Hemoptysis interview

Hemoptysis are one of those bands which is currently in the sidelines, waiting to take over the world. Their forthcoming album (check out my review here), “Misanthropic Slaughter”, may well be the album that catapults them into the stratosphere. If it doesn’t, that just proves that there’s something very VERY wrong with this universe. The album’s official release date is still a couple of weeks away, but here’s an interview to whet your taste buds…

Lou: Hi, thanks for taking the time out to answer my questions. How’s it goin’ today?

Masaki: Thanks for the opportunity. I’m doing great!

Lou: Please can you introduce the band?

Masaki: Hemoptysis (He-mop-ti-sis) was formed in early 2007 by Travis (drummer) and I. Sunao plays bass and Ryan plays lead guitar.

Lou: How long has the band been together?

Masaki: We’ve been together almost four years.

Lou: Why the name? You know I stand no chance of pronouncing “Hemoptysis” after a few beers, right? Haha!

Masaki: We had a hard time finding a cool name for the band that was sick, only one word, and not already taken. Travis’s wife is a pharmacist and she mentioned the medical term “Hemoptysis” which means coughing up blood. That was it!

Travis: She offered up some other medical terms before that but they were too disgusting and even harder to pronounce!

Lou: When “Who Needs a Shepherd?” came out I thought it was good, there’s no denying that… but with the new album you seem to have turned things up a notch. Was this a conscious decision?

Masaki: We are learning everyday and having top notch production on the record was one of our goals since the beginning. I was an assistant for producer Ryan Greene. I knew what he can do and that it bring bands to the next level. I was confident that he was the guy for us and he did an amazing job.

Travis: It wasn’t a conscious decision. It was just a natural progression for us.

Lou: Your sound is a real melting pot of pretty much everything that’s good about Metal – Thrash, Death and with hints of Black Metal. Which bands have had the biggest influence on you?

Masaki: Megadeth. They are the reason why I picked up guitar.

Travis: I am really into death metal bands for the most part but I started with thrash when I was learning to play as a teenager. I started playing drums because of early Metallica but moved on to harder stuff pretty quick. Ryan is mainly influenced by death metal but he listens to and plays just about everything, including country. I hate country music, but he likes it. Sunao listens to almost everything out there and actually doesn’t listen to a lot of metal.

Lou: How would you describe your music?

Masaki: Ryan Miller, our lead guitarist who is also in a band called Excessive Bleeding, describes our sound as buffet of Metal. All of us have different backgrounds and influences that makes our sound unique.

Lou: What has the feedback been like for “Misanthropic Slaughter” so far?

Masaki: Great. We are definitely happy with what we have been hearing from people so far.

Travis: Only good reviews so far!

Lou: Are you pleased with the album? Which track (or tracks) particularly stand out for you?

Masaki: Absolutely. We knew what we wanted and who we wanted to work with. Producer Ryan Greene did an amazing job on production and definitely brought us to the next level as well.

Travis: My favorite track is “Blood Storm” but I am very proud of all the songs. I think Sunao said his favorite song is “Impending Doom.”

Lou: Is there anything you’d like to change about the album?

Masaki: No.

Lou: What’s the writing process like with you guys? Is it kinda like a jam session where you all get together and see what happens, or is it led by someone coming in with a song or portion of a song already written?

Masaki: It really depends on the song. Songs like Misanthropic Slaughter, I nailed all the guitar parts in a day in my studio where some other songs were written by jamming and took a while to complete. Usually I bring the new riffs and jam with the guys. If they dig it, we polish it up. We are already working on new material for the next record and it will be interesting since lead guitarist Ryan Miller will be more involved in the writing process.

Lou: What sort of subjects are covered in the album’s lyrics? What inspires you in regards to lyrics?

Masaki: Killing, pain, misery in real life, politics, war, etc.

Travis: Masaki wrote half the lyrics on this album and I wrote the other half, basically. We usually stick to lyrics that have meaning to us and how we feel. There is one song that Masaki wrote called M.O.D. that has a horror movie kind of subject to it, but it is still full of real anger that you can feel when you listen to the song.

Lou: Is there a particular verse or line that you’re especially pleased with?

Masaki: I like the verse of M.O.D. a lot. It’s heavy, cool and has some groove with ambient sound.

Travis: I like the way the first song starts out. It’s the title track, “Misanthropic Slaughter,” and it sets the mood for the whole CD. “All will burn and all shall pay! Scream for me and die today!”

Lou: Where can we buy the album from? Oh, and do you have any other merchandise available? The album cover would look great on a t-shirt!

Masaki: We are working on the distribution on this record and we will be releasing it on March 8th. All the merchandise is available at hemoptysismetal.com/merch.html

Travis: We are working on finding the right company to do a T-shirt for this album. We want to make sure it looks as good as the original artwork. Some companies don’t let you use all the colors you want, but there are allot of colors in the artwork so we are being careful about who we choose to make it.

Lou: Since I’ve mentioned the cover… Who designed it?

Masaki: It was drawn and painted by Evil Dave from Incision Tattoo in Glendale, Arizona. He is a well respected tattoo artist and he did phenomenal job. I wish I had that talent. I can’t draw!

Travis: He also did the artwork for our EP, “Who Needs A Shepherd,” as well as artwork for bands like Vehemence.

Lou: Have you played any of the material that’s on the album live yet? If so, how have the crowds been reacting to it?

Masaki: We just played “Misanthropic Slaughter” and “The Cycle” for first time the other night at the Clubhouse in Tempe, AZ for our CD Preview show. The crowd was digging it and the pit was huge, so I guess that’s a good sign.

Lou: Are you touring at the moment? Do you have any plans to come over to the UK?

Masaki: We are working on dates. Obviously, being a DIY (Do It Yourself) band, it is not easy for us to tour after spending all our money on the record, video, merchandise, publicity and etc. We will do what we can and we would love to tour worldwide. That’s our dream. We want to play in the UK of course so please book us!

Travis: Touring Europe would be a dream come true!

Lou: If you could choose any band to tour the world with, who would it be?

Masaki: Megadeth, Carcass, Slayer, etc

Lou: What’s next for you guys?

Masaki: Tour. We will do as many shows as possible to promote our new record. We definitely would love to play in England soon.

Lou: … And the final words are yours! Do you have any messages for the readers of Loucifer Speaks?

Masaki: Thank you for your support and I hope you will like the album “Misanthropic Slaughter”. We will keep you updated and please follow us on facebook at www.facebook.com/hemoptysis. We hope to see you all soon!

hemoptysismetal.com

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