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For the people who haven't heard of Psy-Kick, please
give a short introduction about your band.
Vírus: We are a cyber metal band, that started in
2004 when Zasvanna (vocals) and I left our black metal
bands to start something new, with powerful riffs, grim
and clean vocals, synths, etc.
Then, the guitar player Scorn joined us and also we had
a bass player at the time. We recorded a promo CD with 2
songs, using programmed drums. That promo was
distributed to Djs, fanzines, webzines and some fans.
After receiving a great response from the genreal
audience, we decided to keep on the path we were and
after some line up changes (with lots of people entering
and leaving the band) we established our current line-up:
Zasvanna – Vocals
Virus – Vocals / Guitar / Synths
Scorn – Guitar
Seven – Bass
Error – Drums
With that line-up, in December 2005, we started
recording our first full-length CD “Illusion Industries”
which was released in September 2006.
Our main influences are The Kovenant and Deathstars, but
we always put a lot of our own insane ideas into the mix,
to keep it fresh and different from everything else.
A lot has happened since the last time I interviewed
you. Members came and members left and you recorded your
debut album (congratulations for that one!). What's the
reason for these 'quite a lot within short time' line up
changes?
Vírus: The main reason is the lack of interest we
felt in some of the people that were into the band at
different times. About finding the members, I would say
we were quite lucky, there are bands that take years to
find a single member. I guess that our musical style
made it easier to find musicians to play in the band,
because over here it is quite hard to find quality bands
that play our same style of music, so when we showed our
songs to potentially new members of the band, they would
get interested in it and would want to be a part of it.
It is a style that leaves a lot of room for creativeness,
for experimentation, etc. That’s something appealing to
good musicians. We have been very lucky finding the
right people for the band, the current line-up of the
band is, without a doubt, the best ever.
Now about the debut album, 'Illusion Industries'. It
took about 8 months after the recording sessions to get
it released. What happened?
Vírus: Well we had lots and lots of problems with
the studio where we were recording, the delay is mainly
their fault. It’s a complicate issue involving many
aspects and situations, which tore appart any
relationship we had with them. Luckly, we were strong
enough to carry on and had the ability to get what we
wanted, which is our CD finally released.
The album turned out to be worth the wait for me,
because I rated it a superb 99 out of 100 points. But,
what do you think of the album yourself? And what are,
in your opinion, the good points and the bad points of
it?
Vírus: First of all, thanks for the great rating,
we appreciate it a lot. The album turned out great for
us too. I love it. It was incredibly hard work, a whole
bunch of sleepless nights, but it was worth it. The best
point about the album I guess is the quality of it, the
sound quality, the artwork designs, etc., you can’t get
better than that. I don’t think it actually has a bad
point that upsets me, it’s an album that I would love
even if it was from another band.
I was surprised to hear some clean female vocals on
this album too, because I didn't hear it on the
promo-2004. Was it planned to experiment with clean
vocals, or did it 'just happened'?
Vírus: It was a mixture of both, some clean
vocals were already planned and others we decided to do
them there, in the spot, recording, just to see if they
worked out fine, and many did, so we left them there. To
swap from a screaming vocal to a clean one right away,
goes naturally for Zasvanna and for me too. If you are
good at both kinds of vocals, you will be good going
from one to another also.
One more thing that grabbed my attention is the
English prounnounciation. While lots of 'latino'-bands
have a terrible accent in their English, you seem to
have no problems with that. What do you think is the
reason for this good prounnounciation of yours?
Vírus: Prounnounciation is a priority for me. I
hate it when I listen to bands that can’t pronnounce
their own lyrics, so we take a lot of care about that.
Actually, I never took English lessons, I learned the
language on my own. You can probably still see some
flaws here and there, but still it’s above average for
sure.
Next thing, the lyrics. They are quite agressive and
hateful most of the time. What is the message you want
to spread with them? And is this really the way you look
upon the world?
Vírus: We wish to open people’s eyes on how
everything is dying, everything’s getting worse and
there’s no turning back, how pathetic we are as a race,
and the way we took our lives and drove them straight
into the ground. For every good news you hear, you have
five bad news coming together. And yes, that’s the way
we look upon the world. Human race is a virus that
affects everything else in the planet and we are even
looking to expand our disgrace to outer space!
So, we must stop seeing ourselves as the greatest beings
in the Earth, as the most advanced ones, as the owners
of this place, and start seeing ourselves as what we
really are, the scum, the cancer, the virus, the beings
that are going to ruin existance for all the other
beings.
What is your favourite song of the debut album, and
why?
Vírus: It depends... The song I like listening to
the most is Mass Of Despair, because of it’s synths, the
vocals, and the riffs. Also, I think it’s our most
powerful chorus part. But, the song I like playing the
most is Dance To Reality, because of its energy, its
insanity, its speed.
Since you are doing the guitars and the synths, I am
wondering... how do you do this live?
Vírus: We use a laptop, running a sequencer with
the synths in separate virtual channels, noises and
metronome for our drummer. So I play the guitar, sing
and also keep na eye on the laptop (taking care of
equalization, volumes, and swapping from one song to
another). In the near future we will start playing with
a keyboard on stage also, which I will be playing too on
some parts of the songs... that will be tricky.
Talking about your live performance, the powerful
music suits an explosive performance quite well. What
can a stranger expect when he visits a Psy-Kick live
show?
Vírus: Our shows are pure insanity and power...
an intense live performance. From our part, there’s the
usual headbanging, dancing, and even some, not so usual,
self-beatings... We are also a pretty loud band on
stage. Also, the audience at our concerts is quite
unique. There’s people headbanging, forming mosh pits,
some are just standing watching the band playing and
there’s even a large number of people dancing.
What are the plans and dreams of Psy-Kick for the
near future?
Vírus: For the moment, we just wish to keep on
rehearsing, playing live, and having a blast. We also
would like to cross the ocean and play on other parts of
the planet, as well as to record a videoclip maybe.
The interview ends here, thanks a lot for your time.
Like on the first interview, the final words are yours.
Vírus: Thanks right back at you, for the support
given to Psy-Kick! Also, thanks to the audience reading
this... You better get used to us, because we will be
around for quite some time!
Interview by: Gerardo (December 2006) |
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