This week we delved into the world of up and coming post hardcore band Scared To Live. They’re primarily based in Ukraine, but hope to venture further afield with their music in the very near future. They’re a genuine and warm hearted band, and their music has a huge amount of depth and meaning – they write about the important stuff. We caught up with them for a chat about all things creative and metal..
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Hi guys – thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. How did you all meet, who’s idea was it to start the band, and what were the main sources of inspiration behind wanting to make this kind of music?
Hi! Thank you too!
Misha (Drums) and Sam (Guitar) met at a rehearsal. At that time they were involved in other projects, but the ex-guitarist of one Ukrainian metalcore band wanted to gather something new, so he invited them. His idea had not received further development so Sam and Misha decided to act on their own. Misha invited his old friend Maxim Antoshkin (Bass) and Sam invited Vlad (Guitar). Our first vocalists were Maxim Kurinin and Yan but they have left the band together. It was a strong blow to us but we then found Alexander (Vocals) and he really was a breath of fresh air.
We never doubted in which genre we should play, because we’re listening to the same music. It’s really cool that we have the same tastes. The music we listen to is very inspiring, it has the spirit of youth but it raises very important issues. We’re trying to make our music as meaningful and expressive too.
What’s the live music scene like in Ukraine, and how important are live shows to you as a band?
A huge number of concerts are held in Ukraine, it gives a chance to anyone to perform on stage. But the quality of the most of concert venues is terrible here. High-quality sound on stage is a privilege of popular artists only. Personally for us, live shows are very important, they allow us to contact people, to exchange energy between listeners and us, so we always try to make our performances as good as possible.
There’s a lot of cool stuff to get stuck into over on your Soundcloud page, Antiwar, for example – opens with a great riff, and the concept is very fitting in terms of the chaos in the world right now. Who is it that writes the lyrics, and do lyrics come first, or is it the music?
Thank you, we’re always greatly pleased if someone likes our music! The meaning of our songs is one of those components, which we strongly focus on. In our lyrics we emphasize on life, we always tell the truth about the world and people. For example, in Do! It! Clear! we want to make it clear that suicide is not a solution, and Antiwar says that war is a real nightmare. We understand that life is hard, but we also believe that it’s always possible to overcome all adversities.
Creating songs is a very important and originative process for us. An idea and music are born at the same time. Then follows a lot of hard work to polish a new song. And only in the end a finished text is written over an original idea. We cherish each song as a child.
What’s coming up for you as a band this year, what can listeners look forward to?
This year’s going to be very productive for us and there are a lot of plans. We have already released an EP in January, and very soon we will publish a single on Metal Scrap Records, which is a Ukrainian label specialized in heavy genres of music. Also we will have a lot of shows and we want to play at different festivals. We hope to go on tour in other countries if possible. Perhaps people there will love us, haha.
Our other plans include one more single and quality music video. Maybe we’ll even start working on a full-length album this year. So a lot of work is waiting for us. Stay in touch!
Absolutely, we’ll be sure to! On a final note – what’s been your favourite live show to date, and what would be your dream venue to perform at?
It’s difficult to choose only one live show. Each gig is very important for us, we love to play and it’s a special feeling that nothing can compare. People are jumping and shaking their heads to the rhythm of music, what could be better? Let there be one listener only, we will still give all that we have to him.
Our dream venue to perform at is definitely Vans Warped Tour. We strive to perform in the US and dream to get on Warped. Who doesn’t want to? We think it’s the unlocking of the full potential of alternative music. We understand that it will take many years, but we set goals and will achieve them necessarily. It’s our philosophy.
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It’s a great philosophy, and we wish you guys the very best with your music! Hopefully sometime soon we’ll see you on the Vans Warped Tour line up. It’s been a pleasure to chat with you, and for our readers – head over to Soundcloud, Twitter, and Facebook, to listen to Scared To Live and to stay up to date with all of their events and new releases.
