Thought provoking act FATAL SWITCH takes eclectic, heavy, groovy based genre tactics to make their own accordance to how they want to sound. With this they have gone on to release a few single's and a full-length album this summer. Even newer content is in the works, for the next release, with even more music and other plans in the process. The band goes into chatter about themselves and the music they are so proud of to create.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
The History of the band is pretty interesting actually. Our first studio album was recorded with mostly studio musicians to support the vocals on the tracks with the exception of the bassist who is my brother and was part of the project from the start. However, shortly after the album was recorded, he moved across the country to take care of our mother which really left me with no musicians to support the album.
Nonetheless I slowly built the band one member at a time. I first found my drummer Ralph A Samah who comes from a family of musicians (his brother is quite the RnB star actually) and knows quite a bit about the industry. Ironically, he recorded his first studio album with the same producer I worked with Kevin Jardine of Uplift Recording Studio.
I found Ralph same way I did our rhythm guitarist Ryann Paqueo and bassist David Vigliotti, through internet ads. But our lead guitarist Max Rope was brought in by Ryann to audition for the part of lead guitar. Once I heard him nail the solo on Doctors & Demons I told him he was in before he had a chance to ask if he made the cut (we still joke about that lol).
I have to say thinking about it now, I find it completely amazing how a group of strangers can get together and unite to bring music to life. It’s been a humbling and powerful experience to get to know these guys who I discovered as strangers but I now call brothers. They have adopted the first album like true professionals and turned our live songs into an entity of their own. The universe could not have answered my call any better.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
Fatal Switch is a term deeply rooted in duality. And this concept has definitely woven itself into our songs beginning with our main character Sian and her alter ego named Hyde (featured in our latest single and title track Doctors & Demons). So, I though the name is inspired by her it definitely extends itself far beyond one character and into a multifaceted statement.
I mean haven’t we all experienced a Fatal Switch at some point in our lives? And though it can be taken in a negative connotation can it not also be a positive one? Drastic change can be as devastating as it can be uplifting depending on what the change is, so I guess it really all comes down to context and vantage points. And I think that’s the real origin of the bands name. It`s statement meant to challenge our listeners to redefine how they views things.
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 out of the city of Montreal in the province of Quebec in Canada.
The Music scene here is quite varied and interesting actually. We have some of the biggest Jazz festivals in the world, an amazing symphony orchestra as well as a very big metal community.
However, there is not much of a hip-hop scene in Montreal which made it very difficult for me to establish myself as a rapper. But as luck would have it, I became friends with a crazy talented metal guitarist in trade school and we started experimenting with throwing my raps on his metal tracks and it worked it out beautifully. Sometimes you have to play to the strengths of your surroundings and be brave enough to try something new even if it doesn’t feel natural at first. And I am so glad that I did!
A couple of bands from Montreal I would highly recommend checking out would be Slaves on Dope and Oliver Forest. Other bands we enjoy are Era 9, The Agonist, Vinyl Hero and Deathproof.
4. How would you describe your style?
I would describe our style as eclectic, heavy, groove based and thought provoking. I tried to keep the integrity of a traditional metal or rock song and put rap lyrics over those styles to try and give this hybrid sound a different perspective. Then I wrote full on stories to go over this varied approach which attempts to add a deeper dimension to the overall sound.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
We have released 3 singles so far. Who We Are, Heartless and Doctors & Demons. We also just dropped the full-length album Doctors & Demons August 7th 2020. So far, our 3 singles have had great success. Thanks to our manager Pedro Barbosa they have all been air on national TV through the Stingray Loud channel.
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
The band has been working tirelessly to create new tracks for our next studio album that we hope to start recording early next year 2021. Every time we walk into the jam space, we have breakthrough after breakthrough moments and we have all grown tremendously as songwriters by pushing each other to be the best. We truly set the highest standards for ourselves and I really hope that will show on our next record.
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
COVID-19. That’s all I can say Until the world goes back to normal the live momentum is halted. Our last show was a sponsored showcase at Indieweek in Toronto and we had an amazing time. We were really looking forward to playing festivals and CMW this year as well but we will have to bide our time until the industry can hold large gatherings again.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
More music. Second album is key right now, but in the meantime, we look forward to promoting the first album. Also having really cool chats like this one with awesome people like yourself. Umm… Lyric videos, live performance videos. Social media engagement. That kind of stuff will be on the menu for the next little bit.
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Thanks for asking! This is a link to our album https://fatalswitch.fanlink.to/doctors-and-demons. You can stream, save or purchase the album here! We will have our website up and merch store going in the near future as well.
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
Amazing question. I’d like them to remember that they just heard a story rapped to them over some heavy music. I’d them to remember the emotion the music made them feel even if it was an uncomfortable one. I mean we cover topics from child soldiers, to domestic abuse and even aliens. So, I guess I’d like them to walk away remembering that they just heard a song that wasn't about how much money I have or how many drugs I sold but that they just shared an experience with me. Kind of like they just watch a mini movie in their minds exit my mind and go into theirs.
Thank you so very much for taking the time to ask us these questions. It’s been an honor and a privilege to have had this interaction with you. You've got an amazing website going and you play such an important part of getting the artist’s work out into the world. Keep being amazing!
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