Band: Graveborn
Genre: Death Metal
Q: Where does the band name "Graveborn" come from?
Jason - the GRAVE!
Christian - Graves are pretty metal, and anything that is born from a grave is probably pretty metal too.
Geo - It's just "Gravebong" spelled incorrectly.
Chris - I believe I subconsciously stole it from all the fairly metal sounding terms you come across playing things like Dungeons and Dragons. I like monsters, and a lot of monsters are undead - or, born from the grave.
Jason - the GRAVE!
Christian - Graves are pretty metal, and anything that is born from a grave is probably pretty metal too.
Geo - It's just "Gravebong" spelled incorrectly.
Chris - I believe I subconsciously stole it from all the fairly metal sounding terms you come across playing things like Dungeons and Dragons. I like monsters, and a lot of monsters are undead - or, born from the grave.
Q: How is the local metal scene in Boston, MA?
Christian - It's definitely alive and kicking! There are tons of Djent bands, such as "Aviations" for example, and I have a couple of friends who are starting their own Djent acts as well. Boston being Boston, there are tons of more straightforward hardcore punk acts out here, and you occasionally see the lines blur between the metal and hardcore scenes, with kids going out to see both kinds of shows. There's definitely a lot of variety and interest in the extreme music camps in Boston, and lots of good bands to keep your eyes peeled for.
Geo - MA in general is insanely huge for metal, but that could be just me growing up in Nicaragua.
Jason - Pretty miniscule considering the scene is mostly confined to western mass, but it could be much worse!
Chris - Boston is fantastic for raw, in your face styles of metal, hardcore, and punk; but like Jason said, within the city itself, the choices for seeing metal shows can be pretty limited. It's starting to come back a little stronger now, with venues like Great Scott hosting some cool metal bills. But there's certainly tons of great artists
recording in this area! My two favorites would have to be Pathogenic and Your Pain Is Endearing. I like my metal heavy and riffy, and both those bands scratch both those itches.
Geo - MA in general is insanely huge for metal, but that could be just me growing up in Nicaragua.
Jason - Pretty miniscule considering the scene is mostly confined to western mass, but it could be much worse!
Chris - Boston is fantastic for raw, in your face styles of metal, hardcore, and punk; but like Jason said, within the city itself, the choices for seeing metal shows can be pretty limited. It's starting to come back a little stronger now, with venues like Great Scott hosting some cool metal bills. But there's certainly tons of great artists
recording in this area! My two favorites would have to be Pathogenic and Your Pain Is Endearing. I like my metal heavy and riffy, and both those bands scratch both those itches.
Q: What bands did you listen to growing up, and do any of those play an influence on your music making now?
Christian - The first "metal" band I ever distinctly remember listening to was Rammstein. I really dug all the melodic and harmonic aspects of their music, and sought out more bands similar to them. After going through a bunch of industrial/metal bands, I found that I really liked metal in general, and from there I branched out a lot. The first death metal band I really fell in love with was Opeth, and to this day they are still one of my favorite bands. I find that a lot of the harmonies they utilize tend to sneak into the music I write, and I feel that their musical texture is definitely incredibly interesting and unique. Mikael Akerfeldt's voice is definitely something to be envied, and their music is definitely an influence in the things I write, even if it isn't readily apparent.
Geo - I'm still growing up! I started playing because of friends having shitty acoustic guitars playing punk songs, and then thanks to the lovely world of internet got hip to heavier music and progressed from there on.
Jason - I was mostly a classic/prog rock nerd. not a prevalent flavor of our concept, but who knows what the future will bring!
Chris - I started with hard rock from my parents' albums that they would play all the time, but sometime around 12 I heard melodic metal bands like In Flames and Opeth, and was pretty floored. The first modern metal band I got really hooked on was The Black Dahlia Murder, and their style is a gigantic influence on my composing. Other modern melodic, riffy bands like Wretched, Sons of Aurelius, and Diskreet tend to be what I'm drawn to the most. I'm not a fan of technicality for technicality's sake, but using it to create a memorable, catchy riff or melody is always far and away the best way to draw me in.
Geo - I'm still growing up! I started playing because of friends having shitty acoustic guitars playing punk songs, and then thanks to the lovely world of internet got hip to heavier music and progressed from there on.
Jason - I was mostly a classic/prog rock nerd. not a prevalent flavor of our concept, but who knows what the future will bring!
Chris - I started with hard rock from my parents' albums that they would play all the time, but sometime around 12 I heard melodic metal bands like In Flames and Opeth, and was pretty floored. The first modern metal band I got really hooked on was The Black Dahlia Murder, and their style is a gigantic influence on my composing. Other modern melodic, riffy bands like Wretched, Sons of Aurelius, and Diskreet tend to be what I'm drawn to the most. I'm not a fan of technicality for technicality's sake, but using it to create a memorable, catchy riff or melody is always far and away the best way to draw me in.
Q: What can we expect from you this year? New EP? Tours?
Christian - We're working very hard on writing music for a full length album. We already have a few songs that are more or less fully written, and several more very involved sketches that don't need too much work in order to become full songs. If we keep up this writing pace, we might have a full length written before summer, and hopefully around then we can get into a studio and get it recorded! We've also started booking many shows around Massachusetts, and plan to play in the surrounding New England area, so if you live in the Atlantic North, you might have a chance to catch us live in the following months!
Geo - Our full length should be happening very soon! As for tours, that depends on how much support we see from our first few shows! MAKE IT HAPPEN! <3
Jason - Full length and fresh Graveborn threads for all formal occasions.
Chris - We're in the middle of writing our full length debut album. We're keeping a steady pace, and the excitement the band feels builds with each new song we construct. Aside from that, since we're a fairly young band and finally have a full lineup, playing live shows is the name of the game. That was always the reason the band got started in the first place, so we are eager to play anywhere and everywhere we can!
Geo - Our full length should be happening very soon! As for tours, that depends on how much support we see from our first few shows! MAKE IT HAPPEN! <3
Jason - Full length and fresh Graveborn threads for all formal occasions.
Chris - We're in the middle of writing our full length debut album. We're keeping a steady pace, and the excitement the band feels builds with each new song we construct. Aside from that, since we're a fairly young band and finally have a full lineup, playing live shows is the name of the game. That was always the reason the band got started in the first place, so we are eager to play anywhere and everywhere we can!
Q: What is your favorite record label, and if you had the chance to be signed to them, would you?
Christian - That's a tough question, there's a ton of labels I really like, such as Sumerian, Epitaph, Victory, Metal-Blade, amongst many others. If I had a chance to be signed to them, I would be very excited, but I wouldn't sign anything before first going over it with the band and a lawyer on hand. I've seen way too many bands get into huge amounts of problems simply because they didn't read the contract and didn't realize what they were getting themselves into. I've personally taken a couple of music business classes and know what to look out for, but having a lawyer on hand would definitely help us be completely certain that we aren't signing our entire lives away to a record label.
Geo - Would have to discuss with the dudes what would be best for all of us.
Jason - Sumerian records. Hell yes, they give bands the best contracts + loads of exposure without shoving it down peoples throats
Chris - I don't really have a "favorite" label, since most seem to have a few great releases and then some stuff they rolled the dice and lost on. Last year, Myriad Records impressed me with the stuff it was putting out! As far as being signed to one, it would depend on the sort of deal we were being offered. We have come as far as we have working on our own, so a label certainly wouldn't have to hold our hand through everything. We prefer doing stuff like recording and booking shows on our own.
However, the networking opportunities labels offer is absolutely nothing to be sneezed at. It is hard to say for sure how I'd react to a label giving us an offer; I'd certainly love as many people as possible to listen to our music, but I also do not like the idea of being given a giant advance and being in debt. So, if a label did approach us, I'd rather work out a deal for distribution/licensing rights and tour support than cash for recording. Websites like Bandcamp allow our fans to give us money directly for our efforts, so the role of labels in the industry is probably going to take a more management focused turn than anything.
Geo - Would have to discuss with the dudes what would be best for all of us.
Jason - Sumerian records. Hell yes, they give bands the best contracts + loads of exposure without shoving it down peoples throats
Chris - I don't really have a "favorite" label, since most seem to have a few great releases and then some stuff they rolled the dice and lost on. Last year, Myriad Records impressed me with the stuff it was putting out! As far as being signed to one, it would depend on the sort of deal we were being offered. We have come as far as we have working on our own, so a label certainly wouldn't have to hold our hand through everything. We prefer doing stuff like recording and booking shows on our own.
However, the networking opportunities labels offer is absolutely nothing to be sneezed at. It is hard to say for sure how I'd react to a label giving us an offer; I'd certainly love as many people as possible to listen to our music, but I also do not like the idea of being given a giant advance and being in debt. So, if a label did approach us, I'd rather work out a deal for distribution/licensing rights and tour support than cash for recording. Websites like Bandcamp allow our fans to give us money directly for our efforts, so the role of labels in the industry is probably going to take a more management focused turn than anything.
Q: If you could play with any band, broken up or not, which band would that be?
Christian - There are about a thousand different bands I could list, but I'll just answer based on what I'm feeling in this moment. I recently caught Misery Signals live a couple of weeks back and would love to play with them. They've gone through a lot of problems with losing band members, and for a while it seemed like they may never
come back, but they're making a very strong comeback, and they plan on releasing an album very soon. Misery Signals is one of my favorite bands, they write really interesting and unique music, but at the same time it's very fun and enjoyable too and makes for a great live show. I definitely admire them, and would immediately jump at an opportunity to play with them.
Geo - Despised Icon.
Jason - Sikth.
Chris - The Black Dahlia Murder. Without question.
come back, but they're making a very strong comeback, and they plan on releasing an album very soon. Misery Signals is one of my favorite bands, they write really interesting and unique music, but at the same time it's very fun and enjoyable too and makes for a great live show. I definitely admire them, and would immediately jump at an opportunity to play with them.
Geo - Despised Icon.
Jason - Sikth.
Chris - The Black Dahlia Murder. Without question.
Q: Any shout outs to give?
Anyone who has purchased our EP or commented on it (whether positive or negative!), we can't express how much that stuff means to us. It is massively encouraging when people are willing to give you some support even when you're willing to give away some stuff for free!
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