Industrial shock power rockers Sister Kill Cycle, have been creating interest upon themselves since 2004. Thus, their stage presence in their live performances is something that is a true art form unlike anything else.They have crafted their image, performance style, and music tactics to a formula that suits them best. Frontman vocalist Raven Chain discusses of the band's process of their new release, touring plans, and more.
1. First of all, who are you, and what do you do in the band?
Raven: I am Raven Chain and I do vocals.
2. Tell us the brief history of your band.
Raven: I started the band back in 2000 with my brother/drummer Jon Chain. We had been in a few other bands together and just evolved into what we are now. Originally from West Virginia we moved to Tampa, Florida in 2003 and recorded our first EP " Massacre the Guilty" with ex Marilyn Manson drummer Sara Lee Lucas in Orlando, Fl at Masterlab Studios. This record did pretty well and landed us on spots opening for some pretty major acts. We toured around for a few years and went through some member changes. In 2010 we released our second full length album "Redemption Through Rebellion" and toured constantly. Again more member changes and we continued touring. Now we are working on our third full length album entitled " Almost Human". We are also about to go on a long 3 month tour through the US.
3. Who is this sister in this Sister Kill Cycle?
Raven: There is no sister in Sister Kill Cycle. We started out as just Kill Cycle but after hearing that people thought we were a hard core band we decided to add the sister, to soften things up. I guess being a huge fan of Twisted Sister had something to do with that.
4. Who writes the songs, what are they about?
Raven: I write a lot of the songs but some of the other members write as well. I do all the lyrics though. They range from so many topics, some of them real life events while others are simply based on hypothetical ideas.
5. You picked "Dead Bird" as a single choice, will this song be on the "Almost Human" release?
Raven: Yes of course. We picked Dead Bird as the first single because it is a kind of seaway for the two records. There is going to be a lot of material on this record that is really different from the other albums but there is also some that sounds familiar. I felt Dead Bird mixed the new and the old perfectly.
6. What would you say are the bands biggest collective musical influences, and also individual ones that you feel can be heard in the record?
Raven: That really is a hard one to say. We are all so diversely influenced....I grew up loving Alice Cooper, Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd, Jim Carroll, Johnny Cash and a lot of other crazy artists. I guess those artist really influenced me in one way or another, whether it was musically or visually. I guess I would also have to include early Motley Crue.
7. Where are you in the recording process of the new album?
Raven: Right now we are about half way through. Our lead guitarist Dixxi still lives in Sweden so we work back and forth on songs through the internet. Basically we demo a song and then send it back and forth until it is finished, then we will get together and actually record the songs together.
8. Who is producing the album? How has the producer aided the recording process?
Raven: Right now Dixxi and myself are producing the record. We are kicking around the idea of bringing someone else in for another perspective but we have not settled on anyone yet. Would love to work with Tim Skold.
9. Where are you recording the album?Raven: More than likely Hollywood, California.
10. What label will be releasing the album?
Raven: We are going to release on our own label, Negative Image Entertainment.
11. How would you describe the overall sound of the new album?
Raven: I would say the over all sound is very dark. A lot of the songs are really raw and we are experimenting using a lot of different guitar and drum sounds which makes it sound really live. We are kind of liking what it is sounding like so far.
12. Did the band have any definitive goals they were shooting for before the recording process began for this album?
Raven: I just knew that I wanted something that was going to be bigger and meaner than Redemption. A lot of things have happened since the writing of that record. I have a hole in my chest where my heart used to be and these songs reflect that.
13. Are you using any new instrumentation you've never used in the recording process before?
Raven: Just a lot more experimentation with tones on the guitars and the drums.
14. When did you start writing for this album? How was the songwriting process different/similar to previous Sister Kill Cycle albums?
Raven: I have been writing ideas for this album since 2013. It has taken a while for me to wrap my head around everything and get to the point where I wanted to sit down and record these songs. Not to mention this is the first real break we have had from touring.
15. How is the vibe in the studio?
Raven: Death...darkness... very quiet.
16. Can you say how many songs will be on this album?
Raven: I am hoping for 10-13 but we will see.
17. Who was the artist behind creating the album's artwork?
Raven: I create all the bands artwork. We have several photographers we work with as well.
18. When can we expect the new album to be released?
Raven: That I am not really sure of but I can say it will be in 2015.
19. You will be heading out on tour, what have you done to prepare yourselves for tour?
Raven: Lots of sleep because we certainly wont get much while touring.
20. How do you promote your band and shows?
Raven: Right now we do every aspect of the band ourselves. We left our label for lack of interest and decided that we wanted more control over what we did and how we did things so right now we use social media as much as possible. Nothing really compares to the mass media approach of a label with support goes though so things are a lot smaller than they were. We are really relying on our fans this time around to help promote the record, the tour, the band really.
21. Can you describe your show, visually and musically for us?Raven: Visually we try to make every tour different. We try and make the lighting match the mood of the songs that we are playing so everyone can become emotionally attached to the songs visually and in a way you can't get simply by listening to the record. Musically the shows are loud!!! We love it loud!
22. What will the setlist be like for this touring run?
Raven: Well I don't wanna give too much away but there will definitely be some songs from Redemption, a lot of songs from this new record and maybe even some from Massacre. We will probably also throw in some new covers just to have fun with. I have always loved doing covers and throwing a different spin on them.
23. How about other plans for the band, what else can we expect to see from you guys?
Raven: More touring, more videos and more touring....LOL. We are thinking of working on a short film but I cant say much about that right now.
24. Anything else you'd like to say or want to add on?
Raven: Just thanks for the interview and always thanks to our fans who are so amazing!
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