Saved By Ruin

Wanted: Guitarist
Location: Denver, Colorado (USA)
Style: Metal

Back By Midnite interview

Back By Midnite is a metal trio coming out from Philippines. They started as a pop band, but saw the light and currently they are the only all-female metal band in their country.

Listen to Back By Midnite while reading the interview:

The first thing that kept my attention about Back By Midnite is that you started as a pop band. What made you change your style and turn a metal act?
We started out as a 4-piece group but when our keyboardist left so she could concentrate more on her studies, we just somehow, moved on to covering more rock songs for several reasons. One of the reasons is that it was kind of hard covering songs from The Corrs or Mandy Moore without keyboards. Another reason is that rock songs seemed to fit Jehan’s (vocalist) voice more than our old covers of pop songs. And lastly, we found our passion in Rock. The intensity when we’re up on stage playing these songs, head banging and screaming…its just pure Passion.

Usually it happens the opposite. Young musicians starting as metal with a radical taste, turning to a softer sound as they career goes on. Any thought or temptation of turning back to the poppy style to be a bit more commercial?
People have been asking us that and even advising us to shift to another genre but we just can’t do it. We have had offers from recording companies that want to sign us but with the condition that we tone down our music and be more pop-ish. But ALL of us don’t want that. Coz it’s not just our music that we’re compromising…it’s our passion too. Coz we love what we’re doing and we love the kind of music that we play. We’re not doing this for the money but for the love of music…our kind of music.

Your sound differs from song to song, but it keeps a hard rock basis, sometimes a bit alternative sometimes thrash a-la-Metallica. How would you define your sound?
Our manager calls our music Girlie Rock. Its coz we play rock music but we still incorporate being females into our music Like our lyrics can sometimes be about love but the instrumentation is heavier that what you expect from love songs. Some people have called us BETALLICA (Back by Midnite + Metallica). But we can’t complain! WE LOVE METALLICA!!! They’re probably our biggest influence. But of course, we want to make our own sound and be known for our original compositions. But it really doesn’t matter to us what our genre is for as long as we play what we feel and do what we love.

Metallica would be one of your main influences. But in your music there’s also an alternative edge, some pop, even hardcore flashes. Which are your main influences?
We all have different influences maybe that’s why there are other elements in our music. As a band, we love Metallica (of course), Pantera, Mudvayne, The Cranberries, Disturbed, Kittie and System of a Down. We also idolize a lot of local bands from the Philippines like Slapshock, Queso, Kapatid, Greyhoundz. And Bands from Davao, our hometown, like Go Larry Go, Go for Devotion, Grrrr, Mackina, Spiral Thunder. Individually though, we have different influences. Jehan (Vocalist) is the ultimate rocker girl who loves Korn, The Cranberries, Metallica and Nirvana. Dice (bassist) is more into Incubus, Silverchair, No Doubt, Bob Marley, and Black Sabbath. Suji (Drummer) loves Sting, Dream Theater, Paramore and American Headcharge.

You come from Philippines. How is its metal scene, is it easy for a metal band to get the media and fan attention?
Here in the Philippines, there are a lot of Metal bands and a lot of people who appreciate metal. But it is difficult for metal bands to make it big especially in getting media attention since recording companies are quite hesitant to sign up metal bands so we really have to work hard to play in as many venues as possible to promote our music. But there are a LOT of really good metal bands here in the Philippines.

Is there any problem to get a busy gig schedule?
In our case, since we are all students, it is kind of difficult for us to commit to gigs. We can get to play and practice only during summer breaks, semestral breaks and Christmas break especially since Dice and Suji are in Manila and Jehan is in Davao. But for other bands, there are a lot of independent gigs especially in Manila during weekends. So it gives artists the opportunity to showcase their talents.

And are you pioneers in being an all-female band in your country?
There have been other all-female bands before us. But we’re not sure if they still play until now.

And you keep on being a trio, after your keyboardist left. Are you planning to make your family grow again, or this is definitively the right format for you?
We talked about this before but the thing is…we don’t want to add a new member. If ever we would, it would still be our keyboardist. We have made this work for 7 years and being in a band is also about friendship and companionship.Adding a new member would mean adjusting to a new person when we have already become comfortable with each other. We have been through a lot and we work well as a group. This is definitely the right format for us.

And why did you decide to be an all-female band. Was it on purpose, you deliberately wanted to make a female band? Or it was just a coincidence?
Suji was in a band in high school where in she was the only girl. In college, she decided that it would be fun to have an all female band. But of course she envisioned a pop band…not a rock-metal band. Hahahaha!!!

Do you think that being an all-female act opens you some doors? It makes it easier to attract new fans?
Well, being an all-female band has its perks. People become more curious and more receptive. But we think that being an all girl band has been more of a challenge to us. We have always aimed to be as good as the guys. We want them to appreciate us not because we are girls but because we can also play well. Also, we cover songs from mostly, all male bands, so we also want to give justice to the songs that we cover. We don’t stop just because we can’t do it and think that people will be more understanding and lenient because we are girls. We want to be able to do what guys do and give justice to our songs.

It has passed four years since the “Past 12″ album release. When are you going to release a new album? Have you composed new songs already?
We are currently in the process of recording the second album. We have actually finished the second album 2 years ago but for some reason, we never really released it. Now, we are re-recording the songs. We hope to release the second album before June of 2009.

You are very young, are your lyrics focused in your age troubles and feelings, are them orientated to a certain range of age?
When the first album “Past 12″ was released, we were about 18 and 19 then, so we wrote songs about our experiences…about love and heartbreak. But most of the songs in the first album were composed by Jehan’s sister, April. For the second album, about 8 out of 10 songs were composed by us. And I think the themes of our songs for the second album are more mature.

Talking about your age, I can imagine that you are already allowed to be Back After Midnight
Hahaha! Exactly!!! And we don’t have parents tagging around for every gig anymore. Hahahaha! But our parents were very supportive of us since the beginning and we are very thankful for that.

Which are your real expectations for the future?
In the future…hmmmm…that’s kind of difficult. Dice is in Dentistry proper, Suji in Medicine proper and Jehan is taking up Mass Communications as of the moment. I’m sure we’re going to be busy with our individual careers but we hope that we can still get to play and do what we love. Maybe we’ll have less gigs but I hope that we can still release more albums.

And this dream you know that (probably) never will come to reality, but you are willing to live?
Of Course! We have been hanging on to the band for quite some time now despite the challenges and hardships. But we have been together for 7 years! And for us, it is not about the fame, the money, the endorsements but for us to be able to do what we love and to be able to play our music.

And tell the readers why they should check Back By Midnite.
Hey guys! Check out BACK BY MIDNITE. We’re a 3-pc all female rock band from the Philippines. There’s not too many of us out there and our music represents our artistic side. It makes us different. Like us or hate us. We can’t please everyone. Nevertheless, we’d still be rockin’ our brains out.

“Iblisbilim”, Ilkim Oulanem new EP

Ilkim Oulanem has released her new awaited E.P entitled “Iblisbilim”, free for download at her web site.

Read more about Ilkim Oulanem.

Amathyst

They were friends from their school days in Newcastle, Australia. Peta and Renee contacted the drummer Regina, who not only brought her friend Kristy to be in charge of the vocal duties but suggested the name which brings together the same line-up since then, Amathyst.

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Country: Australia
History: 2002 – 2009
Status: Inactive
Style: Alternative metal

Biography:
They were friends from their school days in Newcastle, Australia. Peta and Renee contacted the drummer Regina, who not only brought her friend Kristy to be in charge of the vocal duties but suggested the name which brings together the same line-up since then, Amathyst.

Under the dispersed label of alternative metal it hides an original style, which has assimilated the essence of Pearl Jam, giving it a dark gothic touch and sometimes approaching the anger of Rage Against The Machine. The quartet takes much care of the rhythm section, with the bass playing a very important role, as the alternation of melodic and screaming (in anger) vocals.

After sending their first demo to the renowned Nick Launay (Silverchair, INXS, Nick Cave), he got to be their mentor/producer ever since. Under his experience they recorded their first EP, “Amathyst”. As an outstanding band from the “MySpace generation”, assess the media coverage focusing on the network. 23,000 views of its biggest hit “Emily”, and around 10,000 friend requests accepted, they are consolidating an emerging fan base.

They stopped touring in 2008, focused recording new tracks and leaving the stage they’ve shared stages with such as The Sleepy Jackson, Karnivool, 28 Days, Bodyjar or Cog. But in October 2009, they announced a farewell gig to be celebrated the 16th this month, at Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle.

Lineup:
Kristy – Vocals
Renee – Bass, vocals
Peta – Guitar
Reg – Drums

Discography:
2008, “Amathyst” (EP)

Related links:
Amathyst Myspace
Amathyst facebook

Videos

 

Claudia Ponce

Belle Gunness interview

Belle Gunness was a mid-tempo thrash act born in the Netherlands in 2004. Their band name coincides with that of a serial killer from Norway, who after seducing men they were killed and feed the pigs. We interviewed the drummer Martine Sipma to know a little more about the band.

Listen to Belle Gunness while reading the interview:

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Belle Gunness made solid down-tempo thrash metal, sometimes even with a death/doom edge. How would you describe your music and influences?
You described it well. We usually called our music death/ thrash metal, because that was the most clear and short description. Petra wrote the songs and she was mostly influenced by Pantera’s groove and old school death metal bands like Bolt Thrower. The bandmembers each had their own influences in their playing.

One thing that seems to be a constant in your history is the difficulty to retain/find musicians. Finding a female drummer looks like an odyssey.
It sure does. The problem is that there aren’t many girls who play an instrument and like to play metal music as well. Finding a drummer, male or female, is always the hardest part. Female drummers are very rare, good female drummers even more and good female drummers who like to play metal are extremely hard to find indeed.

Maaike’s departure was the detonator to split up. Was this difficulty to keep a solid lineup the reason to split up after three years? Or was it a matter of your friendship, which made you avoid continuing the route without your friends?
The impossibility of finding suitable musicians was the main reason for us to split up. We struggled three years trying to find a stable lineup of good and motivated female musicians and it just didn’t seem to be realistic.
Friendship existed between almost everybody who once was a part of Belle Gunness. This friendship made it sometimes hard to communicate about the band. One can imagine how hard it is to have to tell a friend who is also a bandmember that they aren’t functioning well within the band, for example.

So being an all-female band is not an easy job. Had you ever thought of leaving the all-female condition and hire male musicians?
We did consider it, when we had had another drummer-disappointment. But we felt that the concept of an all-female metal band was really strong and we wanted to prove that it could be done. We were wrong in the end, obviously.

Judging your name, it seems that men were not welcome to the formation Belle Gunness was a woman who killed men after seducing them, to later give their meat to the pigs.
This makes it sound like we all hate men. We don’t hate men. Not all of them, anyway. ‘Belle Gunness’ was just a really suitable name for an all-female metalband, for the exact reasons you just described. Most metal bands have names that refer to something or someone evil so we were just continuing the tradition.

Let’s talk about your demo. Is it your only release? And how was it’s media/fans feedback?
The demo, consisting of the two tracks ‘Everywhere’ and ‘Defend Yourself’, was our only official release. It was only released online, we didn’t make any CDs. They were just two tracks recorded for promotion. We weren’t extremely satisfied with the result, one of the reasons being that we were about to replace the drummer that played on those tracks.
We didn’t send it to mags for reviewing or anything. Afterwards we discovered that some websites like yours, dedicated to female metal bands, picked up the demo and reviewed it. Those reviews were all positive.

Do you think you got the media attention you deserved, or is it difficult to shine among all the bands showing up in the music business and on the internet?
We didn’t get that much media attention, actually. It’s just until recently that we’ve realized we have reached a certain cult-status in the underground metal scene. When we were active as a band, most people in the scene had heard from us because we were an all-female band. That’s the only reason we stood out, really. Most people liked us because we are female, not so much because of the music. We only did one interview once for a music weblog but that was never published, since the band split up shortly after.

Did the demo collect all Belle Gunness material, or are there any songs that haven’t seen the light?
In the end, we had a repertoire of six of our own songs and two covers. We did record five of our songs with the last line-up, but those were never mixed or finished. The last song we were working on only had a working title: ‘The Goat’.

And were there enough to perform a setlist entirely made up of your own material, or did you complete it with some covers? In this case, which?
We actually did gigs with a setlist containing only four songs, in the beginning. We played one of them twice, as an encore. We’re women, so we could get away with that. We played two covers: Corporal Jigsore Quandary by Carcass and Bodycount by Morgoth. The Carcass song never left the rehearsal room ’cause we still needed a lot of practice on that one. We did play the Morgoth song live, which was always a great success.

Did you have a busy gig schedule? Any highlight, the show you have best memories about?
We did quite a lot of gigs, especially when you take into account that we didn’t have that many songs to play. Venues booked us because most people in the scene liked to see us play. After all, they could look at five pairs of boobs on stage. Our shows got better when we played more of them. The show in Eibergen, August 2007, was a particularly nice one. It was the debut of our new (and last) line-up, with Martine having switched from bass to drums and Maaike as a new member on bass. Our final show in Ede was also quite memorable. We always got a lot of support from a certain group of friends and they were all there that night, which was great.

And what about your lyrics, who was responsible for them and what did they talk about?
Anita wrote the lyrics. She works as a nurse on a psychiatric department in a hospital and got a lot of inspiration for lyrics from it. The songs were mostly about psychiatry, disorders and stuff.

What are the whereabouts of the Belle Gunness girls nowadays, are you still related to music business?
Hell yeah! We are all still active in music. After Belle Gunness, Anita joined melodic death/thrash band Why She Kills (www.myspace.com/whyshekills) . They recorded an EP ‘Daydreams of Obliteration’ and did a lot of shows, including the Jägermeister Dutch Demolition Tour with Izegrim and Sin7Sins. The band split up a while ago. Maaike is now the bassplayer of black/thrash metal band Irmin (www.myspace.com/irminlegion). They recently released a promo: ‘The Summoning’ which received positive feedback from the metal community. Petra plays guitar in industrial metal band Deadcell (www.myspace.com/deadcellband). Their latest album is called ‘State of Fear’ and they play shows all over the world. Right now they’re playing the Jägermeister Dutch Demolition Tour with The Monolith Deathcult and The Lucifer Principle. Petra is intrinsically a death metal guitarist, she also plays in the oldschool death metal band SoulreaveR (www.myspace.com/gastornis). They are busy trying out new second guitarists and preparing to play some shows again. Martine now studies bassguitar at the Rotterdam Conservatory and plays bass in melodic death/thrash metal band The Dead Normality (www.myspace.com/thedeadnormality). They have recently reached 2nd place in the Dutch Metal Battle and are now continuing in the Wacken Metal Battle. Their debut EP ‘Killing Reality’ will be released this year (2009).

And is there any possibility of reunion? Are you still receiving messages regarding this subject?
As we said earlier, we’ve only recently realized that we are kind of a cult band in the underground metalscene. After the split-up, we still received a lot of messages from people all over the world, which is very cool. We still see eachother regularly and sometimes we jokingly talk about a reunion of some kind, but it’s not something that will happen in the near future. We’re all too busy with our own bands and personal lives at the moment.

If you could turn back in time, what would you change to keep Belle Gunness alive, anything you regret of?
We don’t think we would’ve changed much. The problem of finding the right members would’ve remained so we’d have to quit eventually, no matter what. That’s the price we paid for wanting to keep the concept of an all-female metal band intact. We still wouldn’t change that concept.

Tell those who didn’t know you what they were missing.
An all-female metalband, that’s all there is to say. That was what made us stand out. People were always more interested in the fact that we were women than in the music itself, which some of us still find a bit annoying. Ofcourse we did use that concept to the max, it was after all the main reason why we got as many shows as we did and why we are still known by some today.

Read more about Belle Gunness

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