Earlier this week I was lucky enough to have done an interview with Mark Holcomb and Chris Barretto of Haunted Shores. We touch on everything from music to giant chicken-beasts! Enjoy!

1. So to start things off how about a little history of Haunted Shores? How you got started and such. As well, I know you put out 2 EPs “Maelstrom” and “Following Ivy” with a different line up in the last few years, so why the change of lineup, and do you still plan on playing those songs in a live setting? (I guess this counts as more than one)

Mark: Well to make an important distinction, I feel the old and new versions of HS should be treated as totally different bands, first and foremost. The first HS was formed in 2005 at American University in DC, as basically a way for me and my friend Nick Dodd to write fun metal songs and drink absinthe, haha. But yeah we hired my brother Jeff and Chris Hiebert and we recorded 2 EPs after that, the last one being released in 2008. After that, I guess everyone else sort of lost interest in music altogether, one by one. No breaks-up or anything, nothing dramatic at all.

After all that I was left with 3-4 Haunted Shores songs written w/o any outlet to release or record them, and coincidentally Misha Mansoor and I had talked about doing an HS album for fun. We kind of threw around the idea backstage at a Periphery show, and he was 100% on board with it, even if it was gonna be a “just for fun” type of scenario. It was initially nothing serious, but after recording the first new HS songs w/ him I realized I was way too thrilled w/ the product NOT to pursue it as a real band. And when the pieces were in place to bring Chris onboard that obviously brought it to an entirely new level, and since then I’ve made the decision to throw 100% of everything I’ve got into HS.

As for the old songs we most definitely will not be playing any of those songs anymore. Out of respect for the older members and the experiences we had in creating & recording those songs, I think that’d be the best decision. Plus like I said the 2 different versions of HS should be viewed as entirely separate entities altogether!

2. Any plans on getting a band together and touring or is HS a studio only project?

Chris: There most certainly are plans to make this a viable touring band! The sooner, the better is what we both have been saying to each other. Being in the studio has been a wonderful way for Mark and I to really get to know each other musically, and it has been such an awesome experience doing that, but I feel like all the fun and real excitement is to be had on the road. That’s the true test of how our music will translate and then be accepted by the people in my eyes. Actually, I’m quite curious to see as to what kind of “crowd” we would be drawing at one of our shows, given the wide range of influence and musical presentation that I think we are offering. That curiosity in and of itself is enough motivation for me to want to make this shit happen ASAP!

3. If so, who?/if not, why?

Mark: Just Chris and I, so far!
Chris: We have a lot of “potentials”, if you will, for all the remaining empty positions in the band, but nothing permanent as of yet. Mark and I have been kind of taking a different approach to “running a band” so we’ll honestly have to see what happens in terms of adopting new members. The bottom line though is that at some point, this music WILL definitely be played live, even if mark and myself remain the only core members and we have touring musicians to support.

4. How is the distance between members affecting the writting/recording process?

Mark: That’s a great question. The only members right now are Chris and I, with Misha onboard in the studio capacity. Chris lives in New York City, and Misha and I live a couple hours south in Washington DC, so thus far the instrumental versions of the songs for the full length have been written and recorded by myself and Misha in his apartment in DC, and Chris subsequently writes and records the vocals in NYC. While this has worked well so far and will probably continue to be the way things are done for a while, Chris and I have been throwing around writing ideas and have been meaning to sit down and work on the instrumental side of things together. He’s more known for his vocals, but Chris is insanely multi-talented; he plays saxophone, guitar, piano and drums, and is classically trained, so it’d be waste not to take full advantage of that. The logistical implications of me living in DC and Chris living in NYC has made it tough to write in a room together at the moment, but that will soon change! We’re spending the entire summer in NYC to do vocals for the LP and put finishing touches on the album as a whole. Misha will also be involved in the writing/recording process of HS from here on, as we’ve had a ton of fun creating these songs from the ground up, not to mention the comfort level in writing these songs is ridiculously high.

Chris: I guess the hardest aspect of living in different places will really manifest itself once we try to put rehearsals together and attempt to play this stuff live. As of now, it’s really been a rather great atmosphere, the way we’ve been working. The internet sure does help out the process a whole lot, in that respect, but nothing can truly take the place of two people getting together and bouncing ideas off of each other. I am very much looking forward to the day when Mark and myself can do that on a regular basis!

5. This one is more directed at Chris. I found when reading the lyrics for “When in Oslo” and “Sentient Glow” as well as some Periphery ones as well it seems your lyrics are “wordy” for lack of a better…well…word. Who and or what are your lyrical inspiration(s) and the how do you write the lyrics? Is it all you or a collaborative effort?

Chris: Wordy is an interesting adjective to describe my lyrics. I would say that my philosophy and what it is I am trying to accomplish when I write lyrics would be this; as perfect a balance as possible between eloquence, raw-emotional quality, and a sense of poetry is the objective (although I hardly consider myself any kind of poet). I believe that if you put all those elements together, you have the required makings for telling a great story, whether it’s about love, fractal dimensions, or carpentry for that matter. To me, telling a deep, rich, and MEANINGFUL story is exactly what great lyrics are about (emphasis on meaningful). It can be ridiculously abstract, straight-forward with no bull-shit, or anywhere in between; a story is a story. And when excuted correctly and/or flawlessly, one can change the world with their words. I would like to think that the world is my “brain space” and that all it has to offer is at my disposal when it comes time write. But I admit that I gravitate to certain topics more-so than others when that time comes. Usually, my lyrical pallet has been made up themes that have to do with love ( a lot of that haha… but not corny stuff… more like epic Greek love stories…Helen of Troy type shit), science (particularly quantum physics, chaos theory, and electro magnetism / fundamental forces), my everyday human experience and all the thoughts and emotions that come with it, and a sense of spirituality (not religion or anything, but I believe in a universal energy that runs through us all and I’m into some metaphysical stuff like sacred geometry and what not). Every now and then, if I am so moved to do so, I will try and venture into different thematic territories but I usually end up sticking to my “established arsenal” of material just because that is what I genuinely love writing about. I love playing with words and watching them unfold onto the paper (sometimes I feel like I am not even writing as much as I am dictating thoughts from somewhere else. Sometimes I don’t even understand my own lyrics till days, months, or even years later). There have been occasions that I have stared at an incomplete line on a page and have mentally debated with myself for at least an hour on whether I should use the word “I” or “one”. Sometimes I will reference another song or an earlier lyric within the same song by using a phrase, a series of words, or even just one word. Though I may be the only one who knows that, that’s how I have fun when I write. Those are the little games I play with myself to keep my mind engaged and on its toes. I pretty much hold to a rule of thumb that I write all the lyrics in whatever vocal endeavor it is I am working on. It just makes the emotional connection to the words that much easier when it comes from you, and that translates especially so when you go to sing live. People can really FEEL the difference when you are just reciting words and when you really… I dunno…. I guess preach them….really believe in them. But more-so than that rule, I hold to the idea that every rule has an exception, so I’m always ready to be surprised!

6. I have a feeling you guys know…..where can I buy a Chocobo? Don’t hold out on me I know you have one, Mark.

Mark: HAHA, I think a chocobo is technically just a chicken right? Or an overgrown ostrich/chicken hybrid? I don’t know… if chocobos actually existed I think they’d be considered a high-brow delicacy, and subsequently killed off in droves. But yeah.. I’d like to think that I’d be allowed to own one in real life, and that no one would try and take it and/or eat it. Then I’d have to choke-a-bro! ……… I am so sorry for that.

Chris: What the fuck is a chocobo?!?!

Mark: hahahah

7. If Haunted Shores could tour or work with any musician/producer or any band who would you want? Feel free to go nuts with this one.

Chris: UUUUUUuuuuuuugggggghhhhhhhh that is a topic that partially keeps me so actively interested in metal (other than the love of the music of course). I will put it this way; I LOVE DEFTONES. End of story. I have a top 5 list of bands that I would like to tour with but if I had to choose one, Deftones with out a doubt! No band has moved me as emotionally and stimulated me as intellectually as Deftones (and I am a HUGE Meshuggah fan mind you). Just something about that band for me. It keeps the magic and the little kid in me alive in a way that if they weren’t around… I dunno if I’d be here haha! Lamb of God and Meshuggah are tied for second followed by Tool and Slipknot. And since Sound Garden just got back together, I guess they can go back on the list too!

Mark: Soundgarden got back together? WHAT? Where have I been?? God this list could get dangerously long, but I’ll keep it simple: Devin Townsend. I’ve had the creepiest stalker obsession with his music for about 10 years now, and every time I’ve met him I’ve been absolutely speechless and star-struck. He’s without a doubt my biggest musical influence, and I hope if he’s heard any of the HS stuff he doesn’t completely hate it.. haha. Hmmmm who else? Ihsahn from Emperor maybe. Or Mikael from Opeth, Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree. I love those guys. Oh and maybe Rocco Siffredi… he’s obviously a huge influence to us all!

8. Who did the art for the Cyclamen split and your myspace? It’s gorgeous!

Mark: It was actually done by our friend Tim Fox at cultlovesyou, based in the UK. He’s a director, illustrator, freelance motion designer, and he’s done art for bands like SikTh, Skindred, Cyclamen and a ton of others. He’s disgustingly talented and he’s got such a unique style; it’s hard to envision this being the last time we work with him!

9. What is your relationship with Cyclamen and how did the idea of doing a split come about?

Mark: Our relationship can be summed in two words: life partners. Haha no actually I’ve been friends with Hayato Imanishi from Cyclamen online for a while (he’d been into HS when it was still our older lineup), and he approached me last year after I posted some of Misha and I’s HS demos online. I said yes for a number of reasons: the idea of a split with a band based in the UK made so much sense in terms of spreading influence and gaining a listener audience far from where you’re based. We both essentially play similar styles of music, though different enough to turn our own respective audiences onto the other band. And furthermore I just think their music is awesome and really fun to listen to. They’re all super nice guys and have been great about the split so far.

10. What can we expect from the upcoming record and what is the target release date/month?

Chris: I suppose it would be safe to say that you can expect a record that is going to be as musically dense and rich as possible. I feel like there are only so many permutations of metal that exist at this point but we are definitely going to cover the established territory of what “our” music has to offer as well as some new places hopefully. I feel like it will be a collection of songs that will honor the tradition and evolution of the “metal language”. Mark and I agree that we are aiming to release the record at the end of the summer hopefully.

Mark: Yeah we’re going to continue to spend all summer working on it! I’m insanely proud of the material for the full-length so far. Chris basically nailed it in that we’re going to try and zero in on what we do best… which is basically just write music that makes us happy! Haha, how metal is that?! But yeah if you liked the direction we were headed on the HS/Cyclamen split, I feel like that’s only scratching the surface of where we’ll go for the full-length. I’m really just having so much fun with this music, and the eventuality of taking it live and supporting these songs on the road is more exciting to me than anything.

11. What is your take/opinion on this new “Djent” movement that you have become a part of?

Chris: Bleh… the whole thing is kind of silly if you ask me! This is just like back in the 40’s and 50’s when the “new sound” in jazz was starting to emerge and people didn’t know what to call it. Then some putz took a phrase that Dizzy Gillespie said (or scatted I think would be the more appropriate word) and coined an entire generation of music out of the term. That term is now commonly known as BeBop. It only describes a particular sound that one is trying to achieve rather than a whole “style” of music, let alone a movement. Djent (like BeBop) is a color to me, not the painting. But then again, I’ve never been one to label and categorize, I just know if it sounds good, bad, or better.

Mark: Yeah I’m kind of in the same boat; I didn’t even know we were part of a djent movement! I’m really horrible with these labels… I always just thought Misha coined that phrase, but then someone called me an idiot for not knowing that someone in Meshuggah actually came up with it. I don’t know, haha. Oh and I read that someone called us Sumeriancore on a forum. What the hell is that? But yeah people can lump us into whatever genre they want, it’s all good with me either way! But the second someone starts the genre of Awesome, I want in on that ASAP.

That’s about it man, again thank you so much for doing the interview and if you’re ever touring around Canada you can count on me for a place to crash.

Chris: Thank you for your time and your interest bro! If you are ever in NYC or DC, you have friends that want to throwdown!

Mark: Thanks for reading!

Tonight I had the chance to speak with Mat from Montreal heavy metal band WDNFRA, a young and talented group who have just released their first album titled “Break Out”.

First off, congratulations on releasing your first full-length album! How are people reacting to your music so far?

Thank you very much! People are reacting great because it’s the first time we are releasing something with a professional sound. Thanks to Pierre for that! I’ve been receiving lots of email from people I didn’t know since we released the songs and it’s very positive.

That’s awesome! For those who have never heard WDNFRA, how would you describe your music?

I would describe my music as a little return to the 80’s Heavy Metal, but with a modern touch as well. We don’t limit ourselves when we write music, in some songs you can hear blast beats and heavy breakdowns while some other songs can simply go with a nice smooth melody, just like in “Inner Pain” or “Joyful Fails”. So yeah, overall I’d say we play Heavy Metal with a bunch of things added, haha.

I’ve been wondering about this for a while, does WDNFRA stand for something?

It stands for Why Does Nobody Fuckin Rocks Anymore, referring to the fact that legends aren’t being made anymore, but we sure plan on changing that! And I think it’s an original name, when you type it on Google, everything that comes out refers to us!

So how does the song writing process go for you guys? Who’s writing the lyrics, solo’s, etc?

Well when WDNFRA started we were only 3. Me, my brother Fred on drums, and Jo on base and I use to write 95% of everything, including the lyrics. Since Boud joined the band, a year after the beginning, we started writing more together, but there are several songs on the album that are still 100% by me but Boud helped a lot for the structures, putting the riffs at the right place and all, and he did write all the solos for all the songs, except that small part in ”Freak” haha.

So yeah, you can expect that on the 2nd album, Boud will collaborate even more and it will help define our sound. He’s the one who wrote entirely (but the lyrics) “Joyful Fails”, and I think this kind of song really adds to the whole WDNFRA. He also helped a lot for the middle parts in ”Inner Pain”.

Lyrically speaking, do you write from personal experience? Is there a song on the album that has the most personal meaning to you?

Well honestly, French being my first language, I like to write in English as if I was someone else, so I travel through random ideas and come up with the WDNFRA lyrics, but the fact that they are mostly ”negative” does reflects a part of my life, especially when I was younger, of being this kid with almost no friends who used to change school and country every 6 months, but that’s another story, haha!

Well, strangely enough… a tough life does make for good lyrical content…

Yeah it does, and that’s part of Heavy Metal I guess, I choose music instead of drugs or shit like that!

So growing up, were there any bands that sort of influenced you to pick up a guitar and learn to play?

Metallica, just like 90% of the bands out there I think haha! It’s them who ”told me” to took that guitar, and being left-handed I was influence by Kurt Cobain too, felt exciting to be part of the left-handed group just like him, Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney and stuff… it motivated me in a way , it made me felt special, cause you don’t choose to be a left-handed player.

So yeah, besides that many bands later on influenced me when I started a band. Stuff like Sepultura, Pantera, (two bands with two brothers, just like us haha) and many other things, like Alice In Chains. So much love and respect for Layne Staley, really motivated me to became a singer even if I’m not nearly good as he was.

Being a new band in Montreal, do you find it very competitive for bands just starting out? What is the metal scene like there?

Well we’ve been really apart from the scene when we started, we were a thrash metal band trying to make something in a scene that was 90% death metal, hardcore, and things like that. What I do appreciate is that there are a few thrash metal bands making their way along with us and it makes it easier for all of us, we really like to support each other, we don’t like the competitive things like so many out there do. We were at the beginning, but then realised it wasn’t worth it to try to beat another band or something. We have a race only against ourselves. We don’t have to be better than other bands to go far, we have to be better than ourselves everyday I think. Eternal Judgment, Venomenon, Protocol, these are all thrash bands from Montreal and its Area that are heading the same direction and I’m really glad to be ahead of that new thrash metal wave that is coming. I do think that in a couple of years they’ll be way many and that it’ll make a comeback. Deathcore and shit like that is due to finish you know!

Yeah, totally! I think it’s refreshing to hear new bands playing thrash metal… it’s what metal is supposed to be!

Yeah exactly! Straight to the point metal! Doesn’t have to be extremely violent to be extremely good, put a bunch of everything and it’ll make a good, new song, that won’t sound the same as the band next door cause it’ll come from you, from your everyday feeling. I think too many bands limits themselves to be ”the most brutal band out there” it pisses me off. What’s next? A real pig squealing on stage? Come on!

But that of course doesn’t go to all bands haha, a lot won’t recognize themselves in this so I’m not worrying!

Haha! Well, we can only hope this is the beginning of something really beneficial for the metal genre. As far as promotion goes, do you find Myspace is a useful tool to get people to notice you?

I think it is, without Myspace we would never have our USA tour, it’s how I met my friends from Red Castle Army, and then Savage Machiine and because of that we have a 25 gigs tour coming, all by the magic of internet. I think it’s why we’ll go further than any Quebec metal bands of the 90’s. They had way less resources than we do nowadays, and because of them, the door is big open, and we’ll take our chance!

To add to this, I would also like to say that what I like about Myspace is the fact you can actually get in touch with your fans, in a quick easy way. Back in the days you had to write letters and stuff, which probably was exciting, but it would take way more time to get your music heard.

Definitely. (In fact, I wouldn’t have found out about you if it wasn’t for Myspace.)

Are you considering a record label, or find the independent way is working well as is?

It is working well, but we are very at the limit right now, with that album release, the tour coming up, having to take care of our website, the merch, the sales, our CD release gig, it gives us less time to practice and write music so as soon as we’ll have the CD in our hands, (around Christmas) I’ll consider looking for a manager at least, and I will send press kits to the big industries and see what happens!

I think we are a very motivated band, we’re young, talented, and most of all it’s what we want to do so I think we’ll be able to work something out for 2010, it’s a great year to come for WDNFRA!

Any plans for a Canadian tour after the U.S. one? ;)

We thought about it yeah, but one thing at a time, especially right now haha, I mean financially talking we are in a ”hole” even if the pre-sale is doing great, the album costed a good amount of money so we need to pay back before thinking of a second tour!

I think it’ll depend on how the USA one goes, but I’m pretty confident it’s gonna be great, Savage Machiine are nice guys and they work really hard on that tour just as we are.

Well, I’m sure I’ll be seeing you on tour one day. I hope everything works out great for you guys in the future! That pretty much wraps it up… is there anything else you’d like to add?

Hey thanks a lot Leanne, only my 2nd interview so far, but lots more to come in the next few weeks! It was fun spending time talking to you, and I’m sure I’ll be a little less nervous in the next ones haha!

And I’d like to say thanks to all our fans that are supporting us since the beginning, and I’m looking forward to see you on tour! Please visit our www.WDNFRA.com for more info about everything! Keep rockin, thx again!

Thanks so much for doing this interview! I really appreciate it!

[Read more - Review of Break Out]

Interview by Leanne

When did you form your band?

Adrian: Late November 2007 by (ME) Adrian Powell  (Vocals,Piano) and Toby Stewart (Guitars)

What inspired you to make music together?

Adrian:We all wanted something we could connect to and Awake By Design was it.

We all write better as a whole band and we all inspire one another.

Sometimes I would have the structure and chords and vocals to a song but it needs those catchy lead guitar parts and unique drums over the top to make it an Awake By Design song.

How would you describe your music?

Adrian:Very Epic and emotional. The kinda thing where you have a really bad day at work and then you go home Stick Awake By Design on your CD player and it puts you at ease and really chills you out but can also make you wanna act like a crazy metalhead and throw your head about and just loose control.

The Idea behind the songwriting is to make people feel something special and something people can relate to. We want people to feel emotional and get the message they want from the song. We have been described as many things ranging from Gothic Metal to Progressive Rock but I dont think we are Gothic Metal at all. We have elements of Gothic but leaning more towards the rock side. We have classical, Folk, 80’s Rock, Synthpop and Heavy Metal elements to our music. We just do what we do and people can call us whatever they like. So long as they are enjoying the music and feeling some kind of emotion then I’m happy with that.

How has your debut album “Sentiment” been received by fans so far?

Adrian:Amazing actually, We seem to have a really good fan base behind us and a dedicated one at that. All over the world people seem to be getting into us Which is awesome to know about.

Is there a message or theme behind the album?

Adrian:Not behind the album itself no but individual tracks yes. It’s all about emotion for us and how we felt at the time. For example the track “Ethereal” is about existing within a crowd and a reality but no one seems to acknowledge you or notice you. Your like a living ghost that they never see but your breathe the same air, talk the same way as them, they just ignore you.

For those interested, could you tell us how to obtain a copy of your album?

Adrian:You can buy the CD through PayPal on myspace www.myspace.com/awakebydesign

In the new blog. Or you can buy the album as an MP3 album on Amazon,itunes,Napster,Rhapsody and many many more. All the information is on the myspace page.

Are you currently touring? (If so, where?) Do you have any plans for future gigs?

Adrian:We actually did a tour last May which was interesting, and plan to do another one in 2010, We are playing a few shows in England on May 25th in Taunton at the Perfect 5th and October 26th at the Centre Spot in Exeter supporting Negura Bunget.

Are you seeking a record label?

Adrian:We are yes to promote our debut album “Sentiment” and to hopefully work on second album and do a full worldwide tour.

What are your goals as a band in the future?

Adrian:Just to keep writting music and to still be enjoying it which I know we will all be.

We want to keep releasing albums and giving our fans what they want from Awake By Design. We love our fans and we love the music and we want to make both happy. We will always do music and there will always be Awake By Design

Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Adrian:Our debut album “Sentiment” has had a lot of success with reviews so far getting 9/10 in a few magazines and webzines including PowerPlay Magazine, 4.5/6 in Zero tolerance Magazine. Head over to www.myspace.com/awakebydesign and check it all out.

Interview by Leanne