Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

What´s the name of your band? The name of my band is Serphika.

How was the band formed? The band formed around the middle of 2012. Only two members of the original formation are still present. It started as a project between Lorena (Singer), Sergio Tampanelli (Keyboards) and Manuel Rodriguez (Drummer). Until August 2014, the band suffered from various lineup changes, mostly in one of the guitars.

Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? We're all from Neuquén, Argentina. We are: Lorena, singer; Santiago, guitar player; Martín, keyboard player; Germán, bass player; Pablo, drums player; and Cristian, guitar player.

What was the ambitions of the band when you started? In the very beginning of the band, the objective was to eventually release one or more albums. We expanded that objective to touring outside our hometown. There have been several invitations to do so, but economical issues are preventing us to.

Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Serphika is about melodic metal. We chose that tag, because we have elements of many other metal genres, and it's easier to explain. Imagine listening a metal song, not sure how to classify it, and then, when you think you've got the genre, it changes to something else. We try to make each song a unique experience, but in a way you can recognize it has been written by the same group of people.

Where was your first gig? The first gig with the last significative lineup change, was in a local music festival called "Neuquén Vive La Música".

Where was the latest gig? Our last gig was in an event we organized, alongside two other bands: Essovius and Wild.

Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? We all have been involved in the process of writing our music and lyrics. Some in a greater degree than others, but we all collaborate in the process.

Who has the best since of humor in the band? That's a tricky one. All of us tend to joke constantly. We try to have a fun time when rehearsing, and when playing live. Even in gigs that turn out to be nightmares, we keep our cool, and keep our smiles.

What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? The good thing is that you never know what to expect in our music. We know it's a bit of a worn out thing to say, but it's true: one moment you are hearing a hard rock song, then suddenly you start noticing the thrash/death guitar riffs, and when you think you figured out the genre of the song, it jumps to a more power metal feel.

Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? We make a mixture of all the genres/styles we like to hear (and play). 

Do you write your own material or mainly covers? Mainly our own stuff. We do at most two covers on each gig, and it depends on the amount time we are allowed to perform.

Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? We released a Demo CD, which was distributed in a few gigs back in 2013. And now we are about to release an EP, named "Despertar" (Awaken).

Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes, we do. Our channel is a bit outdated, but we hope to surprise everyone with some stuff we are working at the moment. https://www.youtube.com/user/serphika

How old are you? Four of us belong to the 34-37 age range, while the other two are 21-23.

At what age did you start playing? Most of us started playing around 16.

Best/worst gig you've played? There were a lot of exceptional gigs. Whenever we get invited to anime/comic related ones, we have such a great time. But if we had to choose, the gig opening for Sonata Arctica was amazing. We learned a lot there. Bad gigs... Well, in every single one we like to take the good part. We think the worst was one time when we were in the middle of performing, and the staff were starting to clear the tables and dis-assemble the event.

Is it always the same songs live? We have some battlehorses, which we do not take out of the setlist, but we tend to alter the order and include or remove songs according to the audience we are expecting.

Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? No, not really. We are just starting in that area.

How big crowds do you usually play for? That varies a lot. One time, when we were just starting, we played for 20 people. When we opened for Rata Blanca, we played for 1800.

What are the plans for the rest of the year? We want to introduce our first EP, and then start recording material for the LP.

Where do you usually play? Lately we've been playing on medium-big events, mostly organized by us. We kind of moved away a little bit from the pub scene.

How do you get psyched up for a gig? Most of the times, we are the organizators, so we don't even have time to psych-up. Even when we aren't, we don't really have a tradition or anything like that. Maybe we should start?

What are your goals with your music? If someone remembers a part of the music or lyrics, or tells us that a song has moved them, we consider our mission accomplished.

Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? Yes, and yes. Older bands present the basis, modern bands show their re-interpretation. We, as unknowns, try to take the best of both worlds.

What are your sources of inspiration? We are constantly listening to music, playing videogames, watching movies, doing other creative stuff, which may or may not have anything to do with music. We find inspiration everywhere.

What's the first step when making a new song? Depends on the song. If we have the concept, but not the lyrics or the music, we jam until we get something to work on. In contrast, when we have something to work on (usually some riff or melody someone brought to the rehearsal), we explore and extend that idea, and create the rest of the stuff. The best part of this process is that there is no real process.

What would be your dreams for the band? To have 3-5 albums, and be able to do an International tour. Not necessarily to be famous, just to tour.

Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? We listen to a lot of different (REALLY different) genres. Classical music, thrash, hard rock, rock, death, black, jazz, tango, power metal, ... You name it.

What songs and what years were they released?

Búsqueda mágica (2012)

Sombras en vanidad (it was composed in 2001, but arranged for a band in 2012)

Puerta al amanecer (2013)

Cenizas del ayer (2013)

Como una ilusión (2013)

El fuego y el poder (2013)

Escucha esa voz (2013)

We are working on two new ideas, unnamed, and ditched two old ones.

What would you do if there was no music? We'd probable be doing something else, like theater.

How important are your fans? Our fans are mostly what inspire and make us keep pushing. If we didn't have any fans, we would have probably disbanded the project long ago. Their existence shows us that we're doing things correctly.

How often do you rehearse? We tend to rehearse one or two times a week.

Where do you rehearse? Most of the times we rent a rehearsal room, but there have been times when we rehearsed in the house of one of the members.

Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment?

Puerta al amanecer

Escucha esa voz

Do you have any webpages? www.serphika.com or www.facebook.com/serphika

Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there?

Get a manager. That manager must have time, and already be a fan of the band.

Never second guess your instincts.

Opening for a famous band should be a medium, not an objective.

How would you describe your sound in one sentence Aggressive, steady nature, masked with sweet melodies and lyrics.

Do you have anything to add? You cannot kill "the metal".