Southwestern European Portugal metal rockers The Medusa Smile have had several changes when it comes to members but now Cross and Shark has finally bound the mates who share the same interest in creating music. Now with a breathing hunger bigger than ever they aim to reach for the stars and show everyone who and what The Medusa Smile are capable of especially with the release of their debut EP "Worlds Of A Hopeless Place". The band got together to discuss this EP and about themselves.
1. Can I get a backstory on the band/ band biography?
The band had to go through alot of sad times and ex-members before we could finally get the line-up we have now (near 11 ex-members) with me always remaining the same. After a while I found the members I have now because they were going through the same hell as me of not being able to find brothers that took music seriously, so it was basically a perfect match.
2. How did you guys come up with your band name?
I came up with it to do a little bit of a play on words, since medusa is known for her eyes to turn people to stone, I wanted to show that a smile can deceive or destroy people the same way.
3. Your band is from Portugal what's the music scene like there? Do you have any band recommendations?
Extremely competitive, especially if you don't fit in with the hardcore scene that's going strong here, since our band brings more influences from outside we don't get as much attention, but that never stopped us, we continue to strive and embrace that "underdog" image we gained. A few bands we would recomend from here are Borderlands, From Kids To heroes and Twelve2go.
4. "With Love Came Infamy" is your newest video and single why go with this song in particular and can you describe the video's concept?We went with that song because it was the first song we released and did as a band, we think it identifies us and what we've been going through, especially the lyrics. The concept of the music video revolves more on a aesthetic/visual representation of the song itself, but it still has the core story of the lyrics which is us in the band being hated and being brought down and being seen as a bad thing to the music scene (hence me "contaminating" the girls and turning them crazy in the end) and the final part of the me vs. me represents the personal hell that we all had to endure by sometimes thinking: Are we really that bad? Should we stop? Why do people go so much against us?
5. You have an EP in the works with former artwork and new artwork with 2 different titles the old title is called "The Words Of A Hopeless Place" and the new title is "Words Of A Hopless Place" can you clarify which artwork and title is the correct one?
The new and current artwork/EP tittle is the real one now, we had to make changes not only because a few songs were altered but mainly.6. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?
Our message varies depending on what song you're listening to, but the main theme you can grasp is a message of never giving up, not letting people bring you down, do what you dream of your life, and especially, have alot of fun doing it.
7. What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)
Like I said, the songs revolve around the themes I said before, but specifically speaking, there are songs that we like to tell a story, for example we have a song called "Diary Of Jack The Ripper" where the lyrics talk about him as if he was writting his words on the diary, and there is another song that talks about hating someone so much and yet feel a strong connection to that person that you can't let go.
8. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)
Yes we do, instrumentally speaking, we all pitch in to help, but the mastermind behind it is our lead guitar Leo. Normally our songwriting process can be very quick, I usually have the lyrics all written and ready and then the band sits down and begins to work on the instrumentals, after that it's a matter of me fitting the lyrics on the songs.
9. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?
Oh boy, so many, each member brings a different feeling to the songs, Leo brings stuff from Children Of Bodom, Wintersun and those kind of bands, while my influences vary more on hardrock and glam metal (Skid Row, Crashdiet, Motley Crue) and as the foundation we take for our rhythm guitar player Shark, that brings bands like Parkway Drive, Attila and August Burns Red to the table. Our main idea for the sound of the band was taking the modern sound that today's bands have and mix it with the feeling and raw power from the 80's rock and the never dying Heavy Metal.
10. Where are you in the recording process of the new EP?
It's completed nothing more to be done with it.
11. Who produced the EP? How has the producer aided the recording process?
Tiago Mesquita is helping us with producing, mixing and engineering. All of us in the band feel very comfortable around him so it was a natural choice to work with him. I can say he's very strict, but that helps the band improve and keep the sound tight.
12. Where did you record the EP?
Right here in our home country, so far it's been hard to finance it but we never give up, me and Leo have been saving up by not eating and Shark works so it can be done.
13. Since you guys are unsigned you will be self-releasing this EP, has there been any luck with getting signed or finding a label interested in you?
We wish ahah, but our band is still very young, we only exist since the summer of last year, and with only a single out, we wouldn't expect label interest so soon, but who knows what the future holds.
14. How would you describe the overall sound of the new EP?
Heavy Rock N' Roll wrapped with a modern sound and alot of guitar work.
15. Did the band have any definitive goals they were shooting for before the recording process began for this EP?
I think the main issue was aquiring the money to be able to launch it, other than that, the pre-production of the EP was already done since last year.
16. Are you using any new instrumentation you've never used in the recording process before?
Not really, everything we've been working in terms of recording process we had already planned it and worked with before.
17. You mentioned that this release has been pushed back for release due to you wanting to improve the fit of your sound and add on a bonus track. Can you discuss the bonus material and how do you plan to improve your sound?
It's like I said, we decided to push back and change the artwork because alot of time had passed since the pre-production of the EP, we learned new things and had alot more influences, so we decided to push it back a little and re-work all the songs. We didn't change them that much, but gave them an extra edge.
As for the bonus track we were hoping of doing an acoustic/soft song but due to a few problems we won't be able to add it to the EP, but we expect to release it as a single later and free for our fans!
18. When did you start writing for this EP?
Around the same time we created the band. When it comes to the creative process our band is very organic, so we finished everything in less then 2 days. Also we needed to be that fast because around the same time we also were given a national tour through our country. Despite the pressure it was a real blessing and really pushed us forward.
19. Do you feel any pressure whatsoever?
All the time, from other bands, from haters, from our own personal thoughts. I think the times when we don't feel it is when we feel weird the most, or that something is not right.
20. Can you go into one or two tracks on the new EP? If so, can you give us the track title and brief description of how the track sounds and how it came about?
Well I've talked about two of them here, there's "Diary Of Jack The Ripper" which portraits the life of the serial killer as it was him writing on his diary. The sound we tried to do for that song revolved around a very dark and heavy feeling, which is something the listeners might feel from the synth work.
And then we have "The Devil Has A Place For Us" which goes in about having a profound hate for someone but you can't seem to stay away from that person, which reflects on the angry/sexual lyrics and the guitar work.
21. How was the vibe in the studio?
Crazy, Fun, Tiring, Nerve-Wrecking and sometimes tense, but that's band life for you.
22. When can we expect the new EP to be released?
The EP is now available go grab a copy!
23. You will be heading off on the BROMANCE TOUR what do you have planned afterwards?
A lot more shows and hopefully a few of them outside our country, depends if agencies like what they hear.
24. What can the fans expect to see from you in the future?
Same energy and conviction, but a lot more power and attitude, growing as a band in a hostile environment can make you change and grow stronger.
25. What made you guys decide to form a band?
It came from a lot of feelings, I guess the one everyone of us share is the love and passion we gained for the music, and also to find a family where we could be ourselves and not worry about outside comments, because we mainly do music for ourselves, hence the wide array of influences brought to the table, but we can say we were blessed with so many people liking the sound and enjoying it the same way we do, or perhaps more.
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