STRANGLEHOLD
Are you guys into hard and
heavy music with a strong '80s touch? Then I guess you have the answer
to your prayers right here and they listen to the name "Straglehold". They
come from Belgium and they want to shake our foundations.
1.HELLO! COULD YOU POINT OUT THE
MOST IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF THE BAND'S LIFE UP TO DATE? WHICH IS THE CURRENT
LINE UP?
Lorenzo: When we stopped with the
band 3AB, Corina and I formed STRANGLEHOLD. Corina Stokmans - drums, Lorenzo
Augusti - guitars, Rik Wullaert - vocals. At the moment we are searchin'
for a new Bass player, 'cause Andre K. stopped with the band, but we are
gonna record first a new CDemo in my studio.
2.WHY DID YOU NAME THE BAND THIS WAY?
IT'S CONISTED OF 2 WORDS STRAGNLE AND HOLD. WHAT ARE YOU STRANGLING ABOUT
AND HOLDING ONTO? DOES IT HAVE A SPECIAL MEANING?
Lorenzo: Simple I'm a huge Ted
Nugent fan, and he's got this song called STRANGLEHOLD, it means to hold
and never let go, that's what we try to do with our music.
3.GIVE US A DESCRIPTION OF YOUR MUSICAL
STYLE. WHICH BAND'S AND ALBUMS CAN BE FOUND AMONG YOUR INFLUENCES?
Lorenzo: We call our music hard
& heavy, '80s with modern influences. The style is a mix of Savatage
meets Ozzy meets Iron Maiden etc........................... All the great
metal with melody and power is the music we like, too many to mention.
4.HOW MANY RELEASES DO YOU HAVE THIS
FAR? TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT YOUR LATEST. ARE YOU STILL SATISIFED WITH
THEM OR IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO CHANGE?
Lorenzo: We released a mini CD
( sold out), and a rehearsal CD with at that moment our new singer Rik
W., you can hear MP3 samples on our site. http://www.facimages.com/Stranglehold.html,
with the band 3AB we also made a few demo's in the '90s. The new music
style will have more prog.rock influences, not like Dream Theater, Vandenplas
, more metal like Savatage etc...............
5.WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS TALKING ABOUT?
REAL LIFE SITUATIONS, FANTASY THEMES OR SOMETHING IN BETWEEN?
Lorenzo: Most of the lyrics are
written by Corina, these are a mix of real and fantasy themes, the listeners
can use their own imagination in the songs.
6.LORENZO AUGUSTI WHO IS I THINK THE
LEADER OF THE BAND IS PREPARING A SOLO PROJECT. TELL US A FEW THINGS ABOUT
IT. DO YOU THINK THAT STRANGLEHOLD CAN FULLY "SATISFY" YOUR ARTISTICAL
"NEEDS"? WHAT MUSICAL DIRECTIONS WILL YOU FOLLOW WITH IT? METAL OR SOMETHING
ELSE?
Lorenzo: I write the music in the
band, I also got a lot of idea's that I can not use in Stranglehold. When
we finish recording our new CDemo, I start to make a solo CD(demo) with
a lot of guest musicians, the only consistent is that the drum parts will
be played by Corina and the most guitar parts by myself. The bass parts
will be done by a few friends (3-some), keyboards and piano will be done
by 2 friends and some little pieces by myself. On vocals I've got a great
singer that normally sings in a Blues band. The music will be rock-metal-prog-blues-symphonic
style, influences: Pink Floyd, Yes, Led Zeppelin............
7.HAVE YOU DONE ANY LIVE SHOWS? ARE
YOU PLANNING ANY? HOW WAS IT THE FIRST TIME YOU WERE ON STAGE?
Lorenzo: Yes we played the last
shows with a guest bass player Gerry Verstreken (Manic Movement), in April
we start to play on a little festival (headliner), as the only metal band,
and then???? We are talking to 2 German agencies to get on stages in Germany,
we are from Belgium. Corina: Playing "live" is the one and only thing that
we like to do, from day one till forever.
8.WAS THERE A TIME THAT YOU THOUGHT
YOU WERE SO FED UP OF THE SITUATION AND THAT YOU COULDN'T HANDLE THE PROBLEMS
ANYMORE THAT YOU DECIDED TO QUIT THE BAND? WHAT MADE YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND
AND OVERCOME YOUR PROBLEMS?
Lorenzo: I can only speak for myself,
there are always times that there are problems, but you have to overcome
these problems, a band is like real life, with ups and downs.
Corina: same answer.
9.YOU ALSO HAVE A COVER BAND NAMED
TEA TIME. WHAT BANDS DO YOU COVER AND WHY DID YOU NAME THE BAND THIS WAY?
Lorenzo: Corina and I formed TEA
TIME to play covers, 'cause these gig's are well paid, the money we earned
(Corina and I also live together) we put this money in the studio. We found
the name Tea Time funny and it sounds good. The setlist are '70s, '80s,
'90s rock songs.
10. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN'T
ABLE TO INVOLVE WITH MUSIC IN ANY WAY?
Lorenzo:I would be a paint
artist.
Corina: A veterinarian!!
11.IF YOU HAD THE ABILITY TO CHANGE
SOMETHING IN THE WORLD, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?
12.IF ELECTRICITY CEASED TO EXIST,
WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN TO HEAVY METAL? WOULD IT BE TRANSFORMED
OR FORGOTTEN?
Lorenzo: Heavy Metal has nothing
to do with electricity, but only with a feeling inside ourselves.
13.WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW
TO HAVE?
Hard & Heavy band STRANGLEHOLD.
14.THANK YOU! HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK
YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?
Lorenzo: A great and fantastic
2003 to everyone in the world.
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