No one is more excited about the duo/super group, INFINIKA more than RockRevolt! We caught up with front man, Riz Story and drummer, David Silveria to talk about the debut album, Echoes and Traces anticipated for September 1st.
I’m very curious to know how you each got into in music – not necessarily the journey, but what triggered the interest enough to make this your lifestyle?
Riz Story: For me, it was a couple of kids on my block that were really into bands. They were listening to everything from Pink Floyd to Led Zeppelin, and I just instantly got into it. I had the knack for singing in the beginning. I was slowly getting into playing instruments. I started off much earlier playing in a band at school. I picked up instrument after instrument and it was history from then on. You could say my very first band was when I was 11 years old, and since then I’ve been in a rock band. That doesn’t even include classical composing and all the other compositions and things I’ve done as well.
David Silveria: My mother had quite an extensive record collection. When I was 9 years old I started playing drums. My parents purchased a single drum for me, and I also started playing in school. I was just playing the snare drum. I had a drum set eventually at school for the jazz band I was a part of – and it just went on from there. I got my own drum set around age 13. I picked it up right away and I learned everything I could.
You’re self-taught too right, David? How did you become so innovative behind the kit without lessons?
David Silveria: I think it is both constantly practicing and having the niche’ that helped me become the drummer I am today. I never focused on playing one style of music, because I genuinely enjoy all kinds of music. I think it translates to the way I ended up coming up with my own style of playing – by mixing all different styles of music. Not just listening to strictly heavy metal or – just learning from all different genres of music is key.
What was the recording process behind INFINIKA’s new album, Echoes and Traces?
David Silveria: We recorded it individually at Riz’s home studio. Of course, we had most of the material together before production, but there was a healthy amount of improvisation as well.
Riz Story: Basically the way it works is: we record here at my studio and we lay down tracks. They’re all songs I have written pretty much and so they’re structured around that. David is a seasoned drummer so he tends to play for the song. I’d say this is David’s most intricate drumming on this record. I believe it’s some of his most interesting drumming as well. As far as the music goes – the way it works is David is playing drums, and I’m playing pretty much everything else. We have a couple guests on the records for guitars and electronica. I get in the zone, have my instruments there, and do what the song calls for. I start to create textures one by one until it starts to feel like a big mix.
What’s it like having your own recording studio to use anytime at home?
Riz Story: We like it because we can change up anything at any time. We have Dave’s kit here so he can lay down whatever he wants to. We can overdub stuff and change things and living with it – in fact right now – when we just called, this interview here, I was just updating the mixes and looking at them and getting them REALLY ready for the final release for September 1st here. I was working on “Yesterday’s Gone” from the new album. It’s awesome having a studio right here at our full disposal to change anything at any time. If I’m listening to the mix in my car and I find something I want to change, I can go home really quick and do that. It’s getting to a really refined mix; it’s getting pretty close to what I want to hear. And that’s the luxury you get with having your own studio. We’ve been working on this for a really long time, now we’re just looking at everything under a microscope and perfecting it.
Where do each of you feel most inspired to create music?
David Silveria: I think it would be in the studio at your house, Riz!
Riz Story: (laughs) The studio is such a big part of my home! It’s where we hang out – if I’m playing around on the computer – I’m in the studio. If any inspiration hits at any time of the day or night its right there! That’s what I do all the time: continuously go back to the music, refine it and look at it. Once we get to the final mixes, we get to turn it over to the world. We’re finding out new directions. Everyone is expecting a “Korn Part II” or “ANYONE Part II” – or a mixture of the both. People are expecting anything from Stone Temple Pilots to (laughs) U2. This is funny because there is that appeal. U2 has that majesty – so I know what they’re talking about. Like Muse – we get compared to so many people, and there’s a reason why – because there’s no limit on what we’re doing. When we got together, David and I, to make INFINIKA – we said, “well what’s our direction going to be?” He had been working on some stuff with other musicians that had direction. When I came in, I made it clear that I didn’t want there to be a limit on the direction. I want to have an acoustic song that’s broken down and kind of, unplugged, right next to our heaviest song on the album. From the bands of yesteryear -you would have a heavy song and a mellow song in one song. There was no limit to the style. Back in the days there were a lot of bands that were all over the road. Nowadays it’s – you’re just heavy, or just mellow, or middle of the road. It’s very limited. The expression of an artist shouldn’t be limited. They should be able to write a happy song one day, a sad song the next day, one that’s pissed off; you should be able to express all the very ranges of what life is. So that is what this album is. Echoes and Traces really has a lot of different emotional range.
INFINIKA ~ Beautiful World (Official Video)
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What do you say to fans of ANYONE and Korn when they inquire about INFINIKA?
Riz Story: Of course the KORN and ANYONE references are there. Everything that’s come before is there. It’s something that gets added to the pile.
Between the two of you, there are countless nominations, awards, and chart topping songs – so what exactly could be next for INFINIKA?
David Silveria: I think it’s down to simply getting back out there. We are more than anxious to tour the world again as INFINIKA.
Riz Story: It’s about creating new and fresh sounds. We are trying to keep it new and find the next thing. Rock ‘n’ roll is in trouble now; some say it’s dead. It’s not on the charts. It’s not vital. It’s all hip hop now.
Do you agree or disagree with that statement?
Riz Story: If you want to get technical, you can say it is kind of falling out. Maybe rock ‘n’ roll is no longer exciting young kids to get inspired. That’s why we made this record. You ask what our ultimate motivation is – it’s to just keep our sound fresh. Coming from a background of always playing rock music, I always enjoyed wondering what would be the next sound of a certain band, or how would the combinations of sound be for the next album. I’m hoping that’s what INFINIKA is. I hope we keep the fans guessing. I remember when other bands came out and everyone was comparing them to classic bands, and they don’t sound like any one of them. But those elements remind you of those bands. Jane’s Addiction and Floyd, and modern stuff like Muse and U2 –whatever, .all of them are just flavors – you can’t put your finger on it. But what it is, is those elements make up to be what we consider rock music through the ages. Dating all the way back from the Beatles to Korn – to the evolution of the genre. I just went into it and said let’s do everything that everyone’s done before, and ADD to the sound. Let’s make sure it’s about melodies and song…and LYRICS, and meaning. All of my favorite music – the lyrics say something about life, existence, about what you’re feeling, about what you’re doing, about what matters. If you look closely at the INFINIKA lyrics –they’re potent.
In previous groups, you’ve both toured with huge names (i.e. Metallica, Megadeth, etc.). Who are you guys anxious to tour with for the next leg of your careers?
David Silveria: Simple answer – Muse.
Riz Story: Well, I enjoy touring with bands that are on the same playing field, as far as being innovative, like us. Radiohead, Muse, anyone that would be a good match for us. Bands that produce creative music mixed with heavy music. I guess I would love to tour with anyone that’s a good match for us. That’s the good thing about being a band that’s ‘different’. There’s not exact flavor we could be placed with. There’s nothing that’s exactly ‘right’.
…Or can you be placed with anyone, that’s the real question.
Riz Story: Right (laughs)!
I’m very curious about the name INFINIKA. What does it mean and where did the album title, Echoes and Traces come from?
Riz Story: ‘INFINIKA’ is a word I made up, and it describes ideas that are unlimited, or infinite. It goes back to our music – I want us as a group to be unlimited. I didn’t want it to be like, “oh we can’t do mellow songs because the Korn fans won’t like it.” I think the name is a perfect name for our band because that’s the direction we’ve taken it. The 14 songs on Echoes and Traces have already proven to taken that ‘infinite’ direction I’m speaking of. That’s the nature of the band.
David, how do you feel about being in a band without barriers?
David Silveria: I honestly feel like I will become even more expansive as we write more music. I only see us growing and going further as artists.
Riz Story: By the next record, we’ll have more momentum which will assist in us being even more expansive. Then we’re gonna really come out of left field, and everyone will be like, “WHAT?” Infinika, we’re infinite. David’s groove and legendary sound he brought into Korn – just his nu metal input. His playing was the template for that type of playing. Most people in that genre became too mechanical. When metal meets groove, and I’ve always been about the groove, the elements of that style of drumming are so visceral and animalistic! He has such power – and then I do everything else. That’s Infinika. When we play live, we’ll bring friends that are fellow musicians to jam on stage – but other than that it’s just David and I.
