interview with Bastardizer
How was the band formed? Chris (vocalist) and I were celebrating New Years Eve at a party a couple of years ago and drunkenly said we should start a band as we both weren't playing in bands at the time and both had the same ideas of what type of music we would like to play.
Can you tell about your band? We play what we call 'Black Thrash & Roll'. It's fast and evil, yet catchy enough to bang your head along too.
Where are all band members from?/Who does what in the band? Bill (me) - guitar, Chris - vocals, Ray - Bass, and we are unveiling a new drummer in the next few weeks. We're all based in Sydney, Australia.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? There were no aspirations to be 'rock stars' or anything like that. We just wanted to have fun writing songs and playing live, that's all. To write music we would want to listen to.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you? Think of Motorhead or W.A.S.P. if it was faster and more sinister.
Where was your first gig? In Sydney in May 2013.
Where was the latest gig? Our last gig was also in Sydney playing with old school legends Blood Duster.
Who writes your songs?/Who writes the music who writes lyrics? Usually I write the music and Chris writes the lyrics. Not 100% of the time, sometimes someone chimes in with an idea here and there but that's generally how it goes.
What's good/bad with the band?/What genre do you feel you are? Everything about the band good. We kick arse! Haha. We fit into the thrash/black metal genre.
Why did you pick that particular style?/What are your songs about? That's the style that we like the most in metal. It's what comes naturally to us. Our songs are about depravity and decadence. Sex, rock n roll and Hell.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write all our own songs of course. We have recorded one cover (a Bathory song) on our just-released split 'Strike of the Bastard' with Whipstriker. We do play the odd cover live too though.
Have you made any albums?/If yes what are they? We have a demo 'Demo(n)s Unleashed', a full length LP 'Enforcers of EP', and as mentioned above a split EP 'Strike of the Bastard'.
How old are you?/What got you started in music? The youngest is 28, the oldest is 34. I personally got started just wanting to play the songs I loved so picked up a guitar and tried to figure it out. It was just fun.
At what age did you start playing? I started playing guitar around 17 years old.
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? We had all been in bands before, some of us started in our teens, others a bit later. Personally I was about 22 when I first played a gig live.
What year was the band started? 2013.
Best/worst gig you've played? Our best gig I'd say was our last one. We had been playing quite a few shows in a row and we were such a tight unit by that time and the crowd was feeding off it. It was just one of those great gigs. We have played a couple of gigs with technical issues and an unresponsive crowd. Those tend to be the worst.
What places will you be playing in in the immediate future? We have a short Australian tour coming up with Midight from USA. We're playing Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. We will play some more Oz dates and looking to go to South East Asia later in the year.
Which band is the best you´ve seen? Tricky question. I saw Judas Priest a few days ago and they were awesome!
Is it always the same songs live? We have a few songs that we always play and some others are interchanged. Sometimes we play a special cover depending on the show, or sometimes we dedicate a song to someone in the audience.
What has been the best/most promising gig so far? We have supported a few huge international bands. Our gig with Morbid Angel in 2014 was probably our largest to date. Playing shows like that you can gain a lot of new fans as it's a chance to shine on the next level.
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? We've toured New Zealand which was fun. We don't tend to 'tour' so much do play in other cities when we can.
How big crowds do you usually play for? We've played some shitty small crowds as well as packed houses. Small venues here we can play to 100-400 people usually.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? We will play a few gigs in Australia and tour Asia. Besides that we will focus on writing new songs aiming to record a second full length album as soon as possible. We'll be very busy.
How do you get psyched up for a gig? Usually with a couple of beers and a bit of warm up on our instruments.
What are your goals with your music? As we get better at writing songs and playing live our goals get larger. We want to improve and be the best we can be. We want our music to be out there and achieve all that's possible.
When did you decide to go all in for the music? When we first picked up a guitar or microphone. From Day 1.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? The old legends always bring inspiration but it's great having new bands bring some enthusiasm to the genre.
What are your sources of inspiration? Other bands we like provide a lot of inspiration, as well as things in society which piss us off.
What's the first step when making a new song? Usually it begins with a guitar riff. Then figuring out what should come next and so on... After the music is done we decide on a lyrical theme and go from there.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? Download all you want but if you like the album and the band throw them a few $$$ for their efforts. It costs a lot of money to be in a band so support those which give you pleasure. Plus I think it's better to have a physical copy of a release to look over the lyrics and art etc.
What would be your dreams for the band? I'd like a classic catalogue of material and to have played with as many awesome bands and places in the world as possible.
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to? I listen to a fairly diverse range of metal, not just black and thrash. Some more progressive stuff like Primordial or Solstafir and some stuff more on the 'rockier' side.
What would be your greatest fears for the future? I fear nothing. The future is bright.
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? There's always some worries about technical issues in the back of your mind, but I generally fear nothing on stage. We know how to play and put on a good show so I'm always confident when I go on stage.
Have you been in any other bands? I was in a sludgy heavy rock band before Bastardizer, the singer was also in a rock band as well as a black metal one, and the bass player has been in a few bands too.
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? We all have full time jobs in various professions. A couple of us work in offices, while one works as a fork lift driver.
What would you do if there was no music? I'd be pretty fucking bored.
How important are your fans? They're very important. Without them we wouldn't be playing shows and no one would be listening to our tracks. They rule!
How often do you rehearse? Every week.
Where do you rehearse? At a rehearsal studio in Sydney.
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment? 'Demons Unleashed' and 'Up the Ante' are two new songs on our split EP. They're great and sign of things to come for future Bastardizer tracks.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? In Australia at least it's damn near impossible to make a living out of music, so it's always a labour of love. If you're good at your craft you can make it but you won't be rich ever.
Do you have any webpages?
https://bastardizer.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/bastardizer666
Describe your show, visually and musically Musically it's fast attacking rock n roll. Visually we try and rock out to the tunes and be as much a presence on stage as the music itself.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? There are financial hurdles of course, and bumps along the way. It's always hard to have every band member with the same goals and ambitions so once every one is on the same page then that's the best way to overcome obstacles.
Tell us about upcoming gigs and why we should be at them? The tour I mentioned with Midnight will be great. That band has a big influence on us and it's great to be able to share the stage with them. As for us, we put on a great live show.
What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? We never really have had too many quarrels really. We're a bit old for that. We tend to get all get a long in harmony haha.
Do you have anything to add? Thanks for the support and hopefully we will get ourselves over to Europe and the mighty Sweden soon!