Interviews: Impvlse

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Progressive Metalcore band Impvlse from Germany. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

The story of our name IMPVLSE is rather unexciting as we were just looking for something that sounded cool to us and doesn't put us in a box. We wanted a name that doesn't bind us to a certain genre or scene, that gives us freedom of what we can become. We want to give our name meaning by the music we create. So it was kinda planned.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

We started off with some classic metalcore riffs because that was Jason's musical background at the time and when he showed us his first finished songs we were immediately cool with them. After experimenting further and solidifying his role as our songwriter he started to incorporate more atmospheric elements into the songs as our sound grew thicker and more elaborate. Apart from that we saw it as a way both to differentiate ourselves from other bands in the genre and add our own spice to the metalcore framework. As to what struck us about metalcore in the first place: I think the genre in general offers an interesting combination of both heavy riffs and breakdowns that crush everything if done right as well as more melodic parts where you’re able to convey true emotions that might drown in a song that’s only about heaviness from front to back.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

This is a rather funny story. Everything started off with Jason (Lead Guitar) scrolling through a comment section under a 9gag post to randomly stumble over a funny comment. This comment was posted by Marcel (Bass) and just out of curiosity Jason found out that Marcel was also obsessed with heavy music and coincidentally lived around the area. After contacting Marcel and sharing the desire to form a band they went looking for other members to complete the formation. A couple of months later we found Dave (Drums) in a Facebook group looking to join a band and Tom (Rhythm Guitar) who went to the same school as Marcel. In September 2015 we all finally met in a rehearsal room of a friend to jam for the first time. The jam sessions became a weekly routine where we got to know each other, created our first songs and laid the foundation for the band. After just playing as an instrumental band in our rehearsal until 2017 we decided to look for a vocalist and shot a music video for our song "Curious Minds" to attract a fitting voice. After a couple of different auditions with singers Chris (Vocals) came along and we felt that he was the right fit for our songs. So we didn’t really know each other before the band was formed.

4. Each band member favorite band?

It’s so hard to pick only one band for that title, but here we go. For Marcel, it’s System of a Down, for Jason, it’s Bring Me The Horizon, for Dave it is The Black Dahlia Murder, Tom’s favorite is Architects and Chris’ chooses The Devil Wears Prada for this one.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

We are influenced by everything that is happening in our lives. It’s hard to point out the specific people and events that trigger our creativity or leads us to express ourselves through our music. It’s definitely a subconscious thing. We think life as a whole is an inspiration, every decision is the result of how we process that what we have experienced. So, there are a lot of emotions, good and bad, that would have to be mentioned when we talk about influences. Of course, there are some special topics in politics or in society that we would like to change, you will find addressed between the lines of our lyrics. Musically we are inspired by a lot of genres and people. The music we listen to ranges from Rap to Death Metal to Classical music to Pop so there is a lot to combine and a lot to draw from.

6. Where was your last gig?

Our last gig was in the Quibble in Nuremberg on the 7th of December 2019. It was an event called “City Rock”, we had a great crowd there.

7. Where would you like to perform?

There are some venues and festivals where we often see other bands playing, for example the Backstage in Munich or the Full Force Festival in Ferropolis, where we want to stand on stage too one day. Other dreams already came true, like standing on stage in the Hirsch in Nuremberg and this summer we will play on the Rock im Park Festival, which was a dream from all of us.

8. Whom would you like to perform with?

We actually would perform with any band that wants to share stage with us. We are musically pretty open minded and appreciate anything that has a concept behind it. For sure there are some of our favourite bands we would love to perform or tour with, but we are grateful for every time standing on stage to play for new people.

9. Whom not?

We just don’t like performing with assholes, it’s just not fun hanging backstage with people that see themselves as rockstars or are arrogant in another way. Give us anyone we can have fun with and we are happy. Of course we would reject playing with fascist or racist bands as well.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

We never seriously suffered from stage fright, of course we always are a little nervous and loaded, but I think that’s a good thing actually and we got to kinda like that feeling before going on stage. As a tip we would say: relax! Sounds easy but it’s what helps the most, be aware that there’s nothing that could honestly go wrong since you know how to perform and try to enjoy that the focus is on you. Apparently we are bad at giving advices, without using phrases, haha.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Bands such as Architects, Northlane or Bring Me The Horizon are big influences on us. But again, every artist we listen to took influence on us I guess.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

We never found ourselves in a really weird situation. The most surprising thing for us was, that a fan in Russia wanted us to sign a playlist of us, which already look pretty “used”, but that was not a weird thing, we felt honored that he really wanted this as a souvenir.

13. What do you think of your fans?

We know every artist is like “oh my god, my fans are the best”. And I really think that every artist is right when he really feels that. We for our part feel totally honored and happy about all the love and support we receive. Sounds like a phrase again, but we really mean that.

14. What do you think of our site?

We totally appreciate sites like yours, that gives smaller bands the attention they deserve. Thanks for having us!

15. Something to add?

Check out our new EP “Vice Versa” that we released in November ‘19 on all platforms. Thanks for having us and for checking out!