Featuring "Mike Bryant from Nanochrist Interview by Ruud Dreessen aka ebm-industrial.nl Date: 12 december 2009 2:24
Thanks Mike Bryant that you have found time to give answers to these questions,
No problem at all. Thanks for asking them.
1- For the first question will be - do you know the netherland?
I've never been there, but I have a couple of friends in Amsterdam.
2- Do you follow the electronic music scene, do you have any other favourite bands?
I listen to a lot of music, including electronic music. I have a particular love for prog rock and metal of all kinds.
3- Greetings /Mike Bryant /could you please shortly introduce our readers your music project /Nanochrist /Please fill also a biographical resume about how,when and where...give us a more background information?
I started Nanochrist as a studio-only project in 1998, but made the jump to being a performing band in 2003 with the addition of a fourth member, and release of our album, "Mythelectronicon".
We have just released our 5th album, "Dead Fiction", and have already started working on our next one.
4- How did you start to make Metal Industrial Gothic and what is Music for you?
I started playing guitar when I was about 11 years old, as a hobby. I started taking it seriously after being inspired by seeing Rush perform at Maple Leaf Gardens here in Toronto.
I suppose my interest in industrial ultimately has its roots in the use of keyboards by Rush, Pink Floyd, and the Cars. Despite being a guitarist, I've always loved the myriad of interesting sounds you can make with a good synth.
That grew when, after a few failed attempts at starting a band, and being turned off by the general flakiness and non-dependability of other people, I bought an Atari ST with Cubase 2.0, and started doing it all myself. As much as that a lot of fun, and a great learning experience,I'm very happy to have a group of awesome, talented, dedicated,musicians to work with now.
5- What and who are some of your influences in Metal Industrial Gothic ?
My earliest influence in metal is Black Sabbath. When I was a kid, my sister had a 45RPM of "Paranoid" with "The Wizard" on the flip side. Being about 6 years old, I thought wizards were the coolest thing ever,other than robots. (Actually, I still think that). So that record fascinated me, even if the reverbed-out harmonica intro used to scare the crap out of me.
6- What are your top ten favorite Metal Industrial Gothic Club Songs of all time? /Who are you influenced by? What would you consider your favorite cd's?
I think my top 10 is likely to change from day-to-day, but here's a good selection, in no particular order...
Iron Maiden: Powerslave
Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral
Queensryche: Operation Mindcrime
P-Model: Music industrial Wastes
In Flames: Clayman
Star One: Space Metal
Devin Townsend: Terria
Strapping Young Lad: City
Gwar: America Must Be Destroyed
Faith No More: Angel dust
7- /Do you have a favourite track and album?
I couldn't possibly narrow it down to one. All of the ones in question 6 would be contenders, but there are many more, not all of which would classify as anything remotely metal, industrial, or goth.
8- So tell me a bit more about yourself, such as musical?
I spent many years taking guitar and theory lessons from a number of different teachers. I took an enriched music class in high school, but my teacher and I didn't get along very well, so I dropped it. I was learning much more in my guitar lessons, anyway.
9- By the way do you like my questions? tell me what you think about it! ;-)
Yes, your questions are great! :)
10 What is the main idea, the message you want to leave to people who listens to you? What is your motto?
I just try to make the kind of music that I want to hear. I figure if I like it, then other people will, too.
11- What’s the name of your band? What’s the origin of that name? Have you changed the band’s name before?
The band is called "Nanochrist". I wish I could tell you that it has some deep, philosophical meaning, regarding life, the universe, and everything, but the truth is, it doesn't. It's just a cool-sounding name.
Finding a band name that you don't hate after a week is difficult enough. Having one that also has some kind of high-brow concept for it is pretty much impossible. So I decided to go with the cool-sounding name, and save the high-brow concepts for the songs.
12- your latest CD "Dead Fiction /where did the concept come from? and whats planned now that your album is finished? or anything else you're working on? Tell me why this title,/Dead Fiction /Tell us a few words about the concept of this?
We like to choose a name based on the overall lyrical theme of the album but, in this case, there wasn't one. So we just named it after the song that we felt had the best title.
Now that it's finished, we're playing shows to promote it. We're in the planning stages of a cross-Canada tour next summer.
We've also started working on the next two albums. We have an idea for a concept album, and we'll also do a collection of unrelated songs. At this point, we don't know which one will be completed first.
13- When's the new album coming out?
Dead Fiction is available now at CDBaby and iTunes.
14-How is the current promotional tour going for supporting this album?
Not too bad. Winter is beginning to close in on us here in Canada, so we'll be concentrating on writing for the next couple of months. Nobody goes to shows around here between November and March, so there's no point in playing them.
15- What do you think of a modern Metal Industrial Gothic and about Gothic scene?
As always, there are bands I like and bands I don't. I won't make a list because saying you don't like a particular band always irks fans of that band, even if they're just not your thing.
16- Our usual question - what is Metal Industrial Gothic for you?
A catharsis.
17- What was your best live experience so far?
Playing the CD release party for Dead Fiction. It was our first show with Ciel on drums, and she just totally nailed it. We played the entire album to a very enthusiastic, packed house. We were tight as hell, and had a great time with no technical difficulties. We couldn't have asked for a better show.
18- Please list the name, age, school, and respective instrument of each band member
Scworm: Vocals
Mike Bryant: Guitar
Steve Nabieszko: Keyboards and electronics
Peted: Bass
Ciel Strong: Drums
All members are old enough to know better.
19-What are your views on the current state of this Metal Industrial Gothic scene in Toronto, Ontario Canada .in terms of creativity and audiences? And the scene in other countries?
A number of long-standing clubs have closed down in Toronto lately, and another one is closing in January. There's really only one club left in the city for the Goths to frequent. I'm sure more will pop up. They always do. But at the moment, we're going through a bit of a drought.Luckily, we're at the point that we're making some headway into neighbouring cities like London, St. Catharines, and Montreal, so we can still play shows, and to an ever-growing audience.
As far as other countries go, I couldn't really say. I was at Wave Gothic Treffen this past spring and it was fantastic, so there's definitely an international scene. But I don't know how well that reflects the usual state of things in Germany or elsewhere in Europe.
20- you have very nice albums NANOCHRIST,INATARAXIA,CORRODE,MYTHELECTRONICON tell me about lyrical compositions what you can tell about the done work? How does your music creation process work? How do you create a song?
It varies from song to song but usually, I will sit down and noodle on the guitar for a while until I come up with something interesting, then I record it. I might then come up with another guitar riff to go with it, or a keyboard line to go over it. And it all develops from there, depending on my whim.
When I have a bunch of songs sketched out, I play them for the band, who cruelly eviscerate them, leaving them a broken, bleeding shell of their former selves. But they're an *improved* broken, bleeding shell of their former selves, so that's what matters.
21-What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
I suppose Industrial Metal is the best description of our style. I know a lot of people feel that industrial metal died out in the mid 90s, but I think its death was premature. I believe the 90s bands only scratched the surface of what the genre has to offer, and theres a lot of gold left to unearth.
I'm hugely influenced by prog bands, both old and new, such as Rush and Dream Theater. But I also love metal of all kinds: Black Sabbath, In Flames, Meshuggah, Motorhead, Opeth... The list goes on. (and on, and on...)
Lately, I've been listening to a lot of Porcupine Tree and a crazy Japanese pop band called Polysics.
22-Since the music industry is more open now to purely electronic music has this made things easier for you?
Yes. It used to be impossible to be taken seriously if you had a drum machine or a synth, but thats no longer the case. The younger generation are much more open minded and less likely to think that a drum machine knows how to write a hit song.
23-So what are their main influences as a band at the moment?
See my answer to question 21.
24-What is currently inspiring your material as an artist? tell me all about the /Metal / Industrial / Gothic scene of Toronto, Ontario Canada?
There are a lot of great bands around this area. Check out MDM, Promonium Jesters, Defence Mechanism, Trench Run, Witchfinder, New Love Army, Delica-M, and Glenn Love for starters.
25-Do you think that people from the music press didn't expect you to grow up musically?
I don't think the music press know who we are, or care. Our t-shirts aren't tight and vintage enough for them.
26-what is the key to making music from /Nanochrist /and what inspires you to keep growing as a musician?
The key to making music is simply to keep doing it. Making time to turn off the TV, go to the studio, shut the door, and work.
What inspires me as a musician? Other musicians. There's nothing more inspiring than seeing a band so good they make you wonder why you even bother.
27-How do you see the future of download / Copyright in area of goth-/Metal / Industrial / Gothic /music ? What are the best ways to develop it in your mind ?
Downloading is a great way to get your music into people's ears. I think that most people will still buy music if they enjoy it, even if they can get it for free.
28-If there was one thing you want people to know about your band what would that be?
We're heavy, pummeling aggressive assault of guitars, synths, and shredded vocal cords. Check us out.
29-Please let us know about your upcoming plans, some new releases you like to confirm here
Well, "Dead Fiction" is brand new, so it will be a little while until we have another one. You can listen to it at myspace.com/nanochrist. If you enjoy it, please consider buying it from iTunes, Rhapsody, or whatever your favourite download service is.
And if you're Canadian, keep an eye on Nanochrist.com for upcoming shows.
30-It has been a pleasure to interview you on your musical activity,Well,any last words to your ebm-industrial fans?
Thank you very much. The pleasure is mine. To fans of this kind of music, I hope you check us out and, if you like our stuff, please tell your friends about us.
31-and what is next on /Toronto, Ontario Canada /agenda?
Get some new Goth clubs operating!
32-thanks for your time! great work on the albums and good luck with everything.any How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have [a website with sample songs or a demo CD?
We sure do...
33-Were you asked to play or did you have to ask for a slot?
We were asked.
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