Steven D. of Imagika-No Angels Here
One of the best things in life is discovery. If you have lived a little as I have, unfortunately those things can start to become few and far between, you know, "been there done that." That's why I am glad to bring to you an interview with a band that I had heard of before, but never had the opportunity to see play live until The Thrash Against Cancer benefit.
I had missed the chance to see them this last April when they played with Kreator at the Pound. A girl friend of mine went to that show and came back raving about them. Now I know why, I can't wait to see Imagika play again.
Their current CD release is called Devils on Both Sides.
So how did you become involved with the T.A.C. benefit show?
Steven: We heard rumblings of this show last year, and when we played with Kreator, Keith asked us if we still were interested. Of course we wanted to be involved with the bands he mentioned in the initial line-up and I think things went ok. They needed a better sound guy for the outside venue. Plus we almost bailed when we heard that we were getting fucked on our original time slot. We were supposed to play before Testament on the inside stage and we ended up playing after. Bullshit really as Vicious Rumors pulled a lame ass moment and decided to flake the show. So there was really no reason for us to have to play so late being that a whole 40 minute set was now not going to happen. But you know what? If there are fans that show up to see us we'll always play and try to give a 100%.
Tell us about your line up and how long you've been together now?
Steven: The current line-up with Norman (vocals) and Pat (guitar) has been together about 1-1 ? years. Henry (drums) and I have been in the band since day one really. 11 years. And Elena (bass) has been with us for about 4 years. This is the best line-up ever for the band and a good reason why we might be getting a little more credibility these days.
Tell us about your current CD.
Steven: The CD is called Devils on Both Sides (our 4th) and came out through Mausoleum records in Europe this last March. The CD will be available later this year here in the US, probably Oct/Nov. It will see some really good distribution this time as we'll be involved with a bigger label here in the US. This CD features the new line-up. It's our best CD to date.
What influence's your style of music?
Steven: Bands we kind of all agree on are, of course, some of the old Bay Area thrash bands and some new stuff like maybe Nevermore and Evergrey. I tend to be the guy that is most influenced by old metal stuff (yeah I'm an old fart) so it's usually Priest, Sabbath, Mercyful Fate etc. for me. I also dig stuff like Morgana Lefay, Tad Morose and some other heavy euro bands.
Who did the Killer art work on the cover?
Steven: That would be Henry our drummer. He's a great digital artist. Self taught also so he comes up with some killer ideas. It's pretty nice to have that option in the band since we can control as much as possible from the music production to the art.
I see on your web site that you did a tour in Germany in '99. Tell us what the scene was like there compared to the one going on here in the states.
Steven: Can you say Denim and Leather?! Metal is a little more mainstream and more widely accepted in Europe. It was nice to play for fans that really enjoyed the band on a different level. We've been playing around here since '94-'95 and just now things have come around where we're getting a little more respect form the fans in the US and Bay Area.
What is your opinion on the current state of Metal?
Steven: Could be better, could be worse. Like I mentioned we've been at it awhile so we have seen the whole shit grunge thing, the gay NU-Metal thing, the rap Metal abortion... We started playing Thrash because we liked it and didn't give a fuck if it was "in." We got a pretty good buzz going overseas when we did this because all the other Thrash bands started to float like dead fish when they couldn't find home for their music. At least bands like Overkill stuck it out.
Do you have a tour in the works and will you be playing any shows in the bay area or the central valley?
Steven: Yeah we are planning some dates for later this year to go along with the official release of the CD here in the US. It'll be a west coast tour. Who are we going out with? Most of the bands that we asked to tour with gave us the brush off so we might just have to hit it by ourselves. We like to tour with some of our peers like, Hirax or Heathen etc. so we'll see what happens. And if you're reading this and are a booking agent or band that wants to tour contact us!
I imagine that by now you have been asked every conceivable question. What is the one question you would like to be asked by an interviewer?
Steven: Coffee or Tea? HA! To tell you the truth we just appreciate being given the chance to do interviews and spread the word on the band in the first place. It takes more work than most will ever know so we are just happy to still have the desire to get it done.
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