1. Greetings from Peru, guys. How are you doing these days over there?
Hi Edu, I’m doing well going through the ups and downs of life and focusing on what matters most thanks for asking.
2. After having listened to Bereavement, A Guide to Loss & Grief, I could notice not only a band who know what they want, but a one with a strong line-up, with a lot of cohesion. Do you think that having members with a common background (coming from different parts of the globe) helps this intimacy/complicity?
I believe that we all have a musical voice, we all have what to say and share with people around us. What creates a good album is the chemistry between band members. Yes we are all metal heads and share common bands that we like but we also have differences and it is how we work through these differences that we survive as a band.
3. Sorry if this question sounds as the one usually asked to couples, but talking about the background I mentioned before I was wondering: How did you meet and decide to found Consciously Dying?
I moved to Los Angeles from Israel on March 1st 2015. I had a band back home called Magor. It was similar to Consciously Dying but a different time, a different place and a different me. I decided to move to Los Angeles to get my education at musicians Institute in Hollywood. I am at Denis there. I knew Lior from the metal scene in Israel and his band Winterhord and met Gene at Sam Ash where I worked in retail selling guitars. Although line of changes occur all the time and vans this cause this combination was the best.
4. I see Consciously Dying as a very serious band dedicated to what they truly love: extreme music. Quoting, in some way, Aviv (guitar-vocals): “Playing live is our drug!”, which shows how important music is in your lives. How did this vital energy called Extreme Metal come to your lives?
Lol it’s true we live to play live!! The first heavy-metal album I have ever owned was “ and justice for all” Metallica, someone bought me a CD for my 13th birthday. I got into extreme metal by looking at my sisters boyfriends CD’s, they had pentagrams on them in flaming skulls, they looked iconic and I was intrigued. When I asked him about it he said “ that’s not for you” making me even more curious. He lended me a CD called “ dusk in her embrace” by Cradle of Filth, it blew my mind and I was hooked since then. It open a gateway to a whole world of extreme metal
5. It is common that some labels start selling some merchandising of their bands, but this is usually limited to t-shirts, patches and posters. You started selling some merch of the band that goes beyond this having caps and even cushions, if I am not wrong, and this, again, shows how committed to your band you are. How did this idea come to your mind? How is this selling merch going? Is this helping publicize the band more?
The inspiration to create merch that isn’t the standard T-shirt, patches and posters actually came from KISS. They are the absolute Masters of band merch and it is so inspiring to see that you can create anything you think is cool and associate that with your band, I love making Merch. We are currently out of throw pillows I need to restock, same goes for mouse pads and the trucker hats are our best seller, so it’s going pretty well but we can always grow and spread the word of our band. I love to see people enjoying our merch and using it it really makes my day, even if I just see them wear it in a picture on social media.
6. Social Media has become an important part of life itself since it keeps you in touch with a lot of people with similar interests and more. How important is using social media to you? Has it narrow distances with other metal bangers from other parts of the world? How do you use Instagram and Facebook as a band?
I manage the social media myself both Instagram and Facebook, it’s definitely important to show presents on these platforms but I don’t let them manage me or the band you can make as many music videos as you want, share as many pics as you want and get as many likes and shares as you want but nothing beats A face-to-face show and just banging your head.
7. Let's talk about the band's sound. I heard in an interview you mentioned a guy said your style was a kind of Black ‘n’ roll, which in some way is not necessarily what I find, even though there are some rock influences in certain parts, but having listened to your music (Delusion EP, Covid 19 and We all Die singles, and Bereavement, A Guide to Loss & Grief) I do find the Black Metal in there, but also Thrash (ala Megadeth in Delusions of a Dark Mind, for example), there is Melodeath (it reminds me a lot of Arch Enemy) as well, the same as Swedish and Old School Death Metal, and, probably, some Proggressive, too. The combination of all this, in a good equilibrium, as you the one you knew how to get in the different tracks, creates music that is more than interesting and catchy, but if the correct doses for the potion is not applied, the result could be completely chaotic. Why playing this fusion and not focusing on a specific subgenre? How difficult was for you to find the sound of Consciously Dying? What is the writing process like?
You are 100% correct I definitely have black metal roots and you can hear that in my previous band Magor, but I have grown evolved and changed since then and so has my writing. Yes delusions EP was a little more black metal than what you were here today but then on the other side COVID-19 and we all die or a little more catchy and easier to swallow. That being said I still enjoy writing technical music that is dark and demands high musicianship and technique. I am definitely inspired by Mike Amott and Jeff Loomis as well as Chuck Schuldiner up to James headfield and Michael Akerfeldt. This is what creates the fusion I don’t want to sound exactly like these bands but rather sound like myself being inspired by these bands. Adair Daufembach Our producer helped solidify our sound on the album and we owe a lot of that to him he is an amazing producer and a very special person. Of course a lot of the sound came from the combination of the players that we are and how bright we choose to shine. As for writing the lyrics, the process was very hard I really had to live each and every step of that album embodying all of the emotions, going through the process and really feeling it for real. I write about things I know about and I have seen a lot of death and loss in my life.
8. You have released two videoclips: Denial and Gasping for Air. Tell us a little bit about them. Who created the concept for them? How was the experience of working on them? Did you figure anything similar when writing the songs?
I really do like shooting music videos, it really is the time to have fun. A friend of mine just bought a warehouse and he was demolishing it so he let us shoot a video there. I have another friend that it is a special effects and blood splatter expert, their company is called nocturnal designs and they helped us not only with breathtaking make up and special effects but making the gasping for air video extra bloody. Shooting the second video, denial was a little more rough because it was shot outside, in the rain but that didn’t stop us from having a good time and making that video extra bloody as well. Denis and I took turns producing each video where I produced gasping for air and he took denial. You can really see the differences in the way we do things but all in all it was a great experience.
9. Have you thought of taking some scenes of these videoclips live when performing a show? I bet it would match perfectly after seeing some live show videos of the band (illumination, venue and energy make the environment perfect for a performance like that).
That’s actually a fantastic idea, I would love to have a tub filled with blood on stage during a show or maybe have people suspended and slowly lowered into a tub filled with blood.
10. Lyrically, based on what I could read in the Denial EP and your singles, I find your tracks as a kind of inner struggle, and it is this struggle that is exteriorized, in some way, through the different changes in each song. What about the lyrics of Bereavement, A Guide to Loss & Grief? What do you want to transmit in them in conjunction with the album cover?
Bereavement in itself is exactly what the title says it is, it is “a guide to loss and grief” we have all lost a lot the past three years, be at our loved ones or the life we once knew this album is here to help metalheads deal with this collective struggle. The album cover is a funeral, it is a place we will all find ourselves either attending to watch or six feet under One way or another we all die. We should not fear death but rather understand that it is part of our life.
11. I truly like the art for We All Die and Bereavement…, actually, I think,in some way, I find they complement. Did the same artist draw them? Whose concept was the one chosen for these images?
Yes the same artist drew them Dillon Samuelson and he is very talented as you can see. I stumbled upon him through Instagram and immediately thought that I can put any of my song titles or album on any of his art and it would make sense. The art for we all die was premade and I do not have the original because it was bought by someone but the art for bereavement was custom-made and Dillon did a great job in conceptualizing my vision through his skill. I am very grateful for that.
12. Talking about connections. Is there any connection between the Covid 19 (single and pandemic) and Bereavement… conceptually talking?
I may think there is one because of the amount of people who passed away due to this virus and the effect on the ones who loved them, which lead them to grief.
13. I know you have just released Bereavement…, but you are a very active band, so I wouldn’t be surprised that you are already working on the next step . What are your near future plans?
Five songs are already written for the next album, I’m not sure if it will be a full album or an EP but time will tell. Hopefully the 2023 release will be at another level as we strive to refine our art and of course live shows, live shows and live shows 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽
14. Thank you very much for the time to answer these questions. Is there anything you would like to add?
This interview was an absolute pleasure, your questions were of substance and interest and I appreciate the time you took to take interest in Consciously Dying. Hopefully our music resonated with you and made a difference. Keep supporting metal!!!
E.
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