Javier Reyes [Interview]

For lovers of fresh new sounds, restlessly creative musicians like Javier Reyes are a godsend. In addition to rewriting the metal guitar rulebook alongside Tosin Abasi in Animals As Leaders, Javier has also spent the last few years writing and releasing music through his side project, Mestis.

Mestis’ latest long-player, Polysemy (reviewed on TMMP here), was recently listed as one of my favourite albums of 2015 in this feature – and here, Javier Reyes discusses Mestis, creativity, generous fans, and the future of his pet project…

Your new album Polysemy has been out for about a month now. How’re you feeling about it?

I am pretty happy with it. I wasn’t sure what people were going to think, considering some of the parts are so mellow in comparison to material they are used to from [Animals As Leaders]. Thankfully the overall feedback has been pretty positive.

What initially inspired and motivated you to create Mestis? What’s the project’s origin story?

Mestis is a bit of my bedroom project. It started [with] me making some songs in my bedroom that I knew were stylistically different [to] Animals As Leaders, and I felt the material was strong enough to be released.

After the first EP, I didn’t really expect to write more music for Mestis, but throughout touring with Animals As Leaders people kept asking me if I was going to release more music for Mestis; so thanks to all those people who asked me, I was Read more…

Posted on 11 December 2015

Lithium Dawn [Interview]

Looking back on a big year for metal, Lithium Dawn’s brand new Tearing Back The Veil I: Ascension marks them out as genuine innovators. I’ve already ranted at length about it in this review – and here, Lithium Dawn discuss the story behind the new album, their plans for 2016, and more…

You’ve managed to spice up an epic prog-metal mix with some unique flavours of your own. So, I have to open with an old cliché: Who were your influences while you were writing your new album?

Well, [the] earliest influences that informed our sound were prog rock/metal bands like Porcupine Tree, Tool, Opeth, Meshuggah, and some of the newer bands like Tesseract and Periphery. Deftones and Korn were also a big influence early on.

Our founding members, Ondrej Tvarozek and Matt Benoit, actually met on Korn’s message board back in the early 2000s. As we were making this new album though, we embraced a lot more of our experimental influences: reggae, psy-dub, and other electronic music played a big part in that, particularly artists like Ott, Shpongle, Younger Brother, John Brown’s Body, Stick Figure, and many others.

Tearing Back The Veil I: Ascension is about to be let loose into the world. What thoughts and feelings are floating around the Lithium Dawn camp right now?

We’re all just excited to have people finally Read more…

Posted on 04 December 2015

Maxi Curnow: Car Crashes, Creativity, And A Life-Altering ‘Transition’ [Interview]

Maxi Curnow makes music with a strong, no-punches-pulled message. Blending everything from poppy hooks to tech-metallic intensity on his new track If We Make It, and accompanying said song with a powerfully unsettling video (viewable below), he’s already making an impact.

TMMP caught up with Maxi Curnow to discuss the video for If We Make It, and got a glimpse into the reality of life spent saving lives and staying creative…

Your new video for If We Make It is one of the most gut-wrenching videos I’ve seen in a while. Can you explain the story and message behind it?

Well, while working on and off duty I’ve been to traumatic RTCs (Road Traffic Collisions), which have really hit home how vulnerable we are despite the safety features that most cars boast.

You are still responsible for a one-tonne missile, going at 70 miles an hour, which is made of metal. Our bodies can’t compete with that! So even if a seatbelt stops us, on impact our organs will keep on going.

If they rupture, you will start bleeding internally and that’s not a quick fix, all while on the surface you may not even have a scratch.

More importantly, it’s not just ourselves that we are responsible for when driving. What if Read more…

Posted on 09 November 2015