www.facebook.com/minorityband
From: Slovakia
Sounds like: Rock/Punk
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name "Minority" and is there any meaning behind it?
We developed our huge love for music when we were kids, but I think the main breaking point for us was hearing bands like Bad Religion, The Offspring, Pennywise etc. in the 90’s. I think that shaped our taste for punk-rock music the most. We try to keep our sound simple. A good straight forward punk-rock sound. Being a three-piece band (drums, bass and guitar), simplicity has worked for us the best. We chose the name “The Minority” because we wanted something simple that would be easy to remember for the people in Slovakia and Czech Republic, but also for the rest of the world. The name should mainly express being yourself, choosing your own path, not thinking or worrying about what the majority thinks and just simply going your own way. The same attitude also represents that burning fist logo of our band.
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
Mainly the same joy and happiness that we have when we play our songs live. It’s as simple as that. We just want to play music that we love and live for and share this energy with the audience to bring some moments to their lives that would help them to forget about everyday reality. Our lyrics reflect how we live, what brings us joy and happiness in contrast to what worries us and calls for change.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
As mentioned before, it’s a straightforward punk-rock sound that features catchy and melodic choruses. In other words, it’s a rock’n’roll sound to which we added a little bit more distortion. A good old school rock’n’roll music has always been a huge influence on our sound. That’s why we want to keep our sound to be very natural and raw.
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
There are so many bands we would like to tour with. But if we could pick just three, it would be Social Distortion, Green Day and The Offspring. We grew up on the music of the 90’s and bands like Green Day and The Offspring were probably the biggest influences on us and I also think the main reason why we started making music. But we must also mention bands like Bad Religion and The Interrupters. They are such great bands and it would be a huge honor for us to tour with them.
5. How has Covid affected what you do as a band?
Covid has affected us quite a lot. We had to cancel our tour for the summer 2020 where we wanted to promote our debut album “Till The End Of The Line” and also many other gigs throughout almost two years of lockdowns. But fortunately, the tour dates were rescheduled for the year 2021. The good side of these “covid years” was, that we had much more time for songwriting and recording. Because we had received a lot of requests from people in Slovakia and Czech Republic, we recorded and released an album in February 2021 called “Do poslednej dávky” that featured songs only in Slovak language. It’s basically a Slovak version of our debut album “Till The End Of The Line”. This winter we went back to studio again to work on a new music that’s about to be released in the summer 2022. So, the last two years were quite a lot about songwriting and recording.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Rock/Punk?
The overall popularity of rock and punk-rock music has decreased over the years, if we compare it to how it was in the 90’s. But there are still new rock and punk bands coming out and putting out great music all over the world. So the passion is still there and it is also very hard to imagine the biggest summer festivals without rock bands. We are sure that rock’n’roll will never die. Even though it’s not at the highest peak of its popularity right now.
7. What’s the current music scene like locally there in Slovakia?
Slovakia is a small country, but we’ve got bunch of good rock festivals there. Probably the most popular among people in Europe is a multi-genre festival “Pohoda”. Then there are some smaller rock festivals like “TopFest” or a punk-rock festival “Punkáči Deťom”. Punk-rock music is very popular in Slovakia and it is very hard to find any festival where there won’t be any punk band among the headliners. People really like to go to punk-rock concerts and have a good time with their friends. We also have to mention some Slovak punk bands such as “Zóna A”, “Slobodná Európa”, “Ine Kafe” or “Horkýže Slíže” that we grew up listening to and that really shaped our taste in punk-rock music.
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
We haven’t cared about that very much. We know that we are not gonna make a lot of money from streaming platforms. But of course, it’s a great tool for spreading our music to some other corners of the world. Our music can be found on every bigger streaming platform, but we still need to learn more about how to use all its benefits. Right now, we are more concerned about playing as many gigs as possible and let the people know about our band and music this way.
9. What’s next for Minority?
As mentioned before, right now we are back in the studio recording and finalizing new music that’s about to be released in the summer 2022. We are also planning a tour for the upcoming summer to promote these new songs with concerts across the Central Europe.
10. Any shoutouts?
To all rock and punk-rock fans in the world. We are “The Minority” from the “heart of Europe” - Slovakia and we play California punk-rock. Always do what you love the most and never stop believing in yourself!
