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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Chasing The Rise's Edgaras Kolomiecas and Vytis Gontis Rises Above the Dawn


Metalcore/melodic death metal/hard core punks, Chasing The Rise mixes technicality and melody well, without losing song structure or energy. To keep things fresh the band also incorporates elements that really speaks to the listener, their EP "The Dawn" is a one hit wonder of a release. Guitarist Edgaras Kolomiecas and vocalist Vytis Gontis discuss.


1. Can I get a backstory on the band/ band biography?

The band started in late 2011 when our guitarist Remigijus and drummer Laisvis (childhood friends) found a vocalist and started to jam together. At first our music was something like post-harcore. At the end of the year second guitarist joined the band and with the lineup almost complete things started to get more serious. Our genre changed to what you hear right now. After a pretty long search we found a bassist, played a few local shows. We got positive reactions and decided to record our first EP, which came out a few weeks ago. And here we are right now.

2. How did you guys come up with your band name?

The name came spontaneously, it also has a nice ring to it.

3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?

We are based in a capital city of Lithuania - Vilnius. Although our drummer and guitarist came from a small city called Zarasai. Metal in Lithuania is pretty popular, but more modern metal styles really are not. We actually are a first metalcore band that released an album. Even if you count other metalcore/deathcore bands that did not yet release any album, there are like 1 or 2 more i guess. You could try listen to Awakening Sun or Dark Presence.

4. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?

Our lyrics are about all the things we learn during our lifetime, problems that put us down, experiences and inspirations that makes us to continue moving forward everyday.

5. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?

Mostly other metalcore/melodic death metal bands like August Burns Red or Darkest Hour. In general those bands that focus not only on breakdowns, but also on riffs and melody. Post-rock has a lot of melody too, we try to incorporate elements of that style in our music, so I guess bands like Explosions In The Sky, maybeshewill have some influence on our music as well.

6. Is there any story or concept behind the The Dawn title?

Well the dawn means a start of a new day. So we thought that would be a good name, since it was a new beginning for some of us and also a good title for a first record. It maybe has some connection with the band name, but you have to interpret that in your own way :)

7. Who produced The Dawn and what was it like working with them?

In terms of a producer we didn't have one and it's hard to say if anyone could do it in Lithuania, because like we mentioned not many bands play modern metal here. The EP was recorded in Muzikos Laboratorija in our home city by Rimtautas Piskarskas, mixing was done by him too. We could take our time in the studio, since it was not really limited. It was quite a lengthy process, but result is really better than we expected. Of course we also learned a lot and next time we will be prepared better. Mastering was done by Troy Glessner in Spectre Studio.

8. Who did the cover art for The Dawn and how much input did you have on it?

The girl on the cover is an experienced model Migle Tubyte, her looks were made by a make up artist Daria Eden with Darius Grazys being a photographer. Cover art was made by Ernesta Vala, she's a professional designer in Lithuania, we gave her an idea and she did all the rest.

9. Do you guys have any new music in the works as far as a follow-up release?

We are in constant writing process, since we have plenty of new ideas and things to try out and eventually do. At the moment we have written 4 new songs that of course are not in the EP 2 of them we already play live.

10. Will you be shooting a video for any of the songs off The Dawn?

We are planning to shoot a video, but we think it will be for a new song. We should record a single some time at the end of the Summer and make a video for that, this way is better because people will hear our new stuff and will know what to expect from us in the future.

11. What are your upcoming touring/show plans?

At the moment we try to play in our country as much as possible, in June we will play in Riga, Latvia. After that we are really hoping to hit the road in Europe.

12. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?

You can get our EP in bandcamp: http://chasingtherise.bandcamp.com/

Youtube is where we upload the stuff, lyric video should come soon: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChasingTheRiseBand

We really are hoping to get physical copies of The Dawn some time soon, but that is not yet set to stone. T-shirts should be available by the time we go on Europe tour, just check our Facebook page for any news https://www.facebook.com/ChasingTheRise.

13. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?

We try to put a lot of melody in our music. Listeners should remember that each of the song is different from one another ant tells some kind of a story.

14. What can the fans expect to see from you in the future?

We plan to release the full length album some time next year. I know bands always say that their next stuff will be the best stuff they have ever written, but we are not yet the band that already released 3 records. This EP was just the start and the evolution is fastest at the beginning. We really think that our next stuff will be better in every way. Our fans can expect more melodic riffs, breakdowns, clean guitar parts will not go anywhere and there will be odd-meter stuff that we didn't do much before. :)

15. Any final words of wisdom?

We want to say a big thanks to everyone who listens to our music and supports us in any way. We hope to see you guys soon!

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