGAIN?

DAVID: Honestly we have been treated well pretty much everywhere we go and we continue to play pretty much anywhere. Sometimes it is frustrating because we realize when go to certain areas there are going to be 10 fights during our set and our set will get cut short. We don’t really stand for all that, but with our sound it is almost expected to deal with it at times.

WHO ARE SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE YOU HAVE MET WHILE OUT ON TOUR, AND IS IT ALWAYS INSPIRING TO BE ON STAGE AND SEE PEOPLE “CONNECT” WITH YOUR MUSIC AND WHAT YOU ARE DOING?

DAVID: We have a lot of good friends from other bands that it is always awesome to hang out with them. We met some lady in Kentucky that wanted to trade some chickens or corn for merch that was pretty crazy. Also we played a house show one time that was filled with moments that were pretty interesting. We walked into the house and the person at the door started yelling “Can someone please get me a line of Xanax”. That night was filled with stuff that has yet to be reproduced in our touring.

There is nothing better than seeing people sing-a-long and connect with the words in the songs. I think all of us get pumped when we come into a new venue and people already know all the words and chants. We played last night and had some good friends of ours from Louisville drive almost 2 hours to see us play that is inspiring to have people care enough to drive that far to see us and they inspire us to keep going.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

DAVID: Thanks to you for the interview and the interest in us. Thanks to all the people keeping the scene going and working hard on booking shows. Thanks to the kids who come out no matter who is on the bill and show support to the venues and bands. Thanks to those who have every helped us in anyway. Peace.

BLEED FROM WITHIN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM BARNES / http://www.tombarnesphoto.com/
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/bleedfromwithin
COUNTRY: United Kingdom STYLE: Death Metal

EVERYBODY HAS THEIR FAVOURITE BANDS AS THEY GROW UP. HOW WERE YOU INSPIRED BY THOSE BANDS EARLY ON IN YOUR MUSIC CAREER AND MORE IMPORTANTLY HOW DID THOSE INFLUENCES HELP YOU TO CREATE YOUR OWN “SOUND”?

ALI (DRUMS): We all have the same main influences, and grew up listening to the same bands such as Pantera, Lamb Of God and Metallica. Working together over such a long time, taking influence from those bands and from all the new music presenting itself these days, we managed to forge a sound that we could finally call our own. There are lots of factors that affect this though; relationship between band members, difference in playing styles, overall image. You just reach a point where all this becomes apparent, you are honest with each other and honest about the band. It was at that point, we suddenly all knew what the band was going to be about.

Our debut release, Humanity, is our first major step in putting a brand on our sound. Something that people can hear and immediately tell that it is us. It was however the first proper studio session that we have ever had, and with the ability of hindsight, there are a lot of things that could have been done better. But we have learnt a lot since then, and our new album has given us a lot to think about in terms of song structure and musicality.

BLEED FROM WITHIN FALLS UNDER THE “YOUNGER GENERATION” OF EXTREME BANDS I GUESS. WITH BANDS BECOMING MORE TECHNICAL AND FASTER AS EACH YEAR PASSES, HOW HAVE YOU MANAGED TO STAY IN THE “GAME” AND PROGRESS?

ALI: We are definitely one of the younger bands on the circuit, and as I have said in previous interviews we find this works to our advantage. There is very little that we have to distract us from the writing process and touring. Nothing like marriage or mortgages to keep us tied down.

With each year, and each song we write, it isn't so much about comparing yourself to others and judging how extreme or technical the band is. We have stayed true to our sound since day one, and we have all worked together to make the songs that fit to our abilities. We are playing harder material on Humanity than we have ever done before, and with the second album coming very soon, the barrier is there to be raised, but at the same time, we don't want to lose all the groove that has became associated with the band.

We won't leave that style just to put ourselves up there with the fastest most technical bands about. We have made a name for ourselves in this genre for doing what we do; it's simply a case of perfecting your sound and sticking to what you know. That is the key to success.

WOULD YOU SAY THE BAND HAS MADE IT, OR IS THERE STILL A LOT OF HARD WORK LEFT TO REACH A HIGHER LEVEL OF SUCCESS?

ALI: This is a funny question. On the scale of things, it may look to some people as though we have 'made it', but the reality is that we are only on the first step of the ladder. We have yet to take our touring all over the world, we have yet to see some money, and we certainly haven't trashed any hotel rooms. We need a lot more chances at touring to get our songs around the world. There is just so much more to consider.

The hard work has only just begun. We have scraped together to get our own transport, and now we are just gearing ourselves for the release of the second album. It is a very exciting time seeing everything fall into place, but only time will tell whether major success is coming.

THERE IS A NEW SONG TITLED “MONSTER” POSTED ON YOUR MYSPACE. ARE YOU GUYS AIMING FOR THE SAME SOUND WITH YOUR UPCOMING RELEASE OR WOULD YOU GUYS LIKE TO HAVE IT SOUND A BIT DIFFERENT COMPARED TO YOUR PREVIOUS ALBUM “HUMANITY”?

ALI: Monster was a song wrote very late on for the first album, and the Thrash aspect is something that we have returned to on a few songs in the second record. On the most part, the songs are very different. The majority have taken on the groove and power as opposed to speed, but obviously we have songs there to cater for that as well. Thrash Metal has always worked its way into our music one way or another. The new material certainly has a different feel to it, for example, a further sense of maturity and overall better musicianship. A year of touring and an album under our belts has certainly taught us a lot about ourselves and what we are capable of.

YOU BASICALLY RECORDED THE BEST MUSIC YOU COULD IN THAT PERIOD WHEN THE BAND DID “HUMANITY”. WHILE CURRENTLY WRITING YOUR NEXT ALBUM; AS MUSICIANS DO YOU SOMETIMES THINK, “HOW ARE WE GOING TO BEAT WHAT WE DID WITH THE LAST ALBUM”?

ALI: That is something that is always present during the writing process. Every riff, every fill, every lyric, is constantly compared to the previous songs/album in one way or another. There is a fear that everything is too different, there is fear that everything is the same, then of course, you finish a new song and think it isn't as good as what has been made in the past. But these are just natural reactions to new material. We are changing with every year, personally and musically, so it is obvious that it will have some effect on the songs.

We have approached this album with a completely different mentality given our delayed release of the first album, and a recent line up change. This is more of a new beginning, a document of the last year, and of what is still to come. We feel that we have already pinned the last album to the post, but it is essentially a waiting game. The band will have to wait to see reactions from the fans, and, of course, the press. But after getting the pre production demos back, and hearing the power of these songs, I am confident that people will open their ears and listen to what has been made in wake of a long, frustrating year.

YOUR MUSIC SEEMS TO BE ROOTED IN A LOT ENERGY AND AGGRESSION. IS THAT WHAT MAKES MUSIC SO APPEALING TO YOU; THE FACT THAT YOU CAN EXPLORE ASPECTS OF YOUR PERSONALITY IN THE MUSIC WHERE YOU NORMALLY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO ANYWHERE ELSE?

ALI: Yes, our music has always been a place to vent our frustration and anger, or any emotion to be honest. It’s the pleasure of being in a band, you can convey all your emotions through the music and the end result is so much more rewarding than say, punching a wall. The energy is amazing as well. Between the 5 of us, you can watch a live show, and physically see us throwing everything into the music. That is one thing that some bands forget about, and whilst they sound flawless on recording, they can't handle themselves live, and they fall to pieces on the stage.

I think heavy music especially is a genre that demands a tight performance live, otherwise it just falls into a mess of downtuned guitars, slappy drums and observers will not get the full picture.


I MUST ASK; WHAT GEAR AND GUITAR TUNINGS IS THE BAND CURRENTLY USING?

ALI: Gear wise, the band are endorsed by Krank, Peavey and Orange. Craig uses a 6505+ and Div has been using a Krankenstein head for a while now. The cabs are Orange, and the tuning is drop B. Davie plays Spector and also uses Orange gear. My drums are Pearl, with a Black Panther snare and my cymbals are all Sabian. Finding the right gear is crucial in getting the right sound you want live, so it has taken a while to get everything perfect.

THE BAND HAS OPENED FOR SOME BIG NAMES IN THE PAST, AND YOU HAVE PERFORMED AT THE DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL AS WELL. ARE YOU HOPING THAT YOUR NEW ALBUM WILL OPEN MORE DOORS TO BIGGER TOURS AND BETTER SHOWS?

ALI: Download Festival was a massive jump in terms of gigging experience and live situations. We went out in front of that crowd as a band, and came off the stage as a changed group of people. That was when we began to notice a following, and we took a lot of confidence from that gig. Due to a late release of Humanity, we missed out on the touring schedule across the summer, and that is really bad for a band just making their name out there in the industry. You really need that big break early. So yes, I guess we are expecting a lot of good things to come of this second record.

It would be amazing to get out on the road with some big name bands just to get in front of a large crowd every night, and play our music to people who have never heard us before. And obviously, to play Download again would be an honour. It is an even that we have all attended in the past and it takes first place as the biggest baddest Rock/Metal festival out there. We are heading out on tour with the mad thrashers, Hatesphere, in December. Can't wait to get back out there again. It will be a sick tour without a doubt.

TALKING ABOUT ENERGY AND AGGRESSION. YOUR SONGS MUST HAVE CAUSED SOME REALLY COOL MOSH PITS IN THE PAST. WHILE PERFORMING DO YOU LOOK OUT AT THE CROWD OFTEN OR DO YOU JUST CONCENTRATE ON PLAYING AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE?

ALI: On our recent headline tour of the UK in promotion of our album, there were some pretty insane crowds. People hanging from the lights, stage diving, throwing themselves from the PA. We were amazed! Our hometown of Glasgow always promises some madness as well. Playing live we are usually immersed in the music naturally, but if something catches our eye like a wall of death spanning the width of a room, or someone throwing themselves from a PA rig, then we just have to laugh! But as I said earlier, our live performance is what we pride ourselves on most, therefore we are concentrating for the full time on stage. We take the energy of the crowd and use it to our advantage.

PLAYING A FULL SET OF THE TYPE OF MUSIC YOU GUYS DO MUST TAKE ITS TOLL AFTER A WHILE. HOW WERE YOU GUYS COPING DURING THE LAST PART OF YOUR PREVIOUS TOUR OR IS IT SOMETHING YOU GET USE TO AFTER A WHILE?

ALI: Touring is without a doubt the greatest part of being in a band. Having the opportunity to travel around with your best mates, playing the music you have made together, partying in a different city every night; it is brilliant. It's what we look forward to most. It can be hard with relationships back home, not seeing family, friends, not being able to keep a decent job, but these are all the sacrifices we make to be able to do this. Recently, we have noticed how the band has taken over our lives, becoming everything we do. This isn't just a hobby anymore, this is our life, and to make the best of it, we need to stay on top of things constantly.

Our last tour was 3 weeks over the UK, but we came home craving more. The first show or first couple of shows are always the hardest, just getting into the rhythm of the tour, then every show after just becomes second nature. Every day; wake up, cheap breakfast, drive, load in, sound check, warm up, gig, party. That is the routine, and I’m sure almost every other band will follow the same rules.

ANY COMMENTS OR THINGS FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

ALI: Our debut release, Humanity, is in stores or can be purchased from the band directly via our Myspace, so people should buy it and let us know what they think. We are also on the road around the UK in December with Hatesphere, and should hopefully be touring next year across Europe which is overdue I know. Our second album will be released in Summer 2010. Keep an eye for that one! Cheers to our fans, and anyone who has shown their support. Without you, we are nothing.

Thank you for your time!

the MARCH

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE the MARCH
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/themarchband
COUNTRY: France STYLE: Metal / Down-tempo / Screamo

HOW WOULD YOU SAY THE BAND’S MUSIC HAS PROGRESSED TILL NOW SINCE THE BAND STARTED?

SÉBASTIEN: the MARCH's current music has truly evolved and is different from the one at the beginning. Now it is more self-assured and assumed. We've succeeded to compose a coherent music in spite of our 5 different musical universes.

At first, we placed a lot of importance on the effects. But too much effects kills the effect. So we settled for just a good reverb, a good delay. Also, at first we wanted to be and we thought we were psychedelic, Post-Hardcore kind of band; it would have been a mistake to go on this way. We've refined our influences and our playing for something going more towards one direction only. From the 60's to Black Metal, to Folk music, to Metal / Hardcore stage in general, we think we might have succeeded to “think beyond the box” indeliberately.

We don't claim to be part of any particular genre. Whatever will happen to our music in the future, we will always be true to our personal musical culture; then people will like it or not. It doesn't really matter to me. We don't owe anything to anyone.

OLIVIER: It's true that at the beginning we tried to put different parts together although it didn't suit very well. Now it's more coherent. I think the best illustration of that would be the song “Ancient Seed” which is the last one we've written and of which the parts, I think, are the most coherent with each other in comparison of the rest of the songs of the EP. This is the most fluent song. Then, personally, I think our main influences are still around Post-Hardcore or Sludge-Metal...

DOES THE MUSIC YOU USUALLY LISTEN TO DIFFER MUCH FROM THE MUSIC YOU MAKE IN THE BAND?

SÉBASTIEN: I'm musically hard to please because of my very particular tastes. To pretty much situate my musical universe, I listen a lot to bands like for instance Acid King, Neurosis, Black Cobra, Ufomammut. But it happens to me to blow my mind listening to classical or solemn music…
Since I was a kid, I've always liked “the dark substance”. So I think that in some way I find myself in the MARCH's music.

OLIVIER: There is not any specific style of music that we all listen to, that we all have in common. I think we all listen to very different kinds of music. The list would be too long but I mostly listen to Post-Hardcore and Punk-Hardcore kind of stuff, in the middle of many other styles, while some of the other guys listen mostly to Rock music of the 60's or Pop, Folk, and so on... But there are bands we can just all agree on!

THE BAND STILL MANAGES TO KEEP THAT “HAUNTING” ATMOSPHERE IN YOUR SONGS EVEN IN SOME OF THE DOWN TEMPO PARTS. IS THAT THE TYPE OF FEELING THE BAND AIMS TO ACHIEVE WITH EVERY SONG?

SÉBASTIEN: I think there will always be an atmosphere both oppressive and aerial in our music; we appreciate it that way.

OLIVIER: It wouldn't upset me if sometimes we would play more loud, dirty parts (I really enjoy listening to what The Abominable Iron Sloth or Admiral Angry do) in a song but I believe this haunting atmosphere is a big part of our identity.

THE TWO SONGS THAT I LISTENED TO ON MYSPACE DON’T FOLLOW CONVENTIONAL SONG STRUCTURES. HOW DOES THE BAND APPROACH THE SONG WRITING PROCESS AND HOW DO YOU GUYS USUALLY DECIDE ON THE DIRECTION A SONG TAKES?

SÉBASTIEN: It's always chaos during the writing process.

OLIVIER: For the 5 tracks of the EP, most of the time JB (guitar) came up with a riff or a part of a song and we all worked out around it with our own instruments. And so we built each part of each song progressively. Usually the screaming parts came the latest but most of the time I write my lyrics before a song is created and I adjust them while the song is being built.

We don't agree all the time with what part to do, when and where but generally we modify it until everyone does agree. Now, the line-up has changed and Guillaume (new guitarist) is fully part of the writing process. He comes with new ideas and the music we are currently writing is definitely imbued with his musical identity.

YOUR LATEST EP HAS A COOL TITLE “DEAD ENDS AND BLIND SPOTS”. WHO CAME UP WITH THE TITLE AND HOW DOES IT RELATE TO THE MUSIC ON THE EP?

OLIVIER: When I started playing music, my personal goal was at first and above all to put a bitter, painful, intense and loud music on my lyrics, to express them (I started to write a few stuff before actually joining a band). And so the title of the EP is above all the title that I think suits the most with the lyrics I've been writing for the last years, that summarizes the best what I say through my words, how I sometimes feel.

WERE THERE ANY SPECIFIC GOALS THAT THE BAND WANTED TO ACHIEVE MUSICALLY WITH THIS EP AND HOW LONG DID THE WRITING PROCESS TAKE AND WHERE DID YOU RECORD IT?

SÉBASTIEN: The writing process was long because the line-up changed a lot and so we redefined the music in a more mature way thereafter. It took about 8 months recording the EP but 2 years to build the band. For now, it doesn't have any specific goal but to materialize our music on a CD. Soon, if it can help us to continue playing music, then that's perfect.

OLIVIER: It was recorded by Olive from ElectrikBox (http://www.myspace.com/electrikbox) in the area of Lille (North of France).

THE BAND HAS A “STANDARD” FIVE PIECE LINE UP WITH YOUR MUSIC BEING BUILT AROUND VOCALS, GUITARS, DRUMS AND BASS. DO YOU SEE THE BAND EXPERIMENTING WITH ANY OTHER INSTRUMENTS IN THE FUTURE AND WHAT GEAR DO YOU GUYS CURRENTLY USE?

SÉBASTIEN: Sometimes, we discuss about trying to introduce some Sampler-guy, I don't really feel like it, we'll see… What I would like is a symphony orchestra.

OLIVIER: I don't feel like recruiting a sampler-guy at all either. Actually I don't think I would like to experiment any other instrument of which I know the existence … May somebody prove me I'm wrong, you never know... I prefer the music to be raw.

THE PACKAGING FOR THE “DEAD ENDS AND BLIND SPOTS” EP LOOKS REALLY GREAT AS WELL. DO YOU THINK THAT IN AN AGE WHERE EVERYTHING IS MASS PRODUCED IT IS BETTER TO SOMETIMES STAND OUT AND OFFER YOUR “PRODUCT” IN A DIFFERENT PACKAGE TO WHAT IS NORMALLY AVAILABLE?

SÉBASTIEN: Thanks for the compliment. I wish in the future, if we can distribute our music on a bigger scale, to keep a strong visual, to give the people something else than just a 2-page booklet with 5 guys posing. I give a lot of importance to the artistic design. If we had more resources we would have gone more far in the concept of the visual of the EP. But I am shocked to see and to hear people for who the substance doesn't have any more importance. They only have the style left. This is the problem.

OLIVIER: Yes. I think that music is not only about the sound. It's a whole. I believe the lyrics and the visual make us feel the sound differently. When one soaks up this other sides of music, one has a better idea of what one band wants to express, wants to say as a whole. When you release something that's concrete it should be worked on as a complete piece of art.

I SEE ON YOUR MYSPACE THAT THERE ARE A FEW PLACES UNDER YOUR UPCOMING SHOWS SECTION THAT SAYS “BOOK US”. I GUESS THAT AS AN INDEPENDENT BAND ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IS GETTING SHOWS?

SÉBASTIEN: Yes, you're right, especially in France; I don't really know how it goes at your place or on other continents but in here everywhere you go you have machines that restrict the sound... (Decibel counters, they are machines that count how loud you play and in the bars, you cannot play if the volume rises to a certain amount of decibels). So you have a lot of bars where a lot of shows take place but they are not adapted for it. It's a paradox. Our music is pretty diverse, we need a lot of “power” in our amps; we can not do differently.

We don't run after gigs and they are mostly set in order to communicate with the audience. We have time; we're not in a hurry.

OLIVIER: Maybe it's going to be a bit easier since we've released something out. When you don't have anything to make people listen to, it's a pretty hard time to find some gigs. Moreover, France has never been a country where rock music (of any kind) is one of the prevailing music of our culture. So we might have less resources and structures adapted for loud music than in some other countries such as the US, the UK or Germany.

SÉBASTIEN: France has never been “Rock 'n Roll” and will never be. More ever, we can observe that we are unfortunately going back to a reformism that is of a conservative type, which makes the global culture regress. Soon, you'll see “Napalm Death acoustic show” written on posters. You know, in France people really like French singers who make Pop-songs. Heavy and loud sound “frightens” them or is not seen as serious.

WHERE WOULD THE BAND LIKE TO PERFORM IN THE NEXT YEAR AND ARE YOU PLANNING A FULL ALBUM IN THE NEAR FUTURE?

SÉBASTIEN: We would like to go and play in the south of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. A band must move around (get their fingers out) otherwise you stay in your cellar with your friends playing Metallica covers. A full album is conceivable but as we said, we are not rushing.

OLIVIER: I would go to the US, even though it's just a dream. I think it's musically the most innovative, original country. But if you can work something out in South Africa, we would be glad to come! About a full album, we'll see how long the writing process of the new songs is going to take. I'd like to experiment a new way of writing lyrics inspired of Surrealism and of André Breton's book Les Champs Magnétiques.