(Unsigned)
Genre: Emocore akin to Losprophets or Emery.
Interviewed on: 8/31/08
From: Hamilton, New Zealand
www.myspace.com/sinfura
1. How you guys doing? You guys have a release tour coming up, you excited?
Logan: I'm doing good. Yeah we just had a few dates on the album release for False Start. We were pretty excited to be playing some shows with a bunch of our friends. It's always fun touring with False Start and Simple Day.
Iliyas: I’m great thanks. Yeah the False Start tour was great especially because not only were we playing with our friends False Start, our boys Simple day were also playing on the tour. Always a good time playing and hanging with those boys.
2. What are three bands that you wish you could tour with?
Logan: Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada and Still Remains (RIP). All three are bands that have been influential to myself as a musician but also I find I can connect with their music so much just as a fan as well. It's sad that Still Remains have recently broken up though, they seemed like real sweet guys to tour with.
Iliyas: Linkin Park, Lostprophets and Killswitch Engage. I have so many influences, but if it was touring, it would be great to be with these bands. Linkin Park is my favorite band because I’ve always looked up to Chester Bennington as a vocalist. Lostprophets are in my opinion one of the closest sounding bands to us that I’ve always been a fan of and that would be a lot of fun because the crowds they would have would probably like our stuff as well. KSE however are just hands down THE band to tour with. If you’ve watched their DVD then you know you’ll what I mean. Plus Howard Jones and Adam D, enough said…haha
3. What was the inspiration behind the "Lay To Rest" music video?
Logan: Apart from Sinfura, I'm also a budding film-maker, particularly with music videos and music documentaries. That music video you're referring to is the first music video I've directed and edited myself. The inspiration behind that video came from Iliy's lyrics. My idea was to have a girl that was struggling to come to terms with the recent death of her boyfriend, hence the photos and having Iliy singing to the girl without her ever acknowledging his presence. But in the end, it looked just like they had broken up. Either way the storyline still works within the lyrics but the concept of losing a loved one seemed a lot deeper and personal than your typical "break up" situation. It was done for one of my classes and I like it for my first ever video, but we decided that it's best as a "trial video" rather than the official video. We'll be shooting the official video within the next couple of months with director Nikora Edwards, who also directed the video for Trial and Error.
Iliyas: The funny thing about this video is I ended up going out with the girl who acted in it for awhile...
Logan: Just call me the match maker!
4. You guys announced recently that you're going into the studio to record for a hopeful 2009 release, you guys excited to lay down some new tracks?
Logan: Hell yeah! We've been living with most of these songs for at least six months and we're so proud and excited with what we've written. Most of the songs have been tested live and have been well received by crowds, so we hope that when we have the album out, there will be people out there to connect with what we're doing. Right now, we'd love to get signed by a record label to help us out with the whole process of doing our debut album. We're also currently shopping for the right producer.
Iliyas: Definately. I’m constantly writing new music and I really want these songs recorded before I write a whole new load of songs. I know for a fact people will definitely like the new album material because we’ve really developed a lot since our EP. I’m a firm believer in always stepping your game up. And in music the same rule applies.
5. Being from New Zealand, what is the music scene like over there?
Logan: To be honest, the music scene here seems to come and go. Lately I think it's getting worse and a lot of bands seem to be wanting to get out overseas to brighter shores. This includes ourselves, and we're thinking about relocating next year. I'm really keen for Ohio! I love the music scene, the bands over there, and I have friends over there that I'd love to be able to see. We seem to get a lot of great positive feedback from the American kids and it just makes me want to be over there so we can play for them. New Zealand is my home and I love the people here of course, sometimes I just wish the crowds would get more into it and support the bands that are playing because there are a few bands here that are amazing and deserve their attention.
Iliyas: It’s definitely not getting any better. There are a lot of factors to consider however. Being a small country obviously is one of them but also like Logan mentioned, a lot of bands want to go overseas. However, one thing that still bugs me is that the scene is still too divided which I think totally sucks when we should all be trying to help each other out. But oh well I love our fans though. I just wished the rest of our country were as awesome as them. Then we would have an amazing music scene.
As for the overseas thing, I myself would like us to be overseas but not settling in one place. I have always dreamt of touring America, Europe, Australia and definitely Japan. Although having said that, I love Japanese culture, food and obviously the ladies.
6. Have you guys watched the Olympics at all? If so, what sports have you been most interested in?
Logan: I've been loving the Olympics! It's kind of weird now that it's just finished, you don't know what to do late at night anymore. I was getting really into the field hockey because I think it's such an exciting sport and I used to play it as a kid. I saw archery for the first time ever, and that sport is way intense for me!
Iliyas: I’m all about the Olympics. Fortunately where I work I’m able to have TV’s on all around me so I was able to catch a fair amount of the events. I’m really into the weight lifting, boxing, running events and gymnastics.
7. What's your thoughts on illegal music downloading?
Logan: The whole downloading illegal music thing is bit two-sided for me. Most people do it and I'll admit I do too. Like I download an album that I'm interested in, and if I like it then I will go out and buy the CD when I can afford it. If I don't like it, then I delete it from my computer, because there's no point in wasting hard drive space right? If people choose to download our music, then I would hope that they would want to support us by buying a copy from us either from our online store on the Myspace, or from the iTunes store.
Iliyas: I don’t do it. I’m rich so I just buy CD’s. Just kidding, but yeah, I really like to have the original thing. I don’t download music because I just listen to previews of albums through Myspace then decide. Tom would be proud…
8. What is your favorite song to play live and why?
Logan: Currently my fave is known as Gangster part II, it's a new song and that's just a working title. It's the latest demo song that we've uploaded on our Myspace and there's a lot of fun parts for me to play. There's just so much energy and chaos in the song. It's exactly the kind of music I love to listen to.
Iliyas: I’m not sure yet. Probably one of our new songs called Aside From Me. But I think I'll become more certain once I stop playing guitar live.
9. What are you guys currently listening to?
Logan: House Vs. Hurricane - Forfeiture EP, Addison - To The Ends Of The Earth EP, Chiodos - Bone Palace Ballet, Underoath - Lost In The Sound Of Translation & The Devil Wears Prada - Plagues. Those are probably my 5 fav records right now.
Iliyas: Slipknot – All Hope Is Gone, 36 Crazyfists - The Tide And It's Takers, Underoath - Lost In The Sound Of Translation and a lot of pop music...What?
10. What's next for Sinfura?
Logan: We're taking some time off from playing shows and touring to do the full pre-production for our debut album. Along with that, we're starting to shop for record labels overseas, particularly in Australia and America, along with shopping for a producer and talking to them about the album and what we want. It's exciting times for us as we continue to work hard and push ourselves out there to the rest of the world more and more.
Iliyas: I’ll be looking for a new guitarist so I can focus on just being the lead vocalist of the band. And like Logan mentioned, finding a label and a producer for the album. I’m also really looking forward to pre-production for the album because I can make sure these slackers make every part they play in the album perfect. I must sound like I’m mean to the boys. That’s because I am.
11. Any shoutouts?
Logan: Everyone on our Myspace as well as everyone at our shows who support us. You're as much as a part of this as all four members of the band and it's a great having you with us! And to anyone, A&R guys, or whoever that is interested in checking us out, go to the Myspace at: www.myspace.com/sinfura - if you like us, please help us by buying a copy of our Lay To Rest EP!
Iliyas: All of our fans and all of the ladies. I love you all.
