Soul Collector's Rafal and Michael Like to Play and Create Music

Thrash metal go getters Soul Collector has given us the details on their historic past, past, and future activity such as how they got their name, style description, and playing live shows with so much more plans awaiting them! Frontman vocalist Rafal Halamoda and guitarist/backing vocalist Michael Zmarly give us the details.

1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

           

Michał Halamoda: Hello! So the band Soul Collector was created in June 2007 by two cousins Zbyszek and Łukasz Bizoń. They invited my brother to their freshly birthed band to stand behind the microphone. But they still needed drummer and guitarist. After some time they made me an offer you can't refuse I've became their second lead guitar but unfortunately our drummer seat was empty for the next 3 years and we were forced to play with a drum machine. This years were very rough for us. Constant personal changes- firstly Zbyszek left our formation because of the growing conflict between him and his cousin. Zbyszek was replaced by young musician Mateszu "Yogi" Wajs who is our bassist till today. One year later Łukasz left us so me and my brother Rafał "Don Vito" Halamoda became new leaders. Rafał is our manager and I'm responsible for music. After Łukasz's departure his place was taken by young ambitious guitarist Dawid "Stafar" Stafarczyk also known from the former formation- The Crossroads-and at present guitarist in Tester Gier. In the year of 2010 Soul Collector employed their first drummer. It was Krzysztof "Sacerdos" Ster who spent 2 years in a band. It was a time when Stafar had to leave us and his place was taken by Artur "Iron" Kajzer. After releasing our first LP we had to remove our drummer because of the inner problems, he was simply a moron and a terrible musician. He was replaced by one of the greatest drummers I've ever known personally- by Dawid "Dave" Kuźnik former The Crossroads. And that's it. We still play together and we have further plans for the future. More gigs, more records, more money, more alcohol, more chicks and so on. 

2. Why did you pick the name that you did for your band?

MH: So when we've started our machine etc. the first name which came by was 9 Inch Steel Anal Destructor but it was a too complex to shout it at gigs (laugh). Yeah I' m joking. Unfortunately our band name history is quite simple and nothing out of ordinary. So one summer evening when we were cooling ourselves with a cold beer in a local park we came up with idea that we need to have some kind of name. There were many propositions like Torquemada, Demonizer and Eternal Dream. Please don't ask me about the last one (laugh)! Yes I realize it's quite stupid (laugh). And then Rafał said that Soul Collector could be a great name. It was short, catchy and just awesome. So we've decided that from that day you can call us Soul Collector (laugh). 

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

Rafał Halamoda: Band members live in a few different cities and headquarter of our band is in Rybnik, Silesia area. What can I say about our scene? We have many great bands in southern region of Poland, such as Horrorscope, Menthrass, Brudny Skurwiel, Terrordome and many more. My favourite are Intoxicated and Fortress.    

4. How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?

MH: There are no doubts about it because we play pure fucking American Thrash Metal form 80's. You won't find any Black, Death, Metalcore or any other influences. Heavy Metal yes but in a little scale, just some melodic accents etc. What is more we are frequently compared to  metal giants like Exodus, Overkill, Metallica or Testament. And I think that these band inspire us the most. Not only music but vocals are often compared to Blitz (Overkill) or Zetro (Exodus).

5. What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?

RH: We have released two demos- “Demo(N) in the year 2008 as I can remember, a second one in 2010, which didn't have a title. Our first release was terrible, I think it was one of the worst releases in all time (laugh). The second one wasn't so bad, but we were still looking for our style, especially me as vocalist. We participated also in three compilation- “Silesian Butchers”, “Thrashing Damnation” and “Sharks Attack”. The second one of these three releases was the most professional in my opinion, it was published by our current label- “Defense Rec.”. Reception of our music is very good in general, the most of reviews are positive and I can say that we have some base of fans in our region.  

6. Do you play live as well? What do you have planned in terms of shows and touring, if any?

RH: Obviously, we play live all the time, since band started making music. I think gigs are the most important thing for our band. I can’ t understand bands which don’t play live. We play nearest gig in Jastrzębie- Zdrój, on Saturday 13.12.14 r. We split stage with our friends from Terrordome and Hungarian band called Crippled Fox. If you are accidentally around, just come for our show (laugh).

7. What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?

RH: Because we are fucking awesome (laugh)! I don’ t know what all those guys should know, they are press, so they should know it best (laugh). We are musicians, we just play music and it is pleasure to us. If you want know something about us, just visit our website or FBprofile, eventually- ask the question.

8. What plans do you have for the near future as a band?

MH: Certainly to give more shows. I think that we are going to visit recording studio in the upcoming year but I won't say nothing more for now. And in the far future it would be nice to release our second LP in 3 years something like that. But unfortunately the only obstacle on our way is money. And to be precise the lack of it (laugh). The 2nd album is already written and we play new song during our gigs but it will take some time to gather enough of greens to visit the studio. But we'll see what the future will bring us. Maybe someone will win in a lottery or rob a bank or something (laugh).  

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

RH: As I said before, our nearest gig is located in Jastrzębie- Zdórj, a few kilometers from our headquarter. It is our last gig in this year and we don’ t have concrete plans for the next year. I must say that I have several ideas and I hope it will work. In general, we are planning to play gigs all around Poland, or even maybe we are going to plan little route. We will see. 

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

RH: I’ m vocalist so I would like a listener to remember my voice! (laugh) Probably my brother and Artur would tell you, that they would like their solo part to be remembered, Dawid Kuźnik would like the audience to remember how he played his parts. Matusz Wajs- oh, I forget that he plays bass guitar so he is pretty fuck upped! (laugh) I think it’ s all depends from position, that you perform in the band. But in the end- listener should remember us- Soul Collector!