Interviews: VORTEX

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Melodic Death Metal band, VORTEX from Canada. 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 come from a French part of Canada; I wanted a band name that worked in French as well as in English. At the time I was looking for a name I was reading a lot about science, especially about Physics, general relativity, black holes, all that kind of stuff. That’s how the name came to me, from an interest in physics and the need for a bilingual name.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

I grew up on metal and since I picked up a guitar that’s all I wanted to learn and play. Vortex is what I would call Orchestral blackened Melo Death. We love death metal, black metal, and movie scores, our music is a combination of all of that.

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

The 5 of us are from the cold Northeastern part of the Province of Quebec. We knew each other for a very long time and decided to form a band because all our other projects were dead or not going very well. Our vision was to create music that would have dynamics and a strong melodic side while retaining the essence of what death metal is.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Hard to name only one band but we’re all into different genres of metal and that’s what has shaped our sound. Alex our vocalist is into deathcore and black metal; Justin our drummer is into orchestral black metal and prog metal bands; Simon our bass player studied jazz guitar in school but comes from the deathcore scene; Mathieu our guitar player is also schooled in jazz guitar and is into punk rock, old school death metal and tech death. I come from the thrash metal school, but my interest now gravitates toward death and black metal. Most of us are also huge fans of movie scores and this is a major influence on our music.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Our new album and the 2 previous ones are conceptual. First, we find an idea for a good story, it’s got to be related to an interesting matter that we find worth talking about. Second, we write a rough storyline with the chapters that will become individual songs. Third, we write the music and lyrics for each song. Before writing a song, we talk about the feeling that the music must have to fit what is happening in that specific part of our story. Our writing process is diversified, sometimes the orchestra is the backbone of the song and sometimes it’s added once the drums and guitars are all written. A lot of people don’t really care about the lyrics but to us, writing a good story and having to fit the music to it is a good way of pushing our creativity, that’s what inspires us. We like to write music with a specific goal in mind. Our process is not just to find good riffs and put drums over them, it is more about the feeling that each song needs, and we always look at the big picture when writing individual parts.

6. Where was your last gig?

The last Gig was last week in Quebec City, we played with Fracturus, Strigampire, and Born Divided.

7. Where would you like to act?

Wacken would be great, or maybe the 70 000 tons of metal, playing on the cruise must be so much fun.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Hans Zimmer in one of his movie scores, I would love to add some heavy music to one of his compositions.

9. Whom not?

Kirk Hammett, I won’t comment on that.

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

I played about 500 shows in my life and had stage fright for about the first 200. Now that I’m used to it, I’m not afraid of playing live anymore unless I feel the band and/or myself are not ready for it. For me, it all comes down to being well-prepared as a musician and as a band. Also, I’m much more confident if I warm up correctly, I play for about half an hour before going on stage. So, my advice would be to make sure your individual chops are at their best, rehearse your live set with the band exactly like you will perform it on stage, and make sure you are all warmed up. It’s hard to play well when there are technical issues during a live show, so I always go over all the details; are the in-ears and wireless systems working, are amps working normally and at the correct volume, are cabs connected, are we earing the orchestrations and clicks? I check everything so when it’s time to go onstage we can focus on the performance and nothing else. 

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

As the years went by, we were influenced by many bands, but I would say that the ones who really had an impact on us for the writing and the production of our new record ‘’The Future Remains in Oblivion” were Shadow of Intent, Septicflesh, Lorna Shore, Dimmu, Fleshgod and…. Hans Zimmer.

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

A guy asked if I could sign one of my guitars and sell it to him; I had too many instruments for my need at that moment, so I agreed on selling one. There was also that girl after a show who asked me to sign her butt, in front of her boyfriend….

13. What do you think of your fans?

Underground metal fans are passionate, they are great and very kind to us.

14. What do you think of our site?

I love the track-by-track and behind-the-artwork features, it’s different and very interesting.

15. Something to add?

Thank you for your interest in VORTEX. I would also like to ask your readers who never heard of us to give a seriously listen to our music, especially Lighthouse and our new record The Future Remains in Oblivion. At this moment the challenge besides offering quality recorded material and live shows is to have people’s attention. It is so easy nowadays to go from one band to another on Spotify and listen mostly to the big bands and hits. I’d be grateful to those who would take their time to listen a few times to our new record so they can really get into it. I know this is not how it goes now but in my opinion, that’s the only way to fully understand and appreciate an artist.