Pop infused Prog Death Welcome Raiju Interview is up
1.Being very new to my readers tell us about the prog avant death metal styling and how Raiju came to be?
- Raiju and the style both came about mostly by happy accidents. Vinnie and Bobby both grew up in San Jose together and formed the basis of the band, with Bobby (guitar) taking more of an interest in pop punk and 80's metal bands in his formative years and Vinnie (drums) getting into heavier bands like Slipknot a little earlier in life. A lot of the actual song structures (i.e. verse/chorus/verse2/chorus) and the arrangement of the string harmonies comes from that more traditional, digestible style that Bobby is acclimated to.
Scotty (vocals) was the first member yielded by Craigslist, and he was very much influenced by punk and guys like Mike Patton, but he has that uniquely smooth and powerful vocal style that we've been encouraging him to cultivate that makes us stand out pretty far from a lot of other bands.
After that, Craigslist coughed up Max (bass). He's originally from Florida and grew up learning from that historical death metal scene out there, as well as a lot of classical music during his school years, so a lot of what he brings to the table is stuff that is more rhythmically aggressive or dissonant. Max and Bobby are probably on the stylistic extremes of the band, so the core of Raiju's sound is really that fight between the old and new schools, and trying to make something strong, catchy and meaningful out of that.
Sean was the last member to be found, and his style comes a lot from heavily textured bands like Dear Hunter, BTBAM, and Devin Townsend's stuff, so he contributes a lot to the overall arrangements and adds that cool theatrical flair and modern production value that makes the album such a crazy experience through headphones.
2.What's the reason to stay D.I.Y and not see label backing?
- Two main reasons:
A. Money: By the time we started shopping the album to labels, we already had it done, so we didn't need an advance, and, well...we just wanted to keep more than half of our revenue.
B. Passion! We got a few label offers, but they felt "strictly business". One of the things we've noticed, even in the band's short life span so far, is that the only good results come from working with people that honestly like us and our music. Perhaps we'll find a label that loves us one day, but hey, we couldn't wait 'til then to put this album out!
3. San Fran/Oakland have rich metallic history. How is the scene in 2019 for extreme music?
- All scenes thrive in San Francisco! That is the beauty of the Bay Area - there is at least a little pocket of it to suit all tastes, even for a band as weird as us!
4. I hear elements as far and wide as Coheed and cambria, Dan swano, Devin Townsend, Gojira and Meshuggah . How would you explain your sound?
- That's the million-dollar question! We've heard all kinds of descriptions - "Sped-up Incubus", "Blink-182 meets Necrophagist", "Protest The Hero vs. A Nintendo Game"...we can't decide what we like best. Think of it as a pop-punk skeleton with metalcore muscles, a power metal voice and a death metal split personality disorder.
5. Non Sequitur must have a story behind it what is that story?
- It felt like it had a lot of meanings for this album. We thought it would be funny to call our second album a name that means "it does not follow", but as the album developed, some of the songs started to have undertones of progression and rebellion that gave the title a little more sense. We wanted each song to be unique, so they "don't follow" each other, our ideal sound does "not follow" any other band, and at the end of the day, it felt like it captures the mood of the music - usually, a non sequitur is contextual, happens suddenly and catches people off-guard. I think our music does that if it does anything.
6. What bands are impressing Raiju currently?
- Arsis, Leprous, and Destrage have been some band favs lately. We also recently did a short run with the fine fellows of Aethereus, The Odius Construct and Enigma, who impressed both with their shredding and drinking skills.
7. What does Raiju mean if I may ask?
Raiju is a mythical creature! It gets agitated in thunderstorms and will lunge into the navels of unwary travelers, forcing the Japanese Thunder God to strike them with lightning to eject the beast.
8. If you could tour with anyone who would it be and why?
This one gets personal!
Max - Dillinger Escape Plan: Bar none my favorite live band, and one I could probably learn a lot from.
Bobby - In terms of bands that are still active, Interloper and Artificial Language are two bands I'm really excited about that we look up to as examples of metal bands who aren't afraid to pour in a whole gallon of melody into just about every song they write. In terms of an alive-or-dead selection, Prince and the Revolution, because daddy wants some pancakes.
Vinnie - In terms of complimentary bands to tour with it would be amazing to hit the road with Protest The Hero, Between the Buried and Me, and Polaris.
Sean - Protest the Hero. B/c Our styles match up well
Scotty - Devin Townsend, to get to see the spectacle
9. I know pop can be a dirty word but I really hear a catchiness to Raiju . The melodies are strong is it hard to mix it with the extremities of death metal?
Not at all! I mean, it's easy to think the two don't mix just because they're different genres or audiences, but that's a limiting way to think. To a real musician, all of these things are music, and all music expresses something. So for what we want to express as musicians, we don't want to confine ourselves to what other people expect from the boundaries of whatever genre they might prefer. The challenge is to try to do something new and honest without letting anything get in the way, and that leads pretty effortlessly to what we've gotten with Raiju.
10. How does the artwork of Non Sequitur play into album theme?
- Maybe it fits by not fitting! That's the trick of the term. When it comes to album art, we have learned that the best technique is to give the artist the album tracks and a free hand to create something that they think captures the music. That is how we got this awesome piece!
11. If you could sign to a dream label who would it be and why?
Not entirely sure! As we said earlier, we're still doing it DIY-style because we haven't seen the right offer yet. Our dream label would just be one with friendly people that truly enjoy our music and want to help us make a viable living from this project we love so much.
12. How does live differ from studio and which do you prefer?
Surprisingly, those environments aren't that different for us since our live shows are played to a metronome that Vinnie keeps in his ear. So, everything lines up and comes through (ideally) as it does on the album, with the auxiliary instruments and tracks running from a computer or Ipod. Naturally, in the studio we stop, isolate and repeat each part until it sounds totally perfect - can't do that live! And while the studio is a special place that eventually yields the perfected product, we love and live for the energy of live shows! Traveling, playing music, meeting new people and being able to learn and show new things is the fundamental stuff of life!
11. Silk & gold and Hive are songs videos were made for.Tell us about process and vision behind these ?
- We are primarily musicians, so when it comes to stuff like video our band-wide knowledge levels drop off a little; so we enjoy the collaborative aspect of working with people who specialize in these fields, much like with our artwork. Andy Chen (for the Silk & Gold video) and Rob Watkins (for The Hive video) were massively helpful in taking our nebulous ideas and showing us where the practical limits were. Andy set up an awesome studio for us in an Oakland warehouse, and his crew really went the extra mile to make sure we got that excellent final result; and Rob is a complete ace at walking into a new location like Fang Studios and knowing where the good angles and lighting are in a heartbeat. The process with both of these guys was as smooth and painless as we could have asked for.
12. How has bandcamp and digital media changed underground extreme music?
It's all about access! Extreme music used to be something more devious-feeling that people were crazily obsessed with because it was traded painstakingly over simple cassette tapes. Since tape-copying loses fidelity, those original tapes and the bands on them took on a kind of sacred mystique back in the day. Underground music was more rare and subversive back then. Now, our songs are just tiny drops in an MP3 ocean we've made for ourselves. This has been good and bad for the music itself - good, because genius new projects don't die unheard just because the band is poorly located; but bad because...well, there's no accounting for taste and sometimes the shit sticks.
13. Do the members of Raiju have other project musically to tell my readers about?
Bobby also plays guitar for the mighty Cyborg Octopus, who are gestating a new record as we speak. Sean is a busy boy and also works with Archaeologist and Riffshop.
14. Thanks for time any closing thoughts here..
Thanks to all our existing fans, and greetings to any new ones! Our new album "Non Sequitur" (as well as our debut "Haunt") is available on all streaming services, you can find us with the tag /raijumusic on all your favorite social platforms, but we are best contacted and supported through our main site raijumusic.com. Thanks Clint!
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