Co-lead vocalists Killer V (Vicky Psarakis of The Agonist) and Rob The Ripper (Robby J. Fonts of Stuck Mojo) have performed a range of styles in many different bands. Now the married couple combined with Sicksense founding member and guitarist Breakdown Bran (Bran Panic), drummer The True Cody Taylor (Cody Taylor) and newest member bassist Spot-On Sam/SOS (Samuel Bedard) are unleashing their debut EP Kings Today. Sicksense’s music is not only born out of their love for the Nu-Metal genre , but more specifically creating something specific for two vocalist. RockRevolt had a chance to speak with the lead vocalists about numerous subjects including their upcoming debut EP Kings Today, their latest single “Forgotten Days” and meeting their musical heroes.
RockRevolt: Your debut EP Kings Today is coming out in a couple of weeks. Tell us how Sicksense came together as well as the making of Kings Today.
Robby: I first joined Sicksense back in 2017. I was auditioning for our guitarist Bran and our drummer Cody’s previous band Keychain, they were looking for a new singer. I auditioned and they liked what I did and Bran introduced the idea early on of how I would feel about working with another vocalist. I said absolutely and I think I have just the person. That’s when I introduced the idea of working with my wife Vicky. When then started working on songs and put together a full album’s worth of material. Due to the pandemic we decided to split it into two Eps. The first half of that album set is Kings Today, our first 5 songs debut EP. Then 5 more songs coming later in the year or early next year.
Vicky: It’s pretty surreal because I feel like we’ve been sitting on this for a while now. I honestly can’t believe it’s coming out in two weeks. It’s been so many years in the making. Now that it’s finally happening I’m excited. But it also doesn’t feel real (laughing).
RR: I was really impressed with the multiple genres you cross. I know you’re labeled a Nu-Metal band but your really do cross a multitude of genres from progressive to hard rock and even some elements of funk. It is one of the most unique set of songs I’ve ever heard.
Vicky: That’s so awesome to hear because we have heard this from a few people that have listened to it and it’s really cool because we feel this way and it’s nice to know the audience is feeling this way as well. We call it Nu-Metal because of the blend of vocals with the rapping and singing. Like you mentioned there’s a lot of genre bending in there. I think it’s very natural for us as individuals we have certain bands and genres we love the most, then there’s some we can agree on then some way may disagree on. But all of those elements go into this band. It’s a very natural process. I don’t think we ever sat down and said we want to create this band and put these specific genres in there. It just happened. I think we are all at points in our lives where we’ve been in the music industry for about 10 years or more with other projects and bands. Our influences and what’s in our hearts is just coming out naturally and it happens to be a variety of all these different genres.
RR: With Kings Today is there a particular message you are trying to deliver or is each song it’s own entity?
Robby: For me I’m the primary lyricist. In this band it’s the first time I’ve had the chance to have complete free rein and write what I felt. I was just writing whatever the music was just speaking to me. Some of the songs are a bit more personal and some are a means for me to talk about the world, open up some conversations and question things. Get people thinking a little. There was no particular theme in mind for this EP or the follow up. It was very natural in how I felt about things. Whatever the music spoke to me that’s what came out.
Vicky: Primarily that is what’s on my mind as well. Often Robby will write these lyrics and I will see them and I’ll feel this connection to them right away. Almost as if I wrote them. Even though his writing style is very different from mine. When I add some parts it really compliments what he does. I think what is really cool is a lot of the ideas we have on modern society we didn’t actually discuss them with our bandmates. Then we sat down as a band and discovered that our bandmates really think alike us as well. It’s not just musically but mentally as well. It’s a very awesome feeling. I love that we are putting these ideas out there that people can connect with and know they are not the only person that thinks or feels this way. There’s this band I like and not only like their music but I can connect with it. I think it’s important to have these conversations and embrace it with an open mind.
RR: It’s great to hear that your band connects with this as well.
Vicky: I’ve said before free reign goes two ways. One was is being told you have complete free reign over the lyrics. Then you do what you want and they love it. Or as I’ve personally experienced in the past, where you are told do whatever you want. We do that and the response is can you change this and that or we don’t like these lyrics, I don’t like this melody. That can be a very stressful environment to work under. You feel as though you are not fully being appreciated. It’s not really free reign.
Robby: To add to that, when our bassist Sam joined the band he was the last member to join. And even from a musical perspective Bran is such an open minded guitarist and songwriter he as no ego. He lets everyone shine and do their thing. When Sam joined just before we recorded our songs in 2019 he was doing incredible bass lines and Bran was like this is making some of the songs better I’m going to take out some of my guitar parts to let this bass shine. We have complete free reign and respect each other. It’s incredible and fulfilling, it feels good to be in a band like this. We are so on the same page with everything.
RR: That’s very refreshing to hear as that doesn’t happen often, usually it’s one or two members who control everything. Now the latest video you released for “Forgotten Days” it was filmed during lockdown that must have been quite the challenge, how did you go about that?
Vicky: Yeah it was stressful. It was a last minute idea, we had no intention of releasing another single before the EP. We thought it would be just Kings Today which we filmed last year and had all the time in the world. Then I think in February right as Kings Today was being released we decided with our PR to put out another single. It has to be “Forgotten Days” that was the song that spoke to us the most. Then we’re like how do we put together a music video last minute we’re in Chicago (Robby & Vicky) and the rest of our bandmates are in different places in Canada. We filmed in three different locations. Cody, the drummer filmed his own parts. Me and Rob filmed our own parts in our basement. And Bran and Sam filmed with our videographer Chris Kells. It was really stressful sitting on the phone with him, doing test shots and showing him what I could do in our basement because it’s a very small space and a lot of his ideas were just not possible. We spent two full days on something that probably would have taken four hours if we had all been together.
Robby: Vicky and I have worked together on her cover song videos for YouTube before. We never had to do a proper music video like this where we wanted to be as professional as possible. It was an interesting experience getting directed by Chris Kells remotely and Vicky filming me and me filming her. I think did a great job editing everything together. He made it work, it’s a great video. If we didn’t do things this way under these circumstances the video would have been something completely different. We appreciate that when life gives you lemons you make the best lemonade you can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_Sm-omH8ro
RR: Any plans to tour or play some shows?
Vicky: No shows. To be honest it’s been at the bottom of our list. Now that Kings Today will be released we have five songs which makes for a good opening slot for a tour. We can definitely play a show if that opportunity presents itself. We’ve been in this industry for a while and we’re a little more grounded and realistic with our expectations. We are not in a rush. A brand new band with five songs, what are the chances of getting a tour opportunity that’s going to be worth going through all of this. Our focus has been on releasing music and music videos. As well as building an online presence, having people talk about us and create that entry point into the scene. I think after releasing the second EP, we’ll have another five songs, at that point we’ll have ten songs out that we can pick and choose from and then actively chase those tour opportunities. We’re open minded, by some miracle if a dream tour presents itself and gives us the opening slot I’m pretty sure we’ll still do it.
RR: Speaking of that what would you dream tour look like, 3 other bands Sicksense could tour with who would you choose?
Robby: Well for me it’s going to be an obvious answer. If there are three big bands we could tour with I would love to see this come together, Slipknot, Korn, Limp Bizkit and us opening up that would be the greatest for me and I’m sure the others in the band would be quite happy with it (laughing). I think just those three bands touring together would be incredible. I think a lot of people would want to see that happen.
Vicky: Those are all great bands and I think our music could fit with a lot of different bands so I’ll agree with those. Other bands I think that we could really work with would be Evanescence or Halestorm when it comes to female voices we would work well with those rock sounding bands. In the metal genre a band like Asking Alexandra or Nothing More. Even Papa Roach or Bring Me The Horizon. I feel as though you could throw us in a tour package with bands that are groovy and catchy we’ll fit.
RR: Who are a couple of bands that drove each of you to pursue music?
Robby: For me that’s an easy one. I really started getting into heavy metal when I was about 13 years old. The heavy music really drew me in and I wanted to do anything in it like play drums or guitars. I think the easiest thing for me ended up being vocals. It was the most affordable option for me (laughing). Drove my mom a little crazy practicing every night after school. Those bands that did that for me were Slipknot, that was the gateway band to learning about bands like White Chapel, Suicide Silence, The Black Dahlia Murder. I really got drawn to doing that heavy vocals style and just practiced. Those are the bands that got me into screaming.
Vicky: For myself it’s a bit different as music was something that I always just did. Since I was young I could sing and they had me doing that in school in plays and musicals. I never truly considered it as a profession until much later on. I discovered heavier music from gateway bands like Linkin Park and Evanescence as they were all over MTV in the early 2000’s. From those bands I went on to more classic heavy metal like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin. I was really fascinated by how these vocalist could sing in that way. This power and distortion. Me being a teenage girl with the girliest voice in the world it just seemed so foreign. I never really thought I could do this until maybe the age of 22 or 23. That’s when I started really challenging my voice meaning what else could I do with my voice that’s not a Disney princess. Then around the age of 25 or 26 that’s when I started doing scream and harsher vocals that were mostly influenced by a lot of Swedish bands such as In Flames, Dark Tranquility, At The Gates. My musical taste and influences are all over the board.
RR: Have either of you met any of your musical heroes and if so was it an instance like they say sometimes you do not want to meet them as it can be very disappointing or did you happen to have a positive experience with any of them?
Robby: I actually have two great stories. I met Corey Taylor at Heavy Montreal the weekend I met my wife Vicky. He was hanging out with one of the kids of one of the Slipknot band members. The kid dropped a toy or something and I went to pick it up and gave it to him and Corey thanked me and that was a little interaction I had with him at Heavy Montreal (laughing). He seemed like a lovely gentleman. That was so close to be that close to Corey and have that funny interaction with him that he probably doesn’t remember but I’ll never forget. Then the other cool story I have I was playing with my other band Stuck Mojo we were playing at Bloodstock back in 2016 and Dee Snyder, believe it or not, came into our dressing room and said ‘hey are you Stuck Mojo? I want to get on stage and play “Not Promise Tomorrow” with you’ and we were like oh my god Dee we just got off stage. Had we know you wanted to do that we would have absolutely done it. I would have never believed in a million years that we would have been able to do a song with the one and only Dee Snyder. That was very awesome for me as well.
Vicky: Those are crazy stories, the second one mostly. I have met a few of my musical heroes. One interaction that I can think of that was very memorable was meeting Anneke van Giersbergen from The Gathering who has also worked with Devin Townsend and a bunch of other artists. I met her back in the 2008/2009 timeframe. I went to see one of her last ever shows with The Gathering. Me being the fangirl that I was I stood outside the venue before her band arrived from the airport. They showed up and it was just me and two other people. They walked in and she looked at us and said hey do you guys want to come in? I was mind blown, it was like 2pm and we got invited into their soundcheck. We went in and the band was setting up and she was roaming around as vocalist are not needed until the end. She came and started talking to us and showed us her phone with a picture of her son who was just born. This was her first time away from him. She was so happy to be playing shows but missed her son so much. She was just talking with us. It was really memorable because here’s one of my idols that I aspire to be like one day and she’s just this incredibly kind human being. And that was probably a staple for me to be that way with fans as you never know how an interaction can change someone’s life.
RR: Let me ask you about the other bands both of you work with. Vicky is there any activity with The Agonist?
Vicky: We have a lot going on actually. We are planning to go on tour at the end of April into May in North America and Robby will actually be joining us on that tour to help out with merch and driving and all that. That’s exciting. And we just announced today that we are going to be doing a European tour in the fall with The Agonist. Very busy.
RR: And what about Stuck Mojo Rob?
Robby: We’ve been taking a break with Stuck Mojo. I would love to do more but it’s not my baby it’s Rich’s baby and their manager Mark Willis’ project so it’s up to them for doing anything in the future for Stuck Mojo.
RR: Any other projects either one of you want to talk about?
Vicky: We’re doing music non-stop. I have a bunch of guest features I did last year and the year before. Two of them, one that I recorded in 2020 and 2021 are being released this month as well. I don’t know how they planned. I and Rob are also streaming on Twitch every week. We do live performances of originals and covers and hang out with our fans. Just a musical family, non-stop.
RR: I’ll end off with this, give me your top 5 albums.
Robby: My top 5 albums that is a tough one. Keeping it with my influences I would say my top 5 albums would be Slipknot self-titled, Slipknot Iowa album, This is Exile by White Chapel, my other favorite from the Death Metal scene is The Black Dahlia Murder Nocturnal and then I would say my 5th favorite album is The Cleansing by Suicide Silence.
RR: Vicky and Robby I appreciate your time today and final words for the fans?
Vicky: Sure just ask people to check us out on all socials, Sicksense. Our merch and all our information can be found on SoundEscapeAgency.com. Honestly for a brand new band completely do it yourself, any form of support is appreciated whether it’s a follow, subscribe, streaming, download or pre-ordering. Check us out on Twitch or pretty much anywhere even TikTok. Any little thing that people can do to support the band is really appreciated.
RR: Here at RockRevolt we’ll help get the word out. Good luck with the EP and look forward to seeing you on the road sometime.
Robby: Thanks for having us it was great.
Vicky: Thank you it was a pleasure.
From left to right: The True Cody Taylor, Spot-On Sam/SOS, Killer V, Rob The Ripper & Breakdown Bran
