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An interview with Mike Festa from
IMMORTALLY COMMITTED
Well the thing is that I am lost for words ... I didn't know what
I should write whilst listening to their cd and preparing their
review (in fact I've listened to their cd too many times) and now
I still don't know what I should write in this prologue ... haha
... after all I think I should let these guys speak for themselves.
They have proven it already with their music ...
1.TELL US IN A FEW WORDS THE MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S
HISTORY. WHICH IS TODAY'S LINE UP?
Some important moments in the bands history were getting the chance
to play with bands we grew up listening to ,such as Overkill, Life
of agony, ProPain, Morbid Angel & Death! Also getting to work
with Dave & speak to him about the music biz. Oh , and on Feb.
21, my birthday, the band was on tv and radio at the same moment,
here in New York.
2.WHY HAVE YOU NAMED THE BAND THIS WAY? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?
HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK IS THE CORRECT CHOICE OF A BAND NAME?
Well a name means s lot. It draws immediate interest I think. The
band's name was created by Craig Besmer, our founding father. Immortal
= live forever + committed, kinda means committed for life!
3.HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSICAL STYLE? IT'S NEW AND QUITE
WEIRD. IN WHICH BRANCH DO YOU PLACE IT?
It's hard to describe us, heavy, moody, unique. As you wrote in
your interview, we are quite hard to put a style on. We have been
compared to Hades, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Priest, Sabbath, and you
even said we sound like Nevermore! What a compliment! Three of us
four love Nevermore! We have many, many musical influences between
the four of us, and we bring all of that to the table when we create
a song. To say we sound like this or that, well I think we are just
too musically diverse to pinpoint.
4.WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS TALKING ABOUT? WHICH THEMES INSPIRE YOU
IN WRITING LYRICS AND WHAT CAN TAKE AWAY THE INSPIRATION FROM YOU?
A lot of our lyrics talk about the issues of the worlds problems,
such as, the Oklahoma bombing, (Oklahoma)O.J. Simpson the murderer
(blind) a song if innocent people being killed sniper style (I ask
why?)
5.DAVID DE FEIS (VIRGIN STEELE) PARTICIPATES IN 2 OF YOUR SONGS.
IN A RECENT INTERVIEW WE DID WITH HIM, HE TOLD US THAT HE REALLY
ENJOYED WORKING WITH YOU AND LIKED THE SONGS A LOT. TELL US SOME
THINGS ABOUT IT. HOW DID THE RECORDINGS GO? DO YOU REMEMBER ANY
FUNNY, WEIRD INCIDENTS?
Dave is a great guy and all around friend of the band. Our ex-bassist
played with Virgin Steele for a hot minute, and Dave teaches Craig
keyboards as well. It was great to have a pro like Dave work with
us, I have respected him for many years before we even met, as the
original V.S. bassist, Joe 'o was my old neighbor. Dave colored
our songs quite well with his musical style, and added a whole new
dimension to the tunes.
6.HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO PROMOTE YOUR WORK? WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING
FOR THE FUTURE? WILL YOU DO ANY LIVE SHOWS?
Yeah sure, we do a few live shows here and there, we will finish
our cd, do some live outings, promote via internet and through some
local music stores.
7.LATELY METAL STARTED BECOMING POPULAR IN THE U.S.A. AND IN THE
WHOLE
WORLD IN GENERAL. THE SCENE THERE I THINK BLOSSOMED AND MANY GREAT,
NEW BANDS STARTED POPPING OUT. HOWEVER, THE NU METAL IS TAKING A
LOT OF SPACE. DO YOU THINK THERE IS ENOUGH PLACE FOR YOU AND YOUR
MUSIC?
Metal had been popular here since the 80's. Thats when I found many
great bands. I do like the nu metal sound, but my heart will always
be for true metal bands such as Maiden and Priest!
8.WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO A METALHEAD TO CONVINVE HIM BUY YOUR RELEASE?
Its heavy ,original and will not let you down!
9.WHICH WERE THE REACTIONS OF THE FANS AND ZINES ON YOUR DEMO?
WHICH IS THE BEST AND WHICH IS THE WORST REVIEW YOU HAVE RECEIVED?
Honestlly we have received nothing but great reveiws from web, magazines
and thru the internet we have touched some very interesting people.
Such as Stefano from Italy, who liked us so much , he made a web
page for us, that was a great honor to me! Also I met this girl
from Yugoslavia who bought our cd and took a picture of her and
her friends holding our cd and sent it to me, that was awesome as
well!
10.HAVE YOU CONTACTED WITH ANY LABELS THIS FAR? DO YOU PREFER TO
SIGN TO A NEW, SMALL BUT WILLING TO DO ITS BEST, LABEL OR YOU DON'T
MIND BEING IN A BIG LABEL AS NOT A FIRST PRIORITY?
We would sign with almost anybody!
11.WHICH DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST AND WHICH IS THE WORST PART OF
YOUR MUSIC? WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU NEED IMPROVEMENT?
We are dying to get a keyboard player to fill in Dave's spots, and
Craig had played a few keyboards on our recordings as well. The
worst part, hmmmm I guess when the show is over<?>
12.IF YOU HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO MAKE A PROPER VIDEOCLIP, HOW WOULD
YOU
IMAGINE IT TO BE? WHICH SONG OF YOURS WOULD YOU SELECT?
Probally "Council in hell!. It would be dark, graveyard type
material! Eerie, spooky, maybe even gothic!
13.WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN'T ABLE TO COMPOSE MUSIC?
I do have other interests in life. I´m into working out, sports,
beach and water sports, and defianllty music, if I´m making
it or just listening to it!
17.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE
TO MENTION?
No I think you got it all. I thank you for your time & the interview,
peace and keep metal alive!
Christine "azriel" Parastaidou
left to right: Craig Besmer (Guitars & Keyboards), Kevin Coleman
(Bass & Backup Vocals), David DeFeis, Joe Totillo (Lead Vocals)
and Mike Festa (Drums, Percussion & Backup Vocals)
Band's website: http://www.truemetal.org/immortallycommitted/
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