Interviews: Grey Skies Fallen

We have had the opportunity to interview the Progressive Death Metal/Doom Metal band Grey Skies Fallen from the USA. Check out the interview and follow the band on their  FACEBOOK PAGE.

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

Back in February of 1997, I was going to school out on Long Island. At that time, the band was called Eve of Mourning. A drummer we were jamming with in late-1995/early-1996 had suggested the name. One day, I got an email from a guy in Chicago who was in a band also called Eve of Mourning. Obviously they had the name first, and had released a couple of demos, so I wasn’t going to argue about it. I told them we would change the name. A few days later, I was driving back from school on the Long Island Expressway. It was snowing very hard and I really had a difficult time seeing the road in front of me. It was at that moment that the band name came to me.

2.Why did you want to play this genre?

I’ve been into metal since I was 7 years old. I was given Quiet Riot’s “Metal Health” on tape for Christmas, 1983. I also got a boombox that year, (it was the early 80’s!) and I was off to the races. When I was 12, I got a guitar and started playing. It wasn’t until I was 16 or so and started jamming with Joe D’angelo where I started to take it somewhat seriously. As for why I wanted to play doom metal? I guess that would be because I heard My Dying Bride for the first time in 1993, and that really opened doors.

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

The roots of GSF really trace back to October of 1995. Joe had started jamming with a guy called Chris Montalbano, a bass player. They started to play with Dom Trombetta, a dude I knew from high school. A couple of jams into this, I got involved and we wrote the songs that would make up the Eve of Mourning demo. So from those original days, I previously knew Joe and Dom. After the Eve of Mourning demo, and we changed the name, we took in Craig Rossi on keyboards. I knew Craig from high school, also. Sal joined the band in 1998. I knew him from college. So most of us knew each other somehow in the beginning.

4. Each band member favourite band?

I can only speak for myself, but I’d have to say Iron Maiden.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

I’m not a guy that sits at home and writes songs. That’s likely to my detriment. What inspires me to write is when the whole band is together in the jam room just throwing shit out there and seeing what works. That’s how I write. I feed off the energy in the room. You can tell right away when something you write is sick.

6. Where was your last gig?

The last show GSF played was back in April 2019 out on Long Island. It was a killer lineup, featuring bands like Unearthly Trance, Mantismass, and False Gods. Unfortunately, I was injured at that time with blown-out discs in my neck, so I was in excruciating pain throughout the whole set, and I don’t think it was our best performance. We have a few shows lined up now, so we will be making up for that.

7. Where would you like to act?

We love playing live at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. They are re-opening soon, so we can’t wait to play there again one day. Another place we enjoy playing a is Amityville Music Hall out on Long Island.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

If this were a perfect fantasyland, I would tour with My Dying Bride, and give the world an amazing doom/death tour for the ages. This is not reality, however. In the real world, we are going to pick our spots and play the highest-caliber live shows that we possibly can.

9. Whom not?

We’ll play with anyone, just as long as they aren’t complete assholes.

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

I’ve never had that issue, luckily. Our first real show was the 1999 March Metal Meltdown in New Jersey, and we played for many people that night. I wasn’t nervous at all, and I was very happy about that. The one thing I do is, I like to pick a spot on the back wall or somewhere in the back of the venue, and I keep my eyes on that spot so my eyes aren’t darting all over the place. It’s hard enough to sing and play at the same time, so I just try to zone in on a particular spot and that seems to work.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

For this band, I would have to say My Dying Bride, Opeth, Iron Maiden, and Camel.

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

Two things come to mind. One time, we were setting up to play a show, and a dude approached me and asked if I would propose marriage to his girlfriend for him over the mic in between songs. I laughed and asked if he was serious. He was. I apologized and told him “Sorry. We don’t take requests.” Another time, a guy wanted me to autograph his girlfriend’s tits with a sharpie pen at the Milwaukee Metalfest. That’s one request in which I happily obliged.

13. What do you think of your fans?

We don’t have many of them, but the ones we do have, we absolutely love, and thank them for their continued support. Some have been with us since the beginning, and that’s a long time!

14. What do you think of our site?

Fuckin killer!!!! Thank you for supporting metal!

15. Something to add?

Me and Tom, our bass player also have other bands and projects. Please check out our new death metal band Reeking Aura, featuring Ryan Lipynsky from Unearthly Trance, and Will Smith from Artificial Brain and Afterbirth, as well as Terrell Grannum from Thaetas. Myself and of those guys minus Ryan are also in Buckshot Facelift. Buckshot is chaotic grind/death that you should all go check out. Finally, Tom and I do an atmospheric instrumental project called Brave the Waters. It’s just spacey electric guitars over acoustics and bass. Cool stuff. All of these projects have Bandcamp pages and various social media pages. Thank you so much for this interview!