Home

The Magazine
Online
Interactive
About Us
Banner Zone


Contorsion
STALKERs Fresh Act – November 2009


This month we have another Fresh Act from Switzerland for you and Contorsion are the living proof that this country is indeed home of one or the other awesome band. Singer Marc introduces the band from the Canton of Aargau to you.



Hi, y’all! Who are you? Please introduce all band members with their characteristics and spleens.
We are Contorsion from the Canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Our line-up consists of Sime, our lead guitarist. He’s into extravagant guitars and he always drives us crazy onstage because he always thinks that his guitar is too soft. Then there’s our rhythm guitarist Luca. He’s a quiet type but he can be a sly old dog – if he wants to. On drums is Mättu with a weakness for tattoos and horror movies. Our bassist Dani is a little bit the calming force of the band – except during shows…then he’s going wild and he’s usually the last one at the bar. Finally, there’s me, Marc, the singer. I’m a total music junkie and I try to keep the whole bunch together.

What kind of music do you play?
In the beginning you could have called it Old School Thrash Metal. We still have those influences but during the last couple of years we have more and more incorporated different metal genres because the listening habits of all band members are very diverse as well. I would say, we simply play metal.

How did the band come about? Where did you meet in the first place? How long are you already working together?
The band was formed by Mättu (drums) and me in the summer of 2004. At this time I still played guitar. We met at metal gigs in our region and realized quickly that we like the same kind of music. In spring 2005 Dani (bass) joined the band. The search for a second guitarist and a singer turned out to be rather difficult until we suddenly found two guitarists in the end of 2006. This is why I swapped guitar for mic.



How did you come up with the band name “Contorsion”?
At first we, of course, had several ideas. The word “contorsion” is made up of the words “contortion” and “vision”. In a way a distorted or contorted vision. This seemed to be a fitting band name for our sound and our lyrics.

Who writes the music/lyrics or is everyone in the band involved?
All band members are involved in the songwriting. The first songs were, of course, mostly written by Dani, Mättu and me. When the two guitarists were acquainted with our style they immediately took an active part in the song writing process. The lyrics are mainly by me but also Sime (guitar) contributes some lyrical outpourings from time to time. This results in the best mix possible.

What song are you most proud of and why?
It’s very hard to pick a single song. Every song is something very special. And everyone in the band has a different favorite song so I can’t give a general answer here.

Do you think it’s harder for a new band to establish themselves here in Switzerland or do you think it’s the same everywhere?
I think, it’s hard everywhere. Sure, you may have some more possibilities in certain countries or you may get supported better but in principle we have extremely many clubs and concert possibilities here in Switzerland – as measured by the number of inhabitants. You can go to some kind of metal gig basically every day – and very often Swiss bands are offered support slots. You simply have to put some effort into it and not only wait for requests. Many bands think that everyone just waits for them. That’s hardly ever the case. There are so many cool metal bands in Switzerland – you have to position yourself and take initiative.



Who are your musical idols? Who inspired your playing, singing?
Generally, we are certainly influenced by the Thrash scene. Bands like Exodus, Metallica, Slayer, Testament and so on and so far. Besides that everyone in the band has his own preferences which range from Motörhead, Children of Bodom, Pantera, Machine Head to Nevermore.

What do you do when you’re not in the band (study, work)?
We all work full-time day jobs. Also there the range is wide: logistics, IT, courier service etc.

What was the strangest place you have ever played at?
That was an Art bar which was at most 6x12 meters big and had a waaaaay too small PA with a 5-channel mixing desk. But the gig was sensational and the party afterwards legendary.

Do you have other musical projects besides Contorsion going on?
Some of us play in other bands as well. Sime plays, for several years already, in a punk’n’roll band called “The Rats”, Dani also plays in a couple of projects from time to time and I still have a metal cover band “Bloody Horseface”.

What do like/hate about being a musician?
It’s cool to make music, write songs, rock out at concerts and, of course, to party with each other. It’s not so great that you still have to work full-time – because all the bills need to be paid.



What was the most exciting/disappointing moment for the band so far ?
The most exciting is still to come: the release of our CD and how it is received by the people. Apart from that the gigs as a support for Cataract, Born from Pain or One Man Army and The Undead Quartet was quite a nice treat as well. Most disappointing were all the “wanna-be” musicians who wanted to play for us so bad and then just didn’t show up. Or they seemed to like it but then never contacted us again – not that we wanted to have anyone of those in our line-up but I think it would have been decent to cancel or contact us. Otherwise we mostly were spared from bigger disappointments. This is probably also due to the fact that almost all of us are in our 30s - we don’t delude ourselves and have our feet firmly on the ground. The most important thing for us that we like to play music.

With which band would you like to go on tour?
There are, of course, many dreams – Exodus, Slayer or Testament would be great. But in principle it would be great to just go on tour – no matter with what band.

What are your plans for the rest of the year ?
Our CD „Solace Through Lies“ should be released very soon by self distribution. In the winter we will hit Swiss stages more often. You can find the latest tourdates here: www.contorsion.ch.

Thanks a lot for the interview and good luck with the album!



Author: Sandy Mahrer, photos: Contorsion
Date: 2009-11-01

Read comments: Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /var/customers/webs/stalker/www.stalker.cd/inc/kommentar.inc.php on line 8 0                           Write comments


Loading





Axemaster: Overture for more to come
One of those bands with a long history: Axemaster was formed in 1985, rocking the scene with classic >> more/mehr
2015-06-16
Freedomination
Fresh Act July / August
When living in Finland, it is difficult to ignore the simple fact that this country is the world´s number >> more/mehr
2015-07-01
Tuska Open Air 2015
Just when it seemed certain that the summer of 2015 was a hopeless case, along came Tuska and brought the good weather with ... more/mehr 2015-07-07
CD: Powerwolf
Two years after their no 1 hit album “Preachers of the Night” (at least in Germany), Powerwolf release their new album “Blessed ... more/mehr 2015-08-03
CONCERT: Faith No More
The comeback of the legendary crossover band Faith No More was one of the remarkable recent news on music heaven. ... more/mehr 2015-06-24
English Deutsch Fresh Acts: Contorsion <br>STALKERs Fresh Act – November 2009 - STALKER MAGAZINE inside out of rock´n´roll