Thursday, May 2, 2013

Interview with The Light Iris!

Band: The Light Iris
Genre: Metalcore / Post-Hardcore

Q: Where does the band name "The Light Iris" come from?
 
The name actually comes from a Georgia O'Keeffe painting hanging in the bathroom of Brandon's house. It has nothing to do with the band. We just picked it haha.
 
Q: What is the local metal scene like in San Francisco?
   
 We love this city and we are happy to call it our home, but the metal scene here isn't that great. Well, that's not totally true. It's good for classic metal, in my opinion, but when it comes to hardcore, metalcore, posthardcore, etc, it's nearly impossible to get a good crowd unless you are a huge signed band. People don't seem to go to local shows anymore. The scene gets a lot better traveling to the east bay and the South Bay.
 
Q: You've played with a few big name bands, Arsonists Get All The Girls, All Shall Perish, iwrestledabearonce. Which band has been your favorite to play with live and why?

Our show with AGATG was extremely fun. It was about 2.5 years ago in this small art gallery called Sub-mission in San Francisco. We hadn't been a band for that long but we had a pretty good crowd and it was the first time we played with a huge band. The show we played with All Shall Perish and iwrestledabearonce was great too because we had to travel down to Los Angeles, which was the bands first road trip. 
 
But if I had to pick which show was my favorite, it would have to be the show we played with Jamie's Elsewhere. We had Aaron Pauley, former JE vocalist/current Of Mice & Men bassist and vox, sing on stage with us. Aaron sang on our debut ep, so it was pretty awesome to have him sing the song live with us on stage. 
 
Q: You are currently working on a new album to release this year. When can we expect it and what can we expect from it?

You can expect a more mature record than our ep, as cliche as that sounds. Probably one of the biggest things that people will notice are the vocals. Our vocals have changed a lot in the past 2 years, especially Andy's screams. For our ep, we had the songs for a while before we recorded them and the vocals were written mostly for our original vocalist. We ended up parting ways with our vocalist before heading into the studio so Andy and I ended up recording the vocals for the EP. For this album, we wrote vocals that suited our voices. For our ep we had the honor of having Aaron Pauley do guest vocals. 
 
For this full length, we were able to get 2 guest vocalist. Although we are not releasing the names of these artist yet, I'm sure people are going to be very pleased and surprised. Also, the music is a bit more technical. We have just improved as musicians and songwriters in the past 2 years. So in other words, just expect a better album lol. We are planning on releasing the album early June.  
 
Q: If you could be signed to any label, which label would that be and why?

That's a really good question. For a long time, our dream label was and probably still is Sumerian Records. We just love a lot of the bands that are on that label and it would be awesome to be part of that lineup. So far we have been pushing through DIY style and it has been going pretty good so far but if we are offered a deal and the contract looks good then we will definitely take it. 
 
We got offered a deal from this one independent label several months back but we decided not to take it because the contract didn't benefit us. We just aren't in a rush to get signed. But if the right opportunity presents itself, then who knows. 

Q: What are you goals for the rest of this year?

Our main goal for this year is to release this album and finally go on tour. We haven't had the opportunity to actually go on a real tour yet and I think it's time that we do it. We are already in the process of booking a few dates, but nothing is for sure yet. We also plan on making new merch and a new music video. 
 
But the main thing is just playing a lot more shows up and down California and Nevada, and anywhere else we can. We also hope on snagging some type of endorsement/sponsorship to help us keep this thing going.

Q: Any shout outs to give?

We would love to say thank you to our friends, families and especially our fans for supporting us the past 3 years. We would also like to say thanks to Zach of Castle Ultimate Studios for helping us make this album possible. And of course thanks to Pig Squeals and Breakdowns!
 
Answered by guitarist and vocalist Dennis.

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