Backstage Pass - AMOK - Interview

ATP

For the record, who's answering the interview?

AMOK

I'm going be answering, my name is Calum Henderson.

ATP

What is your band's name? How did you come up with that name?

AMOK

The name of the band is Amok, I came up with it when I was about 14 when I used to play drums. I carved it on my drum stick and always wanted my own band one day called that.

ATP

So who's in the band and what instruments do you each play?

AMOK

I play lead/rhythm guitar, so does Greg. Keith my brother is on bass, Stevo on vocals and Matt on drums.

ATP

How would you describe your sound. What makes you unique?

AMOK

Chunky, heavy, fast, melodic, powerful. It's hard to pin it down but we know if it's us or not. A lot of material gets binned during the writing process, we are quite ruthless with each other. We are unique in that we don't go for the whole thrash stereotype on this album, I sometimes feel the genre lacks depth and is a bit too focused on dressing up like a certain way and singing about certain things. We worked really hard on this one, it's a really personal album for all of us.

ATP

What bands have influenced each of you?

AMOK

Many many bands, Bay Area stuff got me the most. Metallica, whatever you think of them influenced us hugely and I will always respect them for what they did. In terms of finding our sound Anthrax helped us as they were always more about the vocal lines and that's what we are about too. We've never been about being the fastest, let's face it someone else will always be faster, our strength is in songwriting, catchy riffs and big choruses. AC/DC are probably one to mention as they helped us become the drinkers we are today, haha.

ATP

How experienced are you on the stage, a virgin or whore?

AMOK

This year is our tenth anniversary so we are full on skanks haha

ATP

How would you describe your shows?

AMOK

As the years go by and life gets in the way and everything becomes more and more dull, mundane and repetitive, playing a metal show becomes more and more therapeutic haha, we enjoy it way more than we used to, we are tighter than ever and whether we are playing to a full room or three people we will go for it entirely because at the end of the day we are a bunch of close friends out drinking, having a great time and doing something we all love. Gets us out the house you know?

ATP

Tell us about your favorite show and why?

AMOK

Probably supporting Destruction and Onslaught. Boltthrower was great too. There are too many to remember!!

ATP

Tell us about your worst show and why?

AMOK

Probably way back in the day when we used to do pay to play. We no longer do it, we will walk out. Anyways, we payed about 250 pounds to play for 25 minutes, with no promotion whatsoever. There was none there and we all got really drunk and could barely play, it was a hilariously low point for us, but from that point on we changed and stood our ground more.

ATP

Tell Us About Your Dream Show, who you'd like to play with and where?

AMOK

Always wanted to play a festival or out the country in Europe, and see if our music would stand up in a big venue and abroad, anyone want to put us on??? Contact us!!

ATP

Do you have a street team and how can you join?

AMOK

We don't but you can follow us on facebook and band camp.

ATP

Do you have a record label and if not are you looking for one?

AMOK

We are currently signed to Witches Brew who are brilliant and basically kept us going by believing in our music. Thanks guys!

ATP

What are your plans for the future, in a year, 5 years?

AMOK

Keep playing, keep writing, keep rocking.

ATP

Finally, do have any words on what Arm The Pit means to you?

AMOK

Doing a great job promoting and supporting bands, keep up the good work, thanks for your interest in us!