Masaki Murashita: Vocals, Lead &
                                   Rhythm Guitar
Jack Fliegler: Lead Guitar
Ren (Sunao Arai):  Bass
Travis Thune:  Drums

Formed:  2007
Tempe, AZ   USA
Label:  Unsigned/Self Released
Genre:  Thrash/Death Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

DISCOGRAPHY:

Who Needs a Shepherd? EP (2008)

TO THE TOP

First I would like to thank the band for being so gracious about my less than glowing review of your EP. I was very excited to learn that you wanted to pursue an interview, as I am, believe it or not, a fan, and happen to be convinced that you have tremendous potential.

Ilmarinen: To kick it off, briefly describe your band for anyone that may not already be acquainted with your work.

Masaki: Hemoptysis’ (pronounced Huh-moP-ti-sis) sound is a distinct and exquisite mix of old school thrash metal and modern death metal. Not just rooted in the classic American style of metal, Hemoptysis creates a new wing of the future metal sound through their various influences from around the world.

Ilmarinen: You are a reasonably young band. Is the current line-up here to stay; are all of you equally committed to the band, the promise and/or a threat of a grueling life on the road, being away from your families for extended periods of time? Or are you already well integrated into that lifestyle?

Travis: I’m ready. Fuck my job. I will miss my family, but touring is my dream.
Masaki: I was born and raised in Japan until 15 and I have been living in different places for almost ten years now, so I’m used to being away from my family.
Sunao: Just like Masaki, I was born and raised in Japan but my family moved here. Since I don’t have to worry about an apartment or my dog; I’m ready to tour anytime.

Ilmarinen: [question for Masaki] Your vocals were the first thing to prominently stand out for me on the EP. You have a striking control that even reminded me a bit of early Jeff Walker of Carcass' fame. You also play guitar. Doing both can't be easy, and it is a choice many musicians eschew for one or the other. How do you typically prepare yourself, and what and who inspired you to become a vocalist, as well as a guitarist?

Masaki: I never expected that I was going to be singing in a band. Travis and I had a hard time finding a singer, not only finding good talent, but also it was really hard to find the right guy who had the same vision of the future and who was responsible. We almost gave up, so I started singing just to come up with some vocal lines and Travis dug it. I guess most singers feel the same way, but I hated my vocals, and it was so weird to hear myself from the speakers. Previously I had experience singing clean vocals, but I never growled and screamed like that. I wasn’t confident enough about my vocals, especially since I never tried and experienced this style. But Travis and many other people said, “Dude, what are you talking about? You sound awesome!” Yet it took me a while before I felt comfortable with it, not to mention playing guitar at the same time.

Also, I wanted to focus on playing guitar and it was a huge stress factor for me to be stuck in front of the mike most of the time during the songs. I wished I could be head-banging more and do whatever I wanted to do…but I don’t mind it anymore and now I'm having fun with it! So basically it was an accident that I became a singer in this band. As far as the observation that I sound like Jeff Walker, well, if I’m being compared to someone like him I must be doing something right. I do what I can. I can’t really say who inspired me to become a singer. I can say that Dave Mustaine was the biggest influence on me to become a guitarist. The first time I saw him playing on a DVD or a VHS I was blown away by his riffs and the sharp edged solos of the great musicians he was playing with. That’s when I picked up a guitar, got more serious about music, and got into metal.

Ilmarinen: How is it going with getting on a label? Are you negotiating something at the moment, have you been approached by anyone, or is the upcoming album going to be self-released? One of the initial observations about the EP was regarding the mixing job. Do you think a bigger studio would have an impact on the path the production process would take?

Masaki: We have not approached any labels yet. We are still new and have tons of things to do before we climb that wall and say, “look!” We will probably be releasing a full-length as a self-release, but we will definitely keep working hard to get the name out and do what we can everyday. I assume a bigger studio means experienced engineers/producers, and it would definitely make a difference on both production and performance levels. Being an unsigned band, it’s not easy to step on to the next level, but we will see what we can do.

Ilmarinen: [question for Jack] Brian's solo work on the EP had a very distinct neo-classical feel to it, adding a very pleasant and surprising dimension of melody to an otherwise very abrasive heavy metal record. How does your style compare to Brian's, and how do you see your input making the most impact on the compositions?

Jack: Brian has some pretty cool solos on WNAS, but I feel that my own guitar style fits the music more. Of course this is only my opinion. I play very melodically but also try to make my solos have dynamics with speed, key changes, and scales.  I have been putting a lot of my own flavor on our new material and I am taking full advantage of my influences from many different types of metal bands. It’s hard to describe my own guitar playing but overall, I feel that it’s a perfect match to the music that we play.

Ilmarinen: Your sound (band's sound) is pretty uniquely diverse; it craftily combines elements from at least three different genres. Could you shed some light on what bands inspired you the most?

Masaki: It’s hard to answer this question because we are not trying to be other bands that already exist. We write what we feel sounds good. Sure we all have favorite bands, but it doesn’t mean they are inspiring us or the sound. We can’t be someone else.
Jack: Travis is generally the Death Metal guy, Masaki is Thrash, and I’m influenced by Black Metal the most. We all listen to every style of metal however, so this helps us a lot in the writing process.
Sunao: I think we just do this naturally.

Ilmarinen: Is the current sound of the band something that came along organically in jam sessions or was it a deliberate decision to take it in this direction?

Masaki: We are still trying to find our sound. I want to have our sound be unique, like Slayer has Slayer’s sound and everybody can tell that it’s Slayer.

Travis: We just went with the flow of things because we are all pretty open-minded. The ending product is unique.

Ilmarinen: Was/is any one of you involved in any other projects/bands prior to the formation of Hemoptysis? How much knowledge and experience does each one of you bring to the table?

Masaki: Well, not really. I was in a band when I was in high school, but it wasn’t serious, and I had a hard time finding serious musicians in both Seattle and Phoenix until now, although I was writing music during that time.
Travis: I had a band in high school that went nowhere.
Jack: I’ve been in many different amateur bands, but this band is by far the most serious so far.
Sunao: I was in bands, but none of them seemed serious to me. I’m just glad I’m a member of Hemoptysis now, otherwise I would not be playing in band.

Ilmarinen: The name, Hemoptysis, conjures up the gruesome images of hacking up blood. Would you elaborate on the band's name?

Travis: My wife is a pharmacist that specializes in infectious diseases.  When we had a hard time coming up with a band name I asked her for ideas on sick medical terms that  we could use.  Some of her ideas were disgusting words that involved fecal matter.  Hemoptysis sounded cool and had a brutal meaning so we fell in love with it right away.

Ilmarinen: Please tell us about the new album you are working on. What should the fans expect? Does it build on the sound of your EP, or is it a different beast altogether? Is there a projected release date?

Masaki: So far it’s sticking with the same direction as the EP. We remain faithful to the old-school feel and sound, as well as the death metal elements, but it has all progressed since we have Jack’s influence now.
Travis: The songs are going to be heavier and more brutal, but still sounding like us.
Jack: Expect some killer musicianship on all instruments. We’re all putting our best into our own individual roles in the band.
Sunao: We are all getting better in making the Hemoptysis sound, so expect it to be great!!

Ilmarinen: Would you like to add anything before we wrap this up?

Masaki: Our EP is available on CDBaby, iTunes, Amazon and many other online music stores.
Travis:  Thank you for your support! 
Jack: Thanks for reading, listening, and buying! We all appreciate the support and hopefully we can turn this into a career.

Ilmarinen: Thank you, again, for this great opportunity to interview you guys and to hopefully introduce more people to who you are and to what you do. Best of luck on your album, I can't wait to hear it!

Hemoptysis

Interviewer: Ilmarinen

April 10, 2009

Click here for Ilmarinen's Review of Hemoptysis' Who Needs a Shepherd?

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