Chuck Schuldiner Project

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Interview with Graham Brooks of Barishi


Some of you may remember my review of Barishi from a few days ago. Suffice to say, these guys know what it is to create some strange, but rocking tunes. Their sound is very unique and seems destined to go far. What follows is some questions one of their members was kind enough to answer for me about the nature of the band as well as its future.

Be sure to check them out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barishiband?fref=ts


What is the driving force behind the band?
We just all love playing music. Dylan (our drummer) and I have played together since we were kids. We are all great friends and have shared a lot of experiences together. When you form a bond like that, the music you make together is more meaningful. We just want to play music for as many people as possible, as much as possible. I would probably say that would be the driving force in the band.

What inspires your lyrics?
Our lyrics come from a lot of different places. Usually our singer Sascha will write a lot of the stuff. Most is about mythology, one song has lyrics taken from the Popol Vuh. Sometimes he will just expand on a story someone has come up with. We each have fairly individual interests and I think those shine through in the lyrics. I think our goal lyrically is to come up with stuff that paints a vivid yet surreal mental image for the listener. 

What kind of message are you trying to spread?
I don't know if we have a message in any sort of political or philosophical sense. I guess we would like more people to listen to heavy music and be able to see that there is a lot of beauty in heavy music and that it is just as valid an art form as jazz or or classical. I think that one of the common threads between the members of this band are that we all love heavy bands that are not heavy just for the sake of being heavy. We love heavy bands that provoke feelings with heavy music. That is what we are trying to shoot for as musicians and songwriters. So Iguess that would be our message.

You have a pretty unique sound, how did that develop?
We listen to pretty diverse stuff. Everything from funk to Indian music. I also think that we are fairly open as songwriters. Some of the songs that we like playing the most came about because someone had a riff or idea that didn't sound like it would work in a metal band, but when we would try it out had it's own little charm. We have also played with one another for a long time and we are comfortable with each other's styles.

What kind of outside influences are you trying to bring in to your sound?
I don't think we have anything specific in mind. I just kind of want to make pretty music that sounds original. We are always trying to improve as songwriters and we listen to a lot of different styles of music, so I guess for that to come across in our songs would be really cool.
How do you feel about your debut now that its been out for a few weeks?
We are really happy with it. The sound quality is far better than we ever thought it would be and I think the songs are for the most part well-written and performed. We still do not have physical copies (which will hopefully not be the case in a few weeks) so it's availability is limited to the internet right now. I think I will really know how I feel when I have the cd in my hand.

How did the recording process go?
It was fantastic! We recorded with Brian Westbrook at PDP productions in Massachusetts. He is an amazing producer as well as an amazing drummer with the well-known thrash band Lich King. We were really able to experiment with a lot of different parts and sounds which was a ton of fun and something that I think really helped the album.

What is the future of Barishi?
I think all we really want is just to play live as much as possible. Hopefully we will be doing a tour in support of this record during the summer. There are talks about touring with a really awesome band we play with called Carnivora. We would really like to find a label that would be a good fit and hopefully get some copies of the album pressed onto some other listening formats. 

How do you think you will develop musically over the years to come?
I am not sure. We started down-tuning, so our live is a lot heavier than it was a few months ago. I think that is a change that we are all digging, so I guess that might be around for a while. Honestly, I just want to improve as a songwriter and guitarist and be able to have freedom to do whatever we want musically.

What do you love so much about music?
My answer to this question would be endless so with the risk of sounding corny I am just going to say: Everything. 

http://barishi.bandcamp.com/

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