The Amatory Murder is a NYC Brooklyn-based band with an unrelenting desire to shape the next wave of rock in this industry. Ken Candelas invites Xian Murder, the lead singer, to discuss touring as a professional musician, highlighting the nuances in a production and the music business for an indie band. Their single, "Velvet Noose" is out now!
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(00:14):
Hi everybody and welcome to another episode of Metal
Mastermind. I'm your host, Ken Candelas, and
with me I have a very special friend and a guest for you all.
His name is Christian and he goes by Christian Murder, and
his band, The Amatory Murder hasjust announced their new album,
(00:37):
The Sounds of Seven Angels. And I got to tell you, I had a
little bit of a preview for it and I am so excited about it.
And without further ado, Christian, why don't you
introduce yourself to everybody?And what do you do in all of
that? Hey, everyone, I am Christian
(00:58):
Murder. Hi, Ken.
Hi, everyone out there. I am the singer for the Amatory
Murder. Also play a little here and
there, little synth. I engineer our albums.
Yeah. And I'm a riot starter.
Or I like to think that I am. Yeah.
Well, yeah, I mean, and that's awesome that you say that
(01:20):
because the way I see you is a very a powerful independent
artist and you've, or at least you've you've reclaimed power as
an independent artist, which is so important and so inspiring.
You know, it takes a lot of energy and time and dedication
(01:42):
and focus to do something like the music industry and
nonetheless, you are doing it well my friend.
So let's talk a little bit aboutyour album and maybe can you
start maybe from the beginning, What was the intention with all
of this and how did you guys come up with this idea of using
(02:05):
essentially the Rapture to make your concept?
Yeah, that's a great, that's a really great question.
I think, you know, it was like atransformation in a way for
myself in terms of, you know, living through COVID was a big
(02:29):
thing for, for, for all of us inNew York.
I mean, it changed a lot of things.
And it felt like the walls kind of like we're closing in.
Rules were tightening, streets were emptied out, and creativity
was kind of pushed like underground, you know, you kind
of had to look for it every, youhave to, you have to look for
it. Whereas like we're used to just
(02:50):
walking wherever and there it is, you know, And I think there
was this like transformation of learning how to exist without
waiting for permission. And the title, the title pulls
from like biblical imagery, obviously.
And we're not, it's not like we're preaching anything but
(03:17):
revelation, especially like, youknow, the symbol, the symbolism
of the seven angels is more of a, a metaphor for judgement,
transformation. And I would say like the chaos
that comes before clarity, you know, and we, I think the band
(03:41):
were drawn to that tension just cause of like everything that
had been going on. And it's not about like religion
or it's, I'd say it's like aboutthe human condition.
And in one way or another, we all face A reckoning.
So I think that kind of, that's where like the title comes from.
(04:05):
That's where the imagery comes from.
And it's like this journey that,you know, at some point we all
face A reckoning in life. Yeah, I think that's very
powerful. You've got to a very universal
idea here. I mean, I'm, I'm very familiar
with this concept, as you well know, I am doing my own Dante's
Inferno adaptation. So this is very much something
(04:27):
that I'm aware of. And when you are using even a
religion like Christianity in this case would be I, I look at
it as as as a mythological resource to tell a story, to
tell something that we can learnfrom, right?
It's not necessarily that this is what we believe.
(04:48):
It's what it's what the meaning behind the story is saying is
what's important. So I love that.
And you go into actually quite alot of dynamics musically within
the album, which I think represent that there is this
sort of haunting feeling I've I'm hearing.
(05:09):
And there's also quite a bit of interludes in between some of
these major hitters. I'm listening to this.
I'm like, yeah, this is a, this is a narrative and it's a, it's
a musical journey that I'm listening to.
But there's also cinematic elements that pull me into,
let's say, a scene where I'm witnessing some pain from an
(05:30):
individual and then how it transitions into the next song.
Especially I was thinking about and I was like, I really like
the lessons for the Damned, the one right before say hey for
Doomsday, because the way how itjust goes into it is just
fabulous. So that's a little tidbit for
those of you who are waiting forthe album.
(05:51):
Go ahead and check that transition.
Really, really cool. But yeah.
That was that was actually that sorry to cut you off.
I just I'll shout out to Banks because that shout out to Banks
because that was one of his kindof initial ideas was like, you
know, there's a big push and pull with authority on the album
and school is like a big part of, you know, Binks his
(06:16):
background schooling and I thinkhe wanted to somehow and
incorporate that into the story.So I'm I'm that's cool that you
said that. Yes, it is something that I, I
definitely recognized as probably as Binks would put it.
Yeah, that's great. And you know, for you guys, just
(06:36):
a little back story here, not too long ago, actually, I think
it was about a now a week ago. We just went on tour together,
Christian and I, for the Amatorymurder.
We played in Salem, MA for Dark at the Koto.
It's such an amazing place. It's got a lot of love from the
(06:59):
community. If I'm understanding right, Dark
is basically goth night and it'samazing how much like people
love coming to a a venue like this for for those kinds of
occasions. So it was such a pleasure and we
had AI think a really, really good, fabulous time doing.
Yeah, it was. It was so much fun.
(07:21):
Yeah. Dark is like this alternative
events that they throw up in Salem and for one reason or
another, they've they they like our band.
They like our little classic rock and roll band.
So that was the third time we we've gone back.
Yes, Scott had a family thing. So we need someone to hop on
drums and and you killed it, man.
It was a lot of fun. It was I was glad you got to
(07:42):
experience it and warts and all with touring with this band.
But yeah, thanks for hopping on man, that was that was a lot of
fun. That was my pleasure.
And no, it was, it was good. It was good times all around
really. And with all the things that I
got to witness by being on tour with you guys, I felt that it
(08:03):
was just going to be a really good conversation that we had
this going on today. Because a lot of our audience is
really seeking to do something like what you or I or, you know,
Glenn Fricker or any of these other professionals in the
modern space are doing. Can you speak a little bit on,
you know, kind of what you prioritize as a bandleader?
(08:26):
How have you changed over the years?
Yeah, that's a, that's a great question.
It really depends on what, what stage we're at with what we're
doing, you know. So as, as a bandleader, I mean,
it's if you got to get everyone,you got to get everyone on the
same page, which thankfully we are.
(08:48):
I mean, I, I feel I work with the three of the best musicians
in New York and arguably the country.
I'm very, very lucky. I don't like relying on other
people to do things, you know, Ifeel like a lot of people talk
the talk but don't walk the walk.
And I want to put on the best shows, you know, I want to put
(09:12):
on the best shows. I want to make the best music of
the best product. And you know, a funny thing, I
was listening to an interview with Roberto Rodriguez, the film
director, recently and he said he made, he didn't when he
started filmmaking, he didn't know really how to do anything.
He knew he wanted to make movies, but he didn't know about
cameras. He didn't know about script
(09:32):
writing, like any of this stuff.And he had a list of I don't
knows. And he just taught himself each
one of those I don't knows because the more I don't knows
you have, the farther away you are from your goal, from your
dream. So as a bandleader, I really try
to make sure that we don't have a lot of I don't knows, you
(09:53):
know, I like to make sure that we're sounding good, that the
IMS are working good, that, you know, our lights are looking
good. You know, I mean, obviously
everyone's got to be playing great.
But I just, you know, and also I, I try to keep everyone's
moods, moods like high, you know, yeah, it's just
(10:14):
spearheading, just riding the ship and making sure everyone's
on the same journey and which, which we are, you know.
And I, I'm lucky also to be working with a great team behind
the scenes too, you know, of people that can, that can hop on
and, and take care of a lot of the, the nitty gritty business
stuff that I don't really like dealing with.
(10:36):
You know what we're we're lucky to have that at this point
because for a long time we did it.
We didn't have that, and now we do.
And yeah, it's just you got to know what you got to know that
you want something bad enough and just keep going.
Yeah, so learning how to overcome certain boundaries when
when it's an opportunity to start delegating your your task
(10:58):
to others, right. I I very much resonate with the
idea that eliminating the amountof I don't knows is a great
motto to remember because it allows you to at least keep
questioning what do I need to know in order to XY and Z, right
and to continue progress. Because for those of you who are
(11:23):
going in this as an independent artist, which is going to be
quite honestly 95% of everybody in the world, probably even
higher than that 99, I'd even say.
So you have this very, very small position that needs to
grow from a seed into a giant oak tree.
(11:43):
Like that's going to just take time.
You know, it's not like you justcan buy the oak tree.
It takes a lot of money to do that.
So learning all the skill sets from just knowing your craft as
a musician to knowing the business to, you know, being
able to network like those are business skills in this sense,
(12:05):
not necessarily musician skills,right?
You become a bigger multi faceted person.
You know, I know for a fact thatyou're a graphic designer as
well. And having all those skill sets
is something that you use as your tools.
But when it becomes literally, quite literally, that there
can't be more than you, you knowyou have just only so much time,
(12:31):
then it's a good question as to do I need help?
How can I get help right? Yeah, yeah.
I mean, it's there's a lot of work that goes into it like 2
Well, two things. The first one is know that you
want to do it. Like know that you want to do it
because the minute, the minute you are questioning it and like,
oh, maybe I should just stop this and, you know, work a real
(12:52):
job a lot more. And then, you know, take, you
know what I mean, the minute youstart doubting it, you're then
don't do it. Don't do it because there's
somebody else out there that really wants it and they're just
going to keep going, you know, So you have to really want to do
it. You have to live and breathe it.
And #2 there's, there's something to be said, I mean,
(13:12):
about, about, yes, working with the right people, but you have
to be smart about it. You have to establish trust.
Who was I talking to it? It's oh, you know what I was
listening to? Like, I think it was like Jordan
Peterson or someone that was saying that you need to at a
certain point release your ego alittle bit and be be open to
(13:33):
working with other people that that can be trusted to do the
things that you just don't have the time to do.
Or maybe maybe you really don't have the knowledge of and this
these people or person will havethe knowledge of, you know what
I mean? So it's like do as much as you
can so you don't have to rely onother people, even if it means
(13:54):
staying up till 3:00 in the morning.
But also be open to working withthe right people when they come
along. Right, yes.
And I, that's a great balance. And I had this conversation with
my or Applebaum on, I believe one or two episodes ago.
And this was a really, really a big concept of just embracing
(14:16):
the community and the people around you that can help and
help you grow. It's, it's like the water that
we're talking about with the whole seed analogy, right?
So it's very, very, very, very good to be able to also
recognize those opportunities around you and then foster
relationships that help grow everybody as a whole.
(14:37):
Honestly, helping somebody else I know helps me.
It's a great feeling. It is and it's a great feeling.
Exactly. So these are definitely things
that should be shared more oftenin, in, in discussions like
these, because the, I love the idea of being able to do
(14:57):
everything yourself if you want to go ahead and go that far.
But it's also like, it's at whatpoint do you, what do you do
with that power, right? Like, is it just you're only
here for yourself and nobody else helps you?
And that's going to take you a long time and all that
stubbornness and you're going tobe a mule for it.
(15:17):
Yeah, well, OK, have fun. Then there's the other way of
doing it, which is, you know, hey, like using that to create a
better community around you thatpeople want to help each other
because, you know, you got each other's back.
That's that's a whole other way of doing it.
And that's what I love about. Also engages with bands on tour.
(15:41):
I've seen it many times where bands help each other out and on
those tours it becomes another relationship that does something
for them in the future. Whether it's becoming on tour
with a different artist roster that includes that band plus
yours or whatever. It could be amazing what turns
out from relationships. And that's that's a really huge
(16:03):
part of this. So I want to say thanks for
bringing that up. Yeah, I think and you're
welcome. I think, I think that also the
more you do something and the more you're focused on it, the
more you're going to attract theright people.
You know, if, if you're, if you're really serious about
something and you're working really hard at it, other people
(16:26):
that work really hard will, willbe attracted to that, you know,
and you know, you're going to have people that try to like
latch on along the way, but you'll, you'll know when they're
full of shit. You, you know, when, when
someone's not doing their job, you know, but I, I can
confidently say that, you know, now that we kind of have our,
our groove going with this, the the right people are, are we're
(16:48):
linking up with them. And like you said on, on tours,
you know, we're meeting these really awesome bands on tour
that are like like minded and want the same thing and, and
think the same way, you know, not not think the same way, but
like they're, you know, I, I like to think that my band is
really, I mean, you spent some time with us now.
We're really genuine, down to earth people.
(17:09):
And it's really hard to meet a it's hard meeting people like
that in this industry. But we, we have, we've met,
we've met quite a few bands likethat now.
And I think that's just because we, we stayed on course and we
kept true to ourselves and we work really hard, you know, and
(17:32):
working hard, like I say, I mean, sometimes you're out till
3:00 in the morning. So I, I listen to a lot of
podcasts about like people that run businesses, because when
you're running, when you're running a bands that you want to
turn into a, a big money maker eventually.
And your, your life, you have tothink of it as a business.
And that means taking calls at 3:00 in the morning or work,
(17:53):
working till 3:00 in the morningor, you know, or two in the
morning or 6:00 in the morning and then getting two hours of
sleep. You know, and knowing and
believing that it's bringing youcloser to where you want to be
and knowing that you're going tomeet the right people because of
that, you know? Have faith in the process,
really. Yes, you have to have faith in
the process. It's like it goes back to what I
(18:14):
said a few minutes ago where it's the minute you start
doubting it for more than for more than a minute is when no,
like you, you got to you, you can't because and also there's
people that are going to exploitthat.
You know, they're going to exploit your, I don't want to
say weakness, but they're going to exploit your doubt.
(18:35):
And that, you know, they're going to use it to their own
advantage of their own, their own whether that's financial
advantage or, or just being a, ajerk, you know, Yeah.
If if you're, if you're going down that road, you know, your
faith becomes I will. Some people call their faith in
God or what have you, but you could also put faith in your
(18:58):
music. You could put faith in your
muse. It had caught what have you.
That could be a way of thinking about this.
I've always felt in my mind likemy music or my mission and doing
what I'm doing was always something that was as much of A
calling as something as sacred. So going after something that is
(19:21):
sacred to you means you have faith in that, that you will
bring to life something that will touch others in a way that
extends beyond just what you have in even in right now, like
your own physical possessions. It becomes something more of a
(19:41):
mind of a concept, something that unifies a mission for
people too. And that's what aligns your
audience with what you do, right.
It's when people look at you as an artist, what do they think?
Are they and not to think about like I care about what they
(20:03):
think I in the way that is not true to you I'm saying is am I
perceiving myself with more clarity so that they understand
that there's not much really to think it's presented as such and
it's easy for them to. Become a part of it.
And so I believe the amatory murder is very good at branding
(20:26):
and what what that has become atthis point in time.
Yeah, I think it's it's funny. You said spiritual.
I mean, it's not funny It it's, you know, Scott, our drummer,
he's he says those exact words. He says music is very spiritual
for me and it's, it is, it's spiritual for a lot of people.
(20:47):
It's it's definitely spiritual for spiritual for this band.
For me, it's like, it's, it's like going to like I'm so I'm a
Christian and I, I go to, I go to church and, and it's very
similar when I'm performing withmy band.
It's it's a very spiritual God like experience because you're,
(21:08):
I don't know, you know, I know, you know what I'm talking about
that feeling you get, which it, it kind of ties back into, like
it kind of ties back into the album in a in a weird way
because it's it's, it is a spiritual journey.
You know, music and music and God are very similar to me.
(21:30):
Yeah. You know, So like, that's why
this album was like kind of therapeutic in a way to make,
you know, I know I just went offcourse there, but.
No, no, I think it's a it's, it's in a way it, it prophesizes
its own destiny. In that case, I I like the yes
concept of it being something that is universal in its story,
(21:55):
but it's also personal to you inyour own journey and that's very
relatable there too. It it, it's a great experience.
And can we get to also, I want to know what was your production
process like through this album?Did you guys go to professional
studio? Did you do this as a home
(22:16):
recording? What was your Ave. of work here?
That, that's another great question.
And it's another, it reminds me of the I don't know, list
because I didn't know how to do much in the way of production
and recording and all that. But I knew that I wanted to know
how to do it because I got really tired of like paying
(22:37):
somebody else to do it and beingon studio time and that whole
thing. So we, we did it all in our, our
studio in, in Bushwick. And I, I did some of it in my
home studio. But yeah, the production was
all, I mean, I, I produce our stuff, you know, I don't, I
(22:58):
don't want to have to rely on other people, you know, I mean,
that's not to say that we wouldn't work with other
producers when the right people come along.
But yeah, right now it's, it's me.
I, I started by watching my friends that were producers,
like I would watch them open up Pro Tools and I'd be like, what
(23:18):
are you doing? And blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I, that's really, that's really how I learned how to do
that stuff. And so, yeah, everything the
production process is, hey, here's a song, let's let's kind
of get it down. Let's maybe record a room demo
or something and then Polish it out from there.
And all right now it's time to multitrack.
(23:40):
Right. And and you actually attended an
audio trade school, haven't you?I, I, I did, I did take a, a
couple of courses in, at a school in Manhattan just to,
just to make sure that I knew what I was doing was the right
thing. But also, you know, that's
amazing. No, that's amazing.
(24:00):
Well, I'll even say it because they're they're they're good
friends of this channels SAE Institute.
Thank you so much for everythingthat you've given.
They they're they're a place where I work as well.
And I got to give a shout out tothose guys.
The professors there are actually very, very amazing
people and they really think about their students in the long
run. So it's really cool to know that
(24:22):
you also went there. Yeah, I mean, I didn't, I didn't
go to the degree that you did, but I, I think I took maybe like
one or two, like, you know, it was so long ago, but and also
like YouTube has been a very good resource, you know, like, I
don't know how to do this. And it's, you know, 2 in the
morning. Yeah, boom, boom, boom, boom.
(24:43):
You know, I, I'm very, I'm very inspired.
You know, it's a very amazing time because like a lot of
people have like home studio options that they didn't for the
first, you know, 70 years of Rock'n'roll.
You know, during, during the pandemic, a lot of people, you
(25:05):
know, push their music from their apartments.
You know, I don't know if you know, the, the, the group
Medusa, they, they do a lot of like, yeah, they do like a lot
of pop dance and stuff like that.
But I was very influenced by them.
I, I follow their career. I was very, very, I admire them.
(25:25):
So they've, they've had a big, surprisingly, they've had a big
influence on how I do things too, in terms of like
synthesizers and things like that.
Yeah, and you have a also a verybig inspiration from, I can tell
like Trent Reznor from 9 Inch Nails.
I mean, David Bowie, Green Day, I mean, it's all in there.
(25:48):
I feel like even a little bit oflike some Avenged Sevenfold and
Ghost is kind of in there too. In some ways.
It's kind of really fun the way you have your music sort of so
eclectic and sharing with all these different styles.
You're actually also play everything from like jazz to,
(26:08):
you know, hard hitting metal. It's very, very dynamic.
So guys, definitely check it out.
We already have actually one single out, it's called Velvet
Noose. It's from the upcoming album The
Sounds of Seven Angels. So when you guys, you actually
(26:29):
Christian, do you want to talk alittle bit about those details
first? Where can they find you and all
of that information to follow up?
Yeah, we're on Instagram is the big social media we use the
most, but our music is on, you know, Spotify, Apple Music.
We we sell the music too on BandCamp.
(26:49):
I don't know if everyone knows Band Camp, but it's a a musician
platform run. It's run by musicians, Facebook,
YouTube, Velvet News. The new video is on YouTube.
Yeah. And yeah, the, the, the people
(27:10):
have really been supportive so far.
And it's, it's very exciting. I'm very excited.
I haven't been very excited in awhile, so.
Yeah, this is a, this is a big step.
You guys are really pushing hardfor this one.
I, I, I've known Christian for many years now at this point,
and it's always good to see thatyou know, someone that you've
(27:33):
known for a while is still at it, and not only at it, but just
thriving from it. Man, that's great.
Thank you. I don't want to I don't want to
be on my deathbed and be like, oh, what if I had tried?
What if I had kept going? You know what I mean?
Definitely not. That's the worst you're.
Not that person. So Leah, actually, do you have
any last words for our audience,Christian?
(27:54):
I know everybody has just kind of gotten a little taste for the
mindset of the person behind theamatory murder, but if you had
to leave the audience with any sort of advice or any sort of
thoughts, what would they be? Treat every day like it could be
your last. SO let everyone know in life
(28:16):
that you love them. Be good to yourselves and each
other. Do what you love, even if it's
not something that's easy. And yeah, just be passionate
about what you do and be nice tobe nice to people and be be nice
to yourself. You know, that's great.
(28:37):
And if you're in New York, we'd love to see you at our record
release show at Lucky Thirteens,June 28th.
And we'll also be doing the second leg of our Revelation
Tour in June, so if you're down South, hit up any of those
dates. That's amazing.
And actually, Revelation is a very good song too.
Oh, thank you, man. Oh God, that was that one.
(28:59):
You know, can I just touch on that one real quick?
That was so much fun for me because I really went all in.
I I've never done Gregorian chance before and I had just,
I've been listening to like a lot of Gregorian chants for the
like the, the couple of months leading up to a recording that
and I was like, you know what, I'm going to try this and, and
(29:21):
I'm pretty happy with how it came out.
So that was really exciting for me to do that.
That one is, is yeah, that was afun song.
That was that was a religious experience.
Amazing. That's so cool to hear to you
know, because your mentality going into that now I have a
little bit of a different perspective into all of that.
So that's very cool. I will be re listening to that
(29:44):
one for sure. Yeah, it's definitely,
definitely a song about dualities, so.
Cool. All right, Well, thank you,
Christian. This has been such a pleasure.
Everybody on the audience. I just want to let you know,
Metal Mastermind, like always, we are a resource for metal
artists across the world. We have courses based on guitar,
(30:08):
musicianship, you know, we'll behaving things with other
instruments like drums and keyboards.
We'll be getting into courses for even music video, animation
and all that. There's a lot that's happening
at Metal Mastermind in the next coming months and I can't wait
to share more about that. But those are some sneak tips on
(30:29):
the upcoming content that's coming out.
So if you want if you want more information about all of those
services, go to metalmastermind.com.
And don't forget to check out the amatory murder, The Sounds
of Seven Angels on June 28th. Is did I get that right?
It comes out the record comes out June 23rd and the record
(30:51):
release show is June 28th. All right.
Fantastic. And by the way, man, I'm so
proud of you. You're killing it, you're
killing us. This is awesome doing.
I really appreciate. It so much I really do.
OK, well everybody, thanks for thanks again.
And don't forget to always create your own sound.
Hi everybody and welcome to another episode of Metal
Mastermind. I'm your host, Ken Candelas, and
with me I have a very special friend and a guest for you all.
His name is Christian and he goes by Christian Murder, and
his band, The Amatory Murder hasjust announced their new album,
(00:37):
The Sounds of Seven Angels. And I got to tell you, I had a
little bit of a preview for it and I am so excited about it.
And without further ado, Christian, why don't you
introduce yourself to everybody?And what do you do in all of
that? Hey, everyone, I am Christian
(00:58):
Murder. Hi, Ken.
Hi, everyone out there. I am the singer for the Amatory
Murder. Also play a little here and
there, little synth. I engineer our albums.
Yeah. And I'm a riot starter.
Or I like to think that I am. Yeah.
Well, yeah, I mean, and that's awesome that you say that
(01:20):
because the way I see you is a very a powerful independent
artist and you've, or at least you've you've reclaimed power as
an independent artist, which is so important and so inspiring.
You know, it takes a lot of energy and time and dedication
(01:42):
and focus to do something like the music industry and
nonetheless, you are doing it well my friend.
So let's talk a little bit aboutyour album and maybe can you
start maybe from the beginning, What was the intention with all
of this and how did you guys come up with this idea of using
(02:05):
essentially the Rapture to make your concept?
Yeah, that's a great, that's a really great question.
I think, you know, it was like atransformation in a way for
myself in terms of, you know, living through COVID was a big
(02:29):
thing for, for, for all of us inNew York.
I mean, it changed a lot of things.
And it felt like the walls kind of like we're closing in.
Rules were tightening, streets were emptied out, and creativity
was kind of pushed like underground, you know, you kind
of had to look for it every, youhave to, you have to look for
it. Whereas like we're used to just
(02:50):
walking wherever and there it is, you know, And I think there
was this like transformation of learning how to exist without
waiting for permission. And the title, the title pulls
from like biblical imagery, obviously.
And we're not, it's not like we're preaching anything but
(03:17):
revelation, especially like, youknow, the symbol, the symbolism
of the seven angels is more of a, a metaphor for judgement,
transformation. And I would say like the chaos
that comes before clarity, you know, and we, I think the band
(03:41):
were drawn to that tension just cause of like everything that
had been going on. And it's not about like religion
or it's, I'd say it's like aboutthe human condition.
And in one way or another, we all face A reckoning.
So I think that kind of, that's where like the title comes from.
(04:05):
That's where the imagery comes from.
And it's like this journey that,you know, at some point we all
face A reckoning in life. Yeah, I think that's very
powerful. You've got to a very universal
idea here. I mean, I'm, I'm very familiar
with this concept, as you well know, I am doing my own Dante's
Inferno adaptation. So this is very much something
(04:27):
that I'm aware of. And when you are using even a
religion like Christianity in this case would be I, I look at
it as as as a mythological resource to tell a story, to
tell something that we can learnfrom, right?
It's not necessarily that this is what we believe.
(04:48):
It's what it's what the meaning behind the story is saying is
what's important. So I love that.
And you go into actually quite alot of dynamics musically within
the album, which I think represent that there is this
sort of haunting feeling I've I'm hearing.
(05:09):
And there's also quite a bit of interludes in between some of
these major hitters. I'm listening to this.
I'm like, yeah, this is a, this is a narrative and it's a, it's
a musical journey that I'm listening to.
But there's also cinematic elements that pull me into,
let's say, a scene where I'm witnessing some pain from an
(05:30):
individual and then how it transitions into the next song.
Especially I was thinking about and I was like, I really like
the lessons for the Damned, the one right before say hey for
Doomsday, because the way how itjust goes into it is just
fabulous. So that's a little tidbit for
those of you who are waiting forthe album.
(05:51):
Go ahead and check that transition.
Really, really cool. But yeah.
That was that was actually that sorry to cut you off.
I just I'll shout out to Banks because that shout out to Banks
because that was one of his kindof initial ideas was like, you
know, there's a big push and pull with authority on the album
and school is like a big part of, you know, Binks his
(06:16):
background schooling and I thinkhe wanted to somehow and
incorporate that into the story.So I'm I'm that's cool that you
said that. Yes, it is something that I, I
definitely recognized as probably as Binks would put it.
Yeah, that's great. And you know, for you guys, just
(06:36):
a little back story here, not too long ago, actually, I think
it was about a now a week ago. We just went on tour together,
Christian and I, for the Amatorymurder.
We played in Salem, MA for Dark at the Koto.
It's such an amazing place. It's got a lot of love from the
(06:59):
community. If I'm understanding right, Dark
is basically goth night and it'samazing how much like people
love coming to a a venue like this for for those kinds of
occasions. So it was such a pleasure and we
had AI think a really, really good, fabulous time doing.
Yeah, it was. It was so much fun.
(07:21):
Yeah. Dark is like this alternative
events that they throw up in Salem and for one reason or
another, they've they they like our band.
They like our little classic rock and roll band.
So that was the third time we we've gone back.
Yes, Scott had a family thing. So we need someone to hop on
drums and and you killed it, man.
It was a lot of fun. It was I was glad you got to
(07:42):
experience it and warts and all with touring with this band.
But yeah, thanks for hopping on man, that was that was a lot of
fun. That was my pleasure.
And no, it was, it was good. It was good times all around
really. And with all the things that I
got to witness by being on tour with you guys, I felt that it
(08:03):
was just going to be a really good conversation that we had
this going on today. Because a lot of our audience is
really seeking to do something like what you or I or, you know,
Glenn Fricker or any of these other professionals in the
modern space are doing. Can you speak a little bit on,
you know, kind of what you prioritize as a bandleader?
(08:26):
How have you changed over the years?
Yeah, that's a, that's a great question.
It really depends on what, what stage we're at with what we're
doing, you know. So as, as a bandleader, I mean,
it's if you got to get everyone,you got to get everyone on the
same page, which thankfully we are.
(08:48):
I mean, I, I feel I work with the three of the best musicians
in New York and arguably the country.
I'm very, very lucky. I don't like relying on other
people to do things, you know, Ifeel like a lot of people talk
the talk but don't walk the walk.
And I want to put on the best shows, you know, I want to put
(09:12):
on the best shows. I want to make the best music of
the best product. And you know, a funny thing, I
was listening to an interview with Roberto Rodriguez, the film
director, recently and he said he made, he didn't when he
started filmmaking, he didn't know really how to do anything.
He knew he wanted to make movies, but he didn't know about
cameras. He didn't know about script
(09:32):
writing, like any of this stuff.And he had a list of I don't
knows. And he just taught himself each
one of those I don't knows because the more I don't knows
you have, the farther away you are from your goal, from your
dream. So as a bandleader, I really try
to make sure that we don't have a lot of I don't knows, you
(09:53):
know, I like to make sure that we're sounding good, that the
IMS are working good, that, you know, our lights are looking
good. You know, I mean, obviously
everyone's got to be playing great.
But I just, you know, and also I, I try to keep everyone's
moods, moods like high, you know, yeah, it's just
(10:14):
spearheading, just riding the ship and making sure everyone's
on the same journey and which, which we are, you know.
And I, I'm lucky also to be working with a great team behind
the scenes too, you know, of people that can, that can hop on
and, and take care of a lot of the, the nitty gritty business
stuff that I don't really like dealing with.
(10:36):
You know what we're we're lucky to have that at this point
because for a long time we did it.
We didn't have that, and now we do.
And yeah, it's just you got to know what you got to know that
you want something bad enough and just keep going.
Yeah, so learning how to overcome certain boundaries when
when it's an opportunity to start delegating your your task
(10:58):
to others, right. I I very much resonate with the
idea that eliminating the amountof I don't knows is a great
motto to remember because it allows you to at least keep
questioning what do I need to know in order to XY and Z, right
and to continue progress. Because for those of you who are
(11:23):
going in this as an independent artist, which is going to be
quite honestly 95% of everybody in the world, probably even
higher than that 99, I'd even say.
So you have this very, very small position that needs to
grow from a seed into a giant oak tree.
(11:43):
Like that's going to just take time.
You know, it's not like you justcan buy the oak tree.
It takes a lot of money to do that.
So learning all the skill sets from just knowing your craft as
a musician to knowing the business to, you know, being
able to network like those are business skills in this sense,
(12:05):
not necessarily musician skills,right?
You become a bigger multi faceted person.
You know, I know for a fact thatyou're a graphic designer as
well. And having all those skill sets
is something that you use as your tools.
But when it becomes literally, quite literally, that there
can't be more than you, you knowyou have just only so much time,
(12:31):
then it's a good question as to do I need help?
How can I get help right? Yeah, yeah.
I mean, it's there's a lot of work that goes into it like 2
Well, two things. The first one is know that you
want to do it. Like know that you want to do it
because the minute, the minute you are questioning it and like,
oh, maybe I should just stop this and, you know, work a real
(12:52):
job a lot more. And then, you know, take, you
know what I mean, the minute youstart doubting it, you're then
don't do it. Don't do it because there's
somebody else out there that really wants it and they're just
going to keep going, you know, So you have to really want to do
it. You have to live and breathe it.
And #2 there's, there's something to be said, I mean,
(13:12):
about, about, yes, working with the right people, but you have
to be smart about it. You have to establish trust.
Who was I talking to it? It's oh, you know what I was
listening to? Like, I think it was like Jordan
Peterson or someone that was saying that you need to at a
certain point release your ego alittle bit and be be open to
(13:33):
working with other people that that can be trusted to do the
things that you just don't have the time to do.
Or maybe maybe you really don't have the knowledge of and this
these people or person will havethe knowledge of, you know what
I mean? So it's like do as much as you
can so you don't have to rely onother people, even if it means
(13:54):
staying up till 3:00 in the morning.
But also be open to working withthe right people when they come
along. Right, yes.
And I, that's a great balance. And I had this conversation with
my or Applebaum on, I believe one or two episodes ago.
And this was a really, really a big concept of just embracing
(14:16):
the community and the people around you that can help and
help you grow. It's, it's like the water that
we're talking about with the whole seed analogy, right?
So it's very, very, very, very good to be able to also
recognize those opportunities around you and then foster
relationships that help grow everybody as a whole.
(14:37):
Honestly, helping somebody else I know helps me.
It's a great feeling. It is and it's a great feeling.
Exactly. So these are definitely things
that should be shared more oftenin, in, in discussions like
these, because the, I love the idea of being able to do
(14:57):
everything yourself if you want to go ahead and go that far.
But it's also like, it's at whatpoint do you, what do you do
with that power, right? Like, is it just you're only
here for yourself and nobody else helps you?
And that's going to take you a long time and all that
stubbornness and you're going tobe a mule for it.
(15:17):
Yeah, well, OK, have fun. Then there's the other way of
doing it, which is, you know, hey, like using that to create a
better community around you thatpeople want to help each other
because, you know, you got each other's back.
That's that's a whole other way of doing it.
And that's what I love about. Also engages with bands on tour.
(15:41):
I've seen it many times where bands help each other out and on
those tours it becomes another relationship that does something
for them in the future. Whether it's becoming on tour
with a different artist roster that includes that band plus
yours or whatever. It could be amazing what turns
out from relationships. And that's that's a really huge
(16:03):
part of this. So I want to say thanks for
bringing that up. Yeah, I think and you're
welcome. I think, I think that also the
more you do something and the more you're focused on it, the
more you're going to attract theright people.
You know, if, if you're, if you're really serious about
something and you're working really hard at it, other people
(16:26):
that work really hard will, willbe attracted to that, you know,
and you know, you're going to have people that try to like
latch on along the way, but you'll, you'll know when they're
full of shit. You, you know, when, when
someone's not doing their job, you know, but I, I can
confidently say that, you know, now that we kind of have our,
our groove going with this, the the right people are, are we're
(16:48):
linking up with them. And like you said on, on tours,
you know, we're meeting these really awesome bands on tour
that are like like minded and want the same thing and, and
think the same way, you know, not not think the same way, but
like they're, you know, I, I like to think that my band is
really, I mean, you spent some time with us now.
We're really genuine, down to earth people.
(17:09):
And it's really hard to meet a it's hard meeting people like
that in this industry. But we, we have, we've met,
we've met quite a few bands likethat now.
And I think that's just because we, we stayed on course and we
kept true to ourselves and we work really hard, you know, and
(17:32):
working hard, like I say, I mean, sometimes you're out till
3:00 in the morning. So I, I listen to a lot of
podcasts about like people that run businesses, because when
you're running, when you're running a bands that you want to
turn into a, a big money maker eventually.
And your, your life, you have tothink of it as a business.
And that means taking calls at 3:00 in the morning or work,
(17:53):
working till 3:00 in the morningor, you know, or two in the
morning or 6:00 in the morning and then getting two hours of
sleep. You know, and knowing and
believing that it's bringing youcloser to where you want to be
and knowing that you're going tomeet the right people because of
that, you know? Have faith in the process,
really. Yes, you have to have faith in
the process. It's like it goes back to what I
(18:14):
said a few minutes ago where it's the minute you start
doubting it for more than for more than a minute is when no,
like you, you got to you, you can't because and also there's
people that are going to exploitthat.
You know, they're going to exploit your, I don't want to
say weakness, but they're going to exploit your doubt.
(18:35):
And that, you know, they're going to use it to their own
advantage of their own, their own whether that's financial
advantage or, or just being a, ajerk, you know, Yeah.
If if you're, if you're going down that road, you know, your
faith becomes I will. Some people call their faith in
God or what have you, but you could also put faith in your
(18:58):
music. You could put faith in your
muse. It had caught what have you.
That could be a way of thinking about this.
I've always felt in my mind likemy music or my mission and doing
what I'm doing was always something that was as much of A
calling as something as sacred. So going after something that is
(19:21):
sacred to you means you have faith in that, that you will
bring to life something that will touch others in a way that
extends beyond just what you have in even in right now, like
your own physical possessions. It becomes something more of a
(19:41):
mind of a concept, something that unifies a mission for
people too. And that's what aligns your
audience with what you do, right.
It's when people look at you as an artist, what do they think?
Are they and not to think about like I care about what they
(20:03):
think I in the way that is not true to you I'm saying is am I
perceiving myself with more clarity so that they understand
that there's not much really to think it's presented as such and
it's easy for them to. Become a part of it.
And so I believe the amatory murder is very good at branding
(20:26):
and what what that has become atthis point in time.
Yeah, I think it's it's funny. You said spiritual.
I mean, it's not funny It it's, you know, Scott, our drummer,
he's he says those exact words. He says music is very spiritual
for me and it's, it is, it's spiritual for a lot of people.
(20:47):
It's it's definitely spiritual for spiritual for this band.
For me, it's like, it's, it's like going to like I'm so I'm a
Christian and I, I go to, I go to church and, and it's very
similar when I'm performing withmy band.
It's it's a very spiritual God like experience because you're,
(21:08):
I don't know, you know, I know, you know what I'm talking about
that feeling you get, which it, it kind of ties back into, like
it kind of ties back into the album in a in a weird way
because it's it's, it is a spiritual journey.
You know, music and music and God are very similar to me.
(21:30):
Yeah. You know, So like, that's why
this album was like kind of therapeutic in a way to make,
you know, I know I just went offcourse there, but.
No, no, I think it's a it's, it's in a way it, it prophesizes
its own destiny. In that case, I I like the yes
concept of it being something that is universal in its story,
(21:55):
but it's also personal to you inyour own journey and that's very
relatable there too. It it, it's a great experience.
And can we get to also, I want to know what was your production
process like through this album?Did you guys go to professional
studio? Did you do this as a home
(22:16):
recording? What was your Ave. of work here?
That, that's another great question.
And it's another, it reminds me of the I don't know, list
because I didn't know how to do much in the way of production
and recording and all that. But I knew that I wanted to know
how to do it because I got really tired of like paying
(22:37):
somebody else to do it and beingon studio time and that whole
thing. So we, we did it all in our, our
studio in, in Bushwick. And I, I did some of it in my
home studio. But yeah, the production was
all, I mean, I, I produce our stuff, you know, I don't, I
(22:58):
don't want to have to rely on other people, you know, I mean,
that's not to say that we wouldn't work with other
producers when the right people come along.
But yeah, right now it's, it's me.
I, I started by watching my friends that were producers,
like I would watch them open up Pro Tools and I'd be like, what
(23:18):
are you doing? And blah, blah, blah, blah.
And I, that's really, that's really how I learned how to do
that stuff. And so, yeah, everything the
production process is, hey, here's a song, let's let's kind
of get it down. Let's maybe record a room demo
or something and then Polish it out from there.
And all right now it's time to multitrack.
(23:40):
Right. And and you actually attended an
audio trade school, haven't you?I, I, I did, I did take a, a
couple of courses in, at a school in Manhattan just to,
just to make sure that I knew what I was doing was the right
thing. But also, you know, that's
amazing. No, that's amazing.
(24:00):
Well, I'll even say it because they're they're they're good
friends of this channels SAE Institute.
Thank you so much for everythingthat you've given.
They they're they're a place where I work as well.
And I got to give a shout out tothose guys.
The professors there are actually very, very amazing
people and they really think about their students in the long
run. So it's really cool to know that
(24:22):
you also went there. Yeah, I mean, I didn't, I didn't
go to the degree that you did, but I, I think I took maybe like
one or two, like, you know, it was so long ago, but and also
like YouTube has been a very good resource, you know, like, I
don't know how to do this. And it's, you know, 2 in the
morning. Yeah, boom, boom, boom, boom.
(24:43):
You know, I, I'm very, I'm very inspired.
You know, it's a very amazing time because like a lot of
people have like home studio options that they didn't for the
first, you know, 70 years of Rock'n'roll.
You know, during, during the pandemic, a lot of people, you
(25:05):
know, push their music from their apartments.
You know, I don't know if you know, the, the, the group
Medusa, they, they do a lot of like, yeah, they do like a lot
of pop dance and stuff like that.
But I was very influenced by them.
I, I follow their career. I was very, very, I admire them.
(25:25):
So they've, they've had a big, surprisingly, they've had a big
influence on how I do things too, in terms of like
synthesizers and things like that.
Yeah, and you have a also a verybig inspiration from, I can tell
like Trent Reznor from 9 Inch Nails.
I mean, David Bowie, Green Day, I mean, it's all in there.
(25:48):
I feel like even a little bit oflike some Avenged Sevenfold and
Ghost is kind of in there too. In some ways.
It's kind of really fun the way you have your music sort of so
eclectic and sharing with all these different styles.
You're actually also play everything from like jazz to,
(26:08):
you know, hard hitting metal. It's very, very dynamic.
So guys, definitely check it out.
We already have actually one single out, it's called Velvet
Noose. It's from the upcoming album The
Sounds of Seven Angels. So when you guys, you actually
(26:29):
Christian, do you want to talk alittle bit about those details
first? Where can they find you and all
of that information to follow up?
Yeah, we're on Instagram is the big social media we use the
most, but our music is on, you know, Spotify, Apple Music.
We we sell the music too on BandCamp.
(26:49):
I don't know if everyone knows Band Camp, but it's a a musician
platform run. It's run by musicians, Facebook,
YouTube, Velvet News. The new video is on YouTube.
Yeah. And yeah, the, the, the people
(27:10):
have really been supportive so far.
And it's, it's very exciting. I'm very excited.
I haven't been very excited in awhile, so.
Yeah, this is a, this is a big step.
You guys are really pushing hardfor this one.
I, I, I've known Christian for many years now at this point,
and it's always good to see thatyou know, someone that you've
(27:33):
known for a while is still at it, and not only at it, but just
thriving from it. Man, that's great.
Thank you. I don't want to I don't want to
be on my deathbed and be like, oh, what if I had tried?
What if I had kept going? You know what I mean?
Definitely not. That's the worst you're.
Not that person. So Leah, actually, do you have
any last words for our audience,Christian?
(27:54):
I know everybody has just kind of gotten a little taste for the
mindset of the person behind theamatory murder, but if you had
to leave the audience with any sort of advice or any sort of
thoughts, what would they be? Treat every day like it could be
your last. SO let everyone know in life
(28:16):
that you love them. Be good to yourselves and each
other. Do what you love, even if it's
not something that's easy. And yeah, just be passionate
about what you do and be nice tobe nice to people and be be nice
to yourself. You know, that's great.
(28:37):
And if you're in New York, we'd love to see you at our record
release show at Lucky Thirteens,June 28th.
And we'll also be doing the second leg of our Revelation
Tour in June, so if you're down South, hit up any of those
dates. That's amazing.
And actually, Revelation is a very good song too.
Oh, thank you, man. Oh God, that was that one.
(28:59):
You know, can I just touch on that one real quick?
That was so much fun for me because I really went all in.
I I've never done Gregorian chance before and I had just,
I've been listening to like a lot of Gregorian chants for the
like the, the couple of months leading up to a recording that
and I was like, you know what, I'm going to try this and, and
(29:21):
I'm pretty happy with how it came out.
So that was really exciting for me to do that.
That one is, is yeah, that was afun song.
That was that was a religious experience.
Amazing. That's so cool to hear to you
know, because your mentality going into that now I have a
little bit of a different perspective into all of that.
So that's very cool. I will be re listening to that
(29:44):
one for sure. Yeah, it's definitely,
definitely a song about dualities, so.
Cool. All right, Well, thank you,
Christian. This has been such a pleasure.
Everybody on the audience. I just want to let you know,
Metal Mastermind, like always, we are a resource for metal
artists across the world. We have courses based on guitar,
(30:08):
musicianship, you know, we'll behaving things with other
instruments like drums and keyboards.
We'll be getting into courses for even music video, animation
and all that. There's a lot that's happening
at Metal Mastermind in the next coming months and I can't wait
to share more about that. But those are some sneak tips on
(30:29):
the upcoming content that's coming out.
So if you want if you want more information about all of those
services, go to metalmastermind.com.
And don't forget to check out the amatory murder, The Sounds
of Seven Angels on June 28th. Is did I get that right?
It comes out the record comes out June 23rd and the record
(30:51):
release show is June 28th. All right.
Fantastic. And by the way, man, I'm so
proud of you. You're killing it, you're
killing us. This is awesome doing.
I really appreciate. It so much I really do.
OK, well everybody, thanks for thanks again.
And don't forget to always create your own sound.
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com