Folks we got a chance here recently to catch up with Hemoptysis a great Metal Band thundering the waves in Arizona and beyond.

You guys play a complex mix of old Thrash and Death Metal. How did that evolve individually or as a collective mind?

Masaki: I’m sure most of us got into Metal from old school Metal bands like Metallica (Old stuff), Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer and so on when we were in high school or even earlier. That’s the kind of Metal that I have been listening to all the time and it’s hard to find unique bands now days. I wanted to start a band that has the roots of Metal and has a unique sound that people can tell is Hemoptysis.
Travis: The process is a collective mix of all of our influences.  Masaki is mostly a thrash guy, I am more death metal, Jack is more black metal and melodic death metal and Sunao is a mix of just about every kind of music.  Masaki comes up with most of the riffs and Jack will dress them up with his style, although Jack does come up with some riffs too.  Then Sunao and I add our parts on top of it and you get Hemoptysis.

Tell us a little bit about the production process for “Who Needs a Shepherd” (A wicked album by the way)?
Masaki: When I started Hemoptysis with Travis in mid 2007, our first goal was to get the CD done. We wanted to have a CD ready before we actually started playing shows. Well, we also had a hard time to find a singer. Finally, we were ready to record in June 2008 with Steve Conley, who is an engineer and lead guitarist for F5, ex Megadeth bassist David Ellefson’s current band. We recorded five songs with him at his home studio. Unfortunately, our previous lead guitarist Brian left the band after recording this EP, and also he did not play the solos the way he used to play for some reason. I wish we had Jack on the EP. You can hear the difference on the new Shadow of Death with producer Ryan Greene. Jack fits with us perfectly.

You guys seem to have a great team behind you, tell us a little bit about how that evolved.

Masaki: Well, we are fortunate to have many people working with us. We work hard every day to get the name out. Our managers, Andrew Cox and MJ Iggena of DesertCore Management & Consulting, have been supporting and managing us for a year now and without them, we wouldn’t know many of the important things to do to succeed in this industry. Meanwhile, our publicists Metal Music Promotions are the ones helping us get the name out. They are definitely opening many doors for us. We now also have producer Ryan Greene to bring us to a completely different level. Again, we are so fortunate to have these people working with us. They are all great people, hard workers and believe in each other. Teamwork is an essential thing to make things happen in any business.

Do you see the landscape of Death Metal evolving as the older roots of my generation’s thrash seem to creep back in?
Masaki: I think so. Many classic Death Metal legends are coming back just like the thrash scene is being revived. I personally think it’s a good sign. I’m sick of hearing other music scenes with bands that sound just like each other. We are also stoked for the Obituary show on Friday, September 4 at UB’s Bar in Mesa, AZ.
Travis: That will be such a sick show!  As for the scene, I think it's evolving allot because people aren't so close minded when it comes to genres of music they listed to.  This leads to the blending of genres too.  You can hear that in our music.  It has thrash metal, death metal, a hint of some black metal sometimes on the newer stuff with Jack, and other non-metal infuences from Sunao.  But like you said, the thrash always creeps in because all of us started listening to that kind of stuff a long time ago, just like allot of metal fans, and it had an impact on us that is still evident in our music.

Tell us a little bit about how the group came together.

Masaki: Travis and I met through our mutual friend in early 2007, and I called him up in June 2007 with the other guitarist we used to have. To persuade Travis, I rented a practice space that was big enough to have his huge drum kit and the first time we jammed was like 8:00 in the morning on a Saturday under the dead heat of Arizona's scorching sun. Obviously, it was hot because there was no air conditioning, but that’s how we started. We went through so many flakes when auditioning for a singer, bassist and guitarist. Sunao joined us February, 2008, and we recorded our EP with our previous guitarist Brian in June 2008. However, Brian had to leave the band since he moved to California, so we went back on searching for a lead guitarist and ended up finding Jack.

What is the central message that Hemoptysis would like to convey to our readers?

Travis: I'm not sure there is a central message for the band because we haven't discussed it.  I mean, we are all athiests and the beast symbol for our band, I feel, is a representation of our strength in life when surrounded by so many people that use religion as a crutch.  However, that is definitely not the only theme you find in our songs.  We touch on so many subjects, mostly real but also some fantasy.  Just on our five song EP we have a song about the war in Iraq being unjustified, a song about incompitent leaders like Geaorge W Bush, a song about the oppression that comes with organized religion, a song about killing christians, and a song about betrayal.  Newer songs involve the topics like killing, anti-religion, trading your soul to kill, battling inner demons, and other topics. 
Masaki: Please take a listen to the new Shadow of Death. Its music video will be filmed and posted soon as well.  That is our central message right now!

Which do you favor; the .357 Magnum or the .44 Magnum?

Travis: Well, the .357 is a classic, but the .44 is a huge hand cannon.  I would go with the .357 because it is easier to handle with regards to the amount of kick it has.
What's the air speed of an unladened African swallow, accounting for a 4 knot cross wind?
Travis: 120 miles per hour?  I have no clue.
Thanks for playing along with us fellas. We love the EP. Come see us on the Mountain Soon!
Masaki: Thank you!
Travis: Thank you for having us!

Links

http://www.myspace.com/hemoptysismetal