SINTHETIK:
Jim McAvoy (vocals)
Vincent Anastasi (drums)
Adam Mozetti (bass)
Kevin Kryshka (guitar)
Jonathan Fuentes (guitar)
Answers by Vincent Anastasi
Bio:
SINTHETIK formed at the end of our senior year of high school in 2008. Since then the band has released 3 EP’s called Tranceformation, Concrescence, and HIVE MIND; and has been through 2 lineup changes. The original line up was Kevin Kryshka on guitar, Adam Mozzetti on bass, our good friend Nick Campoli on guitar, and myself (Vince) on drums. We eventually hooked up with a friend of mine named Jordan to perform vocals, but in the end it didn’t work out. By that time, we had Tranceformation written and just needed to record the songs. Adam and Kevin took on the role of vocals, but after it released we realized that the music needed work and we should try to find a vocalist. About a year after Tranceformation was released, we put out a band playthrough video for a new song called Lucidity, which landed us a vocalist named Jim McAvoy. With Jim on board, we released our 2nd EP called Concrescence, which we felt was a stronger representation of the sound we were going after. Eventually, Nick decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. It was heartbreaking, but that’s just the way things are. With Nick’s departure, the search was on for a new guitar player. With a stroke of luck, Jonathan Fuentes and the band found each through the Internet. He didn’t live very far and fit the criteria, so we arranged to meet and the rest is history. Jonathan was able to bring a lot of new material to the table, which became the bulk of HIVE MIND. SINTHETIK is now planning to head out and hit the road to promote our new album HIVE MIND in July.
Genre:
SINTHETIK plays a version of progressive metal. We chose this genre because progressive music in general isn’t as formula based as other genres can be; it’s more flexible. Progressive music has the potential to incorporate different elements because of its loose structure. We’re influenced by a lot of different music and playing a progressive genre allows us to join these interests together with an attempt to create a new sound.
Evolution of the initial musical and thematic elements:
The initial musical and thematic elements originally evolved from our interest in spirituality, the psychedelic experience, alternative history, philosophy, sociology, science fiction, and esoteric/occult wisdom.
Ideas about the album:
We’re very happy about our new EP HIVE MIND because it showcases our renewed sound. We were also happy about our other two releases, Tranceformation and Concrescence, even though they were stepping stones for us to find our identity. The part that I think we nailed on HIVE MIND was our ability to incorporate so many different elements from a variety of genres. Although, HIVE MIND was a huge step forward in the right direction for us, I believe that the search for our identity isn’t over just yet. I think we can improve on how we mix different elements from a variety of genres and make them appear more seamless. HIVE MIND was sort of the end of an adolescence period for us and now we’re ready to move on to release a full length.
Reception:
The overall reception for HIVE MIND has been great. We’re making a few more sales than we did in the past, which is always nice. Our CD release show for HIVE MIND was also a success. A bunch of people came out to check us out and we did well at our merch table.
Next step; live or studio:
SINTHETIK has always been a live band. Although the convenience of the Internet and computers can be extremely helpful, we’ve always believed if that we couldn’t play our music live that we shouldn’t in a band; it would be a sham. At the moment, we’re releasing the bulk of promotional material that we’ve had stored up for HIVE MIND, and at the same time we’re beginning to write for what will hopefully become our first full length. We are definitely planning to tour; we’ve got two in the works right now to promote our new album HIVE MIND. As for international tours, we aren’t there just yet in our career, but it’s definitely a goal!
Future plans:
The future is looking fairly decent for us. We hope to continue to promote HIVE MIND and build a larger fan base for the band. We’ve started to write and demo new ideas, which we are hoping will turn into our first full length. It’s always an exciting process when you start exploring new ideas and improving your song writing abilities. We’re also finally able to hit the road and promote HIVE MIND.
Lyrics, themes and concepts:
The themes and concepts we typically like to cover are spirituality, sociology, philosophy, psychedelic ideas, science fiction, alternative history, personal experiences, and speculations of the origins of life. These themes influence the writing process by attempting to score these experiences and themes with music. Much like a movie score, SINTHETIK creates an atmosphere for these subjects.
Preference; live or studio:
Being in the studio can be exciting as well as stressful, but truthfully, SINTHETIK will be hitting the road for the first time this year in July out into the east coast of Canada, so we know the studio much better than being on the road.
Composers:
Before Jonathan had joined the band, it was a combined effort. During the writing process of HIVE MIND a few things changed. Jonathan joined the band with a lot of material that he had built up over time. This stock of riffs eventually became the majority of HIVE MIND, which was incorporated with a few riff and ideas from the old process of writing.
As for the lyrics, they are written by Jim, Adam, and myself (Vince). Although, the writing process had changed during HIVE MIND, the process for the lyrics remained the same. Adam and myself have been writing the lyrics since the beginning and when Jim joined the band, he became apart of the lyric writing team.
Inspirations:
Everyone in the band has their own niche of music they like to listen to and this leads to a large variety of influences through which we can draw inspiration from. The band as a whole can be seen drawing inspiration from bands like Meshuggah, Veil Of Maya, Gojira, Rush, and Cloudkicker.
Preference; cater to the audience or music for its own sake:
Good question, I find that both elements are important but it’s also wise to make sure that you attempt to perfect your music to the best of your ability. Working hard on song writing and analyzing weaknesses and strengths has a greater potential of helping your band cater to an audience and gathering listeners. However, without an audience, it doesn’t matter how well your music sounds, you won’t gain any fans. Part of being in a band is putting on a “show” and to make sure your performance is engaging for the audience. So, at the end of day I believe that both elements go hand in hand and it’s important to cater to both of them equally.
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