Anton: Hi Armin, how is it going? I just discovered your band and have to say you’re nailing a fine breed of Heavy and Thrash Metal on disc! I learned that you lived, died and were resurrected again, so it would be great if you could give the New Testament according to Infrared to our readers. What’s the story behind it all?
Armin: Yes, that is true. We were a band in the mid to late 80’s and by 1990 completely folded. Before we did fold, we had managed to record a demo tape that was traded and shot a video that was played a few times on our nation’s music video station called “Much Music”. From that we got some attention across Canada and had fan mail coming for some time after that. Getting fan mail was the equivalent of getting “likes” or messages on social media today.
Anton: So how did it happen that you’re back to alive and kickin’ now?
Armin: The reunion happened because another band from our early days, who were our mentors, also had reunited. The band was called Shock, and their lead singer and guitar player Tony Ve wanted us to reunite as well so that we could play a nostalgia show with them. He tried a couple of times. The first time I was still in another band so I said I couldn't find the time to do it. But the second time he asked, I was a free agent and so we got 3 of the 4 original members back together. The bass player Shawn Thompson lives in the US and we could not make it work with him, so we got Mike Forbes who was a part of our crowd anyway from the old days. Once we had played a few shows together, we knew we had to go back and record our material from the early days just so that we could say we did it. It was well received… and as we kept playing, we started building up a fan base... and that pushed us to write our second album of all new material just to prove we still could write.
Anton: You released two albums by now, is No Peace just recordings of your old songs from the 80s and Saviours all new material? And what’s the story behind the brand new EP? Please give us some insights.
Armin: Yes, No Peace was a tip of the hat to our old days and Saviours was to prove that we could still write that style of music that we love so much. It still has the old school vibe, which was intended. Kirk and I love those old school riffs… heavy and catchy. Regarding the Back To The Warehouse EP, we still had a few songs left over from the early days. We had never fully completed them or recorded them so we wanted to make sure that they did not get lost to history. So we took the best of what we had done and reworked and wrote what we needed to make them as good as they could be. So this EP is really a perfect fusion of the old and the new INFRARED. Our decision to record one cover was that we wanted to pay homage to one of our major influencing bands. We did not stray too much from the original as the song, to us, was already pretty perfect… so we just added a bit of INFRARED to it... a bit of beef if you will, and the result is this version of the great Wrathchild. Moving forward, we may continue paying tribute to our major influences, such as Judas Priest, Scorpions, Black Sabbath, etc. But original music is always the priority.
Anton: What are the ingredients for a great song in your opinion? Have to say All In Favour is an absolutely awesome song, especially that hymn-like part in the middle is outstanding.
Armin: I think a good song has great guitar riffs that get you pumping, a solid vocal with meaningful lyrics to layer on top of the strong riffs and of course tell a story, not only with the lyrics, but with the music passages as well. Have a bit of a roller-coaster ride in the song.
Anton: Thinking of the times today, how would you compare the current scene with the times of your youth? What things are good/bad?
Armin: Oddly enough, where the live scene is concerned, it hasn’t changed that much. There is a healthy metal scene, the bands get along, you play for ticket and merch sales. The biggest difference is the technology. It is much easier to record a great sounding album these days and do it yourself if you are technically savvy. Social media allows you access to a much larger audience. While technology has that upside, it also has the downside where everyone and their dog is making music and standing out is harder and harder. There is a lot of noise on the internet and the culture has changed as well where people don’t really dig into bands as much as they used to… i.e. listen to the same album over and over and just know it inside out. It is more of a consumer society where people are looking for their next fix and they get it because there is so much music out there. So bands really have to work social media to constantly stay in their fans’ consciousness.
Anton: Your lyrics seem to deal with socio-critical themes a lot like it is common in Thrash Metal. What’s your take on today’s society(-ies) and the state of the world in general?
Armin: Shit has not changed. And it is not surprising. The only thing that I think has changed is how open and brazen leaders have become at screwing over the people or getting away with crimes. It’s like they know they are untouchable, so why try to hide it. All In Favour actually touches on this and talks about how when this happens, the mob rules and the abusers of power must burn.
Anton: Do you often play live gigs? What were good or bad moments here and how is touring in Canada? Do you always have long travels between venues?
Armin: We do play a fair bit. We have not really had any bad moments. We may have run into some arrogant staff from larger touring bands, but even there, I think that has only happened once. The overall experience is super positive and fun. We have met so many great people. We have played with Anvil, Venom Inc, Sacrifice, Razor, Flotsam and Jetsam, Atrophy, DBC, etc… all amazing people and bands. We also just finished a mini tour with Black Mass from Boston. We hit Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City. We had a blast, but yes, the distances are something else. A lot of driving. For example, from T.O. to Montreal, you are looking at around 5.5 hours. It’s all doable though.
Anton: How do you manage to balance band and family out?
Armin: Our kids are all older, so everyone is doing their own thing, but we make time to hang out and do family trips still. Anton: What bands/ albums did you discover lately that you think are awesome? Armin: Ultra Violence and Exmortus are some killer extreme thrash bands. Very tight and technical.
Anton: What are your plans with INFRARED? Any chance you come to Europe someday?
Armin: We are about to release an EP that is a blend of the last of the old songs and the new. That should be early to mid-June. And of course, we will start writing and working on album 3 soon. We have so much material to pick from. We are excited about that. We would love to play Europe, so if you have some contacts please share… Europe is so metal!
Anton: Alright, thank you for taking the time to answer this interview. All the best to you and INFRARED. Last words for our readers?
Armin: We hope people dig what we are doing. We are not trying to be anything other than what we are… old school metal/thrash… filling a bit of that void. Stay metal everyone!!! |
