interview with Maniacal Violator
Have any of you played in other bands? Kevin has been in a few other bands, most recently the tech death band Formless. He also has a solo black metal project he does from time to time. Matt drums in the black metal band Morgirion, and drummed for Rose Funeral on one tour. John plays in a power metal band called Thunderforge. Jared was in a Tool cover band in high school.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Kevin - Vocals, guitar
Jared - Lead guitar, backing vocals
Matt - Drums
John - Bass
Have you had other previous members? Nope, this is the original line-up.
Did you make music even when you were young? All 4 of us have been playing music for a long time. Matt has been playing drums since he was 8, and Jared has been playing guitar since he was 15. Kevin first picked up a guitar at the age of 7, but you’d never guess it from how much he sucks. John started bass at 14 but no one cares about the bass player.
Where are you from? We're based out of Massachusetts/Connecticut, USA.
What year did the band form? 2016
What's your style of genre? We play aggressive black metal with a death metal influence and a hint of thrash.
What inspires you? Pure Fucking Mayhem! (not just the band but the concept as well). Also beer.
How often and where do you rehearse? We try to practice once a week in our basement space.
How have you developed since you started with the music? Since we're still a fairly new band, a lot of development was focused on writing an EP and getting our live performances tight. Our EP is almost finished, and our set has gotten pretty tight, so I'd say we've got a good start.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We aren't actively looking for an agent, though if someone doesn't mind helping us out and working for free then by all means.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? A label would be cool and would certainly help to get our music spread across a wider territory but it isn't something we are striving for. If an opportunity comes and it's the right one we will take it.
What made you decide to make this music? Satan.
What are your songs about? The most awful, horrific, and terrible things the human mind could imagine, and death.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Jared does a lot of the core riff writing, although everyone contributes to the process. Kevin writes most of the lyrics.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Definitely music first.
Do you compose in a certain environment? We've done a lot of composition in our practice space, jamming ideas until something sticks. We also write parts on our own and flesh out ideas at practice.
Have you done any covers live? We covered Deströyer 666’s "I am the Wargod" a few times.
What language do you sing in? Our lyrics are in English. Sometimes Kevin sings in gibberish.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? The least amount would be 10-15 (our first gig), the most would be 75-80.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? A lot of venues around here are strictly 21+ (USA drinking age), so that’s the bulk of our live audience.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? Right now we have a pretty consistent 5-song set, but we plan to add more variety as we write more songs.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? We like to spread our gigs around from state to state.
What was your first gig like? Attendance was low and we played like shit. Just like a proper black metal show.
What was your latest gig? A sketchy warehouse show in central CT.
Have you had to cancel a gig? We’ve never canceled one ourselves. We did have a show booked in New Hampshire that was canceled by the venue due to technical issues.
Where have you played live this year?
13th Floor in Florence MA
Ralph’s Diner in Worcester MA
Maximum Capacity in Chicopee MA
Cherry Street Station in Wallingford CT
That sketchy-ass warehouse
Where do you plan to gig the coming year? We have shows scheduled at Shenanigan’s in Westfield MA on 12/9 and the Outer Space in Hamden CT on 12/30. Then in February we return to Maximum Capacity for Hothfest.
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? Obtain our music however you want. Physical releases are awesome, but everyone in the band downloads or streams too.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? There’s less money in it, but it’s easier for people to find out about you. Whether or not those are good or bad things is up to you.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Yes.
How do you get psyched for a gig? Beer.
Do you have any new material? We’re in the production-stage of our debut 5-song EP, and we have a few newer songs that we’re finishing writing.
What are your web sites?
https://www.facebook.com/maniacalviolator
https://www.twitter.com/manialator
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClF_90tri6hr5z63QPkpC0g
How can people reach you? We try to respond to all our Facebook messages in a timely manner. I don’t think anyone checks our Twitter.
What are your plans for the future? Global violation.
Do you have something to add? We really like beer.
