Interview w/ Joe by Vasilis, The Metal Zone Web master

The band began w/ Jeff & myself having a desire to play music that was heavy, progressive & yet melodic in mid 1994.We were looking for like minded people that shared our vision & really lucked out by getting Scott, Roman & Dave in the project. The funny thing is that ENERTIA was originally going to be just that, a project that just recorded a 3 song demo that wasn't supposed to ever be released. As  the 5 of us realized how much we clicked as people & a band, we decided to go & record a couple extra songs & do a CD & its taken off from there.

MeTaLZoNe: You just released your first full-length CD "Momentum". Are you planning a tour to support it?

ENERTIA: We are currently playing in any & all clubs in the northeast USA  that will have us, from Boston to Buffalo, NY & beyond. We are a totally independent band at the moment & really can't afford to tour for weeks at a time, but we'll see what happens in the next few months as we've had some interest lately w/ a booking agent. Everyone is really driven & is anxious to get on the road & if anyone has a suggestion as to a club we can play at, please contact us!

MeTaLZoNe: What can you expect from this release after the success of your first demo? 

ENERTIA: The 2nd pressing of our debut CD, "Law Of Three" is moving well & we're very proud of the success we've achieved in such a short period of time & thank all the people that have helped support us. The new CD, "Momentum" is doing even better that "LOT" did in the same time period its been available & has already sold almost 500 units since it came out 10 weeks ago. We are very interested in landing a worldwide distribution deal as it will make our music more readily available in Europe & Asia

MeTaLZoNe: Which are the basic influences for each member?

ENERTIA:  Jeff-Terry Bozzio, Deen Castronovo
              Joe-Brad Divens (Wrathchild America)
              Scott-John Bush
              Roman-Van Halen, Paul Gilbert
              Dave-George Lynch

MeTaLZoNe: Who writes the songs, the lyrics and which are your subjects?

ENERTIA: We are all totally involved in the songwriting & spend a great deal of time self critiquing our songs by 8 tracking them ourselves before we go into the studio. It makes a big difference doing that as it helps us all analyze if we are happy w/ our parts & makes it so we are even tighter & can bang out our parts quickly in the studio. Scott has written all the lyrics on 'Momentum" & there were a couple songs on our debut that I had written along w/ Scott & a couple outside lyricists. ENERTIA's lyrics basically deal w/ real issues in our lives that stir our emotions enough to put those feelings into words & music. Scott likes to leave the lyrical subjects open to the listener so they can interpret our songs however they want.

MeTaLZoNe: Is it true that the band exists only for 18 month? And how do you explain your success, if you think that takes many years to others bands to succeed?

ENERTIA: Yes, it is very true as the band was together & rehearsing for only 6 weeks before we went into the studio to record "Law Of Three". There were a few different people that had jammed w/ Jeff & Dave & I in the fall of 1995, but it was never called ENERTIA. Scott had joined the band between Xmas 95 & New Year 96 & Roman had agreed to play lead on the tape as he was still committed to another band until February 96, at which point it became a band & not just a project. We went in the studio the last week of March & by the time our CD came out, I was already starting to promote the band via Newsgroups, search engines & link trades. I believe that the key to our "success" is just letting the world know you're out there & not being afraid to self promote. We are all music fans as well as musicians & I was always looking for new bands to check out on the net & made a lot of good friends by doing so. I also take the time to answer every piece of email/mail that comes in asking me about the band as it is still flattering to me to see people from all over the world commenting on our music.
 
MeTaLZoNe: Are there other bands that your members have played before Enertia?

ENERTIA: Yes, we are all vetrans of the upstate NY music scene, but all of our previous bands are just local & unknown projects. 

MeTaLZoNe: Which are the best metal albums in your opinion?

ENERTIA: Personally. I really like both of Wrathchild America's CDs, Nevermore's new one, Thin Lizzy-Black Rose & tons of others. I have a large music collection of over 1000 CDs,1000 vinyl LPS & countless cassettes & videos (90% of which range from classic rock to death metal) & have way too many favorites to totally narrow it down. I wake up in a different mood every day & w/ that I want to hear different music depending on that mood. Another one that comes to mind is Slayer,  when I'm driving & an idiot pulls out in front of me! I'm sure you get the picture, & if you ever drove in
my hometown of Gloversville, you'd listen to Slayer too!!!

MeTaLZoNe: You describe your sound as progressive/power metal. Is there a prog/power scene in N.Y.?

ENERTIA: We are the last metal band left in upstate NY at the moment, although I've heard that there are a few new upcoming bands that play metal (as opposed to hardcore which is huge in upstate NY) along w/ the return of some friends of ours, China White who have been playing for the last 10+ years & just underwent a drummer change. I think that metal may return to being  an acceptable/"Trendy" form of music once again, but it will be different than it was in the 80s. I really doubt that the glam look will ever return to where it was then as I  think that  a hatred of bands like Poison was what all these alternative bands were pissed about & started playing their music to rebel against it!!! We have been listening to & playing metal whether it was trendy or not almost all our lives & the people that are supporting it now are the people that truly love it.
 

MeTaLZoNe: Alternative and grunge rule U.S.A. these days. Metal tries for a come back, Do you believe that metal can rule again?

ENERTIA: It will, but I don't see it being exactly the same as it was10-15 years ago. Music was never as heavy or extreme back then & as long as there is still some melody mixed in, the heaviness adds a new angle to it. Alternative is not doing as well as it once was & I am noticing bands like Silverchair, Bush & green Day's current releases are not selling as well as their previous efforts. Personally, I like it much better that metal is more underground, but if it becomes cool to like it again all these morons that jumped on the last trend will all the sudden be playing metal & growing their short green hair long again.

MeTaLZoNe: In the "momentum"'s thank list I saw many webzines and people from internet. What do you believe that a band can succeed through the internet?

ENERTIA: The internet has been a fantastic tool for ENERTIA & I recommend it to anyone w/ a band, but they should also realize that there is a whole lot more than just paying to have a web site. I'm on this computer hours every day promoting us & that has helped us to sell out of our 1st pressing of our debut & moving a lot of copies of the new one. It is also a quicker & somewhat cheaper method of writing to people worldwide as you can hear what a band sounds like w/out not even leaving your room!!!

MeTaLZoNe: What can we expect from Enertia in near future? Which are your plans?

ENERTIA: We have about 6 new songs to demo & then just play anywhere & everywhere that will have us to support our new CD. we're not going to rush back in the studio this time, but if we end up w/ enough new music we're happy w/, you might see our 3rd CD a little quicker than expected. I can almost bet that CD #3 will be out before the end of 1998 & hopefully we'll have a distribution / licencing deal to help us promote it & make it that much easier to buy it.
 

MeTaLZoNe: Would you like to send a message to the metal fans and to the people who believe in you?

ENERTIA: Thanks to all our friends that has been helping/supporting us from the beginning as it could never have been done w/ out you. Your help will not be forgotten as we keep track of all the people that help us, as well as the clowns that bash/ignore us. Thanks to pages like The Metal Zone for supporting underground bands such as ENERTIA & without your help we couldn't exist. 

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