Saturday 15 September 2012

20 Questions w/ Rise Above Dead

Rise Above Dead

During my short tenure here at The Sludgelord, I was contacted by Matteo Sala, guitarist from Rise Above Dead.  Matteo had taken the opportunity to contact me to see if I would be interested to write a review for their new record, Stellar Filth.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Matteo sent me the record and the review was duly completed, of which you can read here
 
I always had the thought of interviewing the guys, given that the record was genuinely well received by the readers of the blog and also from feedback from the FB page too.  Therefore, when the opportunity presented itself to get these guys to answer some questions, I promptly contacted the band and what we have here is the result of that correspondence.  I am a huge fan of their record Stellar Filth, therefore it is with a sense of pride that I present this interview to you. 
 
Here is what happened when I spoke with Stefano, guitarist with Rise Above Dead and presented him with my 20 Questions.  So as ever.  Enjoy.
 
 
Q) Hi Stefano. How are you? First question, what made Rise Above Dead contact me at The Sludgelord to review your new record?  Do you know/read the blog? 

 

A) Yeah we all enjoy reading the Sludgelord quite sometimes and we thought it would be cool to tell you guys to give a listen to our new stuff.

 

Q) For those people who are unfamiliar with your music, can you tell me a little bit about your history? Where you're from, when Rise Above Dead first formed? Current band members?


A) Rise Above Dead were formed in Milan, Italy in 2009. Besides some of us living in the UK today, that’s where we all are from. Since day one, our main goal has always been to play something different from the rest of the metal and hardcore bands living in our area. Actually we never wanted to be part of a certain “scene”, so we never felt like we wanted to be associated with something already existing.

Q) How would you describe Rise Above Dead's sound? Has it evolved?

 

A) Sure it did evolved through the years. Back in the day when we started, our songs were all pretty fast and short, with more of a punk hardcore attitude.Now there are a lot of down-tempos and the songs are way longer, with many different parts and influences.

 

Q) Is there a rock/metal scene like in Italy?

 

A) Yes there are rock and metal bands pretty much everywhere in the Italian territory and I can tell a lot of them are really amazing. Sometimes the real problem is that most of them lives in the country or just in the middle of nowhere, so it gets harder for them to become popular.

 

Q) What made you start the band?

 

A) Honestly, I guess its just because we all belong to the music and playing/writing our music is the only thing we can do.

 

Q) Were you in a band before Rise Above Dead?

 

A) We all had our past experience in different bands, when most of us was playing even different kind of music.

 

Q) Are you a full time musician? Or do you work too?

 

A)  Oh man we all wish we could be full time musicians but unfortunately the truth is we all have bills to pay and stuff like that, so we all have a “regular” full time job.

 

Q) Why should people buy your new record?

 

A) We worked our asses off to make the best record we could and what we got at the end of the recordings was something that went even beyond our expectations. Just recently I just got the best compliment from a guy who got the record when he said that “Stellar Filth” has all the standards the people want to hear but in the same time it sounds very original.

 

Q) What you say your sound has progressed since your debut EP, Human Disintegration?

 

A) Absolutely. Like I said, we started out with a strong punk/hardcore attitude, then we discovered the experimental vein, which is now the most important thing in our music.

 

Q) You were unsigned at the time i reviewed you record, how did you manage to secure a deal and was it a struggle?

 

A) Not really. Shove Records supported us since our first EP came out, so the whole process of releasing the full length with them has probably been the most logical choice. Things just happened really really fast. One day we weren’t singed and the day after we had these three great labels ready to release our record.

 

Q) What's it like being in an underground metal band? Is it a struggle?

 

A) There is no struggle for use being a DIY band. We enjoy it instead!

 

Q) What are your influences musically and artistically?

 

A) Everyone in the band has his own background and most of the times is different from different from the other members. When I was younger I was more into punk and metal, then when I grown up I started to develop my interest for classic rock and blues, which are my biggest influences today.
Image of Stellar Filth [VINYL]
Stellar Filth LP
 

Q) Do you write your songs as a band and does everybody contribute?

 

A) I write a lot riffs and some of the arrangements when I’m home, but you can see the song start coming really together only during rehearsals. Its just when everyone in the band has contributed that we can consider a song finished.

 

Q) What's your career highlight so far? What your aspirations for the future?

 

A) We have been fortunate enough to have the chance to open for a bunch of international bands that we worship and respect like Napalm Death, Eyehategod, Kylesa, Darkest Hour, etc...  I think we all consider this as our highlight so far. The biggest aspiration for the future would be a UK tour and we are working hard to make it  happen very soon.

 

Q) You got any interesting stories from your tours?

A) Every single show we ever played has at least one interesting story to tell an this is for sure one of the best thing when a band is on the road.



Q) Are you in writing music all of the time?

A) I’ve been writing new riffs and arranging new ideas in the last few weeks. I think we will use the the rest of the 2012 to write enough material to have a new record ready for the next year.

 

Q) What you think of people downloading music for free? Would you consider releasing your album for free to get more people listening to your music?

 

A) I think it’s a very smart move to do if you play in an underground or young band that is looking forward to become more popular. Maybe we will do something like this with the next records, we will see...

 

Q) Any plans to tour? Any chance you're coming to the UK?

 

A) We recently played some shows in Czech Republic, Germany and Poland and right now we are looking forward to hit the UK very very soon.
Live 2012
 

Q) Last question, have you got anything you would like to say to your fans?

 

A) We just wanna thank all the people that believed in us and purchased our new record “Stellar Filth”. Another special thank you goes to Sludgelord for showing interest in us!
 
Well, I hope you enjoyed another dose of 20 Questions.  Rise Above Dead are genuinely nice dudes and I hope you dig their music, as much as I do.  Please check the links below for more info on the band.  I'll leave the last word to the band“ Rise Above Dead is planning a UK tour for early next year. If you’re interested or know someone who may help us in booking some gigs, please get in touch with: Matt and ERbooking: carvedout@gmail.com