Hemoptysis
11th Annual Metal/Hardcore Album Nominee
11th Annual Metal/Hardcore Song Winner
10th Annual Metal/Hardcore Song Nominee
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Metal/Hardcore Album
Metal/Hardcore Song
Record Label: Rock It Up Records
www.hemoptysismetal.com
Home Base: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Genre: Metal
Categories Entered: Metal/Hardcore Album, and Metal/Hardcore Song
Work Submitted: Misanthropic Slaughter, and “M.O.D.”
Artists Featured: Hemoptysis
Label: Rock It Up Records
Who are your influences?
Masaki: Megadeth, Slayer, Old Metallica
Travis: Slayer, Death, Cannibal Corpse, Hypocrisy, Pantera, etc.
Describe your nominated work. Travis: Our music is a buffet of metal. It is primarily based in thrash metal but it has modern twists of death metal, melodic death metal, and black metal. The album and song we are nominated for was produced by Ryan Greene (Megadeth, NOFX, Alice Cooper).
Did you use any unusual effects or instruments in this recording? Masaki: We used a sitar on the instrumental track on the album. There were some interesting sounds at the end of the song “Impending Doom” made by picking the strings on the headstock of a guitar. It sounds like creepy sounding bells or chimes but it’s not.
Were there any happy accidents while in the studio, or did everything go as planned?
Masaki: Producer Ryan Greene always had unique ideas we never thought of so his contributions were the happy accidents in the studio.
Travis: Ryan Greene had some ideas that we all loved right off the bat and some that we weren’t sure about initially, but have come to love. He had us change certain parts of songs during the recording so it definitely didn’t go exactly as planned. We had to improvise during some of these sudden changes and I think it ended up being a good thing. I think there are certain solos or drum fills that are in there that sound better than some of the stuff that we may have planned or second guessed ourselves on. That spontaneity can be a little nerve racking in the studio but in the end, it captures something different from musicians that they might not come up with otherwise.
How did you raise the funds for this project? How long do you expect it will take to recoup your out-of-pocket recording expenses?
Masaki: We all have day jobs to support this band and ourselves. It will take a long while to recoup our investment in this recording.
Travis: It took us over a year at least to save up the money.
Why did you choose to submit this work to The 11th IMAs? Travis: The IMA’s a very prestigious awards. It is the best award an independent artist can receive. It’s great that the IMA’s exist so that independent artists can be recognized.
What’s your definition of success and how will you know when you’ve achieved it? Travis: In general, success is giving something you’re passionate about everything you’ve got. When you feel so strongly about something and you do everything possible to make it become a reality, then you have succeeded. While you are chasing your dreams, you accomplish goals like writing songs you are proud of, recording those songs perfectly, or playing shows with bands you grew up listening to. The best thing in life is chasing success.
How will you leverage your IMA honors to achieve your career goals? Travis: We promote ourselves like crazy. You have to these days. Winning an award from the IMA’s would be the number highlight to our career resume. And like everything we do, we would promote that like crazy! Winning an IMA award is an accomplishment no one can deny. That can lead to much bigger things!
Who’s sitting in your audience and what makes your fans unique? Travis: We have metal fans that are little kids, all the way up to people in their 50′s! They are unique because they are usually true lovers of multiple types of heavy metal and music in general. We have had fans tell us that they never listen to metal except us because they appreciate the music and it sticks in their head. We also have die hard metal fans that only listen to metal that love us, too, but it is very flattering when you can turn someone onto a genre they dismissed for years.
What is your guilty pleasure on the road? Any close calls or mishaps while on tour? Travis: Our guilty pleasures on the road are finding good BBQ joints or good Japanese Ramen. We also enjoy our dark beer like Guinness. We haven’t had any mishaps related to these pleasures yet because the music comes first. We don’t drink too much before shows and we usually won’t eat too much heavy food before playing. We don’t want to put on a half assed show. Fans pay good money to see us play and we deliver!
Who are your musical heroes & influences?
Masaki: Dave Mustaine, Jeff Loomis
Travis: Gene Hoglan, Dave Lombardo, and Vinny Paul
Are there any songs you wish you wrote and why? Travis: Songs like “Victim of Changes” by Judas Priest and “Paschendale” by Iron Maiden. Those songs are so epic. Those are timeless. They make shivers go down my spine when I listen to them.
What artists are you listening to that would surprise your fans?
Masaki: Twisted Sister.
Travis: Nope. All metal, all the time!
How do you discover new music? Do you buy music or are you content with streaming?
Masaki: I find new releases through music news websites mostly. I buy music and support the bands I like. I want to own a physical copy of their CDs instead of downloading them.
Travis: I buy CDs, too. I buy CDs based off of reviews and recommendations. There are certain artists that I am loyal to and I buy their CDs every time they release one.
How will musicians make a living if fans continue to expect music to be free? Masaki: Soon there will be no quality new music, and only a few established big names will be able to tour. It’s already happening. Whether you get music for free or not, it costs money to record music. It’s not cheap if you want to record a real record with real producers and engineers. A lot of people don’t know what those guys do, but just like with anything else in life, you get what you pay for. Producers know what they are doing. They help get artists’ music to the next level with great production.
What don’t fans/audiences understand about the music industry today? Masaki: We (musicians) have bills to pay just like everybody else. Touring and recording albums is really expensive, and without fans buying the album, or going to see shows and buying merchandise, bands can’t survive.
Are digital singles/EPs vs. full albums the future? Travis: Digital singles and Eps might be the future in the short term when it comes to high quality recordings, but eventually bands will probably record themselves in their home studios to save money. You will still see full albums in the future but less money will be put into them unless analog recording takes off again. If people start to favor analog recordings and listening to them on record players then there would be a boost in record sales. If that were to happen then there would be more demand for producers and engineers again. That would help the music industry immensely but it would be pretty unusual to take a step back in technology like that.
Finish this sentence: The music industry is… Travis: The music industry is at a crossroads. The internet has changed everything. Record companies are struggling to survive because people steal records and songs online. The deals these companies are able to offer bands aren’t nearly as good as they used to be because of dropping record sales. Bands have the classic dream of “getting signed” and “making it big,” but when they are presented record deals, they start to see how the record companies are struggling just like bands are. Bands are the heart of the industry and they are at a crossroads. They have to choose to pursue record label deals to get them where they want to go or to be a DIY (Do It Yourself) band. Every band is DIY to some degree but the mindset is either to do it yourself with allot of help from a label or just do it yourself and not pursue record deals.
What do you have in the works for the upcoming year? Travis: We are writing new material and playing shows whenever we can. We hope to raise enough money to record another album soon.
Where fans can find you and your music:
www.hemoptysismetal.com