| (interview continued) page #2 |
IF YOU HAD TO PICK ONE PSYCROPTIC SONG THAT BEST REPRESENTS THE BAND, WHICH
WOULD YOU PICK & WHY?
I would say the song off the CD which would be the best representation would be "Of Dull Eyes Borne". This
song is probably the most similar to the new material we've written. Other than that, I would say that each new
song we write would best represent us the best, because that is how we sound at that particular point in time. I
know this is probably a cliche', but I think every new song we do is a progression on the song before.
HAS ANY LABELS APPROACHED PSYCROPTIC ABOUT A POSSIBLE RECORD DEAL? IF SO,
WHICH LABELS? IF NOT, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?
A lot of labels have heard us & said they really like us, but they are all waiting to hear our new material. They
probably didn't want to take a risk on signing an unknown band, due to the money invovlved in signing bands.
That's the problem-a lot of labels these days aren't willing to take any risks with new bands or styles because the
cash return is unknown. This is fair enough from a business point of view, but in musical terms it is bad because
the scene gets flooded with clone bands. Look at labels like ROADRUNNER & shit like that, these labels just
pump out what ever is popular no matter what they sound like. It's terrible. Anyway, hopefully for the next disc
we'll get signed.
HAS THERE BEEN ANY OTHER RELEASES SINCE "...DISENCHANTMENT", OR ONE IN THE
WORKS?
No, there hasn't been any other releases since the "Isle...", but we are hard at work writing the new CD. There
will be a new CD out hopefully before the year is out. We've written most of the songs so far, & we just have to
practice them up for recording.
HAVE YOU GUYS PLAYED MANY SHOWS? WHERE & WITH WHO?
We've played quite a number of shows & festivals around Australia. Some of the bands we've played with on the
same bill have been ALARUM, ALCHEMIST, BLOOD DUSTER, FRANKENBOK, DREADNAUHT,
OMNIUM GATHERUM, INTENSE HAMMER RAGE, EARTH & quite a few others. These bands are fairly
well known in Australia, but might not be so known outside Australia. We've played in our state of Tasmania,
Victoria & the ACT.
ANY SHOWS STAND OUT FOR SOME BIZARRE OR MEMORABLE REASON?
The show that stands out the most is playing Metal For The Brain 2001, which is the biggest Metalfest in
Australia. We played in fron of almost 1000 people & when we finished, they started to chant our name. It was
an awesome experience. Hopefully we'll get to play this festival again.
ARE YOU INTO ANY OTHER STYLES OF MUSIC BESIDES WHAT YOU PLAY? WHO ARE SOME
OF THE BANDS YOUR CURRENTLY INTO?
I'm into some other styles of music, but my main love is Metal. About 90% of my collection is Metal. Some of
the other stuff I get into is stuff like DREAM THEATER, PLANET X, THE DAVE WECKL BAND, Ben
Harper, some different Jazz stuff & a little bit of DEAD CAN DANCE. In regards to Metal that I'm listening to
at the moment, the new MORTAL DECAY, AGEIL, IMMORTAL, DECAPITATED, DISAVOWED, DEEDS
OF FLESH, plus the old stuff by EMPEROR, NILE, TESTAMENT, BURZUM, SATYRICON, METALLICA
& a whole heap of other stuff.
HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE THE MUSIC COMING OUT OF AUSTRALIA TO THE MUSIC
COMING FROM HERE IN THE STATES?
Music from Australia is probably a cross between the European & US styles, but it usually has an emphasis on
aggression. Aussie Metal is generally very aggressive. A lot of the bands coming out these days are of a very high
quality & match anything that is coming out of Europe & the US. The only problem with some of the Australian
bands is that they can be very narrow minded in terms of their audience. There are some Aussie bands that are
pretty big here, but don't bother to promote themselves overseas, so they are unknown to the rest of the world.
WHAT DO THE MEMBERS OF PSYCROPTIC DO OUTSIDE OF WORK FOR THE BAND?
I'm studying a marketing degree, as well as working about 20 hours a week in a retail store. Joe at the moment is
practicing guitar in preperation to get into the conservatorium of music down here in Tasmania. Cam is an
apprentice electrician & Matthew some voluntary work. Other than the band, we don't have much time for
anything else, as we're all so busy.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHERE YOU WERE & WHAT YOU WERE DOING WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD
ABOUT THE TERRORIST ATTACKS IN NEW YORK ON 9-11-01. ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS
TRAGEDY?
Yeah, I was in bed watching a documenatry on Mohamed Ali. Then halfway through, it just flicked over to the
US news report with what had happened. It was pretty shocking seeing all this stuff happening live on TV. It is a
tragedy, as a lot of people died who were basically innocent people. The act itself is pretty cowardly-it's trying to
use force to negotiate with a country. If groups or governments have a problem with a country they should use
the appropriate channels to try & sort out problems, not use force to get people to negotiate.
WOULD YOU PICK & WHY?
I would say the song off the CD which would be the best representation would be "Of Dull Eyes Borne". This
song is probably the most similar to the new material we've written. Other than that, I would say that each new
song we write would best represent us the best, because that is how we sound at that particular point in time. I
know this is probably a cliche', but I think every new song we do is a progression on the song before.
HAS ANY LABELS APPROACHED PSYCROPTIC ABOUT A POSSIBLE RECORD DEAL? IF SO,
WHICH LABELS? IF NOT, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?
A lot of labels have heard us & said they really like us, but they are all waiting to hear our new material. They
probably didn't want to take a risk on signing an unknown band, due to the money invovlved in signing bands.
That's the problem-a lot of labels these days aren't willing to take any risks with new bands or styles because the
cash return is unknown. This is fair enough from a business point of view, but in musical terms it is bad because
the scene gets flooded with clone bands. Look at labels like ROADRUNNER & shit like that, these labels just
pump out what ever is popular no matter what they sound like. It's terrible. Anyway, hopefully for the next disc
we'll get signed.
HAS THERE BEEN ANY OTHER RELEASES SINCE "...DISENCHANTMENT", OR ONE IN THE
WORKS?
No, there hasn't been any other releases since the "Isle...", but we are hard at work writing the new CD. There
will be a new CD out hopefully before the year is out. We've written most of the songs so far, & we just have to
practice them up for recording.
HAVE YOU GUYS PLAYED MANY SHOWS? WHERE & WITH WHO?
We've played quite a number of shows & festivals around Australia. Some of the bands we've played with on the
same bill have been ALARUM, ALCHEMIST, BLOOD DUSTER, FRANKENBOK, DREADNAUHT,
OMNIUM GATHERUM, INTENSE HAMMER RAGE, EARTH & quite a few others. These bands are fairly
well known in Australia, but might not be so known outside Australia. We've played in our state of Tasmania,
Victoria & the ACT.
ANY SHOWS STAND OUT FOR SOME BIZARRE OR MEMORABLE REASON?
The show that stands out the most is playing Metal For The Brain 2001, which is the biggest Metalfest in
Australia. We played in fron of almost 1000 people & when we finished, they started to chant our name. It was
an awesome experience. Hopefully we'll get to play this festival again.
ARE YOU INTO ANY OTHER STYLES OF MUSIC BESIDES WHAT YOU PLAY? WHO ARE SOME
OF THE BANDS YOUR CURRENTLY INTO?
I'm into some other styles of music, but my main love is Metal. About 90% of my collection is Metal. Some of
the other stuff I get into is stuff like DREAM THEATER, PLANET X, THE DAVE WECKL BAND, Ben
Harper, some different Jazz stuff & a little bit of DEAD CAN DANCE. In regards to Metal that I'm listening to
at the moment, the new MORTAL DECAY, AGEIL, IMMORTAL, DECAPITATED, DISAVOWED, DEEDS
OF FLESH, plus the old stuff by EMPEROR, NILE, TESTAMENT, BURZUM, SATYRICON, METALLICA
& a whole heap of other stuff.
HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE THE MUSIC COMING OUT OF AUSTRALIA TO THE MUSIC
COMING FROM HERE IN THE STATES?
Music from Australia is probably a cross between the European & US styles, but it usually has an emphasis on
aggression. Aussie Metal is generally very aggressive. A lot of the bands coming out these days are of a very high
quality & match anything that is coming out of Europe & the US. The only problem with some of the Australian
bands is that they can be very narrow minded in terms of their audience. There are some Aussie bands that are
pretty big here, but don't bother to promote themselves overseas, so they are unknown to the rest of the world.
WHAT DO THE MEMBERS OF PSYCROPTIC DO OUTSIDE OF WORK FOR THE BAND?
I'm studying a marketing degree, as well as working about 20 hours a week in a retail store. Joe at the moment is
practicing guitar in preperation to get into the conservatorium of music down here in Tasmania. Cam is an
apprentice electrician & Matthew some voluntary work. Other than the band, we don't have much time for
anything else, as we're all so busy.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHERE YOU WERE & WHAT YOU WERE DOING WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD
ABOUT THE TERRORIST ATTACKS IN NEW YORK ON 9-11-01. ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS
TRAGEDY?
Yeah, I was in bed watching a documenatry on Mohamed Ali. Then halfway through, it just flicked over to the
US news report with what had happened. It was pretty shocking seeing all this stuff happening live on TV. It is a
tragedy, as a lot of people died who were basically innocent people. The act itself is pretty cowardly-it's trying to
use force to negotiate with a country. If groups or governments have a problem with a country they should use
the appropriate channels to try & sort out problems, not use force to get people to negotiate.
