Crossfire
CROSSFIRE come form our
neighbour country, Turkey and I find out about them, in one of my often
visits in the official RUNNING WILD site. You see CROSSFIRE is one of the
bands that participate in the RUNNING WILD tribute and cover the "Beggar's
Night" song. This was the reason that made me learn few things more about
this band and arrange this interview with them, which I hope to find very
informative...
1.First of all give us some info on the
band activities and introduce yourselves to the readers.
We formed the band in late 2000 but for a
long time we had worked rather slowly. After we had released a demo tape
in Autumn 2002 and got constructive reviews, we participated in the Running
Wild Tribute. Soon our album will be released. Our activities will remain
like they are and will go on more effectively after the release. We have
been walking on the way which we believe is the right one till the beginning.
We don't want to exaggerate here with the details such as the band bio
or members' personal infos. You may get them from our official website:
http://www.crossfirenet.com
2.Since we haven't heard any of your songs,
please describe your sound and point out some of your influences and the
most beloved albums.
Reviews about the existing well-settled sound
of the band are usually pointing to the branch "power thrash". We may give
different names for the bands that we really like or have influenced us,
such as; Testament, Megadeth, Nevermore, Blind Guardian, Exodus, Arch Enemy,
Dream Theater, Iced Earth and Iron Maiden.
3.Fill us in on the band's releases. Do you
have any albums or demos released? If yes, how many? Tell us a few things
about each one and pinpoint the most important similarities and differences
among them.
A demo, which was released in late 2002 has
been sold out. And now, we have just finished the recording sessions of
our debut album which we named, "Aggression Treaty". We hope to release
it just after Christmas. A copy is on the way to Greece now and we hope
you'll like it.
4.Recently you participated in the Running
Wild Tribute Album held by the band's site. How was this experience for
you, knowing that the bands included in this CD would be selected? How
did this make you feel? Were you afraid that you might not be chosen?
We have hoped to be among the bands that would
be selected and after we saw the name Crossfire there, it was an honour
for us. We've enjoyed so much covering this song and we believe that the
way we have played it was cool. Because of it we have never worried about
it. We may see what we might gain or lose only after the release of the
tribute.
5.Do you want to tell us what do Running Wild
stand for you? Which song of them did you selected and why? Why is it so
special for you?
We chose "Beggars' Night". It was the jingle
for "D?nence", one of the most famous heavy metal programs on Turkish TV.
This was of course nearly 15 years ago and the first heavy metal song I've
(B?lent) ever heard. Besides, it is so cool, you know.
6.Do you have any contacts with any label or
have you already signed a deal? With what criteria will you select a label?
No contract has been signed yet but we have
closed deals with some labels from Germany. Also we are in contact with
some local labels. A good promotion will be satisfactory for us because
we believe in what we do.
7.Are you satisfied by the feedback you received
this far? Which statement that you read do you think describes your music
the best way and which has nothing to do with your sound?
Since the Turkish reviews are usually written
by people who follow the activities of the band, we read articles close
to each other. Besides those who follow us and write either about a concert
of ours or listen to one of our works, catch the essence of our music and
the band's aim in more than one points. However, sometimes we read some
reviews that make us laugh. Usually we care for ones releated to our music
only. Of course we prefer the reviews written by our fans.
8.Which is, according to you, the best and
which the worst part in your music? In which field do you think you need
further improvement?
Actually we are a new band and in the course
of time, we will see the difference between the best and the worst with
our new works. We think that the ones which we did until now are really
good based on our present -at that time- criteria. Besides if we didn't
believe in our work or weren't satisfied, we wouldn't have recorded and
released them in the first place. You know, if we will create better songs
in future, then we will have a chance to see the worst parts more objectively.
9.What kind of topics intrigue you to talk
about? Tell us a few things about your lyrics.
We live in the world that you watch in the
news or see when you just look around. Actually the news don't reflect
the world we live in. The politics, religion, people being forsaken or
being betrayed... all these topics reflect through our lyrics. There is
both death and rage... But there is also hope...
10.Do you have any plans for live shows? What
should those who will attend your shows expect to see from you?
We believe in that! You should have something
visual too besides just performing the music live in concerts. The audience
should feel the "live" performance. Especially after the album, we are
planning more effective gigs. We are working on both musically and visually
impressive live performances.
11.Which words would you choose to describe
your music? Which phrase is idea to present the band in public?
A really hard question, something like describing
yourself. It is hard to do it objectively. We prefer to address senses
more than words. Actually, we just want to create our music only and leave
the comments to the ones watching or listening us. Shortly but deeply;
"we are a metal band"...
12.If your music was an emotion what would
it be? If it was a painting, what would it show?
"Hope"... We believe that everything has a
remedy and we reflect it through our music, even though we all live in
a world that is full of helplessness. As a picture, "a peace symbol made
by skulls" would be quite suitable for us and also it would be a good acquaintance
for the ones who have already met us.
13.If you could invite famous musicians to
participate in your albums who would you choose and why?
We want to work with Andy Sneap so much, because
his style and works are obvious. Kylie and Danni Minogue, Amy Lee and Avril
Lavigne may help us for our music and performing it, why not?
14.If I am not mistaken your country of origin
is Turkey. So, how are things there? I know that there are many great bands
in the underground scene of your country, most of which release 1 or 2
albums and then disband. Why? How do you see things?
According to our opinion, the bands that have
disbanded after one or two albums, have never been great bands. Even if
the work they did was quite well. In order to be a great band, you have
to keep it up. You have to keep your work alive. That's the hard point.
Here in Turkey, due to the difficult life conditions, musicians can't fully
concentrate on what they really want for their careers. We fight for the
"great band" concept which we all have in our minds.
15.Thank you. Leave your message to the readers
or say whatever you want that I forgot to ask you about...
Thanks for the questions! We really enjoyd
answering them. We are dying to visit our next door neighbors and meet
with the Greek audience as soon as possible. We have already given our
message in our other answers. We think that the works we did reflect us.
We believe that we do a good work and we will continue walking on this
way. Our only wish is that those who have already heard of Crossfire, will
keep on following us.
Nick "William_Kidd"
Parastatidis
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