Interview: Contortion (Written)
Dubbing themselves ‘contorted metal’, Contortion are a heavy genre-bending band with a ton of influences. Their latest album ‘The Common Thread’ is out now, and in this interview we learn a little more about them.
Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.
Contortion was started in California, just a group of friends trying to express themselves through music. Figuring a way to combine differing artistic view and ideas into one unified sound.
Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?
We jokingly call it Contorted Metal. But metal is a broad brush description of what we play. It’s a blend of many subgenres (Groove, Thrash, Metalcore, Djent). Eventually we will be adding more to our sound.
What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.
We are currently on tour in Europe, and just released out latest album “The Common Thread,” last Feb. Writing has only just begun for the new material.
What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?
It’s hard to chose…
We certainly enjoyed working with some of our friends and big names in metal on this recent album. It was a lot of fun to have other artists that we love on this record, and to collaborate with them in the studio. Like, watching Belasario from Cattle Decapitation or Dan from Death By Stereo shred on guitar and lay down solos was super cool! As much as having Heidi from the Butcher Babies or Riley from Allegaeon in there to record vocals.
Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?
Honestly, writing and recording that album. Hahaha It took us around 5 years! It was a massive undertaking.
How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?
It’s with a blessing and a curse. These tools are beneficial in some ways, and harmful in others. It’s frustrating, as artists, trying to navigate this landscape. We really just want to write and perform… this is a whole new job onto of that.
What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days and what would you propose is done to combat it?
I could go on about a number of topics. But they all lead back to artists not being payed what they’re worth. Tours, royalties, merchandise… everyone wants money from the artists, and we don’t really make any at the end of the day. So much of what we do comes out of pocket. To many con artists in the game too… fake labels, management or PR companies are a huge problem too.
Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support your music?
Listen often and share with friends. That’s all we ask. Come to a show when we tour through!
Outside of the music, what’s do you do to relax?
I enjoy a number of activities. Snowboarding, painting, video games, beach days in Orange County California.
Where can people find you?
Website | Facebook | Instagram
