Category: Interviews

#1:      Has music always been a big part of your life, or did it come later? When was that moment for you?

Music has always been a huge part of my life. When I was growing up, my father was a metalhead. I used to bash my head off of the front of my car seat along to Quiet Riot’s “Bang Your Head.” I also had my first drum set before I was out of diapers. It was made of phone books and kitchenware.

#2:  What are some of your favorite albums of all time?

My all-time favorite is Between the Buried and Me’s Colors. Some of my other all-time favorites are everything by Between the Buried and Me, The Shape of Color by Intervals, The End of Everything by Plini, Apostrophe by Frank Zappa, and my newest favorite is by a band called Valence, and it’s titled, Cognitive Dissidents.

#3: What are the hardest and easiest parts of making music for you?

The hardest part is the physical challenge of being able to play what I want to play on the drums. As for an easy part, I can’t really think of one. I really try to make everything I play a real challenge for myself. It’s just more fun that way.

#4: When making music, what does the creative process look like for you and the band?

We just kind of do it on the fly. Doug, Pete, and Joe come up with their parts, and then I put drums to it. We don’t really plan it ahead of time. When we jam something tasty, we keep it and build on it.

#5: What is the biggest dream you have for the band?

I would love for us to get to be enough of a success that we could make living playing our music. Until then, I think we are aiming at world domination.

#6: When did you first play music in front of an audience? What was that experience like?

The first time I played for an audience, I was 17. I played guitar in a band with a few of my friends in school. It was great. We didn’t sound good, but there were a bunch of cute girls there, and they screamed a lot, I assumed, because they liked us. It was such a rush. From that moment on, I was hooked.

#7: Out of every show you have played, what are some experiences that stick out the most to you?

Oh man. I could spend half a day answering this one. One that comes to mind is the first time we played in Lewiston, Maine. The place was packed unlike anything we’d ever seen at that point, and they went nuts for us. That led to all of our favorite event of the year- Herd Flock. It’s a smaller festival in Maine, and it’s always the best time ever. The other show that sticks out as incredible was this summers RPM Fest in Miller’s Falls, Massachusetts. We had a killer crowd, and it was a rush to see how they reacted to our music.

#8: What is the dream tour or festival that you would love to be a part of?

I would love to go on your with Between the Buried and Me. I’d really like to play the Summer Slaughter tour too. That looks like it would be intensely incredible.

#9: For the rest of the year, what plans does the band have?

We just released our first album Ill World (That’s What You Get) a little over a month ago. We have a few more shows in New England to promote it, including a gig in Waterford, NY, with the almighty Exmortus. We’re really excited to play with those guys. After that, we will hibernate for a couple months until the snow goes away.

Follow Crypitus here to keep up with them.

Thank you to Zach for taking the time to answer questions and thank you to Rogue PR for setting up this interview.

Images via Crypitus/Rogue PR

#1: How did the band come together?

Plastic Barricades were started more than 10 years ago on the other side of Europe, in Tallinn, Estonia out of pure necessity to write songs and sing them to family, friends, enemies and total strangers. The band has been through several line-up changes and one full relocation to London in 2012. To this date, we’ve released 3 EPs, 8 singles and one full-length album.

#2: What are some of your most memorable moments with the band?

Touring [the] UK for the first time back in 2014 was a true dream-come-true kind of moment. Growing up I could only dream of someday living in London – and then I was suddenly packing a tour van to play some shows around the UK. Magic!

#3: When going to one of your concerts, what should people expect?

We like to tell stories, draw people into the context of the songs and maybe plant some deeper thoughts into some heads. Having fun and jumping around is also allowed. But expect brutal honesty from the stage – we will not pretend to be someone we are not. We just go out and sing our hearts out.

#4: Out of every band you have seen live, who are some of your favorites?

Over the last 15 years, we were very lucky to have witnessed a lot of huge stars on [the] stage and even talk to some of them (hi Fieldy!). White Stripes in a small dance club in 2005 were quite epic, Massive Attack made us fall into a trance, Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins were phenomenal… But it is very very very hard to compete with his royal rock ‘n’ rollness Dave Grohl and the Foos! 3 hours of non-stop, balls-out rock music, with huge smiles on everyone’s faces. Our art-director has torn her pants, I’ve didn’t have any voice the next day. What made that gig (open-air) even more special was the warm-up! Simon Neil and Biffy Clyro were tearing it all apart, they are true legends and have such incredible energy. So in conclusion – dear Simon, dear Dave – shall we gig together asap?

#5: What are some of your biggest influences that have shaped your music?

I have to mention Dave Grohl once again. He is just everything that anyone could ever dream of, without any of the crap that usually comes with fame and glory. Oh, Dave. I grew up with Nirvana, Radiohead, Placebo, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Audioslave, Oasis, Coldplay and many other honest bands, that were always embracing who they are and not pretending to be fancy or cool. Over the last several years I’ve fallen deeply in love with Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins! There is some magic happening between Portland and Seattle while we here are trying to exit the EU for good. Ah, dammit…

#6: Have you met any of your favorite musicians and what were those experiences like? If you have not met anyone, then who do you want to meet the most?

This interview is turning into a love letter to Dave Grohl. We’ve never met, but I do have recurring dreams, where we drink beer, jam and have long meaningful conversations. It was incredibly cool to meet Sting, dudes from Metallica (get well soon, dear James!), Fieldy from Korn and Steven Tyler from Aerosmith.

#7: What are some long-term goals you have for the band?

Fancy pretentious answer: play Red Rocks, Wembley and Madison Square Garden.Honest answer: keep writing the sincerest and touching music I possibly can and hopefully help someone out there live through a tough time.

#8: What is the biggest accomplishment you have had so far?

We are currently finishing our second LP, that will hopefully be out sometime next year. It is called “Self-Theories” and it was all written, recorded and mixed in a small 4×2 m garden shed, converted into a studio. It is an album of hope and self-reflection, and both me and Paul feel very proud of it already. [The] first single “One for the Road” is out now – go check out the trippy music video on YouTube.

#9: What plans do you have for the rest of the year?

Finishing the recording of songs number 11 and 12 is our first priority. But we might as well squeeze one more single release into the two remaining months. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears ready!

Thank you, Dan, for the interview and thank you to Rogue PR for setting it up.

Keep up with Plastic Barricade on their website.

More about the band:

Shop at CD Keys

Image provided by Plastic Barricade and Rogue PR.

#1: Has music always been a big part of your life or did it come later? When was that moment for you?

Music has always been an incredibly relevant and essential part of my life, within the past few years its evolved from a passion into an obsession.

#2: What are some of your favorite albums of all time?

You Won’t Get What You Want – Daughters, The Powers That B -Death Grips, My War -Black Flag.

#3: What are the hardest and easiest parts of making music for you?

The hardest part is making time for other facets of our lives, the easiest part is calling bad music “experimental.”

#4: When making music, what does the creative process look like for you and the band?

A small dark room with as much smoke in our lungs and as least sleep in our bodies as possible.

#5: When did you first play music in front of an audience? What was that experience like?

We never noticed if the audience was there or not.

#6: Out of every show you have played, what are some experiences that stick out the most to you?

Our homie Johnny from Dumpweed getting his nose broken during our set, any experience where we’ve broken a piece of equipment with our heads. There’s been a lot.

#7: What is the dream tour or festival that you would love to be a part of?

One that people actually show up to.

#8: For the rest of the year, what plans does the band have?

Finish up the rest of the NJ and PA dates we have for the year and to continue the writing for our next release.

Thanks to Ben for taking the time out of his day to answer these questions. Thank you to Rogue PR for setting up the interview.

Check out Mikita’s band camp.

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Image provided by Rogue PR/Mikita

#1: How did your band get started? 

Patrick: Desoluna started as a solo project by me, Patrick Shadowland, here in Malmö, Sweden and Nadia Montes joined on lead vocals in 2013. We played with several different line-ups, making us a band before we found the last and longest-lasting line-up with Olle Andreasson on drums and Michael Levin on bass. Unfortunately, Michael moved to Spain and since then we are on hold. We have recorded the demo The Desolate Years with songs from my old band in 2013, the full-length album Fortitude in 2015 and have just released the new EP Rejection of Rejoice in 2019, the first recording to feature all members.

#2: What inspired you to go into this genre?

Patrick: For me as a songwriter, I have listened a lot to early 90s gothic and doom, and 80s gothic music. It was interesting to incorporate it to my metal influences.

Nadia: Patrick made me do it. That’s my excuse (laughs).

#3: Who are your inspirations that have shaped the sound of the band and how so?

Patrick: Early 90s gothic and doom metal, 80s thrash metal and 80s/90s gothic rock, Shakespeare and PB Shelley.

Nadia: My personal inspirations are singers like Alanis Morrissette, Linda Perry, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Tyler. Skunk Anansie has had a lot of impact on me as well.

#4: What is the creative process your band takes when making an album?

Patrick: Me,  Patrick writes the songs, record demos with programmed drums in Cubase and then we rehearse them. Nadia has also written lyrics and song melodies for some newer songs that haven’t been released yet.

#5: Lyrically speaking, what inspires the themes that are written about in your music?

Patrick: The darkness embracing us that we call real life, that’s the main inspiration for lyrics.

#6: Competition in any music scene is high, so how does your band stand out compared to other bands?

Patrick: We are simply better…well, we have our own style and we are one of the few band that still are deeply influenced by the early 90s. For example, we use a lot of chorus and delay on the lead guitars.

#7: What is your dream tour? Name however many bands you want to create the perfect tour.

Patrick: Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Desoluna.

Nadia: Dir en grey, Deftones, My Dying Bride, Desoluna. I´ve only mentioned bands that I haven´t seen live yet so I guess I would like to at some point.

#8: If you went into a completely different style of music, what would it be?

Patrick: Not completely different since we already have elements of that but more aggressive thrash metal or death metal. Or progressive rock.

Nadia: Rock, acoustic music since I´ve already done it in the past and continue to do so. I recorded a couple of songs with another project called Siamese Butterfly that are more in those genres.

#9: If you can collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?

Patrick: Elvis Presley’s ghost because he is not real.

Nadia: I hope he doesn´t read this because that would be impossible but Steven Wilson because his music is just fantastic, like his live shows. Maybe any band within J-rock/Visual Kei would be fun to deal with because I´ve been a bit into that lately. Would be a great excuse to learn Japanese.

#10: With all of the downtime you get as a musician, how do you kill time?

Patrick: Work with my real job, so that is really not hard (laughs)…and all other hobbies like photography, web design etc.

#11: Where would you like to travel to that you have never been to?

Patrick: Especially South Korea, Malaysia, Australia, and Brazil.

Nadia: Japan would be really nice. And Cuba.

#12: What is a goal that you would like to see happen in your career?

Patrick: To become rich as hell.

Nadia: To dominate the world.

Thank you to Nadia and Patrick for the interview. Be sure to check out Desoluna. Also, thank you to Rogue PR for setting up the interview,

Image via Desoluna

#1: Has music always been a big part of your life or did it come later? When was that moment for you?

Music has always been a huge part of my life. My dad is a drummer / piano / player / singer and introduced me to piano at the age of four. My mom said I used to bang on pots and pans when I was younger!

#2: What are some of your favorite albums of all time?

My favorite album is The End of all Things to Come by Mudvayne. I can listen to the album from first song to last song without skipping a track.

#3: What are the hardest and easiest parts of making music for you?

The easiest part of making music is the instrumental part. You can add whatever you want and make it work almost 98 percent of the time. The hardest part is writing lyrics. You have to make sure the content works, the syllables all have to fit, and the melody has to be spot on.

#4: When making music, what does the creative process look like for you and the band?

First thing created is the instrumental. Super fun, just vibing out. Then comes lyric writing and melody planning which is the most time-consuming – it has to be perfect!

#5: What is the biggest dream you have for the band?

I would like to be able to tour the entire world and sell out House of Blues sized venues.

#6: When did you first play music in front of an audience? What was that experience like?

My first show ever was when I was 12 years old. I played in my junior high talent show. I was pretty nervous because a lot of people were watching and it was my first time. We won the talent show so I am guessing we did well (laughs) I was a nervous wreck. To this day I get incredibly nervous before every show. My first Vanilla Sugar show was also nerve-wracking because the music is so different – it’s just me on stage. It was also good. I was happy to get the first one under my belt.

#7: Out of every show you have played, what are some experiences that stick out the most to you?

One show that always stays fresh in my mind is Warped Tour in Anchorage, Alaska. I played for thousands of people and watched them jam out to my songs. It was amazing! The merch line was 2 hours long after the show.

#8: What is the dream tour or festival that you would love to be a part of?

I would absolutely love to play Download Fest and Voodoo Fest.

#9: For the rest of the year, what plans does the band have?

I am currently in the studio working on finishing my debut album, She. She will be released in Jan. 2020, along with two music videos to follow. I have a couple shows left this year – Sept 13 at Area 51 in Los Angeles, CA, and Sept 28 at For The Community Fest in Houston, TX. These shows are to be followed by a US tour in Jan. to promote the new album!

Keep up with Vanilla Sugar for her upcoming album on her Facebook.

Thank you for this interview and thank you to Rogue PR for helping set everything up.

Images provided by Rogue PR/Vanilla Sugar