Interview with AXiS
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Interview with AXiS
What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
My love for music came from my uncle. He was playing in a folk band so he had instruments around he’s house all the time. That’s what struck my curiosity for music. Little by little I started to discover bands like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC or the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
I have no idea how my life would have been without music. I can’t imagine it, but for sure it had been a more boring one.
What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
Ha, hard to say. Music got me up 24/7. Not necessarily playing it, but doing other music related stuff like teaching, recording, mixing and so on. When I get some free time, I usually start fixing stuff around the house, carpeting, electrical or mechanical stuff. Let’s say I’m a handy man in my free time, which is little, as at this time, music is not enough to make a living so I do my day job in parallel as well.
How long has your band been around?
We’ve formed in 2012.
Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
Myself, I’m from Romania. Born in a small town in the south of the country called Orsova. Dejan and Ranko, my band mates are from Serbia, also born in the small city of Kladovo. Between us is the Danube river. Once I played with my high school band in Kladovo (maybe 15 years ago). That’s how we met.
Currently I moved to a bigger city. Base wise, we’re all around.
Our nationalities have nothing to do with our music. The influences come from a different part of the globe. The only thing that our geographical position has influenced is the effort we have to make to get our music across, in this part of the world.
How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?
Dejan came up with it. It’s roots are our love for Hendrix. He came with the idea to name the band after Hendrix’s second album – Axis: Bold as Love
Tell me about your most memorable shows.
For sure the time when we played at the theatre of a small city in the south of Romania, near our hometowns. What actually made this show so memorable was one of our dear friends, Antonius Serdin, who had established a “music” school for young people. I placed the brackets as this school is like no other here in Romania. Remember “School of Rock”. Well Anto’s school is the Romanian edition of School of Rock. He has about 60 students with which he works on a regular basis. When we played the theater they were in the first row, head-banging and dancing. A true rock ‘n’ roll atmosphere which is kind of a rare thing with the public in Romania. For sure this was the most memorable show!
What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?
We had a few places that we felt like home. Unfortunately, most of them are closed now. The Pandemic hit really hard on these businesses. One of our dreams is to have a US tour.
If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?
Good question. Most of the guys are now around anymore, unfortunately – ahahahaha. Classic rock is the way for us, for sure. Sadly, this scene does not have too much promoters as it would deserve. But from the groups that are still around and from the contemporary classic rock groups, for sure headlining would be Black Sabbath, followed by Rival Sons.
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?
Patience, practice, have fun and be super perseverant!
If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?
To invest at least double the time I did into my music. Not necessarily musical wise, but business wise.
Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?
For sure the most meaningful song is “Somewhere in Time and Space” from the new album. I wrote it after losing one of the most important person from my life – the person who had the biggest influence on how I grew up and what I’ve become as an adult. We were less and less in contact over the last years, as I left for college and until her death, I came to learn how fragile humans are. Seeing how time degrades the body and mind and we can only take part as spectators in the process is really heart-braking. “Somewhere in Time and Space” is exactly about that.
Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
“Dazzling Woman” and “Until the Night Ends” for me, for sure are the most fun. People are just starting to learn about the new album. “Too Long” is surly one of the most requested ones.
What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?
Usually, every songs starts from a riff, which is written either by me or by Dejan. As we’re 250 kilometers away, I usually take that riff, program some drums and record some bass. I create a demo, of some sorts. I try to have a structure as well, like intro, verse, chorus, bridge, solo, etc. Then I just listen to it until I can mumble a vocal line over it. Last piece is the lyrics. When everything is done, I send it to the guys, they rehearse it, add their personal touch and the it’s “off to the races”.
We sometimes try new songs live to see the public’s reaction. Some we keep, some we don’t. After we settle with a healthy amount of songs, we find a studio and make a record.
Recording and producing wise, we always like the good ol’ way – in the sense that we will always lay down the tracks all together (more or less like in a live situation) and the vocals and eventually overdubs (which are rare) afterwards. Both records that we did were done in the same way. We recorded around 2-3 days. This is the easiest part. Writing the songs is a little bit more difficult.
What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
It really depends on the mood I’m in, when I’m writing. I don’t try to deliberately send specific messages. I just try to write songs that I believe people can relate to.
Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?
You would probably expect a hard “YES” but the reality is that in 10 years of existence, we never had a major disagreement or any fight of some sorts. This is what we’re all grateful for – the fact that we are so perfectly “in tune” one with each other.
What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?
We’re currently working out on planning the “Electric Peace” tour, with dates around Europe. Additionally to live gigs, we’ll be releasing some interesting videos, one of which will be a documentary about how the newest album came to be. Keep an eye on us!
Website: https://axisband.ro/
Streaming: https://axis.lnk.to/electricpeace