Vorzug

Bio:

Anthony: Our foundation is Daniel Beck, Rock Rollain, Ivan Schone, and myself Anthony Hoyes. We all met from working with each other in other bands. Dan and Rock were in BloodHaven, Rock and Ivan were in Kult Of Thorn, Rock, Dan, Ivan and myself were all in The Lustmord, and we have all been live members for Green Jelly.

Genre:

Anthony: We’re all older guys so we grew up on Old-School metal. When we write it tends to lean towards that style, so i’d say that the genre chose us in a way. When we discussed what direction we should take  as a band we felt we would keep our natural instincts and write what we felt was right.
Daniel: To me it means a family worldwide. Metalheads all involved in the same thing. As to why I play it…  what the fuck else is there to play? There isn’t anything better than metal and if I can help keep the old-school roots and evolve it’s future that’s something that is appealing to me.
Rock: I evolved into it after I moved to Phoenix in 1995. Every band I joined got heavier and harder so it was a natural progression for me.
Before ’95 I was in hard rock and cover bands in Buffalo NY. I was in a KISS tribute band, an industrial band and at one point in the late 1980’s I was in a hardcore band SlugFest with Scott Vogel of Terror.

Evolution of the initial musical and thematic elements:

Anthony: Sort of goes to what I was saying above, musical elements just sort of fell together on their own, as for the thematic lyrical content, those are never set in stone, I have different lyrics and try to place them to our music as we write it, but I keep the option open to write something new as I’m listening to the music to see what fits best.
Daniel: Through hard work and dedication.
Rock: Grind it till ya find it..

Ideas about the album:

Anthony: I’m not happy with the product because as a rule there is always room for improvement and always room to learn from our mistakes. That being said we’re a new band just coming together so what material we’re working on is all pretty strong and we’re happy with the progress that we’ve made thus far.
Daniel: We need to get plaster caster over so we can make some merch. So thats something to improve. We’ve nailed about 30% of the hot ass chicks on the west coast…oh do you mean musically?
Ivan: Yeah happy with the music, it’s what comes out, that being said we’re improving on it as we speak we’re writing the album.
Rock: I really like I Am In Hell. And this lineup is my personal “Dream Team”.

Reception:

Anthony: Well this is actually our debut with this project, this single I AM IN HELL is our debut track, so far the track has only been heard by a handful of people within the media and close friends. So far from what’s gotten back to us the reception has been very positive.

Next step; live or studio:

Anthony: Yeah, this is an all in project. Under the Vorzug name we haven’t performed live yet. We’re going to, we’re just waiting for the right time, getting our priorities in order first. Our game plan has been very clear, get the single out, finish up recording for the full length (which we will be going into SoundVision Studios in Oct to finish up the recording) then once we get that album finished up we’re going to do a full PR campaign and secure some tour dates.
We’ve all talked about doing something on the international level, and once we get some album sales of the album and promoters outside of our area can feel confident in our selling ability they can get a hold of us and book us on some dates. We love being able to travel and meet fans so we’re up for it if we can get a deal that makes sense for everyone involved.
Rock:  Yeah, what he said!

Future plans:

Anthony: We’re going to chart with this single, and with the album. I’d say it’s looking good.
Daniel: Some overseas fests and a full length album for 2015.
Ivan: A lot more music.
Rock: Opening a big can of whoop ass!

Lyrics, themes and concepts:

Anthony: Lyrics are always tricky, I have about 40 songs completed, and another 10-15 in development. When we write I listen to the music and will run a few lyrics through a song idea and see if it fits. If not I write something to the music. In terms of how it effects the process that’s about it, we run through that part of it fairly quickly and normally get at least one song about 90% finished per practice. As for the concepts, for the most part I keep it grim, I like delving into ideas about the occult, demonic possession, loss/grief.
Rock:  Anthony writes love ballads.

Preference; live or studio:

Anthony: The road is more exciting I think, I dislike being in a vehicle for long periods of time and being away from my family, but that is part of the job. But we love seeing new places, meeting up with old and new friends, and working new crowds.
Ivan: It’s all about the fans, being on the road all the way.
Daniel: Being in the studio cause our engineer gives great head! Being on the road and meeting the fans of course.
Rock: A rollercoaster is most exciting.

Composers:

Anthony: We all have a hand in the writing process, Ivan, Rock and Dan all bring in a beat or riff and we build on it. I’ll give my feedback about structure, tempo, or even a riff or beat idea and we make it work.  Lyrics I write all of them, but everyone is encouraged to bring in anything they want to write and I’ll find a place for it.
Rock: I try to make the best basslines for the song.

Inspirations:

Anthony: Dismember, Entombed, Kalmah, Obituary, Murder Squad, Six Feet Under, Cannibal Corpse, Catamenia for me.
Daniel: Dismember, King Diamond, Danzig.
Ivan: Misfits and Danzig.
Rock:  All the other bands I was in that have failed.

Preference; cater to the audience or music for its own sake:

Anthony: Well nothing we do really caters to an audience, when we write we’re conscious about what we’re writing and what is currently released in the market so we have discussion about how commercial we want the hook to sound. Other than that we write what we feel sounds good.
Daniel: Music!
Ivan: Music.
Rock: I write the music for its own sake. I cater to the audience when I perform it for them.

Greatest Accomplishment:

Anthony: Individually we have all accomplished a lot in the business. We’ve managed to “make it” in terms of being able to do this for a living.  All that is great. We’ve had success in the charts and that is amazing.  But for me I’d say the highest point thus far would have to be getting this core foundation of this band together. We all have known each other for years, we all have a strong respect for each other. This is a group that will go far in this business, a lot further together than we would apart.
Ivan: Still being able to do it after all these years.
Rock: My greatest accomplishment is yet to come. Thats the way I look at things. As for my past, I would have to say recording and touring with Southwicked.

Anything else?

Anthony: We’d like to mention that our single I AM IN HELL will be available worldwide on all the major download sites, ITunes, Amazon and so forth. It will also be available for streaming services such as Rhapsody, Spotify, Last FM and so forth. Our label Apollyon Entertainment is distributed through Universal Music Group so the single, and later on the album will be available everywhere. We’d also like to throw out a thanks to Mike from The Metal Detector Music Promotions, he has helped us out a great deal with the promotion of our band.
Daniel: I mostly use Pearl on our recordings, but am currently seeking endorsements. I love Iron Cobra Pedals, it’s the only pedal I will ever use.
Our female fans keep hitting us up on facebook and asking us, so as an exclusive in this interview, YES…Daniel Beck DOES sleep in the nude!
Ivan: I’d like to thank Sinister Guitar Picks, GHS strings, Rocktron Effects and Charvel Guitars. My other band Element A440.