If you're a blogger you've surely crossed paths with Hemoptysis. If you are a frequent reader of blogs you've seen Hemoptysis pimped out. And rightfully so. Today is the release date for the first full length release Misanthropic Slaughter and in an effort to avoid the "The album releases today go buy it" lazy ass post, I have something a little more special in store. I sent over a batch of questions to Masaki, the frontman and ringleader of the band, and he graciously returned them to me in time to make the release announcement a bit more special. So without further ado here is the conversation with Hemoptysis' Masaki Murashita after the jump.
So last night we had the webcast for the Ensiferum, Finntroll, and Barren Earth show at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. I hope everyone that watched enjoyed it. The one band on the bill that I was interested in was Barren Earth seeing as The Curse of the Red River was one of my favorite releases of last year. Draeden was attending the show so I threw together about seven questions just in the off chance he would be able to speak with one of the band members before the show. As luck would have it vocalist Mikko Kotamäki was on hand to not only accommodate Draeden with my interview questions but as you can see he autographed my copy of the cd that I had Draeden purchase for me. So here you go, here is the interview in all of it's 3 and a half minute glory.
Thanks to Draeden for doing all of this for me. Thanks to my son for the photo and the use of Movie Maker to rotate the video. And thanks to Mikko for chatting with us. Be sure to check out Baren Earth's music and also Mikko's other project Swallow the Sun. Another fantastic band.
A week ago I did a review for the band Ana Kefr's upcoming release 'The Burial Tree". And I was pretty impressed with the quality of music I heard to say the least. So fast forward a few days later and I was asked to do a followup interview so as someone who can't refuse chatting up musicians I agreed. After the jump is my interview with lead vocalist/guitarist Rhiis Lopez.
A few days ago I requested an interview with The Project Hate and as it would have it I was granted said interview and quickly crafted up 20 questions. Well maybe not quickly but with a band of such depth it would not be right to just throw 10 questions out there. Lord K ended up being the recipient of my interrogations and I have to say he came out of it unscathed. So after the jump check out my interview with 'TPH' as we discuss Ruby Rocque, the awesome that is Sweden, and hatred for Christianity.
Replies by Lord K Philipson are in standard font. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
- No problem. Thanx for giving a shit.
1.For those unaware of The Project Hate MCMXCIX, how would you describe the band’s music?
Death metal and beyond. It's not easy to put a simple tag on what we do since there's not a single band out there who sound like us. As someone very wise once said: TPH may sound like a lot of bands, but there's not one single band that sounds like TPH. That rings true still to this day, and has done so since we started some 12 years ago. Give us a shot and try to come up with a suitable tag for our music. I dare you to.
2.Bleeding the Apocalypse releases on February 14th. How much more excited are you to get this released as compared to previous releases?
I have never been more excited, for quite a few reasons. We finally did it - the perfect album. By bringing in vocalissa Ruby Roque and drummer Tobben Gustafsson, my vision is complete. They have enhanced the music to levels I could only dream of before. Don't get me wrong, I love everything we have done but "BTNA" is something else on all accounts. It's just remarkable how everything just falls into place sometimes. This is what TPH is all about. Now I'll just work my way even more upwards from here. I can't thank my fellow musicians enough for fullfilling my dream to create the best damned music ever made.
3.The irony of that specific date is not lost on me. Will any significant others be getting anything on Valentines Day?
Absolutely. Being in a relationship sure calls for it. But to be honest, this is the first time I actually give a shit and decided to spend quite a nice chunk of cash on my beloved Mrs. K. She deserves it. Just like the world deserves a Valentine's gift in the shape of "BTNA". Only, this one is nothing but complete darkness.
4.This will be the first release with new singer Ruby Rocque, how did that partnership come about and will she still continue to do work with Witchbreed?
She left Witchbreed some time ago. I dig that band, and that's how I found out about Ruby in the first place. I got their album for reviewing at my site www.globaldomination.se and she floored me with her vocals. One thing led to another and I just acknowledged the fact that she needs to be in TPH. She deserves it. I hope she's with us until the end of the band comes, which I reckon will take some 50 more years.
5.Since Ruby is essentially the third female vocalist, how difficult is it transitioning to a new singer in the songwriting process?
Not difficult at all. I don't write music with a specific vocalist/vocalissa in mind. I write music that I love and want to hear myself, To have Ruby with me in this now just means endless of more possibilities coz she's so fucken good it's insane. I have never heard a girl with such power in her vocals. She really can do it all and it'll be pure joy to see what she comes up with for the next album. Fuck knows she already floored everyone with "BTNA".
6.Was the parting of ways with Jonna Enckell difficult after such a long partnership and do you still maintain contact?
It wasn't hard in any way, shape or form. Obviously some people who dug Jonna thought it was a disaster. Tough for them, I guess. It was the same when Mia was fired. The day I write music for them I will start to give a shit about what they think I should and shouldn't do with TPH. lemme tell you that it will take forever before that happens. Me and Jo weren't close, we had a working relationship and that's that. We are not angry at each other or anything like that. She understood my reason for dismissing her completely when I explained it and she took it very well, as expected. I wish her all the luck with her Siren On project. She's a very talented girl, but her time in TPH was up.
7.Aside from the change at female lead vocals, I understand there were other lineup changes. Can you tell us about those and how well it’s going so far?
I basically decided it'd be a smart move to ask my best friend (and colleague in my other band, Torture Division) Tobben Gustafsson (known for his work in legendary deathsters Vomitory) if he wanted to be a part of TPH. He's been an absolute fave drummer for me for so long and it puzzles me that I didn't think of asking him earlier. We have never had a better drummer in TPH and I don't ever want to see anyone else playing in this band when it comes to the drums. Apart from that guitarist Anders Bertilsson was dismissed quite some time ago due to lack of interest. Excellent guitarist and a good friend, but if you show no dedication to TPH you have nothing to do in this band.
8.How did the idea to infuse electronic and industrial with melodic death metal come about?
It was a real easy decision for me back in the day. I wanted something that held all the ingredients that I love about music. TPH was my calling. Album after album we have perfected our style and really topped our performances on all accounts. All of it leading up to "BTNA" - a showcase of absolute domination. It'll be quite an achievement to beat this album when I start writing for the next one. But I will beat it, just as I have done with every album.
9.All of your songs are so rich and in depth. What goes into the songwriting process to create such epics?
Time, dedication and lunacy. I have a hard time believing many people work as hard as I do with composing for their bands as I do for TPH. You wouldn't even begin to understand how much work goes into what we do if I told you. But then again - it's my fucken calling, it's my life. Satan wanted me to do this, and do it well. He's proud of me and TPH. And rightfully so.
10.Can you explain why Sweden consistently produces such excellent bands and how can the U.S. follow in that example?
I have no idea but I guess we are just a fucken talented country when it comes to this. The US has got long ways to go before you catch up with us. But then again, you have Vanessa Carlton. We can never beat that.
11.It seems that the constant theme among all of Project Hate’s works is a disdain for Christianity. Have you received any ‘hate’ mail from Christians or death threats because of your material?
Oh,man... yeah, you could say we have gotten our fair share of loveletters from these fucken retards. And I wish nothing but terrific torment upon them. Our wrath will rain down from the sky. You'll see.
12.Is it a conscientious effort to torment us bloggers and writers with long album names such as the current one ‘Bleeding the New Apocalypse (Cum Victriciis In Manibus Armis)’?
You prolly copy/pasted that, didn't you? You lazy bastard. There is always a reason, for everything. This title explains alot. It's not like I feel I have to have a long album title, but sometimes a few words aren't enough to explain what I wanna get through. This new album title explains perfectly what we are up to.
13.You have had two of my favorites in Dan Swano and Christian Alvestam involved in your work to some degree. How was it working with those guys?
As always - a joy. Those guys are so good it's not even sane. Swanö is a wizard and I hope he gets his acknowledgement on a wider scale real soon. He deserves it on all accounts. A true master. Älvestam is one of those fucken insanely talented vocalists who deserve to be on a few TPH songs. Both awesome, awesome people.
14.Who would win if there was to be a growl off contest? Lord K, Dan Swano, or Christian Alvestam?
I would fucken lose in a whim. I can't sing nor growl for shit. I am obviously talented as fuck in a lot of other areas, but singing is really not something I can handle. I think Dan would take the gold medal when it comes to growls. Älvestam would take the clean vocals trophy.
15.For the electronic side of your work who would you consider to be an influence to your work? Same for the metal side?
The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Astral Projection, DJ Shadow and hundreds of other excellent artists inspire me when it comes to the electronic side of TPH. Also a lot of movie scores inspire me for this. Metal wise it's not any particular bands, really. I guess all of it influence me in some way but I can't pick any specific bands who I consider to be an inspiration. Yngwie Malmsteen is a huge inspiration though, and I can't play solos for shit.
16.After a dozen years or so of making the style of music you do, do you foresee a trend where other bands mirror your style? And if so how would you adapt to stay unique from the pack?
We'll always be unique considering we are just that... Originators of a sound. Our sound. I don't think any bands would have the fucken strength to go thru the process of creating music like we do. It takes some serious dedication .Leave it to the pros. Leave it to me. You'll only suck at trying it.
17.Any plans to tour the States in support for Bleeding the Apocalypse? If so do you have any concerns about performing shows in our southern regions which are heavy with Christians? I’m talking Bible belt here.
I am talking complete annihilation of all that is holy here. TPH don't tour, so that's that.
18.While on tour will be there be any touring musicians or will Lord K be handling both bass and keyboard duties?
I will be playing the CD's thru the PA and have me a beer.
19.What is your favorite Dokken album and why?
Dokken fucken suck. Long live Tytan!
20.Thank you for taking the time to answer these at times silly questions. I hope it was a fun interview. Any last words you want to get out there? Any additional promo items we should look out for?
A fine interview it was. Thanx for giving a shit. I could go on about how we really, really need you guys to purchase the album from your local record store, or us directly - but no one gives a shit anymore so I'll skip it.
We are watching you. Behave.
And there we go. Thanks again to Lord K for giving such a great interview. A few things I'd like to clear up. I meant to say in the growl off question Jorgen,Dan, and Christian. Not sure if that would have changed the answer but I must have had Lord K on the brain. Also yes I did indeed copy and paste the full title of the album because yes I am a lazy bastard and the album's name is too damn long. Hope you had fun reading this I know I learned a thing or two from it. Make sure you get your copy of Bleeding the Apocalypse on February 14th in Europe and the 22nd in the U.S.
Yesterday we sat down and conducted our first interview of the year with vocalist Tomi Mykannen of Battlelore. This interview was unique for us as it was the first phone interview we've ever conducted(Skype if you're really tech savvy).So what better way to kick off the new year in terms of interviews then with a member of one our favorite bands eh? Tomi was a great sport throughout even in the midst of a dropped call at one point and some eye rolling moments from the both of us. In our defense it was 6 in the morning. But Tomi was awesome and answered every question to the best of his ability.
So without further ado please enjoy our conversation with Tomi of Battlelore as we talk about the band, the new album , and Tolkien. You can also download it to listen to at your leisure.
Thanks to Nathan from Napalm Records for the opportunity to do this interview and thanks again to Tomi for spending time with us. Make sure you pick up your copy of Battlelore's new album Doombound(with bonus DVD) when it releases on these dates:
Jan. 26 - Spain, Finland, Sweden
Jan. 28 - Germany, Austria, Switzerland, BeNeLux, Italy
Jan. 31 - rest of Europe
Feb. 08 - Canada, U.S.
A couple of weeks ago I did a promo piece on New Zealand's Legacy of Disorder which you can check out here. Communications continued afterward and I was able to land an interview via e-mail with guitarist Rana Freilich. He did a pretty good job of answering questions even the silly ones. So sit back as we talk about New Zealand, hobbits, tornados, and metal after the jump. Also included is the video for the track 'The Beginning' which shows a softer side to the guys. Sort of. Enjoy. Hey guys,
I hope the holidays are treating you well. Here are the questions I came up with to share with my readers on That Devil Music if you would be so kind to answer. Here we go.
1.If you were to explain your music to someone unfamiliar with the band, how would you describe Legacy of Disorder to them?
To me Legacy is straight to the point...with a heavy aggressive sound great riffs and important lyrics. You get a variety of vocals james can switch between heavy and melodic well and you get heavy kickass riffs and thoughtful solos and badass drums supported by some great bass guitar. I feel legacy covers most bases. We have a view while writing new material that often less is more if you know what I mean. The sound of Legacy is uncluttered and we wish to keep it that way. Legacy's motto is the song is king...
2.Just how big is the metal scene in New Zealand? Do you have a pretty good fan base there? I only ask that because I think we Americans can be a bit ignorant of anything outside of the U.S or Britain.
New Zealand definately has a metal scene happening here but theres simply far less people...I dont think its accepted as well as it is in america though. Metal is a big market in the U.S. We have a pretty reasonable fan base for how long we've been going and for the size of our country..We are very keen indeed to get and have our music heard all around the world!!! especially in the U.S!!
3.In my review for the band I mentioned being reminded of bands like Pantera and Devildriver. Is that a fair assessment of influences or are there other bands you draw inspiration from?
Yes I feel Pantera is definately an influence...devildriver was a surprise but a good one..haha. There are many influence in our music...to name a few...Iron maiden, slayer, slipknot, black sabbath to lamb of god...honestly due to there being age differences from 23 to 37 there are a wide range of influences. Most importantly we have our own sound.
4.This question is for Matt. How does it feel to be the only American in the band? Did you have any Visa issues like many bands have when travelling back forth?
Matt isnt here with me at the moment...but matt hasnt had any problems at all regarding visa's etc. And I really don't feel matt minds being the only american haha...That way he's got three crazy Kiwi's to hang and jam with.
5.The self titled debut was produced by Sterling Winfield who also produced Pantera and Damageplan. What was the experience working him like? And are you working with him again on the new album?
The experience working with Sterling was second to none...we learnt so much and really embraced it. And from that we became a better band and also better individual musicians I feel. Yes Sterling will be mixing our new album. And we wish to carry on working with Sterling in the future for sure!!
6.How sick are you guys of hearing about Hobbits and Peter Jackson by now?
Haha I kinda thought NZ was bitching over jackshit!!! just get the movie made so we can watch dodgy sneaky hobbits...dunno why but I kinda find hobbits sneaky...but all the books and movies so far have been fantastic..
7.I understand Legacy of Disorder is looking to go on tour. What would be your dream tour package?
Dream tour aye...ummm that would have to be with slayer, lamb of god haha with plenty of fun and partying!!! Honestly for us to go out with any well known band in our genre would be great for us. We are hanging to get on a good tour!! we really are.
8.Here is your chance to name drop. What tours have you been on in the past and can you share any odd stories?
We really havnt gone out with any major acts...that is what we are trying to make happen. We've had shitloads of fun on all the touring we have done though. And as for odd stories man there have been some odd things happen all right...our first time to Oklahoma was out of it...first we saw a tornado and loads of lightning all around us secondly we had to pull over on the highway as it was raining so hard we couldnt see the road ahead of us...then thirdly we got a flat tyre in the pouring rain and were running late for our gig. We don't see tornados or weather quite like that in NZ.. IT WAS LIKE FUCK THIS REALLY DID HAPPEN IN THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ!!
9.What kind of gear do you guys use and do you have any endorsements yet?
Matt uses tama and a variety of cymbals when he is here in NZ. Matt isnt with me here so I can't give you a full rundown of his exact equipment sorry. I use ESP with EMG pickups..PRS also on our new album to help with the rhythm. My main axe is my esp though. Peavey 5150 series 2 heads and marshall with vintage 30's several dime wahs and a digitech pedal and several other bits n piece my rig is simple and bullet proof. Im very happy with it. Jase uses ESP also and ampeg svt pro 4 amps and mesa boogie cabs. James uses shure mics live but for our new album has usesd some different mics that sound great.We have no endorsements...but please feel free to offer us some!!!!!
10.Going back to a new album, can you give us any information on it? What can we expect in relation to the first album?
Our new album I feel is carved of any unnessary fat...nothing drags on. The songs are thoughtful and solid with some great gear changes. I really feel the band has grown and the fans will be very happy with our new album. We were happy with our debut but feel this new album is a good step up!!!If you enjoyed our first album your gonna get slammed in the face by our new album...we hope to have the new album out by march 2011.
11.The holidays are coming up, what is a typical New Zealand Christmas like and do you guys have any plans?
A typical xmas over here I guess is hanging with friends and familly having a good time and enjoying the weather...but being big bad heavy metaller's we also enjoy the joys of drinking excessively haha. We are really busy with getting our new album recorded and then we are making another video clip pretty much straight after. I feel xmas this year for the band will be spending time with our loved ones as we are hoping to be really fuckin busy next year!!! and often our loved ones miss out on us!!!
12.Is there any final plugs or information you would like to share with the readers out there?
Please give us a listen!!! we are darn serious at what we do and are here for the long haul!!! we really want our music to get out worldwide and will continue through thick n thin to do this!!!
Thanks Rana for giving an entertaining interview to the readers:) As promised here is the video we were asked to post of 'The Beginning'.
So check these guys out. They really want to succeed and have the talent to do so, so give them a shot and if you like it buy the self titled. Look for the new album in March.
So as far as shows go, this one was pretty epic. Even the dreary torrential rains and the cold San Francisco weather couldn't keep the atmosphere down around the DNA Lounge where an almost repeat lineup from an earlier in the year show was to take place. Tonight on the bill is Epica, Scar Symmetry, The Agonist and Canadian favorites, Blackguard. The night started off kinda dodgy; to be honest I almost turned around when I hit a quarter of the way to San Francisco; the rain was coming down in buckets and I was afraid my truck would end up hydroplaning into a wall or something, but thanks to some previous communication with Blackguard's front-man Paul Ablaze and my setting up an interview for That Devil Music, I couldn't pass this opportunity up. I also had a meet and greet experience with Epica, and you just don't pass that up either.
I got there early, made my initial contact with Blackguard's bass player Étienne Mailloux who kindly passed on my arrival to Paul. While waiting, DNA staff placed a sign on the walls reporting that tonight's show will be recorded and streamed live on their website. I called Rob Liz, informed him of said awesomeness and later learned that he streamed it on That Devil Music. Looks like we'll be doing that more as time goes on.
After getting searched, through the doors and out of the rain, we were lined up to get our autographed poster (and my other items) and were able to chat the few minutes at the table. The line then circled around again and we then waited to get our pic taken with the whole band (something I have yet to accomplish in the previous meetings with them - until tonight). On a quick note, though I have two or three Epica shirts, I had decided to wear my Blackguard (to show my support) and Mark had joked to me as I walked up for my picture that I was wearing the wrong shirt. I know he was just messing around, but as far as I'm concerned, I was in exactly what I needed to be in..
So, being true to his word Paul came and grabbed me and we went up to the VIP area for our interview. He was truly thankful to have us do the interview and little did I know he was very talkative (which was unexpected and awesome). I guess I expected a metal musician to be of fewer words but I was pleasantly wrong. We talked about the beginnings of Blackguard, the comings and goings of band members (including the recent departure of keyboardist Jonathan Lefrancois-Leduc, old labels and their new partnership with Victory Records and a little bit of this an that. You can see part one and part two here:
Part one:
Part two:
For part two, I had to cut it short. There was a "DJ" there, and although he played some great music, I wish he wouldn't have started until I had a chance to finish my interview. You can still hear our conversation well enough though. Oh, and by the way: Eff you, Rob Metal.
All in all it was a great experience. Even though they tour non stop they still feel that they might not be as well known as they would like to be, hopefully with the new label behind them and a new Album (entitled "Firefight" due out in March 2011) on the way that will change. They all certainly have the drive and the passion to climb up the ranks of metal's finest.
After the interview (again, thanks Paul!) I headed over to the Merch tables which was packed with some great stuff (if only I could have registered there for Christmas gifts). I chatted with Terry Roadcase (off camera) and made a couple purchases. They are all dedicated all all know their roles. I always see Terry at the table, chatting with fans and selling their goods. They are all passionate about getting their names and music out there, as well they should.
After getting my spot at the right side of the front of the stage (which apparently was the spot to be because everyone who was watching the show online could see me clear as day (though I'm not so sure that's a good thing). And I waited patiently for Blackguard.
They never seem to disappoint. This is the third or fourth time seeing them and they always a packed with energy and give the crowd back the energy they're being given, which was a lot. They treated us to the greats from Profugus Mortis, This Rounds On Me, Allegiance, The Sword and also we were given a sneak peek to the upcoming release. It sounded amazing and I can't wait to get my greedy paws on it. As a treat during one of their numbers a smoking hot blue-haired pixie came out on stage and sang along, well more like screamed along. I wouldn't know her identity until the next band's performance.
Next up is Montreal's The Agonist. I can honestly say I know nothing of them though as their set went on I had realized too little too late that their lead vocalist and the blue haired angel who popped in on Blackguard's set was familiar to me. I actually read an about Alissa White-Gluz in the pages of Revolver Magazine in their "Hottest Women in Hard Rock" pictorial. Yeah, great choice Revolver.
So from my perspective, standing that close to the stage with ear protection, I really enjoyed their set. In talking to people who watched the show online they weren't too impressed with her performance but I also heard that there were issues in the streaming of it. I'll have to check out their music in the privacy of my own iPod to make a final decision on them. What I could tell from the show is that Alyssa is freakin' gorgeous but appears to be kinda over dealing with fans, dunno why, just an impression I got watching her body language and demeanor while she worked their merch table. I kept trying to get a good shot of her on my camera but she never really moved around the stage like Paul or even Simone or the guys from Scar Symmetry and her guitarist kept cock-blocking my camera (most pics attempted of her ended up with knees and crotch - not at all what I had hoped for).
Still I was entertained by their set which was just a touch longer than Blackguards. The band, for the most part seemed to love being on stage and playing music and it showed in their set.
Next up was Scar Symmetry who I've seen before with Epica in February at a venue down the street. That time I was only there to see Epica and Blackguard and couldn't care less about Bands I've never heard before. This time however, I made it a point to really pay attention to their performance. I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed the two vocalists and how they both seemed to blend really well together. Again, not really knowing much about them it seemed that they had a clean vocalist and a growly vocalist though at times I'm pretty sure I saw them both do clean vocals and some great harmonizing. I think I need to give their studio stuff more scrutiny because I think they put on a really good show, even missing a guitarist who was there but apparently broke his arm at a previous venue. They mentioned something about karate kicks and failed landings. After getting a good look look at the guy (who looked a LOT like Kerry King), I could see why the karate kicks wouldn't be a good idea.
Last but certainly not least was Epica. What can I say, they're amazing; though now I realize as I think about last night that this is truly the first time I've seen them live. My first time to see them, Simone Simmons was ill and they had Amanda Sommerville cover her spot. She really did an amazing job and I'm very thankful for her being there so they could keep the date. The second time I saw them, earlier this year in fact, Coen (their keyboardist) was getting married and so they had asked Kamelot's pianist Oliver Palotai to cover for him. He, of course, did a fantastic job and it was amazing to meet him and see him work his magic live. This time, however, it was the full Epica experience.
They were amazing. It was everything I had hoped for. Simone sounded great, the band was awesome (though it appeared that they had a couple technical difficulties here and there). All in all, they lived up to their standards and gave us all the Epica package we all spent our money to get. You put on an Epica live CD, that's what you get: Perfection.
Here's a pic with me and Epica
Here's a pic with me and Alyssa from The Agonist
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A few days ago I made mention of speaking with Kim Gosselin of Blackguard at the Nevermore show. Kim is the lead guitarist for the band and happened to be at the merch table after their set. I jotted down some notes of the questions I asked and since I didn't have anything that could record the conversation I'm going to have to play this by ear. So check it out after the jump.
1. When are you guys ever getting off tour? In order to make a living they have to continuously be on tour.They realize that cd sales alone could not sustain them so like any other job you have to keep working in order to survive.They should be done with this round of touring after the next Epica leg in order to go and record the new cd.
2.So you are writing music for the next cd while on the road? He writes songs when he can usually if there is a bit of a break from touring they'll sit down and write out some tunes maybe in a hotel or on the road. They were planning to do spend a few days of actual recording at a friends house in the area when the Nevermore tour came up.
3. When can we expect the new cd to come out? After the year is out and the touring stops they will go back and mix and master the album and finish off anymore songs and hopefully by around April the new album will come out. They do have 4 songs completed.
So there ya go, I spent about 5 minutes with him because he was trying to sell some stuff and I apologize that this reads more like cliff notes then an actual interview but it was the best I could do under the circumstances. In hindsight I wish I had Martin at least come over and snap a pic with his camera but nothing can be done about it now. A big thanks goes out to Kim for hanging with me and answering my generic questions and also for listening to me babble about missing them the both times I had a chance too.
About a week ago my friends at The Number of the blog did an interview with Chris Marchiel of the instrumental power metal band Powerglove. I'd like to thank Grover for introducing me to this band as do my kids because they play the tunes all the time. Well seeing as I had a bunch of questions of my own I decided to conduct my own interview with Chris. This is actually landmark as this is the first interview I've conducted for That Devil Music and only the second for the site. Chris is an awesome sport and gave great answers involving music, videogames,cartoons, and the diplomatic resolution to the oppression of left handed guitarists. So without further ado, here is the interview with Chris Marichiel of Powerglove after the jump.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my silly and unprofessional questions, Chris. Here we go.
1.For somebody who is unaware of your band how would you best describe the type of music Powerglove plays?
We take music from video games, cartoons and movies and remix and rearrange them into instrumental power metal songs. Some of our songs are faithful to the original but in a different style and context, some are 50/50 original riffs and theme music, and some are radical departures from the source material. Since we are mostly instrumental we can combine other kinds of metal (namely black and death metal) into the original sound pretty easily. I think we have developed a pretty recognizable “sound” from the last 2 albums that involves us piling up layers of harmony and detail and wrapping up progginess and shredding with ear candy transitions and melodies.
2.I was never fortunate enough to have a Nintendo Powerglove. Was it as good as they said in the commercials? If not what were its faults?
Oh absolutely! The famous “Powerglove” scene from The Wizard is in a way a pretty accurate demonstration of how it not only can maximize your skill and score, but also how the Powerglove puts you “into the game” in a way no one could have possibly imagined even in their wildest of gamer fantasies. Unfortunately it was quickly banned from competitive gaming (instead of the gaming scene simply adapting to the enhanced performance of the glove and raising the overall level of competition) and its reputation as a “crutch” for inexperienced gamers (called “noobers” by the more elite gaming castes) eventually damned the Powerglove to obscurity. We named ourselves in honor of the Powerglove to celebrate its tradition of overlooked excellence, since we aspired, and still do aspire, to achieve “troo kvlt” status in the metal world.
If the Powerglove had any flaws, it would be that it worked to hard to the neglect of its personal life, it didn’t stop to smell the roses often enough, and that it cared too much for the people it served.
3.Congratulations on the tour with Arsis and Conducting from the Grave. I understand this will be on the heels of a tour with Firewind and the Absence. There are some pretty heavy bands on these tours. How do you think the death/thrash and power metal kids will react by being in the same venue together?
Well, when some scenes cross over there can be awkwardness at shows, but we don’t fit in perfectly with any one band (and have a portion of our fan base that exists outside of the overall metal scene) so we’re used to that. Both of the bills you mention are interesting 3 band splits and of course I can’t predict how the crowds will mix but its fun to speculate.
With Firewind and The Absence, the show will be Melodic Death Metal -> nostalgia weirdos -> Traditional Power Metal with Ozzy’s guitarist (and Bob Katsionis who can play guitar and keys in harmony at the same time like a beast and gets so little credit!) Now this might seem weird but one of the most noticable things at shows like this is that often it’s our fans who ditch out on the other “legitimate” bands the most, since they are very diverse due to our various gimmicks and history in the video game remix scene. But they are usually polite about it. Of course some of the fans of the other two bands will think we’re ridiculous and stupid and who can blame them, but we design our sets to convert people who haven’t heard us before and preach our silly gospel to anyone who will hear it.
Then there is the tour with Arsis and Conducting from the Grave. Man this is going to be a fun tour; I think we’re going to get along very well with these bands and have some memorable adventures. This one is built like so: Melodic Deathcore -> basement dwelling manchildren playing Super Mario -> Tech Death with much shred. I think we’ll do better than people might expect on this one because if an audience is under 23 or so on average (and the closer to 18 the better) they’ll respond well to the what-the-fuck factor of us being there and of course we’ll tailor our stage banter and overall stage presence to emphasize how we are being silly and lighthearted about our gimmick, while also tailoring our set musically to the heavier and dark side of what we play.
4.My kids want to know if on the next album will there be any Kingdom Hearts songs or any later Zelda tunes such as music from Spirit Tracks?
Kingdom Hearts is a maybe, and I haven’t really thought about Spirit Tracks so I’ll check it out, but honestly I have no idea. We have about 7 songs we’re working on now and are looking for more, and some of those might not make the cut for the next album so even those we can’t be sure about. The only song I admitted to writing for the next record was Snake Man from Mega Man III, since I really, really want to do that one and won’t rest until we make a good version of it.
I guess the bigger question here is if we are willing to select songs out of our own Nostalgia Zones (1989-1999 or so, though some material was made earlier than that since we would play old games or watch cartoons in syndication.) For the right song, which would both have to be very popular and be fertile ground for our composing and remixing style, sure we would, but the emphasis will still be on the golden 90’s; it might have been a dark time for metal, but it was a glittering city in the clouds as far as cartoons and games are concerned.
5.I noticed you play guitar left handed like me. Do you share my annoyance that guitar shops have maybe 3 left handed guitars compared to the hundred right handed guitars? Who should we lobby to get equal rights for southpaws?
I actually play a right handed guitar upside down, without restringing it backwards or anything (So my high Eb is on top and Low Eb is on the bottom.) This has some of its own problems, such as having to tape up and remove knobs since they get tweaked by my picking hand wrist which rests on them, having to redo the side fret markers and strap screws, and various little things like that. I play flying Vs only right now, since they are symmetrical where the body meets the neck so there are no cutaway issues when playing the highest frets and they are evenly weighted so they aren't awkward upside down.
Also, I’m right handed with most things, and our bassist Nick is left handed and plays bass right handed, so we’re all kinds of screwed up really.
6.A few years ago you did a Youtube tutorial on how to change a Guitar Hero controller into a Guitar/synth hybrid. Did you ever try to get a patent for that thing and try to sell it to fund the Powerglove machine?
I got several offers from people wanting to buy that thing, but the problem is it wasn’t a self contained instrument. It needed a computer running the software I made, all sorts of cables, and a guitar processor. The offers I remember were for about 500 bucks, which seems at first like a great deal for me, but I don’t think the costumers would have been satisfied since it was such a precarious instrument that needed a computer to play (and I hadn't tested the software on any computer so that would have caused problems) and also if it included the processor and cables along with the guitar hero controller itself the profit would have been smaller than anticipated.
It’s been, I don’t know, I think 3 years since I put that video up. I made it in one all night session while I wasn't exactly in my right mind and did the video a week or so later since I realized it could promote our then new album Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man. I certainly didn’t imagine talking about it years later!
7.Continuing with Guitar Hero, when you toured with Dragonforce did you ever challenge Herman Le to a battle? Or even Sam for that matter?
Hahahaha no, I was terrible at Guitar Hero the few times I played and Dragonforce weren’t into it either. The game was amazing publicity for them but they were quite sick of it understandably so we only would bring it up to make fun of them and drive them crazy.
8.The costumes you guys wear onstage, who did the design and creation of them and how comfortable are they to wear after about an hour or so?
Our costumes were designed by K-Tron, who has worked with Gwar and Kaiju Big Battel. She’s doing some new stuff for us right now then we might have ready for the Arsis tour (hopefully.) At the end of a set they feel fine, but when we first put them on they're pretty annoying and get in the way all the time. The smell is easily the worst part of it, then the lack of comfort, then the annoyance of setting up all our gear then running backstage to change when we’re the opening band.
Here are said costumes
9.On the new album Saturday Morning Apocalypse due out any day now, you guys featured guest vocalist Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica. How did that collaboration come about?
He decided that singing the Pokemon theme song with us was the most elegant way to destroy his credibility and commit career suicide, so we were glad to help him out and wish him luck in all his future endeavors.
But really: On the last day of touring with Sonata Arctica, we had a big farewell ceremony with lots of pictures and hugs and Tony mentioned to us that he had some free time after the tour and since we were recording at that time he wanted to try singing on a song for us. We of naturally said yes and after thinking about it Pokemon was the obvious choice for a full song, and we also asked him to do the “The Simpsoooooons…” intro to our Simpsons Theme. He not only went to town on the Pokemon song and added in tons of his own harmonies and vocal ideas, but also composed a vocal section for the Simpsons on his own which we ended up increasing the length of the song to accommodate it. Basically he’s the man.
10.Will there be any more guest vocalists on future projects? If so, who would you like to collaborate with?
Probably, not sure about the next album since it’s all video game music but who knows. Vocals make more sense over the cartoon themes that had vocals in the original versions, and doing them for video game music is very problematic and I feel like they would be a detriment to the overall music on the video game stuff. Hansi Kursch from Blind Guardian is probably my favorite vocalist, and the old vocalist from Galneryus (Yama-B) would be amazing too.
11.The male to female ratio for gamers is pretty lopsided in favor of guys. Do you think your music will help alleviate this imbalance?
Well, the gender balance is far better with video games than with metal!!! Most of our female fans come from the gamer world, so our m/f ratio is slightly better than most power/death/whatever metal bands in the US. So yeah it’s reasonable to assume that Powerglove will someday singlehandedly obliterate the gender gap in heavy metal, sure.
12.Saturday morning cartoon watching has tragically declined in recent years(thanks Nick). What cartoons were your favorite in the glory days?
My instinct is to agree, but I really can’t be objective on this one since A: I have some sort of unnatural reverence for the cartoons of my past and B: I don’t watch modern children’s cartoons. I happened to see “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack” yesterday for the first time and it wasn’t bad, though the main character had that spongebob just-want-to-smack-him factor. Hopefully the old school greats are still airing in repeats somewhere.
Aside from the one’s we covered on Saturday Morning Apocalypse, many of my favorites were the classic Nicktoons lineup. Ren and Stimpy, Doug and Rocko’s Modern Life were big ones. Then there were the other classic ones like TMNT, He-Man, Thundercats, and Voltron.
13.Thank you again for taking time out to answer my ridiculous questions. Would you care to use this spot to promote Powerglove’s tours and albums one more time for the readers? No problem! Well our album will be out by the time people read this (Sept. 28th) so please check it out and hear some songs from it. If you haven’t heard us yet I understand your apprehension and skepticism but listen to at least two songs and see if we exceded your expectations. After that you’re free to love us or hate us as you will.
Through November and December we’ll be on tour with the bands described above, and possibly will have one more show in November that we could announce soon if it works out. We’re booking some more tours after those so hopefully we’ll be hard to avoid seeing in 2010-2011 and we’ll be one of those “Oh they get every tour what bastards! How do they get on all those tours they don’t deserve!” bands.
And there you have it, great answers to my first ever interview from Chris Marichiel. And to close it out here are a couple of personal favorite tracks from Powerglove and a teaser trailer for the new cd, Saturday Morning Apocalypse. That gives everyone an extra day to become aware and go out and buy these cd's. Go here for more information.
So, Friday night before their show at The Boardwalk in Orangevale, CA, I had a chance to hang out with the lovely ladies of AroArah and ask them a few questions about who they are and what they’re about. In the process we have some laughs, talk about balls and make up a new word; Manthem. O'm sure it will catch on.
Here is my interview with AroArah!
TDM: This is That Devil Music with AroArah. What’s up, girls?
LG: How’s it going?
TDM: What’s happening? Ok, first things first, why don’t you introduce yourselves?
MaK: I guess I’ll start. I’m Mackenzie Knoester, I play drums in AroArah.
MoK: I’m Morgan Knoester, I play guitar.
CB: I’m Chelsea, I play Bass
LG: I’m Lydia, I play rhythm guitar and lead vocal.
LM: I’m Liani and I play Guitar, Violin and Piano.
TDM: Awesome. So how did you come up with the name AroArah and its particular spelling?
LG: Basically, um, it started back in garage days, I think we were ranging from like, I don’t know, 4 to 15 (years old) and um, we were just going through different variations; we wanted something that was strong and feminine at the same time and edgy. So we thought Aurora is the Roman Goddess of dawn. We thought it was beautiful and powerful and Mackenzie actually came up with the spelling of the name. She thought it looked cool, kinda like, I don’t know, the big letters on the side of Metallica or something.
CB: Ours is more in the middle, rawr!
LG: Yeah.
TDM: Very nice. So, who are your guys’ musical influences? Who inspired you to be musicians?
MaK: Really, all of us have different influences ranging all the way from classic rock to pop to everyone in between. 90’s, 80’s, 70’s.
TDM: Ok, so how about what’s in your cd player right now?
LM: Aroarah!
MoK: Right now?
CB: Do you want all of us to do this individually?
TDM: Sure.
MaK: Actually, I have Led Zeppelin II
MoK: I have an old Under Oath CD actually.
CB: I have Stone Temple Pilots.
Lyd: Nirvana – In Utero.
LM: I suppose I have The Mis-education of Lauryn Hill.
TDM: Very nice.
LG: A very broad spectrum.
TDM: So, how supportive is your family and friends with this musical venture?
CB: Our family and friends are super supportive. They’ve been supportive since the beginning and we love everything that they’ve done for us with helping with promoting the band and managing the band to, you know, friends coming out to all of our shows it’s just been awesome.
LG: Yeah. Everybody’s been really cool, you know, they sell merchandise for us, they tech for us and stuff. It’s like a really big family. That’s how we like to make it.
TDM: Very good. So you guys are sponsored by ESP, who also sponsors members of Metallica, Alice In Chains, Lacuna Coil, etc. How has that partnership worked out so far for you so far?
MoK: Oh, fantastic. They’re like family to us. Actually, yeah, we have one here with us today.
LG: Yeah, Scott from EMG (pickups) is actually hanging out (laughs) here right now.
CB: In our our back yard
LG: …Who actually (works with) Lacuna Coil, Metallica like all of those.
CB: And Mark and Allen from ESP have been really great guys, they’ve helped us out with everything for the past four years. It’s just been awesome.
LG: Yeah.
MoK: Yeah.
LG: They’ve got a lot of balls, you know what I mean, because mainly they have the Metal genre, with a lot of things that they endorse and sponsor. And it’s really cool that they have us on board, because we are something that is so drastically different, so it’s actually, it’s um, we’re honored.
MoK: We just got hooked up with AKG as well and we’re totally different from what they have already, so it’s really cool that we can become part of their family as well.
TDM: That’s great to hear. So can you guys talk about a few of your songs? Like “Payback is a Bitch”, “In Dreams”, some of the older ones? What are some of the inspirations for some of your songs?
LG: Life experience. Pretty much, in general. Um, “Payback is a Bitch” is a really cock-blocking manthem. Manthem?! (everyone laughs)
CB: That’s great!
LG: Manthem. I guess it’s a new word, you know, ‘cause we have really big dicks. (laughs) So we cock-block ourselves in a sense: I don’t know. But um, “Payback is a Bitch” is pretty much a ‘hater song’. You know what I mean; someone who did you wrong and guess what, shit comes back tenfold. That’s what that song’s about. “In Dreams” is kind of like a subconscious backing song. It has to do a lot with, you know, your inner thoughts that, you know, comes out in your sleep and um death and….
CB: It’s very poetic.
LG: Yeah. There’s a lot of symbolism in it. So, a bunch of craziness.
TDM: Cool.
LG: ‘Cause I’m crazy (laughs)
CB: We’re all crazy: we all have big balls.
(laughs)
LG: Manthem!
TDM: So you recently received some help from Liani here when Morgan broke her hand. Now she’s performing with you. Is she a permanent addition and if so How has this changed the dynamic of AroArah?
LM: We actually haven’t talked about that yet, so this would be a good forum for that, right?
LG: I know, right? Liani, are you a permanent member of this band?
LM: You asking me to go steady?
(laughs)
LG: Will you were my letterman’s jacket?
LM: Where’s the fucking jacket?
LG: (Laughs) Uh. Liani’s cool because she plays violin and piano and guitar so it’s like if I wanna step up and be that front man, Manthem, and you know, command the stage, she’s got my back, she can pick up the guitar and then when I play she can get down on the keys and the violin and she really just rounds out the sound and I think it makes it ten times bigger. It’s a fucking great addition and I hope you continue to play shows.
CB: And another great thing about Liani that we didn’t know til after she started playing wish us is that she has a great voice, you know. Harmonies, and everything. It sounds really good. You know, we got the screamer and then we got the harmonies and it’s all, it’s all working out really well.
TDM: That’s awesome. I look forward to hearing it tonight. So, Lydia, you recently went to audition for American Idol; what was that like and were there any concerns about the dynamic of the band if you were to advance??
LG: Um, American Idol was insane. It was insane. I went to AT&T park in San Francisco, and um, pretty much I showed up in San Fran at 4:00 in the morning, waiting in line for about two hours, got inside. It’s pretty much just a big cattle call. And they were just mass auditioning people, you know, just back to back to back to back. I, unfortunately didn’t make it to the next level. Which is fine. It was a great experience, and I don’t know. What would you guys think if I made it?
MaK: Really, if she made it thought, we would have been supportive the whole way. I mean, there’s definitely no problem with her going and being on TV for like six months or whatever.
TDM: As long as she’s wearing AroArah shirts?
(laughs)
LG: Yeah. Shameless self promotion.
TDM: Nothing wrong with that. Alright. So last but not least, is there anything you’d like to say to all your fans because you do have so many.
LG: Thank you
CB: Yes.
LG: Fucking thank you. Thank you for the endless support and the tattoos, and the energy there, it’s just a really big happy family and we’re so thankful for everything.
CB: And basically, when we have shows it’s like our friends and our fans come to support us. It’s like a big party and we love to have fun and we love people coming out and supporting us and it’s awesome. Thank you guys.
LG: Party!
TDM: Alright. Thanks a lot for the interview and this will be seen on ThatDevilMusic.Blogspot.com and of course, don’t forget to check out AroArah at Aroarah.com. They have Facebook, they have Myspace, they have kick ass CD’s on iTunes.
LG: We do.
TDM: So you can check it out, there’s no reason for you to not listen to AroArah.
So there you have it.. ThatDevilMusic's first interview. I really enjoyed myself and I hope they did too. There's no real need to mention it, but I will.. Their show, is as always, amazing. They absolutely love their fans and never fail at give them a show to remember. If you want to find more about these amazingly talented musicians, don't forget you can follow them on Twitter
