Iselia - Interview

Hey, Breathing The Core fans, here we bring you another interview of the Post-Hardcore band Iselia from USA, so here you can see and give a like to his FACEBOOK PAGE. We have nothing more to say, so enjoy this interview!

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

It wasn't exactly planned. Around the time we first started getting serious with the band, we bounced around names like Ashwood, Lurra, Behind Trees, and even Lavender Town before settling on Iselia. We were all pretty heavy into video games and Iselia really stuck with me being that Tales of Symphonia was my favorite game at the time. It's name is the village where the main protagonist is from that burned down twice in the story and since we bounced around so many different styles at first, it just seemed to fit perfectly.

2.Why did you want to play this genre?    

It was really the biggest common denominator among our group of friends. We all listened to bands like Pianos become the teeth,  Saetia, and Envy, in fact we all found out about those bands together. We would come to our friend Josh Bengston's house after school (high school) and all pile around the computer and just surf the internet for new bands or videos or whatever. The screamo genre, specifically the niche we fall into, to me, is one of the only genres that really give you full creative range to do and say whatever you want. Every band in this genre comes with a completely different element than the last while still falling into that category of hardcore.  You get bands like Loma Prieta who is on the more heavy/chaotic spectrum, then you have bands like Who Calls So Loud and Funeral Diner that are more melodic/emotional but will still kinda share the same category. This genre leaves a lot of room to experiment.

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

The original members, yes. We all met in high school and use to get together to jam at this bi-weekly anime club held at the local library. Eventually we tried to be a little more serious about it and after a while we had our first show. Today me (Molefi Ramos) and Corey King are the only two original members still in the band though we have grown pretty close to the current members.

4. Each band member favourite band?    

Molefi - Envy (Japan)

Corey - Sigur Ros  Tyler- Between the Buried and Me

Ryan- The Avett Brothers

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?    

Anything really. RPG games, horror movies, anime, life situations and stories people tell me, nature or the super natural. We draw concepts and inspiration from anything that resonates with us.

6. Where was your last gig?    

The Limelight in Greenville NC. Formally known as the Tipsy Teapot, one of our favorite venues to play. We shared the night with Joy (between two thieves) and Ghost Key.

7. Where would you like to act?    

Anywhere we haven't. We have played all types of venues from Word up books in Harlem NYC to the Jitterbug in Mullens, SC. Japan, Berlin, and Perth are all cities that have really peaked our interest.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

If we are taking about bands we would like to share the stage with, the list could go on and on. We have shared the stage with bands like Defeater, La Dispute, and Balance and Composure and we would love to share it with them again for sure. A few years back we did a split with a band called Foxes from Perth Australia and we love those guys to death but we have never actually met in person or played a show with them. I think it would be rad to set that up one day soon. Other bands we fantasize about playing with would be Circle Takes the Square, Tigers Jaw, Loma Prieta, State Faults, Frameworks, Code Orange, Envy and mewithoutyou. Again, the list could go on and on.

9. Whom not?    

I don't like to single people out like that but I can say that we hate working with bands that aren't serious about their own craft. It just wastes time for everyone involved. Don't start a band for the sake of having people look at you, do it because you NEED to get those feelings out. It doesn't necessarily mean you have to be the most talented, just act like you give a damn about what you are doing but most importantly just enjoy yourself.

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

Not really. Everyone in the band at some point has performed on a stage before so it wasn't anything we weren't use to. The key is to just not think about it, like Who cares?? What's important is that you just go up there and pour your heart out the best way you can and people can't be mad at that. As long as you at least act like you know what you're doing then people will believe that you do. A few drinks couldn't hurt either.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?    

When we first started the band we were very fond of bands like Envy and Pianos become the teeth so initially that is where we drew inspiration from but as we started to mature a bit more, we gravitated to bands like Sigur Ros and Bon Iver which kind of set us on a path to finding exactly what type of sounds we wanted to incorporate into our music. I like to think that we are still in the process of molding our sound into something much more mature but with that takes some time and experimenting.

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

That is a hard question to answer. It would have to be when a few months back, this woman who was very inebriated, so very passionately tried to persuade me to sing instead of screaming which isn't something we haven't heard before but it was just how she went about asking. She claimed to be responsible for signing Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson, which who knows, she could have been telling the truth but most likely not. She said we had that special something and that she wanted to work with us but we needed to drop the whole screaming act. What made it weird was that she grew very persistent and aggressive with the whole situation and would not leave us alone for almost a full hour. At one point she came to tears while explaining to me why she wanted to be able to hear what message we were trying to portray. Eventually we had to tell her to back off and later we found her in the parking lot sobbing, but you know...alcohol. It just frustrates me when someone is so passionate about something like that but really tries that hard to change the whole dynamic of it all. Not saying that bands who migrate from screaming to singing is wrong, she just insisted that what we were doing isn't popular when in fact she just had no idea about anything to do with the genre of music we play. If bands like Touche Amore can work with labels like Roc Nation then obviously this genre is becoming more marketable than she realizes, which made me question her credibility in the music industry.

13. What do you think of your fans?    

We love our fans very much. Hell, we once had a kickstarter backer help co-write lyrics to the song Truth Behind the Mask and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. We definitely meet some strange characters but most of our content is based around a Japanese RPG and it's always nice to meet the ones who love both the music and get it because they played through the game. We treat fans like family and that's how it's always been for us.

14. What do you think of our site?    

We love sites like Breathing the Core. Back in high school when we use to pile around the computer, we would always check sites like this one to keep us current on bands we haven't heard before. It's essential when trying to figure out the type of sounds you want to go for. If bands are the blood cells that keep this scene alive, then sites like Breathing the Core are the heart beat that keeps it all in circulation.

15. Something to add?    

Lost Star may be the last release we have that is based on a game from the Tales series. It's been a trend for us in the past, of course that is where the band name comes from, but it doesn't exactly represent the entirety of Iseia. We are working on an original back story for future releases to follow that we will explain more about when our next project comes.