An Interview With The Montreal-Based Rock Band, PSYCHOCIDE!

Meet the Montreal-based band Psychocide. On March 3rd, they will release their debut album entitled “Alcohol & Bad Decisions.”

Engineered by Christian Cummings (U2, Blink-182, Switchfoot, The Used), the album tells the story of a variety of characters that will eventually star in a future comic book.

Learn more about Psychocide in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time! Now that 2016 is over, what are some words you would use to describe the year?

Strange, Hippies, Postmates, Coachella!

What have been some of the highlights for you all the band’s music?

Psychocide was dormant since Feb 2015. Reviving the band was a highlight I would say. I knew it would happen at some point, but not Summer 2016.

Musically I think with our upcoming record we kinda defined our Sound, Which Is cool cause no one can quiet compare it to anyone else yet.

What are you most excited about for 2017?

There is actually a lot to look forward to, first and foremost, GIGS! We love gigging and meeting our fans and other awesome bands too, lately “THE FEEDBACKERS” from Montreal. Then we have our Music Videos, 2 which we shoot this month (Crazy Janet & Mary), 1 which is in post production (Mr. Suit), our comic book which I started drafting last week, and of course our Debut Album which we can’t wait to share.

Did any of you make any New Year’s Resolutions?

Charlie Chain (bass) is going for the Dad Bod this year, as recent survey has shown its popular with the ladies. So he wants to try it out.

Wilson (drums) is hoping to master the selfie stick, we think peer pressure has something to do with that.

Joey (guitar) Just wants to visit as many cities as possible to rule Pokemon Go. I sometimes wonder if that is the reason he joined the band.

And me Goldwyn (Vocals & Guitar) I want to get good at ballet and tap dancing, as I believe there is a niche market somewhere I could target with that skill.

Growing up, did you all always want to be musicians?

Actually we all did. At one point or the other we saw a live gig on T.V. with our heroes playing and that blew our minds. We had to figure out how it was done, and you know when you’re young you’re just playing to play, so that’s all we did, then it slowly turned into trying to impress a girl (not the same girl, hopefully) which made us all work a little harder.

Can you recall some of your first musical memories?

Yeah, I had a guitar at my place for a few years when I was around 12, never figured out that you had to press down so hard on the fret to ring a note other than the open strings. I didn’t know anyone that played guitar either, so to me at the time you really had to be special to make music out of that thing. But when I figured it out, I was wailing on that Pulp Fiction Tune like there was no tomorrow. Which led to my brother destroying my guitar. But eventually led to him getting me the infamous Yamaha F310-P (which I wrote “Street Named Desire” on).

How did Psychocide first come together?

The first time the full band got together, the first lineup (Daimo, Haffro & Boris). Was during a heavy Bev session on a Sunday at Lapalapa in the East Village NYC. There were some Mezcal, worms, and nachos. Haffro (bass) was my roommate, Daimo (drums) was his buddy acquainted in Melbourne, Australia and Boris (bass) was my buddy from Mauritius. We were pretty hammered and had the crazy idea of playing together. Although we didn’t do many shows together, many of the songs from the upcoming record is from that period. And I guess “Street Named Desire” music video was an instant bond.

How did you go about picking your name?

I initially thought it was the title to one of my brother’s poem, so in my mind It was homage to him for introducing me to metal, by naming the band after his poem.

But last year, I found out that it wasn’t actually his poem that I had found on my laptop. It was the lyrics to a song a Scottish band wanted me to write the music to.

So I guess you have both origins.

Was it hard to find something that described you all?

I think it’s pretty hard to put labels on us. I mean, these days, I let the fans and critics put us wherever they feel we fit. To us it’s all about what the moment and time is that will dictate where we go.

In March, you will release your debut album called “Alcohol & Bad Decisions.” Can you talk about putting this collection together?

It was a bit challenging at first, but as I mentioned before we had a lot of material to work with, we hosted so many parties and had the opportunity to meet so many amazing people from all over the world that characters weren’t lacking. We literally based most if not all the songs on those people and events that occurred at those parties. The music itself was a bunch of riffs that we had on “Voice Memo” so here again we probably still have enough ideas for a few more records.

How long did it take to record all the songs?

The whole project took about 25 days non-stop to record and mix, (with the exception of July 4^th) It’s not that we were going for speed, but I had to be in Montreal right after the last day and it was the last day on my lease.

I understand that the upcoming collection tells the story of a variety of characters that will eventually star in a future comic book. Can you talk about how all of that came together?

I was randomly putting all the track titles down on paper and started picturing all the characters as I wrote the names, I got someone to draw them (that became the cover). But I couldn’t quit, so I imagined what if they all met, slowly the pencil moved and a story world was formed. There were 2 sides to the story, the good and the bad, then I started to think why would Crazy Janet be this and Mary be that. So… it just slowly came together to the point that I couldn’t let go. There you have it.

What was the inspiration for it all?

Cartoons/Comics are easier to mold, being thrown into a fictional world is far more appealing to me than reality, there are no rules, no boundaries, no social conducts, morals, etc… You can make that up as you go. It’s the world you want it to be and if it doesn’t please you can change/alter it.

What was it like working with the engineer Christian Cummings on “Alcohol & Bad Decisions”?

He is actually one of the best engineers and creative person I have had the chance to work with, he was patient and was one of those guys that understood what kind of sound we were going for. What made the experience even better was that he was pickier than me on the performance recordings, which was a first for me and that is what made the record sound as good as it does.

Who are some of your favorite artists and what bands continue to inspire you and your music? Who would you all still love to work with in the future?

Our common favorite artists would be Gun N’ Roses (and yes we love their Reunion), Pearl Jam, Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, Megadeth, Metallica, Dream Theater, RHCP, Muse, Led Zeppelin, etc… (the list goes on) And they all continuously inspire us and hell yeah, we would work with all the living ones when the opportunity arises.

What do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people continue to take away from your songs?

I think you should gather all the experiences life has to offer. Pick and chose from your mistakes the ones you still enjoy and keep going. I hope that somewhere in the midst of the madness that takes place in the songs, that message is captured.

When you aren’t performing, working in the studio, what do you like to do for fun? How do you unwind from it all?

This probably sounds boring but learn, I like to learn. I try to pick up new instruments, new skills (like seriously I’m taking Tap Dancing classes as of Friday), also study Film & Production at the moment and Audio Engineering, write, and training. I enjoy cross fit and anything challenging physically.

Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers regarding yourself or your music?

If you’re a Rocker, keep at it, I really want to hear some good new Kick Ass Rock N’ Roll bands, If you don’t play music, get creative and create. We dream of the day everyone takes a little time to try that out, create, it’s great and its amazing what can come out. Remember those flying cars we talked about in the 90’s where are they?