Interviews: Floodfall

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Heavy Metal band Floodfall from the USA. Check out this band and follow them on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

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

David: I don’t think I’ve ever had a band name just appear out of nowhere, spontaneously. I have years and years of written lists of spontaneous ideas, but it always ends up taking some time to reach a consensus. The “Floodfall” name came from a bunch of brainstorming while we were working on the first album. It captured the essence of the band’s focus on the world around us without losing the sense of concern and introspection that we often express in our songs.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Zane: I grew up listening to heavy metal bands and my love for the genre has only grown as I’ve gotten older and extended my interest to many of the sub-genres within metal and rock. When I started playing the drums, I really did it so that I could play along to my favorite songs.

David: Heavy music changed my life. I loved many forms of music from an early age and guitar was always my dream instrument. But my first KISS concert was the turning point. I live for the intensity, the energy, the power of heavy music. It allows me to embrace harmony and melody while holding onto a drive and edge that doesn’t always show up in other genres.

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

Zane: Yes, I’ve known David for as long as I can remember, and he’s been my dad for even longer than that.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Zane: This is always a hard question to answer because it’s always changing, but I have been listening to a lot of ICE NINE KILLS in recent years.

David: I am not someone who picks favorites. It’s rare that anything can fully capture my attention and my musical interests vary immensely over time and based on mood and environment. I have “favorite” bands in every genre of heavy music. I grew up with Iron Maiden, Scorpions, and Rainbow, was heavily influenced by Van Halen, Dokken, and Ratt, and have continued on through grunge, nu-metal, and the broadening family tree that I consider “heavy” music, across metal, hard rock and punk. There are a number of closely related Finnish metal bands that had a big impact on me in the early 2000s, namely Sentenced, Poisonblack, and Charon. More recently, I’ve enjoyed the expansion of melodic metal and punk around the world. In the last few months, I’ve been doing a deep dive into the Swedish band, Eclipse.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Zane: I think my biggest inspiration is the musicians that I listen to, but I also get inspired by the people that I’m lucky enough to call friends and family. I’ve always wanted to be able to write music that gets other people excited about metal and playing drums.

David: I grew up at a time when, as a guitarist, it was a natural evolution to start writing. Jamming with a band in the basement or garage, we’d always make things up on the fly. I’ve spent many years working closely with drummers and we’d always come up with guitar patterns and riffs. I learned pretty early to record every idea (partially to avoid forgetting anything). Then later we’d build songs from those ideas. Honestly, despite vast changes in technology over the years, the process for Floodfall is very similar. I always have a computer full of ideas, many captured at the moment on my phone. Then we pull from them when it’s time to write new material.

6. Where was your last gig?

For various reasons, including unexpected lineup changes and the COVID shutdown, every time the band starts gearing up for live shows it all falls apart. Because of that, Floodfall has not had the opportunity to gig yet. Although that’s a disappointment and an ongoing challenge, we’ve wanted to keep our creative output going, even if it’s not clear when we can back that up with live performances.

7. Where would you like to act?

We’d love the opportunity to perform for audiences that appreciate our music. Many of the bands that we listen to are from outside the US, so we can imagine that playing shows in Europe, and supporting more established acts would be a great fit for us. Based on listening patterns, in addition to our home country, we can imagine ourselves playing shows in Canada, the UK, Sweden, Finland, and Germany, but really we would be happy for the opportunity to play anywhere people love heavy, melodic music.

8. Whom would you like to feature with and whom not?

Our tastes are very broad and eclectic. There isn’t really a formula describing who we would or would not want to gig with. Across many styles and sub-genres, we would benefit from the learning experience, supporting more established bands.

9. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Zane: While I’ve only been “on stage” a few times in my life I’ve definitely struggled with feelings of stage fright. I haven’t gotten over it completely but what helped those feelings improve was reminding myself that I was there to have fun and do what I love, not to prove anything to the audience.

David: I have a range of responses before performing live. Depending on the situation and my level of preparation, I land somewhere between fear and exhilaration. Because of that, I try to make sure I’m always well-prepared and have had a chance to mentally adjust before performing. But, as happens to all of us, sometimes things get complicated and it’s those moments where I’m most likely to experience stage fright. However, typically I settle in and am comfortable once a performance gets going.

10. What bands have inspired you the most?

Zane: The bands that have probably inspired my drumming the most are: Arion, Avenged Sevenfold, Billy Talent, Bullet for My Valentine, Kissin’ Dynamite, and The Unguided

David: Right now, I’m very excited about Eclipse and Kissin’ Dynamite. Both bands capture my love for catchy hooks, high energy, and melody. In addition to the hair metal and goth metal bands that have been such a huge influence, there are bands from almost every era that have had a huge impact on me: UFO, Stone Temple Pilots, Audioslave, Systematic, Sevendust, Avenged Sevenfold, Billy Talent. I’m just glad that the world continues to be creative and there’s so much music to explore.

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

Honestly, we haven’t really received any strange requests from fans. We do have some folks who would like us to play a show near them, often somewhere far from our normal travel patterns. We’d love to figure out a way to make those kinds of shows happen.

12. What do you think of your fans?

We really appreciate folks who follow us and make the effort to interact with us directly. The modern music world can feel very distant and lonely...so much is remote and behind layers of technology. There’s always something rewarding about having fans contact us directly, most often on YouTube or social media. Those interactions are also a refreshing reminder of how many heavy music lovers there are around the world, often in places far from us.

13. What do you think of our site?

Floodfall believes that the world is a better place when we help each other. Some healthy competition doesn’t hurt but overall a music scene is only the sum of many parts. Breathing the Core is an amazing resource for bands around the world. It demonstrates the truly international nature of heavy music and provides a powerful platform to help give bands exposure and connections. We appreciate Breathing the Core’s efforts for all bands and are thankful for their focus on Floodfall.