Axes To Grind recently interviewed vocalist and guitarist Masaki Murashita and drummer Travis Thune of Hemoptysis. The band talked about their new music video for the song “M.O.D.”, background of the band, the obstacles the band had to overcome, and more.
A couple of excerpts from the interview follow below.
ATG: First off, congratulations on the success of Misanthropic Slaughter…the album kicked serious ass. HEMOPTYSIS continues to gather momentum in the metal underground. Can you talk a bit about how important the underground scene is for bands such as HEMOPTYSIS?
Masaki: The underground scene is definitely very important for bands like us. The people in the metal underground are the people who dedicatedly support real metal bands and keep metal alive. Most people in their world don’t like a band unless that band is forced down their throat by big companies with lots of money. The metal underground searches for bands to listen to. The metal underground helps bands like us get started.
ATG: Can you talk a bit about coming up as a Thrash act in Arizona? Was it any more or less difficult coming out of Phoenix?
Masaki: I think there are less thrash bands in Arizona than a few years ago, but there are still many young thrash bands here that are very talented. We have more death metal bands than thrash in AZ. We incorporate death metal aspects into our music too, so we have the best of both worlds in the Arizona scene.
ATG: HEMOPTYSIS has great synergy with their music. Can you talk a bit about establishing your identity as a band, and some of the obstacles you had to overcome?
Masaki: We all have unique musical backgrounds and putting all of our influences together makes our sound different. We are not limiting ourselves to one metal genre. We write and play what we love. We have kind a unique identity because of that. It can be easy to fit on a show lineup when you have so many metal influences as long as people in the audience are open minded. As far as the obstacles we had to overcome goes, it would be touring and dealing with labels. We love playing shows, and we wish we could tour everywhere around the world, but being a band with no financial backing from a label, it is impossible to do since we have bills to pay just like everybody else on top of the cost of touring. We can only take off work so many times in the year and there is only so far we can drive back and forth on weekends. I’ve lost track of how many times some A&R guy has told me you guys are kicking ass you just need to tour more. No shit, Sherlock! But we’re not just a band, we are a business. Guarantees for shows barely cover the cost of travel anymore and some A&R asshole wants me to quit my job, lose my house and all my belongings so I can sign some shit deal where I don’t make any money off my hard work? No thanks! We’d gladly drop everything and stay on the road touring but we have bills to pay too and right now the deals that we are being offered from the labels are not cutting it. We do not expect to get rich from this, but we don’t want to go on tour only to come back with tons of debt and no money to keep the band going, either. If we sign on with a bigger name record label, it will be a deal that keeps the band going instead of running it into the ground.
Click here to check out the whole interview.
The band will be writing new material for the next few months and is currently working on tour dates for early 2012.
In other HEMOPTYSIS news, the band has unleashed their newest music video available online at this location. The video, for the track “M.O.D.”, taken from their album “Misanthropic Slaughter”, was shot in September, 2011 in an abandon warehouse in Vail, AZ. Production and direction came courtesy of Sean Sinerius and Robert Jaime at Big Shot Studios, who previously worked with HEMOPTYSIS on the “Shadow of Death” video which is also featured on the album “Misanthropic Slaughter”.
For the latest Hemoptysis news visit:
Official Site: www.hemoptysismetal.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/hemoptysis
Facebook www.facebook.com/murashitamusic
Google+: gplus.to/hemoptysis
Myspace www.myspace.com/hemoptysismetal
Masaki Murashita of Arizona thrash kings HEMOPTYSIS is featured on the cover of the new e-book, “Take The Oath: A Practical Pocket Guide For The Career Indie Musician.” Written by Don Harrison, “Take The Oath…” is an extension of the popular “Oath Of The Indie Musician” and features a multitude of resources for the working indie musician and commentary from industry insiders. For more info on the book, visit www.networkordie.com/have-you-taken-the-oath. “Take The Oath…” is being offered as a free download.
