SOURCE – Could you give a quick background on the band?
Patrick Portnicki (Vocals) – Sure! Start A Revolution was originally founded in 2005 as a solo project when I recorded some songs and gave away a handful of CDs from time to time when visiting clubs. Reactions were overwhelming, so I decided to start a real band. From 2005-2009 we played a lot of shows and released our first album “The Day We’ve Been Waiting For”. Due to a lack of time, cancelled studies and my very involving and exhausting apprenticeship the band had to take some time out. In 2012 we were asked to play a festival in summer and I decided to start the band again.
The line up changed with Malik joining at the guitar/vocal position, there are only two members left from the original line-up (Jens and me). In 2014 Max replaced Tamon on drums and Ferdi joined the band on the guitar. Together we had 2 amazing Russia tours, Poland and UK tours and many shows in Germany and Netherlands. Besides that we recorded our second album SURVIVORS which we released just now.
SOURCE – What have you learned from first album The Day We’ve Been Waiting For that you’ve brought to the new album, Survivors?
Patrick Portnicki (Vocals) – Good question – Survivors is a huge step forward, much more serious, Lyrically and musically. Our music is based on emotions, personal experiences, this is what it makes that intensive for us. A good vehicle to transport the songs messages are catchy sing-a-long refrains. This does not mean that it needs to be popmusic, but catchiness helps to make the messages tangible.
SOURCE – Lead track, Survivors, is a fantastic and crushing piece of Metalcore. Why did you choose to lead with this particular track? Are there any particular themes on the album?
Malik Aziz (Guitars/Vocals) – Yeah, the title SURVIVORS heavily relies on the lyrics of the album. Songs like Survivors and Questions but also many others talk about the different forms of survival and all the challenges we have to go through – or some people have to go through. Be it literally physical survival (‘Hellcome’), emotional (‘Broken Heart’, ‘Questions’, ‘Wake Up’) or being left behind when a loved one has to go… It’s also about the serpent, the snake. We also used the extra poisonous green neon color to emphasize the different perils the heart is in.
SOURCE – Have you experienced any differences in how the foreign press treats you and the band compared to how native press and media treats and writes about you?
Malik Aziz (Guitars/Vocals) – Absolutely not. Fortunately for us most people seem to be impressed and happy with the album, no matter where they are from. We know that sometimes or with some bands this may be different – but in our case we found a very friendly welcome everywhere.
SOURCE – What about being an artist, can you exist without social media?
Malik Aziz (Guitars/Vocals) – Nowadays: no. The wonderful thing is that we can stay connected to our fans – even on the other side of the globe. Isn’t that cool? So say hello to us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or even Vero!
SOURCE – Besides music, what are some of your favorite things to do? Any particular weird hobbies – and maybe a story to go along with it?
Malik Aziz (Guitars/Vocals) – Haha, I guess we’re particularly good in hurting ourselves. Last year I had my face broken 3 times (dance floor, the culprit were the Deftones), Ferdi sew through his thumb sinew and hat to play his guitar for a while sitting on a chair with a weird apparatus strapped to his hand, Patrick had his left leg broken, I don’t know, like 12 times and was in hospital for months … right after Jens had his Face injured twice (yeah, he is a mountain bike enthusiast). Besides that we like playing some music.
SOURCE – How is the local metal scene in Aachen? Does it compare with Berlin, Munich or Hamburg at all – or does it rock harder, for that matter?
Malik Aziz (Guitars/Vocals) – The metal scene in Aachen is lively, there are hundreds of bands rehearsing in the old WW2 bunkers – which is great because it is the opposite of what the Nazis once wanted, haha! Aachen is a small city (250.000), only 90km from Cologne which has 1 million. So for bigger shows we always go there. Also the metal center of Germany (Ruhrgebiet) is only merely 2h away and play there frequently so I guess we also draw an influence from there.
SOURCE – Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
Malik Aziz (Guitars/Vocals) – Give our album not only a good listen but also a good read. We’ve included a 24 pages booklet with all the lyrics in the digipak so be sure to check that out. See you at a stage near you soon!
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