Interviews. Gromadah

We have had the opportunity to interview the  Progressive Metal band Gromadah from Ukraine. 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?

We were looking for a name that would hint at metal music for a long time. Due to the fact that from the very beginning our music was of different genres, the classical approach to the title did not suit us. We were looking for a name that would resonate with us and our music. And they came to the name Gromada two years after the start of joint rehearsals. We had just scheduled a performance and it was already impossible to exist without a name. The name Gromada, among the range of other options, was first of all liked by the fact that in one of the languages ​​of the Slavic group this word means something huge, majestic, immense and incomprehensible to the end. Moreover, in the same language, this name can be decomposed into two words meaning “thunder” and “hell”. Can you imagine a thunder in hell? This is comparable to the first value because it is difficult to imagine the scale of this screen. This is how a connection of meanings appears with each other. And the third meaning resonates with the socio-philosophical themes of our lyrics. In the state language of our country, Ukraine, this word means the unification of people according to the territorial and cultural factor. And this also speaks of us, as people united by common interests. So this name stuck to us. Subsequently, when we were drawn into the heavy subgenres of progressive metal, we added the letter “h” at the end of the name to refer to the Meshuggah group and, in addition, in English the name is pronounced almost the same as in the Slavic languages ​​of our habitat.

2. Why did you want to play in this genre?

Our music is based on progressive metal. Elements of other genres cling to it as a frame: thrash, death, groove, djent, modern and melodic death metal. We like all these elements ourselves in the music of other bands. Thanks to such a wide range of preferences, we can not limit ourselves in the possibilities of self-expression and convey the mood of the song. It often happens that our music tells the content of our song even in more detail than the lyrics of this song. Therefore, only the basic maxims and punchlines remain in the lyrics. And music reveals their hidden content, so that each listener finds his own meanings and associations.

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

The group was formed by two guitarists Dmitry Chernichenko and Jorg Gromadoff. In 2003, Jorg invited Dmitry to take part in the recording of one underground project, of which he had been a member since 2001. And in the process of writing and recording, there were many unrealized ideas. We decided to play them and put together some songs. Later, drummer Vitaly Beletsky and bass guitarist Oleg Shpakovsky were found in a circle of friends. At first, Jorg was on vocals, he wrote his songs and wanted to sing them himself. When Oleg Shpakovsky appeared in the group, he began to sing along and lay out vocal parts in intervals. After a while, it was no longer possible to understand where the main vocals were and where the additional ones were. Each had its own verified role.

4. Favorite group of each member of the group?

The tastes of the musicians overlap and it is difficult to single out any one favorite band. But if you roughly highlight the accents: Dmitry loves Symphony X, Liquid Tension Experiment and other prog metal representatives, Oleg, as the youngest member, has always liked Korn, Slipknot and Pantera Jorg loved listening, hard core, thrash metal and death metal, but most of all he was impressed by Exploited, Slayer and Testament. Drummer Vitaly always preferred a black metal vibe and listened a lot to Dimmu Borgir, Behemoth, Darkthrone Everyone has their own preferences, but in most cases our preferences are the same.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Musically, we are inspired by other musicians who create incredible music. There is a lot of cool music in the world and not only metal music. We take ideas for texts from bright life moments and circumstances, somewhere the ideas are inspired by watching films and reading books.

6. Where was your last concert?

The last time we performed in December 2010 was a three-day tour of the cities of Ukraine: Kiev, Simferopol, Kherson. The journey was remarkable in that between cities we spent the night on trains that transported us from one city to another. On YouTube you can find an amateur video from this "metal trip" from the Ukrainian Simferopol, where we play a cover of the song Battery by Metallica. In 2011, the project had to be paused. And everyone scattered to different musical groups. And in 2017 they gathered to record only one song, but the process was so carried away that they decided to continue.

7. Where would you like to perform?

At festivals like Wacken Open Air. And at local festivals with a large audience and professional organization.

8. Who would you like to perform with?

It would be cool to play with musicians who have already passed away, and probably gathered in amazing bands in the afterlife. Among those still living in recent times, Twelve Foot Ninja, Gojira, Spiritbox, Devin Townsend are very impressive ... In fact, many modern bands make amazing music and perform it live very well.

9. With whom not?

If only it was not a school group that does not fall into each other's parties, but a professional performer, whose audience would intersect with our genre.

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

Fatally none of us suffered from stage fright. But there is always some excitement, and that's okay. If you regularly rehearse and improve your technique, then there is nothing to be afraid of. The body memorizes every note, position and every movement. This is recorded in the subcortex of the brain. Even if someone accidentally falls out of pace, the team continues to do its job smoothly and the audience does not even notice this flaw. But, no one is immune from mistakes and this must be accepted. It is important, having entered the stage, to dress yourself mentally in the artist's "spacesuit". On stage, you, as an actor, play a certain character. On stage, you are far from the person whose name is written on your passport. You are an artist.

At the first performances, especially when you perform in support of some eminent artist, to whom the overwhelming majority of the audience came, there can be excitement from the realization that this is not your audience. But after the first loss, all the excitement disappears somewhere and you make such a show on this adrenaline that the headliner after your performance has to delay the beginning of his performance so that the audience regains the necessary norm.

Once we performed in front of a famous headliner. The whole club was packed to the limit with fans of this group. And when we started playing our last song, someone in the crowd could not stand it and began to shout that we should leave, and the rest of the audience picked up this vibe and everyone began to chant the name of the headliner. But we understood that our fans were in this crowd and we didn't care about the rest. We played for our audience and did not pretend that we were somehow offended by someone's ignorance.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Initially, we played music at the intersection of classical heavy metal, punk, speed metal with guitar elements of power metal and hard rock. In different compositions every now and then you could hear the influence of such bands as Motorhead, AC / DC, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Manowar, Rhapsody of Fire. Along with these great bands, we adored the equally great bands Death, Pantera, Slayer, Sepultura, Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Anthrax ... listened to a lot of music. But after a while we were carried away by the progressive metal bands Dream Theater and Symphony X, later on this wave we really liked the music of Devin Townsend. After that, we could no longer refrain from experimenting in this genre, adding patterns that are not inherent in progressive metal. A little later, in 2007, the alternative metal scene was at its peak. Bands like Korn, Mushroomheads, Slipknot, Mudvayne, Godsmack appeared in our field of vision. We were also speechless from Children Of Bodom, Arch Enemy, In Flames and Soilwork. We regularly attended concerts of various local bands, listened to a lot of old and new music. We were in a constant musical and creative flow and absorbed everything that only came into our field of vision and hearing. A year later, we were fond of the work of the groups Protest The Hero, Periphery, Meshuggah, Lamb Of God, Chimaira and then we were already completely “crazy”. We started to like bands playing extreme metal, black metal and grindcore. All of these groups and many others have influenced our creative worldview.

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

Once, after a concert, a fan asked our guitarist Dmitry(guitarist) to leave her an autograph on her outstanding nude bra. She left Dmitry no choice, and with manic zeal he covered her all outstanding flesh.

13. What do you think of your fans?

To enjoy our music, you need to be on the same wavelength with us. You need to understand and love those groups that influenced our work. And this is not an easy task. Typically, our fans have a broad outlook combined with a detachment from traditional reality. Each of our fans is a complex person with their own unique inner world. These qualities allow people to look differently at new compilations of already familiar cliches and find something interesting in a completely new and unusual.

14. What do you think of our site?

Your site has an attractive and user-friendly design, a good information presentation structure. We found a wealth of information about a new and little-known band with interesting music. We think that your site will be of interest to any metalhead. Everyone will be able to find information corresponding to his preferences. We wish you further development and many cool groups.

15. Anything to add?

Our fourth single from the upcoming album will be released on November 19th on popular digital streaming platforms. The single is called "Conscience". The album will be released in the second half of 2022. Readers who have not heard our music can listen to our singles and covers on the most popular streaming sites. And also buy our songs on our Bandсamp and watch our video works on our YouTube channel. We will be glad to see your readers in subscribers and followers of our social networks and among the patrons of our Patreon.