Tymon and Michel of Exivious
In the early 90's, the rhythms and guitar playing aesthetic of jazz fusion were beginning to seep their way into death metal. Classics such as Atheist's "Piece of Time" and "Unquestionable Presence" infused brutal death metal with the skittering finesse of jazz fusion. Pestilence's "Spheres" went even further by placing liquid, Holdsworthian guitar lines and synths in the forefront of the death metal sound. Arguably, the synergy of styles came to its true fruition on the seminal "Focus" by Cynic.
Now, Netherlands' Exivious is poised at the forefront of the style, having recently released their excellent self titled album. All instrumental, the group is bringing a new harmonic richness to metal music. This is clearly displayed on the track below:
Steel on Bone is very fortunate to have spoken to Tymon and Michel, the guitar tandem of Exivious (fittingly enough, Tymon and Robin (bass) actually both played with the granddaddy's of the style, Cynic, for a time).
And now...the interview:
SoB: First off, thank you so much for doing the interview!
Tymon: Of course, thanks for the interest!
Tymon: Of course, thanks for the interest!
What did you guys initially get into first, metal or jazz/fusion? Also, did one interest segue into another? Personally, Death’s “Human” really got me interested in the whole jazz fusion thing.
T: For all four of us it started with metal. We're actually
all big fans of heavy stuff like Decapitated, Meshuggah, Pantera, etc.
More complex and technical metal releases like Death's "Human" indeed
sparked the interest for more obscure and challenging music. I remember
very clearly hearing Allan Holdsworth for the first time, thinking:
wow, THIS is what I've been looking for!
In your formative years, what bands and artists inspired you to make music?
T: Guns N Roses. Slash made me pick up the guitar!
Michel: Same for me. Slash is the man that inspired me to start to play guitar.
How does the music tend to go over live? What kind of response are you getting from audiences?
T:
Very well actually! When we recorded our debut we never imagined it to
be interesting for people outside of the fusion/prog metal niche. But
as it turns out, there's many people with a very different musical
preference and background who dig us. We're grateful, it makes the live
performances a lot more rewarding.
T:
That's hard to put into words. For starters all the leads are
improvised. But there's also larger sections that are free, some more
than others. And it also depends on how adventurous we feel when
playing. Some nights you feel happier, more alive, more energetic, and
it translates into our playing and the way we go about improvisation.
Some nights you might feel like crap, maybe you're ill, tired, your
girlfriend broke up, who knows. At those moments you tend to play it
more safe and rely on your auto pilot more.
How do you guys approach composition? It looks like most of the album was composed by Tymon and Michel.
T:
Yeah, Michel and I each compose our own pieces. We both studied
composition and have clear ideas about where we want to go when we write
our songs. After a fairly detailed demo is recorded we get together and
tweak details, parts, arrangements until we're both happy. After that
we fire it at Robin and Yuma and see what happens! They're fairly free
in their interpretations.
Are there any compositions from Robin and Yuma on the up-coming 2013 album?
T:
I doubt it, I'm not a big believer in bands with multiple composers.
They always seems to lack vision and a coherent concept/sound. The only
reason Michel and I are being able to work closely together as composers
is because we have very similar tastes and vision and agree on almost
everything musically. That's not to say Robin's and Yuma's ideas aren't
welcome! Actually, there's quite some arrangement tweaks that come from
them and they write their own parts.
How do you guys approach the composition of your guitar solos? I know some guitarists improvise on the spot in the studio and then relearn.
T: For the few leads that are not improvised I either improvise until I find
something I like, or I'll have a reason to create a certain melody
because it fits the composing concept/system I'm using for that
particular song.
M: If you would be at an Exivious show you might find out that some solos are composed, some solos are more or less free but have basic elements that are being kept and some others are completely free. I will speak for myself here: I would never improvise during a recording session and then relearn what I played, that sounds weird to me. If the spot is meant for improvisation, then I'd try to record a good improvisation and in a live situation I'd improvise. If the spot calls for a composed solo or melody, then I'd write that and also play it live like that.
Have you ever considered adding horns to the Exivious sound? I can definitely imagine some tenor sax!
T:
Not to the core sound, because I love being only a 4 piece band.
Limitation boosts creativity. I love horn players though so I often try
to emulate their phrasing and tone. Especially on "Embrace The Unknown"
you can very well hear my sax influences in the first solo. M: Yeah that emulation is pretty gay, either get the real deal or don't do it at all Tymon :)
T: As you can see, we don't always agree haha.
How did you approach recording the Exivious album? Was it a more “metal approach” (drum triggers, click tracks, quantized drumming) or more of an organic process?
T: Definitely organic all the way, I hope that's obvious
when listening to it! We did use click tracks but that's just to make
things sound more steady, not for editing purposes.
M: As said before we all have a metal background so you could say that it was the starting point of our thinking process, but you change that which doesn't fit. Drum triggers for instance would sound ridiculous in this musical concept, so we all agreed that we need an organic drum sound without triggers.
I read that you are all determined to make Exivious’ next release different than the last. Is the overall sound and aesthetic of the new release beginning to take shape? Is there any description you can give us of the album’s direction?
T: Yeah everything is written and worked out, just a matter
of recording it at this point. I'm really excited about the new
material, it just makes a lot more sense to me on many levels. It will
be very energetic, but also very balanced, knowing better when to let
the music breath and when to pack it with complexity. With the first
album we were very much looking for our own sound and the perfect hybrid
between fusion and metal, this time around we just knew exactly where
to go without over thinking things too much.
Also, speaking of the new album, any plans to have some guest appearances/solos (like the Paul Masvidal solo on “Embrace the Unknown”)?
T: Yes, we will have at least one really
awesome guest, you will be happy with our choice I'm sure. This answer
will make sense to you when you hear the album ;)
What other projects are you guys involved in? Do you guys supplement your time with Exivious by teaching?
T: Yuma has The New Dominion, a modern metal band. Both
Robin, Yuma and me are working with Bart Hennephof from Textures for
another interesting project, we'll have to see where it goes musically!
And I have a project lined up with a Finnish singer/piano player, which
will probably be more singer/songwriter/ambient like. We're busy people!
M: I have a black metal project called DODECAHEDRON. Within this project I can express my darker and more fundamental ideas and feelings about contemporary composition and fit them into an aggressive and dismal musical style. We released our debut album through Season Of Mist records last January.
T: And yes, we all teach to pay the bills.
What does Exivious have in store for 2013?
T:
If everything goes according to plan: the release of our new album,
bundled with as much touring as we can possibly do. We only toured
Europe so far, that needs to change!
Anything else you guys would like to add?
Thanks for the interview, Ryan!
Exivious is:
Tymon - guitars (ex-Cynic)
Michel Nienhuis - guitars (Dodecahedron)
Robin Zielhorst - bass (ex-Cynic)
Yuma van Ekelelen - drums (ex-Pestilence / The New Dominion)
How did you approach recording the Exivious album? Was it a more “metal approach” (drum triggers, click tracks, quantized drumming) or more of an organic process?
M: As said before we all have a metal background so you could say that it was the starting point of our thinking process, but you change that which doesn't fit. Drum triggers for instance would sound ridiculous in this musical concept, so we all agreed that we need an organic drum sound without triggers.
I read that you are all determined to make Exivious’ next release different than the last. Is the overall sound and aesthetic of the new release beginning to take shape? Is there any description you can give us of the album’s direction?
Also, speaking of the new album, any plans to have some guest appearances/solos (like the Paul Masvidal solo on “Embrace the Unknown”)?
Is there a favorite type of venue to play? Festivals or the club dates?
T: Club dates work better for our kind of music, we need the intimacy such a climate provides.
T: Club dates work better for our kind of music, we need the intimacy such a climate provides.
What other projects are you guys involved in? Do you guys supplement your time with Exivious by teaching?
M: I have a black metal project called DODECAHEDRON. Within this project I can express my darker and more fundamental ideas and feelings about contemporary composition and fit them into an aggressive and dismal musical style. We released our debut album through Season Of Mist records last January.
T: And yes, we all teach to pay the bills.
What does Exivious have in store for 2013?
Anything else you guys would like to add?
Exivious is:
Tymon - guitars (ex-Cynic)
Michel Nienhuis - guitars (Dodecahedron)
Robin Zielhorst - bass (ex-Cynic)
Yuma van Ekelelen - drums (ex-Pestilence / The New Dominion)
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