Apparently Steve Bacchia, drummer and official interview guy for Stygian, liked the review I did of their new album Fury Rising, which, like it says below, made my day. I was invited to send him some questions, and he was really quick to answer.
You guys have been around for ten years now, and you’ve done quite a bit in the music world. Two albums, tons of shows, and you’ve sold over a thousand copies of Struggle on iTunes at home and in foreign countries, while tons of other bands that have been around as long as you are drowning in obscurity. What do you think helped set you apart, and gained the recognition you have?
The number one thing that set us apart would have to be chemistry. This allows us to have longevity and longevity is what breeds a killer live show and a unique sound. Over the years we have gained a solid reputation for delivering both live and on record. If you buy a Stygian album you will get a full album worth of material that went through a hardworking thought out process. No filler here.
When you first started out as Stygian, did you foresee any of this in ten years? Two albums, opening for big names, and people wearing your band’s name as a badge of honor?
We’ve always wanted people to see us perform and to enjoy listening to our music. We’ve put a lot of hard work into molding ourselves into the musicians we are today. Playing the bigger shows and seeing the fans wearing our gear proud makes us feel blessed. I don’t know if we ever would have thought we would be in the place we are today. We started jamming for fun, and its all evolved into this band we have now. At first it’s for fun and then you realize that this is truly the only thing we can do where the clock disappears and the pressures of life just fade away. Working for this is not work but more doing what we are meant to do.
The name itself, Stygian, who thought of it, and what was the inspiration behind it?
Honestly, it was pretty simple. One day we decided that we needed a band name so Frank took out a dictionary picked the letter “S”, and Stygian was the first cool word we came across. The mythological meaning of the word was a secondary reason for picking it. When we were young something meaning dark and gloomy was cool and we were sold.
Lyrically, what Fury Rising about? Is there a thread through each song, or is each song its own animal?
Each song is about a particular topic ranging from the everyday struggle of life to a past relationship to war to dealing with a disease like cancer. Overall each song addresses some sort of battle to overcome various hardships. The idea is that although these struggles are hard fought, there maintains a glimmer of hope and triumph is possible but with lessons learned along the way. It all ties together with a breeding sense of Fury.
Instrumentally, Stygian seem fairly normal. Guitars, bass, drums, voice. Are there any other instruments you guys play that aren’t present in your music? Do you think there is room in the Stygian sound for odd instruments?
Not particularly, we are like you said. Just a normal band, we enjoy solid riffs, quality vocals, and a powerful rhythm section. It would be pretty cool if one of us learned how to play piano for future songs that we write.
I was told that you thought I had “nailed it” in my review of Fury Rising, which more than made my day. I take it to mean that you are in fact influenced by Metallica, Zakk, and Live. What else influences Stygian’s sound? Is there anything that is not readily apparent, or even odd bands or genres that fans might be surprised by?
Well we are influenced by Metallica, Zakk, Pantera, Alterbridge and def Alice in Chains. You also nailed it because you make the point that it’s just a heavy album, at times it’s metal and at times it’s rock but overall just heavy and grooving. The only unapparent influence would be personally, some of my drumming comes from John of Devildriver. Frank dabbles in some classical music at night with his ipod while getting some z’s.
How does writing go for you guys? Is it as simple as “Here’s a cool riff, let’s jam on it”, or is it a longer process for you?
Yeah, some songs are written that way. We’ll get together whether its all of us or just two of us and throw around whatever ideas we have at the time. Sometimes good songs come out, and sometimes its just frustrating. A lot of Fury Rising was done in our home studio just Frank and myself. Frank would come over and record riffs or songs in whole. Then I would put the headphones on and take a week to drum to them. This would lead to the two of us jamming things out together, moving parts around, chopping things out, adding a bridge here and there. Luckily with technology, at the end of each day we’d plug our i-pods in, bounce the track to it, listen overnight and come back and either build on what was there or scrap it altogether…. Another way a lot of songs are written is in solitude. There’s a bunch of songs on this album that Frank wrote by himself at our home studio or just at home sitting on the couch with an acoustic guitar. It’s great to have a small studio of your own, because every minute melody or riff can be recorded. Theres no more fear of forgetting a riff the next day.
Lyric writing is the most time consuming aspect of writing songs. It needs to feel right, if ever lyrics are forcefully written it’s noticable and stale.
The song-writing process still continues even when we are tracking what we think is done. A great example is our song “Unstrung Hero” which was a nearly 6 minute song when we tracked it in the studio and is 3:30 in it’s final version. This simply happens because music is an evolving process, like Lars once said “When is a record really done?”. At the time we were doing vocals for this song we knew it was too long and had parts that took away from instead of adding to the song.
Being a drummer, what is your current brand of equipment? What would you get if you could have any drum kit in the world?
Currently I am sponsored by Trick drums out of Chicago and they built me a completely custom kit. It’s the best set of drums I’ve ever seen or played and honestly if I could have any kit I would choose this one. It’s made of metal, not wood, and I smash the hell out of it and it never gives or wears. They are loud and stand out and it fits my power playing style. I also use Meinl Cymbals and Xcel Powersticks and both of those suite my needs perfectly. Anyone who sees us always asks about my gear because they know if it holds up to my style then it must be pretty solid.
What is your drum setup right now?
I have a nine piece kit with two 18×22 bass drums, a 14×6 snare, 4 rack toms (10,12,13,14) and 2 floor toms 16 and 18. About 14 cymbals all around on my Gibraltar rack. You can see it in full on trickdrums.com under my artist page.
What about Frank, Patrick and Mike? What are they rocking on stage?
Frank uses a Mesa Triple Rectifier full stack, with ESP and Dean Guitars, Boss Pedals and Slinky Strings. Mike uses Specter and ESP basses with an Ampeg 8×10 SVT tube amp. Pat uses Jackson and ESP along with a Line 6 rig.
Did you guys use any brands or models on the album that you don’t use on stage?
Frank used many, many guitars on the recording of Fury Rising. Gibsons, ESP, Dean, Fender, Ibanez to name a few. I think a total of 13 different guitars were used to record with. All going through the Triple Rectifier.
Are there any side projects or any dead bands that we can know about and find?
Nope, same band for this whole time. Pat joined us after his time in 454 but the other three of us started this band in middle school.
To tie it up, for the fans of Stygian, what can we expect in the next three months? How about six?
Expect to see our name and our album Fury Rising all over the place. We are already starting to flood the internet and with our single “Crimson Sand” going to radio shortly we hope the ride starts and never stops. We are in the process of setting up a tour in support of our new album and we hope to see everyone who has been so good to us thus far.
Anything else you’d like to throw in?
We would like to thank all the people who have helped us and asked for nothing in return as well as the people who come out and support us at every single show we play. You all know who you are.
