Italian
Sludge/Doom Metal Band Satori Junk released their first and only
full-length one year ago, but I believe that the interview is
something that you need to do when you want to - not only for
promotional company of new release or something. So I’ve found this
record in my “need to listen” folder and this strong combination
of non-trivial stoner doom with sludgy and spaced out vibes that make
me believe in salvation through riff-meditation!
These
eight songs constitute heavy and distorted psychedelic trip with few
turns that could surprise you. Majestic vibe, shamanic rhythms, hazy
vocals… Will we hear it again on the Satori Junk second album?
Chris (guitars) has the answer for this question.
Hi Chris! How are
you? What's Satori Junk current state?
Hi Aleksey, we are
fine. The band is fully active. Riffing and delivering illness.
The band was born is
2012, and since then you have only one full-length album. Do you
already have new tracks for the sequel?
Sure.
We are working on new songs since we finished recording our first
album. Unfortunately, when our former drummer Giacomo left the band,
we had to stop for a bit. We should be back in studio for new
recording this autumn.
Do you have
replacement for Giacomo?
Yes.
After a couple of months, we found Max. He has a different drumming
style, more powerful. That obviously changed a little our approach to
the songs, but added a lot of energy to our gigs.
Can you already tell
how the new material differs from the one you had for debut album? Or
what would you like to add to that stoner doom you played when you
started the band?
I
think the new material will be more focused on what will be “our
own style”. We added new synth sounds, and unleashed Luke’s
creativity. There’s a lot of doom in our riffs, but we will try to
make our album sounds in a different way.
The
band's concept is described with definition “oniric, horror
movies”. Is it close to the truth?
Yes.
For example, when Luke writes down the lyrics, he always gets his
inspiration from his weird dreams, writing down short stories where
the main character always dies. There are a lot of spooky elements in
our music, also the sound of theremin makes his job perfectly.
Yes, I’d like to
ask that too – who did play theremin on the album? How did you get
that this instrument fits well to Satori Junk?
I
love that unusual sound that was used by classical bands like Led
Zeppelin, I think it is the kind of tune that could rise from the
wall of sound, making atmosphere and getting you into the right mood.
When Luke found that optical theremin, we just tried to play with it…
and it worked great!
Satori Junk –
T.T.D.
And the horror
movies – do you really have the song based on something of this
genre?
Well,
it depends on Luke’s nightmares! There’s always something weird
in his songwriting: he could write an entire horror movie script on
his own.
You
have this insane video for “Ritual” song, what is this movie you
use in it?
The video was made by Gryphus Visual who uses a lot of old movie samples from the 60/70's in his works. We simply gave him the songs, and he followed his inspiration. I don’t recognize all the samples he used, but you can see clips from the movie Westworld, with Yul Brynner.
Satori Junk is a
kind of inconsistent title, what did you want to express through it?
What is it's ultimate meaning?
We
started the recording aware that it could have been our last work.
Every song in it is the result of jam sessions where we started to
define our sound, experimenting with riffs and including lots of
elements from the music we love.
What’s the best
feedback you ever had for the band?
This
year we supported Lord Vicar. Having them in front of us headbanging
all the time while performing, was the best feedback we could ever
had!
One of debut album's
features is heavily overloaded fuzz-sound. How do you reach it?
I
love that fat, dirty-fuzzed sound full of harmonics. Obviously bands
like Electric Wizard inspired me a lot. Reaching that sound is not
too hard: just find the right amps, guitars and pedals.
It’s all about the venues. Sometimes we have strict rules to respect, sometimes we are free to push our volume to the limit. Obviously, louder is better!
What's the range of Satori Junk concert activity? How far did you tour with the band?
In
the last year, we mostly played in northern Italy. When we first
played in Switzerland, the audience reacted with lots of headbanging
and asked for an encore after an hour of gig. So, we understood that
we were ready to go abroad.
Christian, you were
looking booking agencies to spread Satori Junk vibes outside Italy
successfully; did you succeed in this deal?
We
are still looking. Finding the right contacts abroad is a hard job,
but we will succeed.
Italy
has one of the biggest doom scenes, how do you see current local doom
trends there?
Italian
scene is great and rich of different influences. Some supporters are
just curious, while others are die-hard people that attends all the
greatest European festivals. Many venues dedicate all their schedules
to this kind of music which helps the scene a lot. Also some extreme
metalheads are starting to appreciate the doom heaviness, despite the
low speed. The sad thing is that in our country there is not so much
respect for music: you will always have to struggle with
uncompromising laws, hostile neighborhoods and high organization
costs.
Christian, thank you
for that conversation! I wish you all the best with writing the
second Satori Junk album, let me know when you have it finished. And
how would you like to finish our interview?
Thank you Aleksey!
Well, let’s have a beer!
Words by Aleks
Evdokimov and Satori Junk
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