Imminent Psychosis
March 22nd 2009 00:05
Interview with:
Stephen Lea
from
Stephen Lea
from
Stephen (Leo) Lea 27 Rhythm Guitar / Vocals
Co-founder of the band with Greg and Rob (Ex-Vocalist). Grew up listening to old thrash / death; Sepultura, Slayer, Megadeth and Metallica. Still heavily influenced by the above, but also appreciate some tech-death (Psycroptic, Cryptopsy) and old heavy rock (Sabbath). I don’t really have any vocal influences, I’ve never tried to sound like a particular vocalist, however I respect those that aren’t afraid to articulate their words, as opposed to every kid nowadays who think its 'brutal' to pig squeal and try to growl without putting any effort into it.
Greg Lea 24 Lead Guitar
I started the band with Leo and our initial singer Robbo. Met Damo at a gym we used to go to, and met our drummer Justin through him. Main influences are Megadeth, Slayer, Damaged, and Black Sabbath. I don’t generally listen to a heap of different metal bands. For lead guitar I love Marty Friedman and Jason Becker’s work. Some fantastic melodies and progressions while still being able to play fast and heavy.
Justin (Stainor) Dahlenburg 26 Drummer
After playing with another band called ‘Uproar’ for the majority of my teen years we were in between singers around the time of March 2003, when Damo asked me to have a jam with Imminent Psychosis as I had known him through the guitarist of my other band. My influences came from the usual Pantera, Sepultura 90’s metal era, I also listened to a lot of session drummers such as Dave Weckl, Virgil Donati, Tommy Igoe and Jo Jo Mayer and now have been more influenced by some more intense shit such as Psycroptic and Damaged. When I was learning drums I also played a lot of grunge, rock and any other music where I thought there was good drumming in. I have always believed the drums should be played as a musical instrument not just something there to bash and play as fast as you can. Although speed does equal excitement, if a drummer can’t make it musical within the context of the song it’s just not worth it, and with all this background I have found myself and Imminent have been the perfect recipe for success.
Damian Manov 25 Bass
Joined in 2003, has played bass with Imminent from the beginning and brings the hard rock edge to the band. Heavily influenced by Aussie rock (Angels, Rose Tattoo, AC/DC) as well as old thrash. His fantastic ear honed over years as a live sound producer has helped develop our distinctive tone, as well as single-handedly ruining the brave front row punters eardrums with volume.
Tell us about the band name…
The name Imminent Psychosis was conceived by Leo and Greg in 2002. Psychosis is a mental illness where you can not perceive the difference in what is real and what is not. We try to write music that reflects this feeling, the onset of insanity.
How would you describe your music?
Raw, aggressive Aussie thrash. No bullshit gimmicks, breakdowns or effects. If you put on our CD or come to our shows you’re bound to get flat-out intense thrash.
What one thing do you feel sets you apart from the rest in this genre?
Awesome riffs and drumming, great tone, intense vocals. You don’t need to tune down to C or whatever to write heavy riffs. It’s the sort of music that if I was listening to it I’d want to learn it on guitar.
Discography:
Imminent Psychosis
Released: September 2004
9 songs
Ruthless
Released: August 2008
10 songs
Compilations:
Underearthed 3 2005 Bootbash
Dirty Boy Recording Studio Sampler Pack 2005 Shoot to Bleed
3DDD Radio Depth Charge 2005 Mayhem
Best of Australian Underground Metal 2005 Shoot to Bleed
Metal 4 Relief 2008 Vengeance
Underearthed 3 2005 Bootbash
Dirty Boy Recording Studio Sampler Pack 2005 Shoot to Bleed
3DDD Radio Depth Charge 2005 Mayhem
Best of Australian Underground Metal 2005 Shoot to Bleed
Metal 4 Relief 2008 Vengeance
How long did it take to record your latest material?
Our most recent material has come along quite quickly. We had some timing issues releasing our last album with the untimely departure of our ex-vocalist with the album 90% finished. Most of this time was spent auditioning vocalists and rearranging the vocal structure to suit Leo, who stepped up to the role. So once we had released ‘Ruthless’ and toured off it, it had been so long since we last wrote songs the ideas came quite quickly, and we have seven new tracks down already.
What is the inspiration behind your latest material?
Our inspiration has always been about writing music that we would want to hear. We have gone towards a more straight-up, riff-laden thrash sound rather than our earlier work which had more death metal influences.
Any plans for a music video?
Yeah, that’s definitely on the cards. We are currently story-booking the clip that will accompany ‘Concrete Boots’ (track 5 off Ruthless). We’ve got some money put aside for this clip so when we are happy with the concept and arrangement we’ll get stuck into it, hopefully mid this year.
When you go into recording mode, do you find it easy or challenging?
I could speak on behalf of the entire band when saying it is easy. We do a bit of pre-production work on our 4-track to iron out the kinks in songs, so we go into recording knowing exactly how we want it to sound. Why dick around in the studio when you’re paying good money?
Is there a particular market or country you are trying to reach?
The older fans of thrash metal, which is a bit hard because a lot generally don’t go out to shows or keep in touch with the local scene. There is no particular country. I’ve sent promo material to West and Eastern Europe, the US, South America, Southern Asia and throughout Australia.
What kind of message are you trying to relay to your audience?
There is no intentional message behind our music; we are not trying to save the world or anything. We mainly write about stories or topics that interest us. Our main aim is to produce heavy, aggressive music that fires up the listener and leaves them satisfied.
What have you got in store for 2009?
2009 will be the year of touring. We’ve done Adelaide back to front, and Melbourne a few times, this year our goal will be to hit Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, and Hobart (plus as many in between as possible). To get out there and show Australia how thrash should be played. Apart from touring, we’ll record a video clip, and of course, work on new material.
Who’s responsible for the bands artwork?
The band logo was done by Leo. Its rough, slashy style was used to express the schizophrenic nature of Psychosis, and artistically represents our style of music extremely well. We have had graphic designers come up and offer to redesign the logo, but after 6 years it has become our recognizable trademark. Our debut album artwork is another one I must note, as the image depicts the concept of Imminent Psychosis perfectly, it was done by one of our mates who is a tattoo artist, and if you knew the bloke the artwork would have been quite fitting into his mental state at the time. More recent artwork has been done professionally, with the entire band working together on concepts, ideas etc
How hard has it been to get to this point?
It’s been bloody easy! Were lucky to be a group of mates who don’t piss each other off too much, and all have similar influences and vision on where we want our sound to go. Obviously this wasn’t true with our previous drummer or vocalist, and making the decision to kick out a member who you’ve known for half your life is never easy. But in a professional band these decisions must be made, and we have no regrets with the current lineup, which is the strongest to date.
Where does your main fan base / support tend to lie?
Adelaide! From a demographic point of view, older metal heads that grew up listening to Slayer etc generally are our biggest fans. But we have fans in all demographics; young, old, metalhead, dance, hip-hop, etc.
What is your favourite venue?
Enigma Bar in Adelaide has been quite good to us over the years. It’s a pretty cool place that’s well laid out, and more importantly has a cheap happy hour each night! I also think the Arthouse in Melbourne is awesome and has a great atmosphere.
What are some of your favourite local acts? And have you had the chance to play alongside them?
We’ve been lucky enough to play with all of our favourite Adelaide bands over the years, the only bands that kick serious ass and we never got a chance to gig with was Damaged and Deaths Boundaries. And I’ve heard a rumour that DB are getting back together this year! If they do, we’ll definitely tick that off the list. We’ve played alongside killer Aussie bands Psycroptic, Alarum, Steel Affliction, and Captain Cleanoff. Some I’d like to play with in the future would be Sydney’s Killrazer and of course the mighty Blood Duster!
What would be your most memorable gig / performance to date?
Probably have to say that would be our CD launch in August, 2008. Playing to a packed out Enigma Bar, we finished off the set with a cover of Slayer's ‘Angel of death’, with guest vocal from our good mate Troy (Cauldron Black Ram, Order of the Buzzard). The crowd went nuts! It was a bloody crazy night!
Have you got a favourite song you like to play? And is there one in particular you've noticed your fans have started asking for?
One of our oldest songs, off the first album called ‘Echelon’ will most usually slide into the set somewhere. It’s a groovy, thrashy song which can fit into any show we play, whether it is with thrash, death or grind bands. But there is no doubt that whenever we play there will be at least one or two punters who want to hear ‘Bootbash’ or ‘Distorted’.
If you were playing at a metal festival, who would you prefer was playing alongside you and where would that be?
It would be a dream for any band to play Wacken! Playing an open air festival during the European summer to tens of thousands of screaming fans... fuck yeah! And for the bands... bloody hell... Well, Black Sabbath (original line-up) would definitely be on the bill, Slayer, Annihilator (as I’ve never seen them live before), Megadeth and AC/DC.
What kind of instruments do you use? And have you done the ‘Rock Star’ thing yet and smashed any equipment?
We’re your straight up and down metal band, 2 guitars (like it should be), bass, drums and one vocalist. Oh yeah, and the biggest, loudest amps in Adelaide. Were not rich enough to smash our own stuff, but at our live shows there has been broken mic stands, smashed mics, busted kick drums and cymbals. Plus a couple of rehearsal studio ‘incidents’ such as a door being thrown on the roof one night.. haha.. they deserved that one!
Have you had many chances for signings?
You get the odd fan come up for a photo and an autograph, especially new fans or when you play new cities.
Have you ever had any Mystical experiences?
A close friend of mines grandmother has been visited several times in her dreams by her son who had taken his own life, apologising to her and instructing her on what to do with some of his personal items.
Where can people purchase your music and merchandise from?
We have Paypal setup through our Myspace where you can get both albums (real cheap!!) along with hats, beanies, stubby holders, t-shirts.
Enquiries through email are also accepted imminent_psychosis@hotmail.com
Good record stores in Adelaide also stock our CD's (all Big Star stores, We Are Godzilla, and Krypton Discs).
Fame, fun or finance?
Definitely not finance. You’d be crazy if you think you will make any money off this! We’re in it for the fun and looking for a bit of recognition and respect along the way. To finish up with a load of stories, still enjoy your old albums and have people say “Those boys wrote some kick ass shit back in the day!”
What words of advice can you offer anyone looking to enter the music industry?
Be your own biggest fan. You’ve gotta love your own music, otherwise why should anyone else have to listen to it?! Fix your damn tone! What sounds cool and heavy in the bedroom does not transfer on stage!
Anything you'd like to add or say to your fans?
Cheers for your ongoing support! Imminent aren't going anywhere so prepare for plenty more gigs! And to the rest of Australia, we'll be seeing you real soon as we come to your town. So come down and say g'day, have a beer and yell shit at us!
‘Interview with Imminent Psychosis’ by Dea di Morte © 20 March 2009
Hails! to Stephen Lea from Imminent Psychosis for agreeing to participate, and taking
the time to the complete this interview. All pictures courtesy of ‘Imminent Psychosis’.
Hails! to Stephen Lea from Imminent Psychosis for agreeing to participate, and taking
the time to the complete this interview. All pictures courtesy of ‘Imminent Psychosis’.
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