| (interview continued) page 2 |
| Chris Stolle |
| Dennis Downey |
| Scott Hilberg |
| Steve Rolf |
| WHICH OF YOUR SONGS IS YOUR FAVORITE & WHY? It's really hard to pick a favorite because our songs are so different from one to the next. Off of "AWAKENING THE CROWN", I like "Forever The Serpent". It is a song that always goes over well live due to its drive & heaviness, we often close our set with it & Dennis does this epic guitar solo at the end which wasn't on the CD. WHO DOES THE MAJORITY OF THE SONG WRITING OR IS IT A WHOLE BAND COLLABORATION? It's pretty much a whole band deal. Maybe I'll come up with a few riffs, or Dennis will, but then everyone else adds their ideas until the song is done. Same with the lyrics, actually all five of us have written lyrics for the band. HAVE ANY OF THE MEMBERS OF SOMNUS BEEN IN OTHER BANDS BEFORE? IF SO, WHICH ONES? Scott was a founding member of the Death Metal band ODIOUS SANCTION, Dennis & Steve were both in the melodic Black Metal band SANCTORUM, Chris was in a California Progressive Death Metal band called THANATOPSIS & I was in my friends garage playing guitar. IT SEEMS LIKE A LOT OF GREAT BANDS COME OUT OF THE OHIO DEATH SCENE. WHAT IS THE SCENE LIKE THERE? WHO ARE SOME OF THE BETTER ZINES, BANDS, LABELS, ETC...? There aren't too many labels that I know of around here, but the scene is pretty strong. It has it's ups & downs like anywhere else, but bands tell me that they almost always like to play Ohio & that the crowds are sick. There are a lot of great bands in Ohio too. ESTUARY OF CALAMITY & THORNS OF CARRION from Cincinnati, ACHERON from Columbus & from Cleveland we have MYTH (Black Folk Metal), DEAD OF NIGHT (ex-FROM THE DEPTHS), NUNSLAUGHTER, SOULLESS, ALL THAT IS EVIL, SPAWN OF SATAN, the list of good bands goes on & on! Cleveland is still a big Hardcore town though...& I'm not much into that scene, but I hear there are some great Hardcore bands from around here. SOMNUS HAS A MIDEAVAL/FANTSY TYPE FEEL TO THE MUSIC. DOES YOUR STAGE SHOW REFLECT THIS IN ANY WAY? Due to lack of time & resources, we never really get to do the kind of stage show that we want. We want burning torches & elaborately painted amp covers & stuff like that. But we usually have candles & even candleabras up on stage, along with fog & dim red lights. As far as performance, we wear all black, nothing too fancy, but we just try to really get into our stuff & headbang & try to be entertaining to watch. We've done fire blowing a few times too, some clubs won't let us do that. WHERE & WITH WHOM ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE SHOWS YOU'VE PLAYED? We got to play with MY DYING BRIDE in Cleveland, that was pretty phenominal. We also played the Cleveland Metalfest right before KING DIAMOND on a huge stage 2 years ago, which was a very good show for us. A great crowd & getting to play on KING's stage! Some of the Milwaukee Metalfests have been very good for us as well, we meet so many cool people at those. WHAT DO THE MEMBERS OF SOMNUS DO WHEN NOT DOING WORK FOR THE BAND? We all have to work pretty hard, haha! After going for my masters in Geography, I am now a Cartographer (I make maps) for a company in Ohio that does aerial photography. I love what I do, I knew I wasn't going to make money in Metal so I made sure I got college degrees! Scott does electrical work (he is good with his hands, haha!), while Dennis was a lawn care specialist, Steve is a union bricklayer & Chris works in special education with disabled or troubled kids & at a radio station part time. We are quite a divers bunch of fools! ARE YOU INTO ANY OTHER STYLES OF MUSIC BESIDES WHAT YOU PLAY? WHO ARE SOME OF THE BANDS YOU'RE CURRENTLY INTO? I really love melodic or atmospheric sounding Metal & it is mostly what I listen to. Right now I'm into the new SUMMONING, SOILWORK, TRISTANIA, DIMMU, all of Dan Swano's projects, CHILDREN OF BODOM, EMPEROR, BAL SAGOTH, etc... I hear the new BORKNAGAR is really good. I want to check that out too! WHAT IS THE BEST & WORST THING ABOUT BEING IN A BAND & THE UNDERGROUND SCENE? The best thing about being in a band for me, at least, is playing live. There is nothing as intense & fulfilling as getting on stage with your band mates & playing music that YOU created & having people get into it along with you! I think the worst thing is how much money it costs to be in a band, with equipment & recording & travel expenses & all that. It really adds up & we never make much. There is so much more that we would like to do with the band & so many more places we'd like to play if we only had the money. And as far as the scene, I only wish that we had more people in it to enjoy all this good music that is always coming out & really support the bands so that they can continue to keep Metal alive & well. |
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| Rhiannon |
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