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Having done this for a long time (going on 13 years) a lot of indie band demos have passed through Chateau Bromley. Most get a few spins, some get half a spin, and then there are those indie demos that I put away on a shelf next to my CDs as kind of a note to myself that I had their demo before they saw success in this business.
I've filed notable demos from all genres of metal: gore/grind enthusiasts Impaled, old-school death metalheads The Chasm and crossover Christian act P.O.D. Now alongside the numerous demo tapes and CDs is Texas-based act Of Infinity, easily one of the beast indie demos I have heard in a while.
After spinning the demo over the course of the day, falling in love with the emotional power of the music (think Mandylion-era The Gathering mixed with the beautifully clean vocals of Sarah McLachlan and the swaying harmonies of Rain Fell Within) more and more with each listen, I eventually tracked down a contact number from their Web site and called up Alessandra Zinicola (vocals/synths/piano) all enthusiastic about the album. She was just as excited to hear from me and hear my feedback. A month or so down the road we hooked up to chat about the band's demo and what lies ahead for Of Infinity.
"This CD features three songs that we think best showcases the songwriting and playing ability of the band," she begins. "We recorded the music on a weekend last year at the Annex Recording Studios in Salt Lake City, Utah with Jonathon Shults, and mixed and mastered it throughout the following week. Originally we were going to be doing a four-song demo, but decided to save the last song for another CD to keep the demo more of a demo, and not so much of a musical overload of songs from a band that people may have not heard before. The band writes a lot of material so we had many pieces to choose from, but I think "The Voice Without", "Shadow Of A Lie", and "It's Only For Forever" were right for this demo."
There is a lot of passion that exudes from the work of Of Infinity. Tell me about how you get into "your space" to bring that out of the music. Is it difficult to capture that feeling?
"It's the only w3ay I know how to sound. Nazareth [Sando; guitars] and I joke about starting a hip-hop or country band sometimes because we all around like to write music and know we could probably do well in any genre of music, but I think that metal is the true genre that is within both of us. When I sit at the piano, upbeat and poppish melodies just font come out of my fingers. And maybe they're not supposed to come out of an instrument as graceful and beautiful as piano. But more likely, its probably just me impressing upon my instrument what I feel. Which would make me either a very melancholy, very dark, or very beautiful person emotionally...probably a mix of those things," she laughs. "Sometimes what gets me in the mood to write is hearing other people's music. When I hear something that touches me, it makes me want to write my own music. Sometimes I write when I've had some huge emotional trauma. I guess you would call it an emotional outlet at those times. Naz is a lot different than me. His music can be made anywhere any time. He'll tell me he's thought of something. I have no idea how that is because I need to be touching keys or singing to wordless music in order to capture a musical idea. I can't say it's difficult to capture the sound that we have. It's a bit natural."
So when can we expect a full-length album? Are you approaching labels yet?
"We're getting material ready for a full length right now and the expected release date should be around this time next year. The band [rounded out by bassist Kurtis Kyllo and drummer Carlos Teller] has a good amount of music written and ready to go, and we're looking around at studios to see where we want to be recording this next CD. As far as labels go, we do have plans to get some label attention soon. We have had a lot of smaller labels approach us about signing, but we actually have really not yet tried to push anything to the larger labels that we have been eyeing, so no decisions have been made. We have been doing a lot of promotion with this CD, many interviews, review3s, and articles with the band have been done and are circulating around the internet and paper publications. We really hope that we can find the right label for us and work out a fair and mutually beneficial contract that helps us help them help us help[ the metal music industry and all the metalheads that support it. But you know, even if the right deal is not available this time around, that doesn't stop out next album from coming out, it doesn't make the band disintegrate, and it does not change any of our plans for the band."
She ends by saying, "Of Infinity has been around for a long time as an independent band. Music and metal is our passion, our undying love, and you can expect great things from us for a very long time with or without a label."
http://www.unrestrainedmag.com
