State
Of Integrity
I've listened to a couple
of really interesting bands coming from Australia lately and this made
me realize that metal music can thrive everywhere, despite its amount of
popularity within the borders of a certain country or continent. So, State
Of Integrity are here to offer us high quality, astounding music that will
overwhelm you! Read Aaron's views on the band and nowadays world and make
sure to check them out!
1. “THE FOURTH SEASON OF REVELATIONS” IS MAGNIFICENT!
HOWEVER I’M ALWAYS CURIOUS TO FIND OUT THE CREATOR’S POINT OF VIEW. SO
ARE YOU CONTENT WITH THE FINAL RESULT OR IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO
CHANGE?
We are very content with the final product
there is not anything we would change it exceeded our expectations that
we had prior to recording the album but at the same time we co produced
it so we already had the vision there and what direction we wanted to take
this album.
2. SINCE YOU ARE A NEW BAND PLEASE GIVE US A SHORT
BAND BIO, INDICATING YOUR MOST IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS UP TO NOW AND PRESENT
THE CURRENT LINE UP.
Well we started jamming in July 03 then recorded
our first demo in August 03 followed by our first show in Sep 03 followed
by a single in Feb 04 played shows throughout 04, which seen us play with
death metal masters Exhumed from the USA. All through 04 wrote and jammed
the album material then we started recording the LP in January 05 for a
mid year release and since have played shows interstate and a full national
tour of new Zealand in September 05 supporting new Zealand heavyweights
8 Foot Sativa. Our line up consists of Aaron Franklin: vocals, Nick Rhodes:
drums, Ben Clayphan: bass, Brenden Rhodes: guitar and has been the same
line up since the very start.
3. YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO EMBODY IN YOUR SOUND
ELEMENTS AND INFLUENCES FROM FAMOUS BANDS AND YET CREATE A FINAL RESULT
THAT SMELLS OF STATE OF INTEGRITY FROM A THOUSAND MILES. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
Well we have our influence but we always strive
to be a metal band with something a little different to offer the listener
and I think we do just that simply by not doing things that have been done
we try and mix it up a bit and step outside the circle.
4. WHAT PROCEDURE DO YOU FOLLOW WHILST COMPOSING
AND RECORDING YOUR SONGS?
As far as all our procedure goes for the songs
that we write, it starts at guitar and rough drum tracks then demo them
at wookie productions studio based at our house put it on to a disc listen
to it for a week or so followed by just jamming on them and ironing out
anything we think should change.
5. YOU’VE READ MY REVIEW SO YOU KNOW WHAT I THINK
OF YOUR MUSIC. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT YOU WERE ASKED TO WRITE A REVIEW FOR
“THE FOURTH SEASON OF REVELATIONS”. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS
OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
A real metal band that have the groove of
Pantera, thrash of early Metallica/Slayer and the aggression of early Sepultura
with a no bullshit attitude that leads the band to have music and lyrics
people can relate to.
6. WHICH ARE THE TOPICS YOU DEAL WITH ON “THE
FOURTH SEASON OF REVELATIONS”? WHERE DO YOU DRAW YOUR INFLUENCES FROM?
Personal struggles we have dealt with in past and present prior
to the recording of the album such as the death of loved ones and what
happens to our souls in the after life. Where do we go, world events such
as terrorism, government corruption and anger over war and people dying
for no real cause, belief of your surroundings because people need to be
aware and open to what is happening in this world. That is what we try
to get across within the fourth season of revelations.
7. I’M INTERESTED IN LEARNING WHAT YOU MEAN WITH
THE TITLE “THE FOURTH SEASON OF REVELATIONS”. PLEASE ALSO MAKE THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE ALBUM TITLE AND THE COVER ARTWORK.
The title relates to us as a band being together for a year at the
time of thinking of an album title and revealing ourselves and our music
to the world. The art is based around the four seasons and what weather
makes the world go round.
8. I’D LIKE YOU TO TALK ABOUT THE SONG “88” IN
PARTICULAR AND LET PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT IT…
With the song 88 on the record it is a instrumental closing the
album and is dedicated to the 88 Australians who died in the Bali terror
attacks on 12th October 2002 it is our little memorial we have for what
happened.
9. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS? WHAT
SHOULD THOSE ATTENDING YOUR SHOWS EXPECT TO SEE?
Hopefully we will play in Greece within the next few years we have
no immediate plans as of now but we will get there soon, but those who
do attend the shows should expect pure energy, chaos and aggression which
in turn puts the average metal viewer and listener in pleasure overload.
10. LET’S SUPPOSE THAT YOU WERE GIVEN A HUGE BUDGET
TO SHOOT A VIDEO CLIP. WHICH SONG OF YOURS WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND HOW DO
YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?
“Timez of Reality” would be the film clip if we had a big budget
that we would do. I imagine that it would be filmed on top of a skyscraper,
the moon and sun arising from clouds, the waves and water coming into it
so we explode into us playing in a populated city where a graveland of
destruction appears then falls from the sky exhuming everything but us
there still playing with fire all around us and the crowd of fans.
11. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THERE WAS NO MUSIC IN
THE WORLD? HOW AND WHERE WOULD YOU CHANNEL ALL YOUR CREATIVE ENERGY?
I would not be able to function if there was no music in the world
but channel the energy of creation towards drawing and tattooing or film
and photography.
12. WHAT THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS DO YOU WANT TO
CREATE TO THE LISTENERS WITH YOUR MUSIC? DO YOU THINK YOU GET THROUGH THIS
TASK?
I want the listener to read the lyrics and interpret what they think
the songs are about and if it helps them through something bad going on
in their life then that’s what we want the listener to go into a emotional
rollercoaster and let that anger or sadness within them out. We manage
to do this as we ourselves have issues that are dealt with on a daily basis.
We only write meaningful honest lyrics.
13. HAVE YOU SENT YOUR ALBUM TO ANY LABELS? ARE
YOU IN TOUCH WITH ANY OF THEM? WITH WHAT CRITERIA WILL YOU SELECT THE RIGHT
LABEL FOR YOU?
We have sent our music to labels and are waiting on replies but
nothing major yet but if we do sign with a label we just want our album
available within the country that the label is in and make enough money
to pay for food, clothes and travel and that is all we want out of a label
if they can do that for us well it’s all good man.
14. ARE YOU SATISFIED BY THE FEEDBACK? WHAT WAS
THE MOST FLATTERING AND WHAT THE WORST COMMENT YOU RECEIVED?
Very happy with all the reviews that we are getting. The feedback
is really encouraging for us as a band it makes you want to work that little
bit harder. One of the best comments we have got is your review. Was great!
Another was in Brisbane where we are from in Australia it said-the fourth
season alternately gallops, thrashes, grooves and just outright crushes
combining potential widespread appeal with obvious passion and authenticity.
That was cool for us. We were happy with that feedback but we haven’t really
had any bad feedback which isn’t a bad thing I suppose.
15. HAVE YOU GOT ANY NEW SONGS READY? WHEN SHOULD
WE EXPECT YOUR NEXT STRIKE?
We have demoed maybe 10 or more songs for
the 2nd album which will be recorded and released in mid-late 2006.
16. WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE AUSTRALIAN METAL
SCENE? IT’S VERY STRONG AND IT OFFERS US FEW BUT GREAT BANDS! SO, ARE THERE
ANY OTHER BANDS YOU THINK DESERVE OUR ATTENTION?
There are some great bands here in Australia
but the scene needs to be stronger and it is getting there but we are a
little behind here compared to Europe and the USA, but there is no real
stand out bands I can think of that need attention.
17. WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW OT
HAVE?
The title for this interview should be as
follows-metal is not dead!!!!
18. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION AND I FORGOT TO ASK YOU?
Thank you for the opportunity for the interview.
There is not much I can add, some good questions in there, some of the
best I’ve had to do actually but to add one thing would be the band name
came from how we view the world and the state it is in and because we have
honest from the heart music and lyrical content that is how the name came
about honesty and the state of the world, state of integrity are here for
the fans of true heavy metal if you like our music then thanks for the
support but for those who don’t they can get fucked we don’t care!!!
Christine Parastatidou
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