Interview with UNKNOWN SCRIBES
!!!CANADIAN METAL!!!
We had a conversation with UNKNOWN SCRIBES. Enjoy!
Welcome to the FILTHY DOGS OF METAL Webzine.
Tell us a few things about UNKNOWN SCRIBES (Members, Starting Year etc).
We, Jean-Francois Bouffard(JeffB) and Jean-Francois Montminy, started playing together sometimes in 2015. We have been long time friend starting in highschool. JFM have played bass in a few local black metal bands in the early 2000's. What prompted us to get things going was JFB coming back from THE 70K metal cruise and asking JFM if he wanted to make a band. At the time, JFB had never played the drum, he was a trumpeter,we both studied music at university level. JFM had to learn to sing and play bass at the same time which was a huge challenge. We went through a few guitarist before finally finding someone that would be dedicated to our project. Came Jonathan Brodeur(Jo) end of 2016 early 2017. He was beginning his guitarist journey at the time and was eager to join a heavy metal band.
You have recently released your album ''Blinded by Rage''. What is the feedback from your audience as well as from the press?
Feedback is great considering we did almost no marketing, we really suck at it. We only have had one review so far that I consider good(7/10), a site from Poland that gave us a good rating. For now it's organic propagation. Lots of people say we are little bit old school, like Overkill, Megadeth, which is a good compliment. At least the guitarist's step mother and the drummer's step father enjoys it a lot.
Label or DIY and why?
All DIY, because we could. But it means that it took a lot of time and lots of investment in gears over the years. JeffB is the producer and audio engineer for the project, he studied music production and have been doing small project here and there. Why we DIY? Recording gear are so cheap compared to having to deal with a studio when you know what you are doing and I've(JeffB) been dreaming of producing my own album for years. We can take our time in studio since we own it. We wouldn't mind getting some help from a label but that would be mostly to handle the stuff we are not very good at... Actually, we have a "label", we use Distro Kid to distribute our stuff on the streaming platform and collect the revenue. They are good at what they do, putting our music out there not at getting revenue, lol. We don't expect to make millions from streams, we just want to be there for metalheads to enjoy our work.
Do you prefer Vinyl, Tape, CD or Digital Format and why is that?
We prefer the media that the listener chose to use. It all depends on the sound system and the room you listen to in the end. I expect that many listener will be streaming mp3s and that's how music is propagated nowadays, for the better or the worst. We just want people to be able to enjoy our music the most ways possible. We printed some CD and for many it is only a collector item. We see vinyl and Tape as an even more collectible items and wouldn't mind to eventually print some if there is a demand. But those need some extra works and are expensive to produce in small quantities. It's as if bands are not in the business of selling music anymore but T-Shirts and merch if we want to be "successful". Streams royalties are shit but that's where you get lots of visibilities and opportunities can come from this.
Your music style is Heavy Metal. Which are your main influences (Favourite Artists / Bands etc.)
JFM is the composer: Suicidal tendencies, Overkill, Motley Crue. Doesn't listen to much music when it is time for composing. JeffB is the producer:influenced by techno industrial (NIN, KMFDM, MManson, Tool and lots of weird music), prog metal, classical music, little bits of EDM, well pretty much all style I believe have good and very bad musics. We never aimed to make one style or another. Some say we are heavy metal but we like to tackle all style of metal. Thrash, Heavy, Hard, Prog, Glam, etc... JeffM make music then JeffB go pouf-tak and writes awesome lyrics, and finally Jo writes some leads.
Which things, do you think, a Band should sacrifice in order to succeed?
Have you ever sacrificed anything in your life for a better future of your Band?
We tried sacrificing a goat but it didn't work as planned. JeffB kept it on his farm :P. Just Kidding, but he just wants to have goats on his new farm/studio.
JeffB: I made a life plan to be able to make the music I love. Studied music and music production early on then. Worked my ass off in real estate. Spent a lot of money to build our studios(there was 3 versions of our homemade studio for the album) that is only used for our band. I Invested smartly and worked hard on my business to have more free time to produce our music.
JeffM: It was never a sacrifice for me, life leads me to this and i have no regrets ... so ... maybe some loneliness.
Jo: A lot of time has to go in the practice of your craft to become good at. I would say the thing I sacrificed to most was time. They say 10k hours are needed to master a skill.
Describe your ideal live show as a performance Band. Have you already experienced that?
Except our bassist/singer who had the chance to open for Cradle of Filth with his previous band we have had little prior experience on a stage. We have done 4 live show so far. We had a few great experience but we want more of it. Our ideal next show is a room jam packed and we open for some band that we dreamed to be on stage with. Sadly we don't know when we will be able to go on stage again.
Which attributes, do you think, that a new Heavy Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
Originality. Find themselves. Not really caring about what style they do and have fun and have fun making the music they do. Push their limits, work hard and don't give up. I don't think we have matured yet and we are far from having gained our identity. We hope to be unique though.
Do you believe that Bandcamp and other Digital Platforms help the new Heavy Metal Bands? Which, do you think, is the ideal way for a Band to promote its work?
Yes, it's never been easier to get your music out there. We are on Bandcamp and use DistroKid as I said earlier. Since it is so easy to get out there there are millions of bands that want your attention. I deally I'd take a nice record deal, a multi-millions dollars contract and budget for production/promotion... but we are not in that league.
Tell us a few things about the New Underground Metal Scene in Canada (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc).
Not much since the flu happened, online shows are happening but not much more. Like the scribes, we are almost hermits .
Do you know anything about the Hellenic Metal Scene?
JeffB: I've seen SepticFlesh and Rotting Christ a few times, I saw them on the 70K cruise and once in Quebec city. My aunt lives in Kephalonia and I visited there once, very nice place. Wouldn't mind touring there :D.
What are your future plans?
New Music. Working with a new guitarist. Survive the apocalypse.
Thank you very much for your time & Keep up the good work! The closure is yours.
Thank you for this first official interview. Follow us on Facebook. Buy our shit on Bandcamp and listen to our music anywhere you can find it. But really, buy our shit on Bandcamp, that's where we really see our best return.
By Steve the Filthy dog.
UNKNOWN SCRIBES CONTACT:
https://unknownscribes.bandcamp.com/releases
https://soundcloud.com/user-916843718
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7naeq41sCqCVHHjEvsF8PD