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Home - Interviews - Bands - Imagika
Imagika
Interview with Steve Rice of IMAGIKA
By: Terry Bunch
Date: March, 2010
1. You recently added guitarist Robert Kolowitz to the band. Tell us how that came about and what does that mean for Imagika?s sound?
Rob actually ran across our MySpace page and read a year old post that we were looking for a second guitarist to replace the last guy we let go. Now we had basically stopped searching for a guitarist as I was not really interested in dealing with someone's bullshit again, but I was familiar with Rob's past bands and knew he could play and probably handle the gig on that level. It was just a matter of seeing if we saw things the same way and if he could learn the material and had the time available to put into Imagika. Since everything basically fell into place once we established all that we decided to move forward and become a 2 guitar band again. Rob will definitely help us do the older material justice and sound more like the recordings live. He'll also help take a little of the burden off me in the future by playing more solos, etc.
2. Is Robert going to continue playing with Hellhound while a member of Imagika?
Yes he'll remain a member of Hellhound.
3. Your new CD, "Portrait of a Hanged Man" was already completed before Robert joined the band. How does Robert's style differ from what was recorded?
Not much actually. He's been playing the material as close as possible to the recordings because as a player he respects the work put into the writing and playing. He definitely wants to do the music justice.
4. "Portrait" is the first CD featuring Jim Pegram on bass. What can we expect from Jim's style of play?
Jim's style is a little more aggressive and direct than our previous bassist Elena. He tends to go for the balls where Elena was more melodic and busy. Both are great at what they do so it just adds a different element with Jim involved.
5. How has Imagika grown since 2008's release, "Feast For the Hated"?
A couple guys have grown sideways! HA! God Damn Taco Bell! I've been on Extenze and that really works HA! Seriously we just try to move forward in a positive direction as much as possible. I know I'm always trying to write things I feel are valid, but I never force the issue or write for a trend, whatever. It's seems like every CD we're replacing someone in the band, but as long as it's Norm and myself doing the writing things will remain consistent. Norm and I like to mix things up and have no two songs sound the same and I think we've achieved that numerous times now and showed some pretty good diversity as songwriters.
6. You worked with John Macko of Fifth Angel on the new CD. What was that like and how did that project come about?
The title track was written by John originally for a project John, Norm and I had discussed doing. It was going to be for a solo project John was doing away from Fifth Angel. By the time Norm and I got done adding our input it ended up sounding like Imagika so what was the point? John agreed to let us use the song so I wrote some additional parts to it and I think it's one of the better tunes on the CD. I haven't collaborated with anyone else on the musical side of things for a long time so it was a little refreshing to have some outside ideas.
7. What were your primary motivational factors for the lyrics on the new CD?
Well Norm and I had a brief discussion as we started this CD and I mentioned to Norm to break away from his usual subject matters and make things a little darker this time because I felt it would fit the music I was writing better. So the subject matter varies from the sick mind of serial rapist on "GHB" to a ghost story on the title track to a tell of someone drowning at sea on "Scared To Death" to the story of a contract killer on "The Hit". I think it's a good range of topics and not just stuff about chicks or Satan the whole damn CD. HA!
8. Henry Moreno, your drummer, did the cover art again. Has he worked on any of your promotional items such as flyers, T-Shirt designs, etc?
Yeah of course. Henry has the talent for it and enjoys the creative process so he's been handling all out art for awhile now. We try to keep everything we can internally to make sure we're happy with the results and what we like makes out to the fans.
9. This is your first MetalVille Records release. What deciding factors lead you to choose them for the new CD?
Well Chris Boltendahl from Grave Digger owns this new venture and he and I have known each other for over 10 years. He was the first guy to give Imagika a break in Europe and when our old label Locomotive went out of business Chris (he was the former head of A&R and signed us to Locomotive) mentioned to me that he was starting Metalville and it seemed like a good solution for us to handle our future releases. Knowing the person you're dealing with at label is a huge plus in this day and age of the record industry so it was an easy choice to make.
10. "Portrait of a Hanged Man" was recorded at Fang Studios in San Mateo, CA. What are the facilities like? What lead you to choose Fang Studios?
Henry's other band Taunted actually rehearses at the studio and Henry's been telling us about how nice the place had turned out from when the owner Curt constructed it. It was a pretty simple choice since we know Curt and the place had great gear so it easy for me to get behind the board and track the CD. Since this was the first time I actually engineered one of our CDs (I've been engineering our demos for years) I wanted to make sure it was a place that we felt comfortable in.
11. Andy La Rocque's studio has been your mixing home for some time now. What is it about that studio that keeps you coming back?
Andy's a gem first off so that helps. He's a real down to earth guy. His studio is affordable and I trust the fact that he's a metal cat. We speak the same language of metal. Plus I think his strong point is that he doesn't make you sound like all his other mixes. The band and our music come through the whole process sounding like us. Some producers like Andy Sneap or Colin Richardson, have totally definable production styles and they make most of their mixes sound very similar. So if that's what you're looking for your CD will sound just like Machine Head or Megadeth or whatever. Well maybe not because these guys cost ass loads of money so only a few acts get the treatment.
12. Andy is listed a guest musician on the track "A God No More". What was it like recording with Andy instead of just using his studio?
Don't know! The pussy did all his tracks at home! I guess he was worried I'd make fun of his sausage fingers! HA! Nah Andy was working on the mixes all day and only really had time in the evening to get it done and I don't like anyone looking at me either when I'm doing my thing if I can get away with it. I feel Andy did a great job on the song and I'm a fan so it was cool to have him play on something I wrote.
13. You have been added to the "Warriors of Metal Festival" in Ohio, this June 25th and 26th. You will be co-headlining the Friday night show with Omen. How cool is that?
Pretty damn cool. We finally get to unleash a full set at a festival and there's some cool bands involved both new and old and hopefully it'll be a success with the attendance etc. We're always happy to get out of state and do these type of gigs.
14. Can you share any news about your 2010 tour?
Imagika will be doing dates in the US in July thru August. Probably a 2-3 week tour. We'll see if we can do some European stuff also, but that really depends if they want us to come over there. There's no shortage of Metal bands there that's for sure and it's been impossible for us to get any kind of break there to tour for years now. There's some pretty shit bands playing Festivals and tour dates all the time and we?ve never been asked to do any of it. Strange really.
15. Anything else you would like to share?
Yeah thanx as usual Terry for the support and we'll see some of you this year on the road! Cheers from Imagika!
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