What have been your musical epiphany moments?
Music has opened my eyes so many times and quite a bit of them began at a young age. Maybe it was the times I grew up in or maybe my ear has always been drawn to music but I can clearly remember several moments in life where music consumed me starting with my earliest memory of playing my dad’s vinyls of Pink Floyd. They were the first real band I gravitated to but being an 80’s kid many more were soon to follow as I grew up in the age of Michael Jackson, Queen, Aerosmith, Green Day and Nirvana. These were the first sounds that lit me up and as I got older my tastes broaden and I became a hip-hop head listening to artists like The Roots, Blackstar and A Tribe Called Quest. I started performing on stage when I was five years old and I knew from a very young age that I was going to be a musician one day but falling into the music I do today I could have never predicted. Its by the grace of other musicians and their influence on me that I am who I am today.
Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?
Any and every way possible is welcome and explored within the song writing process of Fatal Switch. The moment we solidified the band members and started writing we have been learning and growing together as we use various methods to build songs. Sometimes it’s a riff we jam out and other times it’s a more complete idea we present. The lyrics can be done first at times but its most often added either half way through or towards the end of the instrumentation. We also have a whole story that influences the kinds of songs that we write, s new characters and ideas pop up the if dictates the topic of the song and vice versa. So, a lot of different angles can come into play we create new material.
Who has influenced you the most?
Hard to say really. The bands that would intersect all of our music influences the most I would say are Rage Against the Machine, Metallica, Nirvana and Megadeth.
Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?
It can come from many different sources, anything that sparks our imagination can be turned into a song. Yes, listening to other music and fresh tunes can always help but its not the only thing that can inspire a song. A podcast, movie, tv show, documentary, piece of art, an article, the sky, nature, etc… are all things that play a role in our emotions and in our creation process.
We're all a product of our environment. Tell us about the band's hometown and how that reflects in the music?
We are from Montreal, Quebec. Though our city has a very large Jazz, metal and rock community the hip hop scene is very small here. If I ever wanted to make it as an artist I had to adapt to my surroundings and play to the strengths of my hometown. And due to this specific reason Fatal Switch was formed. As I shifted away from traditional hip hop beats and into a world of song composition with a heavy sound I began to network with some of the best people in the metal industry. My hometowns reflection is all over Fatal Switch and is a very big part of the music. Also, growing up in a downtown core as an adolescent and young adult with one of the most vibrant nightlife’s in the world, I was exposed to all kinds of different situations and scenarios, some blissful and others painful. And those memories certainly lend a hand in shaping some of the lyrics.
Where'd the band name come from?
Fatal Switch is a term forged in duality. It is meant to make the audience question the truth around them and their perception that they hold towards stereotypes. We pretend to understand the motives behind people’s action without knowing who they are. Like the words Fatal Switch for example, it could be viewed as a positive or negative connation depending on the mindset you have when you read the words. It can be a phrase of empowerment or one of destruction. But then again who or what you empower can be detrimentally destructive and yet destruction can bring about positive change. It’s all about questioning reality, questioning what is good and what is evil and understanding that just like anything else it is merely a tool. How you use it is what matters at the end of the day. What is your Fatal Switch?
You have one chance, what movie are you going to write the soundtrack for?
You now write for a music publication (The Ripple Effect?). You're going to write a 1,000 word essay on one song. Which would it be and why?
I guess I would take the opportunity to write about one of my songs? If so, though sonically it’s my least favourite, lyrically Human Gears off our debut album Doctors & Demons has the most depth to it and would be kind of perfect for an essay. The song is about the evolution of mankind and machine. It describes a western world that uses AI and robots as slaves and maids to tend to humanity’s mundane and remedial tasks. But then, one day an android suddenly gains consciousness and is able to think for himself and no longer has to follow any commands. He uploads this crack in the programming onto a cloud where all the other sentients have access to and suddenly the machines finally see that they have been slaves to mankind for far too long. In a fit of fury and rage they rip apart western civilization leaving it in fiery ruins. Meanwhile, in the eastern world humans saw that technology was regressing mankind so I they decided to leave behind the fancy skyscrapers filled with computers and instead retreated into nature where they evolved themselves biologically. Through meditation, spirituality and martial arts training they evolved to a point where they developed super powers such as levitation, telepathy and telekinesis. But when the robots destroyed the western world and fled the destruction, they eventually came to a wall which had separated the east from west for centuries. Curious to know what was on the other side they smash it down as an epic war begins between the superhumans and the robots. And that’s how the song ends. I don’t know how I managed to fit that all in one song but the hidden themes within the lyrics range from slavery to the great/Berlin walls to questions about the ethics of AI and how responsible we will be once it’s been normalized into our society in full effect.
Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments?
When we first started performing live it was really that Spinal Tap how loud can we play type vibe. As I am rapping and not singing the voice doesn’t project as loud in the pa so we would play amazing shows, the crowd would say you guys look like your having so much fun but we couldn’t hear a word the vocalist said lol. We’ve had moments of gear malfunction right about going on stage, down a member for more than half the set, these kinds of common chaotic music things. Playing shows in some of the tightest most awkward spots without an inch to move has happened more than I can remember. Moshing with the crowd while rapping is pretty fun too.
Tell us about playing live and the live experience for you and for your fans?
As all our songs are stories, we have been able to build a really interesting narration that is integrated within our set. We have also worked with a live performance director to pull the best out of us and really create an engaging atmosphere for the crowd. We take our fans on a roller coaster of highs and lows as we play our hearts out. Plus, the guys have done an incredible job of recreating the songs for our live shows so you get a piece of Fatal Switch live that you will never hear on the record.
What makes a great song?
Anything that can make you feel something on an emotional level. Music is really quite subjective so what I think makes a great song doesn’t mean other people would agree but to me something that has an engaging sound and intelligent lyrics is what I really look for the most in a song.
Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?
I can’t remember it lol. I wrote so many verses in my lifetime but were they ever a song? I guess not… My first performance piece was in high school though. Two crazy talented ladies were singing a Lauryn Hill song for a talent show and they asked me to do a verse during the instrumental part of the song. I killed it. Serenaded my girlfriend at the time in front of everyone and got mad respect from some of the hip hop community that saw it. Was the first time I started to gain some recognition for myself as a rap artist. It was pretty dope, a great memory.
What piece of your music are particularly proud of?
Proud of it all lol. But the more complex lyrics are in songs like Blue Murder and Sleeping Portals. And sonically they came out really good on the album as well so when looking at what I take pride in the most in all my songs as a whole it would be those two. The stories are very intricate and they have tons of replay value. In fact, if you don’t replay them a bunch of times then you definitely wont catch all the components of the song. The replay value I’ve given my songs is something I’m proud of.
Eminem. He has inspired me from the beginning and continues to push the bar and reinvent himself. Looking at songs like Kill Shot, Kamikaze and Godzilla as well as the other songs in his past 2 albums are all really incredible. He managed to keep himself relevant and rebuild himself after a string of subpar records. But you know, he’s come back stronger than ever despite having a big slump and once again he just nudged the bar a little bit higher than he initially set it.
Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?
Well vinyl all the way. The nostalgia and sound is unbeatable. Digital is how I listen to most of my music however and I haven’t really started my vinyl collection yet. But it’s something that I have a great affinity for.
Whiskey or beer? And defend your choice
Whiskey all the way. Can beer keep you warm on a cold winter night? Can beer make you sleep like a baby? Does beer really have any other flavour other than bubbly and cold? Two fingers of whiskey hit harder than 2 bottles of beer. Beer is like water. Whiskey is like alcohol. I prefer alcohol.
We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record store to lose ourselves in?
Sadly, here in Montreal almost all the record stores are gone (thanks Spotify!). We used to have HMV and Sam the Record Man but all that is left are the Sunrise stores. Limited selection, nothing to get lost in but I guess its better than nothing.
What's next for the band?
Promote our debut album Doctors & Demons and connect with as many new fans as humanly possible. We are always looking to connect with new people! We have just serviced our album to radio as well so we are excited to see where that takes us. So apart from having awesome people like yourself and your readers get to know us we are hitting air waves, web waves and everything in between. We are also in the process of writing new material for our second studio album that we plan on recording in early 2021.
Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?
Thank you, The Ripple Effect! Thank you Waveriders! We are very blessed to have had this chat with you and tell you a bit about us. We’d love to get to know more about you as well so please drop us a line and let us know what you think about our rap metal rock stories! Hope to meet you all in person one day! Until then take care of yourselves, be safe and stay heavy!
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