Interviews: STELLAGEN

This is a new interview with the Thrash Metal/Power Metal/Melodic Death Metal band STELLAGEN from Australia. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

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

The hard thing about band names is coming up with something that isn’t already taken. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought of awesome band names only to google and find it’s already taken! But I came up with the name ‘Stellar Genesis’, which is representative of the last lyrics from the album - ‘quintessential ashes radiating from dying stars’. That is, all of the carbon in the human body began in a dying star - so we all come from dying stars. I think then what happened was Symon (Bass) suggested shortening it, and I ultimately came up with STELLAGEN, a portmanteau/ combination of ‘Stellar Genesis’. I then ended up using ‘Stellar Genesis’ as the title for the classical instrumental ‘Stellar Genesis Part 1’, which gets continued on the second album and likely the third album too. 

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

I’ve been listening to metal since I was a kid, and have always been a fan of all the different sub-genres - melodic death metal, power metal, black metal, death metal, progressive metal etc. When I decided to start this band my vision was simply to try and write good metal songs, generally with some kind of melodic ‘hook’, but taking from whatever genre of metal feels right or comes naturally. Whether or not we succeeded is up for the listener to decide!

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

Absolutely! Jimmy and I are twin brothers so we’ve literally known each other all our lives! And Symon is a good friend going back many, many years, over 20 years I think. Symon and Jimmy used to play in a band together back in the day.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Phil: it’s hard to say just one, it changes all the time, but at the moment I would say Helloween, with close contenders Opeth, Savatage, Dream Theater, and Alcest.

Jimmy: Megadeth

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

I try to let songs and inspiration develop naturally so that creating music is never forced. In fact, a large chunk of my songs actually come from dreams - songs seem to just come to me in dreams then I have to force myself to wake up so I can record the idea on my phone.

6. Where was your last gig?

As this is a new band we haven’t played live yet, though looking forward to it soon. The Covid-19 pandemic made gigging difficult plus we’re more focussed on songwriting and recording at the moment. Our second album is mixed and mastered and should be out later this year and the songs are all written and demoed for the third album. We have all been playing live in various Sydney-based bands for over 20 years. Jimmy’s last gig was with his band Deformity (death metal from Sydney).

7. Whom would you like to feature with? And who not?

We’re open to playing with any other metal bands. Because our style is a mix of genres - from brutal death metal to more uplifting power metal anthem of type songs - I think we would not be out of place on various different types of lineups. 

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

Thankfully no! The best advice we could give even though pretty obvious - is practice! But more importantly, practice by yourself so that you have everything down before you get to the band rehearsal room. That way the band rehearsal is just focussing on the finishing touches of the performance, rather than learning everything from scratch. It sounds obvious but it isn’t necessarily the case.

9. What bands have inspired you the most?

I would say the band common to all of us that has been a big inspiration is Megadeth. We have fond memories of being at a Megadeth gig in I think 2006. That shared moment of joy when the intro to riff to ‘My Last Words’ started playing is something we still talk about.

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

Jimmy: A lady once asked me to sign her butt. But she only had a ballpoint pen. I really had to dig it in so that it would show. I felt bad.

11. What do you think of your fans?

We’re super grateful to our fans - to anyone who has bought a physical copy of our debut album, given it a listen on streaming platforms, or watched our debut music video on YouTube. It is very humbling to put so much time and effort into creating music and have people enjoy it - you all rock!

12. What do you think of our site?

Very cool!

13. Something to add?

Thanks for the interview and keep rocking! STELLAGEN/ PHIL