interview with Forsaken Rite

Have any of you played in other bands? Yes, I was formerly the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of the Black Metal band, Angmar. I also have many of my own solo projects on the go.
How is it that you started playing music? I was given many opportunities to start playing music as a child, but at age 11 I began taking music more seriously with my first electric guitar. From there I branched into vocals, bagpipes, and digital music production.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Myself, Archon (Bagpipes & Vocals), Adaria (Drums), Sevi (Accordion), Eskaton (Guitars), Sorkhon Sharr (Bass Guitar). We all age from 22 to 40.
Have you had other previous members? We have had a couple of bass players, a couple of guitarists, a flutist, and a harp player in the past.
Did you make music even when you were young? Yes, I started writing riffs and songs when I was around 14 of 15. I began with my first electric guitar, a USB microphone and a free DAW (Audacity). One of my old teenage riffs even became a Forsaken Rite song!
Where are you from? I myself am from Castlegar, British Columbia, others of our warparty come from various parts of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. The band itself is based out of Edmonton, Alberta in Canada.
What year did the band form? The summer of 2012.
What's your style of genre? We are a Folk Metal band, though have been called Celtic Metal, Pagan Metal, and Epic Metal in the past.
What inspires you? We are inspired by the old world. The history and mythology of northern Europe, especially of a Celtic nature is what heavily inspires our music.
How often and where do you rehearse? On top of daily practice, we make sure to rehearse at least once weekly. With any events or tours coming up we will rehearse between 2 and 3 times a week.
How have you developed since you started with the music? As I was the first songwriter in the band and fresh out of the extreme metal scene, our music started off a lot darker and a lot heavier, closer to something like Amon Amarth. After a few years and a couple of releases we eventually evolved our sound into something more symphonic and epic. We still kept some of the heaviness but also integrated a traditional and majestic sound to the music as well.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? I myself am working on other musical projects of my own. I am also a professional audio engineer (Senior Engineer of GraveRaven Studio) as well. I partake in both live audio as well as studio work.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We may be interested in a booking agency depending on the one in question. We have currently done well with our band manager, Selina Hoffart, booking our shows for us, but are open to the idea of going through even more professional routes.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We are indeed interested in being signed to a label! Though we have had much success in the last few years, trying to dedicate as much time and money as possible to the band can be difficult when working independently. If a reputable label were to show interest in us we would be most willing to work together.
What made you decide to make this music? We decided to make this music as it was a genre of music that all of us could collectively enjoy and relate to. Though we are all from different backgrounds of music, we all find a common love for Folk Metal. And besides, who wouldn't love to play bagpipes and accordion in a metal band! haha
What are your songs about? Our songs range from tales of adventure, to stories of great battles, hearty good times, mythical creatures and mystical beings. There is a lot about war, drinking and killing big scary things!
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? The majority of both often fall to me, but we do have a few songs that were mostly composed by a couple other members. A couple of our songs also had the lyrics contributed by other vocalists outside the band.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? I almost always start with the music, though I do so keeping a vocal rhythm in mind.
Do you compose in a certain environment? Almost all of my composing takes place in my home studio, where I keep all of my instruments and gear at the ready to do so.
Have you done any covers live? We have covered Guardians of Asgard (Amon Amarth), Trollhammaren (Finntroll) and a very unique version of Frosty The Snowman!
What language do you sing in? We sing in English with a handful of Gaelic words/inspirations thrown in
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? Our least would have been one of our first shows at a bar and grill, numbering roughly around 5 to 10 people that were mainly just there to drink. Our largest show thus far would have been around 200 people, not including festivals.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? Most of our fans are in their 20s and 30s.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We try to keep our setlists different from show to show, especially when playing the same city. It is easier now that we have a larger amount of released material to pick from.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? The two places we have performed in most frequently would be The Rendezvous Pub and The Forge On Whyte, both in Edmonton.
What was your first gig like? Our first gig was very small time. A local bar with a handful of people who didn't know who we were. We did not have costumes and warpaint yet and our original bassist nearly threw up in the bathroom before the set, haha. It was a fairly amateur little show but a good first step none the less.
What was your latest gig? Our latest gig would be any of the Canadian tour dates we are currently on!
Have you had to cancel a gig? We have never had to cancel a gig, we did however refuse a couple offers in the past to take on larger shows.
What have you played live this year? We have played all across Canada as far west as Lone Butte, British Columbia, and Montreal, Quebec! And many many places in between.
Where do you plan to gig the coming year? We are not sure if next year is possible just yet, but our next goal after the Canadian tour is to tour either South America or Europe.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We first started to sell merchandise in 2014, only buttons and stickers at the beginning. We now also have multiple different t-shirts, an EP, a full length album and patches.
Where can people buy your merchandise? Our merchandise is primarily available via our shows or band members, but we are currently working on having our merch distributed online as well.
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? Though I myself definitely prefer owning and seeing people buy physical records, I do understand the changing times. Downloading music is a perfectly fine form of enjoying music. If the fans want to hear your music, it doesn't matter so much how they get it.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? The music industry has changed a lot from this, for better or worse. We are seeing a dying form of old media but also the birth of a newer more modern form. It will be interesting to see where it goes.
What do you think of my work? You seem to interview a lot of awesome bands, keep up the great work, and thank you for approaching us!
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? Well with our album newly released we are looking for any and all outlets we can get for interviews, reviews and articles! Fans love to know all they can about the bands they love, the more we can give them the better!
Do you have any role models or idols? Our role models would be the bands that inspire us, such as Amon Amarth, Ensiferum, Turisas, Korpiklaani, Metsatoll, Equilibrium, and many more!
Why do you think that they exist? The same reason we do, to share the music we love with the world!
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Not at all! We take inspiration from bands that started the genre as well as up and comings that we've newly discovered.
What have been your biggest obstacles? Our biggest obstacles were originally finding the right members for the band, now that we have a group that works very well together, the biggest obstacle is balancing our own personal finances with how busy the band is becoming.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Never settle. No matter what you've achieved or how hard it was to get something done, always keep your next goal in mind. Of course enjoy and take pride in what you've done already, but once you get a good momentum going, don't sit on it, you may not get it again for a long time.
How do you get psyched for a gig? Usually with warmups, stretches, good drinks and lots of laughs and goofing around.
Do you have any new material? We just released our first full length album, The Northern Saga! And we will certainly be writing even more material in the near future.
What are your web sites? We can be found all across social media (Facebook, instagram, twitter, etc), or at www.forsakenrite.com
How can people reach you? People can reach us through our email, [email protected], or via any of our social media outlets.
What are your plans for the future? Our plans for the future are to play a few larger shows coming up this year (The Agonist and a special TBA), and begin work on new material with the intention of forging a potential EP. With this we will be approaching more professional routes of distribution, labels, and booking to attempt to further our work.
Do you have something to add? Thank you very much for the interview! We hope that we may see you if we manage to arrange a European tour going through Sweden!

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