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VM Underground interviews EversincevE.

VMU: Hey, guys. How are you doing?
E: Hey, Vic!! What it be's like??? Thanks for letting us do an interview with you, very cool stuff!!

VMU: Very heavy sound! Could you guys tell us how you got started and the current line up?
E: Thanks man! Heavy is good! We have always enjoyed the heavier side of life. That is applicable to music only, by the way. We started back in high school actually. We all got some pawn shop instruments and hand me down drums, and started laying down some of the most god-awful metal you have ever heard. We had a great time for the most part, got out some anger, pissed off a couple neighbors, and actually learned a lot in the process. We played a few shows here and there, and deemed ourselves, "Demortuis". It's a much shortened version of a super long Latin word meaning "of the dead, say nothing but good." It was cool sounding and was about death. Good enough for us! Things always seem to come full circle for us. After high school came college, marriage, mortgages, etc. After all the dust settled, we were ready to play again! It is just like the old days, with the exception of Paul Varian on lead vocals, another old friend of ours from back in the day. Now, we have Don Wisby & Al Torres on guitars and backing vocals, Brian Stergiades on keys, Chris "Elbo" Alba on bass on some backing vocals, and myself, Kris Mortensen on drums. The old gang is back together!

VMU: How many releases have you guys put out? Where were they recorded and who produced?
E: We have two studio efforts to date, the first being a 3 song session, with one of those songs being a metal version of the Christmas Carol 'O Holy Night' that was released through Sounds of the Dead Records on the compilation "A Brutal Christmas". The other two songs were just to put us on the map and get our name out there. They served there purpose at the time, but we have progressed so much since then. The second time we entered the studio, we layed down 8 tracks, and 2 acoustic interludes that will make up our debut release entitled, "Fire Finds Beauty In Ashes". If you are serious about metal and you want it done right, you go to see Jeremy Staska at the infamous Studio 13. I could tell you about his resume, but it's easier to do what he says, and run a Google search. He's that good.

VMU: Florida used to have some brutal bands back in the day. How is the scene now?
E: The Florida metal scene is so vast, because of how spread out the actual state is. You have little pods of music. You have Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, & West Palm Beach, you also have Daytona, central Florida and college towns like Orlando & Gainesville, and then you can reach all the way up to the panhandle and pull some bands out of Tallahassee. All of us were immersed in the local metal scene when we were aspiring musicians in high school, and 'grew up' watching bands like Raped Ape (Paingod), Core Chaotic, Nonpoint Factor (Nonpoint), Sinful Lust, Brutal Mastication, Amboogalard...those are all bands we cut our teeth on, sometimes literally!

VMU: On audiostreet.net, I noticed you guys are influenced by heavy Christian bands such as P.O.D, Blindside and Living Sacrifice. My old Death Metal band back in the early 90's opened for Living Sacrifice, but with he old line up (sucks they broke up!) But anyway, my question is, with these influences do you have any Christian background in your lyrics or lives?
E: Yes. Our lyrics and music are entirely reflective of what we believe. We write about the things that have affected us, the things we have learned from, how they made us feel. We write to let others see that we all go through our fair share of hard times, some of us just come out stronger. It's about what you do with what's given to you. And for us, it's also about where the strength comes from to make it through. Everyone draws from something, whether its friends or family, or music, art..we just combined everything into EversincevE.

VMU: Could you guys explain the gear you use for live and recording?
E: Well, that's a great question. I can say this, Pro Tools is the shizzle!!! It also helps to have someone who knows what they are doing!! Don & Al use Line 6 cabinets and heads, and have an assortment of guitars, like Jacksons & B.C. Rich's. Elbo uses an SWR bass rig, Brian plays a monster Korg Triton, Paul screams into a Shure wireless, and I beat on a Tama double-bass rig ( a dying breed, by the way. People shouldn't play metal on a jazz kit. It looks gay. Thank-You.)

VMU: Do you prefer live or recording?
E: Man! They are such two separate entities! There is nothing like seeing a crowd pound the hell out of each other during a heavy part in a song you've spent hours writing! There is just nothing like it, that feeling is intense, and makes you forget about all the hot sweaty nights spent in a warehouse rehearsing!! It truly is what drives us. The studio however, is just so much fun for us. It is kinda like a little vacation, away from it all. We literally spend every waking minute creating something. We have so much fun in the studio, with the hijinx (is that a word?) The pranks, the food..it's just always a good time. We love being in the studio. It's a toss up!

VMU: How do you feel about the mainstream music scene?
E: To be honest, I think it just so indicative of what makes America so far behind times in musical taste. Here, we have popular music being decided by a handful of records execs based upon deals being cut by bigger record execs. We have radio stations being gobbled up left and right, becoming clones of one another, playing the same music over and over, while truly great artists suffer simply from lack of exposure and connection. It's a sad thing to watch a band that is so superior in talent, squander it all away and give up waiting for that big break. And that doesn't just pertain to metal bands, that's across the boards. If you look at the scene overseas, they seem to have a little bit different take on spreading the love around. I wish we could tap into some of that!!

VMU: Any tours in the works or label deals?
E: Touring would almost surely have to involve separate vehicles for each member. You've never seen a band with more gas. Ha Ha! No, touring is something we look at for the future. It is something we aren't exhausting all our energy pursuing, but something we would grab if we could. When our album comes out, and people respond, it will be easier for us to gauge if we have a place on tour, or of we need to refine our craft further. We have already written some new material that we feel is more representative of the sound we are looking for. The addition of Brian on the keys came after we had left the studio, so he has added a whole dimension of sound and possibility we are eager to share with everyone. We already have some studio time booked for later this year, so look for some new NEW material, and some stories about gas.

VMU: I know titles over your sound is frustrating. I hate to explain my own sounds with my projects, but are you happy being labeled "MetalCore"?
E: We like metal. If you think we're metalcore, that's cool too. Today's list of genres has gotten so specific that it's almost impossible to tell anymore. Metalcore is probably about the closest sub-genre that we fit into. But, if people ask, we just say we're in a metal band.

VMU: Thanks for your time, guys! Any last words?
E: Yeah! Thanks for giving us the opportunity to talk with ya! We couldn't appreciate it more! Thanks to everyone who reads this, we love to meet new friends! Drop us a line! You can check out most of our newer stuff from our website. Stop in and sign our guestbook! We'd love to hear from ya!! Look for the new album very soon! Take Care! Much Love -EVERSINCEVE

VM Underground
May 19, 2004