Interviews: KEELRIDER

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Groove Metal band KEELRIDER from Iceland. 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?

It was most definitely thought out, the parameters were: One word Has a meaning relevant to me Sounds cool Keelrider signifies not giving up in dark times, the picture I see in my head is a man sitting on the keel of a ship, bound in ropes by his hands and feet. What I forgot to mention in an interview I did the other day is that the ship in my mind is upside down and the people holding the ropes are now holding the ropes to save themselves from drowning, interviews once out, are for better or worse... pretty permanent.

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

It speaks to me at least the most, heavy music that still has melody really strikes a solid balance in my opinion, it's cool to be able to go hard and then let the song breathe a bit with something softer I think. The band I would say brought the players together, some maybe knew of each other but we're friends today because of the band.

3. Each band member's favorite band?

I spoke to the guys and there is no way to answer this question with one band per person haha We could send you a list that could be used to wallpaper a medium-sized apartment if that is of interest?

4. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Boredom/restlessness more than anything... what I mean is if I can quiet everything down and have no distractions... that usually ends up in a song idea or riffs etc. As for subject matter... it's usually some form of catharsis.

5. Where was your last gig?

Gaukurinn in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was a great show and we had a blast. Our drummer suffered a broken hand a little over a week before the show so a friend of the band filled in for him, not gonna lie... it was a stressful few days to get him up to speed, but he is a fantastic drummer so it pretty well!

6. Where would you like to act?

If you mean play, we'd play on Mars at 06:30 on a monday morning, if you mean act... I'd like to aim high and pick a Tarantino movie.

7. Whom would you like to feature with?

Let's go with Bleed The Sky, they have a killer new album out(This Way Lies Madness) and I think we'd leave the venue in ruins.

8. Whom not?

Jeffrey Epstein... who did in fact NOT kill himself.

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

Yeah, I had the worst case of that, exposure therapy definitely works... do karaoke, make an absolute ass of yourself on stage in front of others, notice that afterwards you're still alive. Rinse & and repeat and then pick a bigger stage then after a while you don't worry as much about it. Mostly it's about going on stage against your instincts and just do a bad performance, the first ones usually aren't very good but gradually improve.

10. What bands have inspired you the most?

The earliest relevant band in my mind is Metallica, they just really knocked it out of the park and I started listening to them when I was really young.

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

Haven't really asked for anything super weird yet, but I'll get back to you when we get a decent following in Tokyo... I'm dying to go there.. they have all kinds of weirdness there, I'm totally down for some weirdness!

12. What do you think of your fans?

THE WORLD! The fact that something that came out of this band resonates with people out there that are complete strangers to us just totally blows my mind! 

13. What do you think of our site?

I think it's great! The layout is cool and makes sense, the URL is solid(it's a ".com" etc. ) and looks pro, you even have something about us on it which is awesome (to us at least lol) but most importantly you're helping people filter out signal from all the noise and that is absolutely a fantastic endeavor.

14. Something add?

Just thanks for your time and we'd appreciate it if people who dig our stuff could take a moment and follow us on our socials and throw our Facebook page a like, that is extremely helpful to bands starting out! Thanks guys!!!