- ARTISAN -
MIKE: ARTISAN began three years ago with Perry Grayson, Ann Greco, and myself. Perry had just parted ways with his former band DESTINY'S END, and my previous band PROTOTYPE and I just parted a while before that. Ana's band, RAPTURE had broken up and we just found our - selves as three friends without a band at the same time. We pretty much spent the first year writing music and promoting the name of ARTISAN. Soon after, we hooked up with a drummer. We worked with him for a year and got a few things done including 4 shows (one of which we opened for NILE and ARCH ENEMY), as well as recording drums towards our first demo. We lost
our drummer in Ocrober and found our new drummer Justin Bouchee this past Februari . Since
then, we have just been working on getting Justin up to speed on the previuos ARTISAN mate - rial and working on new Metal as well.
* Where do you come from and how's the Metal scene out there?
MIKE: I myself was born and raised in Los Angeles. Perry and Ana also grew up in L.A. Justin
is from Tuscon, Arizona. As for the Metal scene out here, it is very diverse. In some ways it's
good, and some it's bad. There's quiet a bit of Deat metal that crosses over into Hardcore, quite a bit genuine Death Metal, a handful of Power Metal bands such as Steel Prophet and New Eden,
and a lot of Nu Metal styles which i'm not too hip on. Bands that sound like Godsmack and such.
I love Death Metal, i wish there was a bit more Thrash and Progressive Metal out here though.
It's kinda hard for ARTISAN to fit right in while playing other Metal band.
PERRY: There's not a huge Metal scene out here...a lot of the real bands have lineup problems
lately( New Eden, Steel Prophet, Prototype,etc.) so there haven't been tons of local shows. We
were down a deummer for a few months, so we were one of those bands.
* For how many years have you existed as a Metal band?
PERRY: ARTISAN started in summer 2000, just after i left Deastiny's End. So three years!
MIKE: We has been together for three years this July. We don't have too much to show for it,
but trust me, we have been working very hard.
* A few words about the members please? Did they played in other bands before joining Artisan?
MIKE: No problem. Perry was in a band that was signed to Metal Blade called DESTINY'S END.
They had the former singer from Helstar(James Riveira) in the band. Perry performed on 2 al -
bums with DE and did a U.S. tour supporting Iced Earth and Nevermore in addition to playing the
Wacken Open Air festival followed by a small European tour. DE was more of a Power Metal
band, but they had a few elements of Progressive and Thrash to their sound. Lots of energy.
Ana's previous band was called RAPTURE. Not the same one that is making noise these days.
She played guitar and was one of two primary vocalists in the band. Rapture had been around for
quite a while in the L.A. area, played a bunch of shows, and recorded 2 demo's. Rapture's sound was very thrashy and melodic.
Justin, previous to Artisan was in in a band called COLD MOON, who was based out of Denver,
Colorado. Cold Moon touches on many different Metal styles: some Death, some straight Metal,
some Thrash. He had joined the band in time to play some shows in support of a new album that
had just been recorded. Justin's band was rooted in his home town Tuscon was called Sunder.
My previous band before Artisan is called PROTOTYPE. Prototype is a Progressive Thrash Metal
band. I did a bunch of shows with Prototype opening for lots of larger bands such as Fates War -
ning, Entombed, Mercyful Fate, and Exodus. Also i performed on an informal demo, a formal EP,
and 3 tribute albums with them. Prototype is still going strong, actually, having released a full
length for WWIII Records.
I Think that would sum it up. We all have come from strong previous bands and have a wealth of
history and experience.
* Besides Prototype, you were also in another band called Ascension. Is that true and why did you
quit stop playing with them?
MIKE: Well, ASCENSION was a band i was in since highschool. I was with them a long time. You
get to this point after a certain age where you decide if you want to keep as a strong focus in ur
life or start moving on to other things. Ascension kept going on for a while, but i wanted to get more serious about rehearsals, music quality, and professionalism. There have been bands be -
tween Ascension and Prototype, and bands after Prototype before Artisan that bear the same story as Ascension. As for Prototype, that's kind of a complex thing that not everyone needs to know about. Prototype is a great band and i am still friends with the two guitarists, one of whom is recording our demo for us. I am even friendly with the current bass player. Nothing so interes-
ting that readers will be much more enlightened for knowing.
* Perry Grayson leaves his previous band Destiny's End to join Artisan. The reason why please?
Mention that Destiny's End is one of my faves, definitely?
PERRY: The main reason for my decision to leave Destiny's End was the usual thing that hap -
pens in bands. Personalities clashing and stuff of that nature. I quit. I don't think James and i are the kind of people who belong in the same band together. I don't regret any of the stuff i did in D.E. including my departure. It was good experience. Rather than just stay in D.E. because it was a band with a record deal, i decided i'd happi�r starting over from scratch playing and writing music with some close friends, namely Mike Bear and Ana Greco. I didn't take a huge break from music after D.E. Just several weeks after we finished recording TRANSITION, and then i started jamming with Mike. Thanx for the cool words about Destiny's End!
* Is it correct that you're also in another band called FALCON and as far as i know, this is not
a true Metal band?
PERRY: Yeah, i started FALCON in fall 2002. The band lineup is me on guitar/vocals, Greg Lind-
strom from Cirith Ungol on bass/Keyboards and Darin McCloskey from PaleDivine on drums.I'm
putting a lot of time into both Artisan and Falcon simultaneously. Artisan practices three times a week, and i actually woek on Falcon stuff alone a couple of days a week, not to mention getting together with bassist Greg Lindstrom once every other week or so. I'm very busy when it comes to music these days. I've had some of the Falcon song ideas for years, and it was kinda frustra - tion to be able to actually work on them in a band situation. Obviously the tunes didn't fit the Destiny's End or Artisan mold. Falcon has an early 1970s Heavy Rock vibe on it. Not true Metal? Falcon's sound is a throwback to the roots of Metal. If you don't consider Sabbath, early Priest and Cirith Ungol very Metal, then i guess it isn't !?
I tried to get Falcon going 2 years ago with a different drummer and Mike from Artisan playin'
bass. It didn't get beyond one jam, because the drummer wasn't into it. Which worked out for the best. There's a time and a place for everything, and the situation wouldn't have been right
for Falcon. Mike's a great bassist and a friend, but i had to have these guys in Falcon who are as
totally die-hard about early '70s Heavy Rock as i am. I've been friends with Rob Garven, the old
Cirith Ungol drummer, for several years. He always used to say that even though he didn't play drums anymore, he knew Greg Lindstrom (who played bass, guitar and keyboard on Citith Un -
gol's FROST AND FIRE) would be into jamming. I didn't start talking to Greg Lindstrom until a couple of years ago, but when i did we definitely hit it off. Me and Greg are into the same bands and have a lot in common both musically and as people. I was really blown away when Greg said he'd be interested in jammin' with me. We're talking about one of my biggest music heroes here. Darin McCloskey from the Pennsylvania Doom Metal outfit Pale Divine is the drummer in Falcon. I've been in touch with him for years through mail and email, but we just met (finally!)
in '02 at the Stoner Hands of Doom festival. I've been a big fan of PD since their first demo, and i knew Darin is a maniac for '70s Rock, both obscure and common bands. I decided that if i was gonna do Falcon ( and i really NEED to get this stuff out), i'd have to do it right. Which means only involving the right sort of bandmates, people i know can get the job done who are totally immersed in the vintage Heavy Rock scene.
The 4 song Falcon demo is done, and we're planning on recording a full-length album in fall 2003
Not sure what label it'll be on yet, but there a number of possibilities.
* OK, back to Artisan now! Discribe what we can expect. Influences, bands to compare with and
stuff like that.
PERRY: When it comes to the aggressive side of Metal, my fave bands are Death, Anacrusis,
Control Denied, Sadus, Sacrifice, Kreator and Coroner. Can't forget Sanctuary, Forbidden and Nevermore. In the lead guitar department, i'm more into older players who put lots of fell into their solos. Scott Gorham from Thin Lizzy is a huge influence.
MIKE: We have been told that we sound a bit more European than American at times. A few guitar harmonies here and there, a lot of moods that we are trying to create. Vocally, There's a lot going on. I guess you can say i'm the monkey in the middle doing the main vocals but that is
not 100 % true. In addition to back up vocals, Perry and Ana have some main vocal duties in some songs. Actually, there are a lot of two-person vocal parts and usually they are not consi - dered harmonies, they are two main parts at once. When it comes to music we are all into the old school Thrash Metal like some of the bands that Perry rattled off, except you forgot Testament,
Perry.I'm into other bands like Hypocrisy, Carcass, Monstrosity, Rush,Pink Floyd ,Cynic,Opeth,
Entombed, Black Sabbath, and so on. I could go on forever, so could any of the other ARTISAN
members. Ana likes a lot of the same stuff in addition to some Black Metal. Justin also has a healthy well-rounded menu of Metal tastes. When someone asks what we sound like, i usually
tell them a little bit of Speed, a little bit of Thrash, a little bit of Prog, and a little bit of Death.
* What about your releases so far? You made a couple of demo songs, but do you have plans for
an eventually full length album?
MIKE: We started recording demo tracks a year ago. We have just finished mixing 3 or 4 songs. We started a fifth song, which was a Death cover, but scrapped it after drums, bass, and one gui- tar were recorded. We decided we could do a much better job than what was there. The demo should be out soon, and we are looking forward to it. As for a full length, I don't know how soon that will happen.We are going to see what this new demo brings for us in the sense of fans,shows and other types of interest. We will continue to record new songs as they come up just for our own reference. If too much time passes and we don't get a record deal, i'm pretty sure we will take it upon ourselves to make an album. This band will grow with or without a label!
* Who's the songwriter in the band and tell me some more about the meaning of the lyrics.
PERRY: Mike, Ana and I do the writing quite a bit of the stuff, so i'll leave it to him to explain
his side of it. So far for all of my lyrics for Artisan have been based in reality. A bit different than the lyrics i wrote for Destiny's End. That's jus the way it turned out. I had a lot of stuff i wanted to address in my lyrics, and Artisan is a good serious outlet for them. "A Silent War" and "Vindicating Mine" are two of my Arti tunes. They both explore sides of the human nature. They sort of have to do with the constant struggle between creative and non-creative peaople.
People who could care less about art (music !), but get involved in it just for money, Attention,
etc. and could care less about the word integrity. The late Chuck Chuldiner did an incredible job
of writing about this sort of thing. I had similar feelings i wanted to set down in some songs. So
I did.
MIKE: From what I write, and from what Perry and Ana have written as well, the songs thus far have touched on personal issues and experiences. Songs like "Goodbye" talk about dying alone and being torn between wanting people there with you, and not wanting them there so they won't hurt. It also goes on about final questions. Possibly it sounds clich�, but the issues in the lyrics
relate to self-loathing, abandonment, being blind to your own identity, being held down by others,
being mind fucked by others, and so on!
* What about the response from the Metal maniacs outside America?
PERRY: I think Metal is a bit stronger in other countries, especially in Europe. Has to do with
the fact that the U.S. is much more trend-driven when it comes to music. Music takes the back seat here to fashion and other superfacial shit!
MIKE: Metal is universal. We get emails and guest book entries from many countries outside the U.S. such as Europe, South America, and even some third world countries. As long as Metal fans are plugged in, they will find the Metal no matter where it exists, just like it's always been.
* Any touring plans for the near future and what's your favorite place you always want to play?
Can you tell me why please?
PERRY: I'm dying to go back to Europe. That's my favorite place to play. Destiny's End went to Germany, Belgium (!) and Holland in '99, and i had a blast. You guys are so die-hard about Metal out there. Next time i get to tour in Europe, i'd love to go to Greece too. Because they love epic Metal over there. In the U.S. the places that are cool to play are L.A., New York, San Francisco,
Cleveland and Chicago. The big cities. Artisan played a big gig in Hollywood at the Key Club with Arch Enemy, and the crowd ruled! Funny...I've been all over the U.S. and to a few parts of Euro- pe, but i never played Hollywood until last year. Partially because the promoter who bought the Hollywood date on the tour Destiny's End did with IcedEarth and Nevermore wouldn't allow us to play that show ( due to an ongoing fued he had with Metal Blade). I think there are less politics like that involved in Germany, Belgium, Holland and a few other European countries.
MIKE: Recording is cool, but playing live is what it's all about. We aren't going to get radio play, at least not here in the states, so we aren't rehearsing and writing to play to ourselves three times a week. It's been a while since we have had a show and miss playing live so much. Touring i would love to do with ARTISAN. On my levels i feel the band could really benefit and grow with a tour. I love playing The Whisky, even though it's not what people imagine it's like when they first arrive there. The sound is pretty cool and it just kinda feels like home after playing there so many times with various bands. The House of Blues in Hollywood is very cool. I'll play anywhere Metal fans will have us, in any town!
OK, That's it Mike and Perry! Thanx so much for taking time doing this interview.
I wish you guys and ARTISAN all the best and hope to see you somewhere live on stage!
*US METAL RULES*
HOMEPAGE ARTISAN