PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
MAZIAC step up with the release of their stunning track, Escapism, taken from their explosive forthcoming new album, Forged, which lands on Friday 5th July.
We asked the guys to introduce themselves:
What is the full band line-up, who sings and who plays which instrument?
Tony Best – Guitar/Vocals; Tim Stokes – Bass/Backing Vocals/Synths; Marc Vachon – Drums.
How and when did the band form?
The band formed in the summer of 2017. We all currently live in London. Tony is half English/half Salvadorean and grew up in Maastricht, The Netherlands. Marc’s from Montreal, Canada and Tim is the only full native from Bedfordshire.
When and how did the band really start gelling and solidifying?
Pretty much immediately! Tim was on holiday for the first few weeks so the early incarnations of the first songs were written by Tony and Marc but Tim dug what he heard when he came back and started coming up with additional ideas right away. From there, everything clicked, and ideas were shot back and forth until the first batch of songs were written.
Who are your musical influences?
We all love modern prog rock/metal bands like Tool, Mastodon, Devin Townsend and Meshuggah. We also all love heavy melodic bands like Deftones, Cave In and Karnivool. Those are the kinds of influences which shine through in the music most. Overall, Marc and Tony probably lean more towards the heavier end of the spectrum and Tim more to alt-rock and prog but we all love guitar music which strays from the norm and frequently introduce one another to exciting new artists. Some particularly experimental bands that we’ve been enjoying lately include The Ocean, Rolo Tomassi and Dir En Grey.
Where did the name of the band come from?
After many beers and ideas, we couldn’t all agree on (or had already been taken by existing bands) we decided on Maziac – a variation of an 80s video game called Maziacs that Tim played as a kid. The fact that it is a short and snappy, memorable name whilst remaining ambiguous, we felt worked for us.
Where have you played or toured? Please name all countries/regions and recognised bands that you have played with.
We supported The Ever Living at their album launch show at Boston Music Room and Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster at their 10 year anniversary show at The Black Heart in Camden. We’ve also played with the likes of Epsilon and Winchester UK in London.
In your opinion, how is your band different from all the other bands out there?
Although certain influences are definitely evident in our music, I don’t think there is one band in particular that we sound like. We have our own sound – which draws from different places – but it’s ours. And within that sound, we love to experiment with different styles and emotions. We are far from the only band to successfully blend genres, but I think we are one of the few to blend rock/metal sub-genres into a particularly digestible package. There are a lot of bands out there which follow a formula to achieve success, which can be great if it’s done right, but we like to think that we offer something a bit different – without sounding gimmicky or contrived. Whilst we can be quite experimental at times, we also love straightforward riffage and head-bang inducing grooves. We also combine very heavy riffs with primarily clean vocals which is not too common in the contemporary metal scene.
If a deaf person were to ask you to describe the sound of your music, how would you describe it?
Emotional, empowering, aggressive, melancholic and worthy of repeated listens.
Do you have a tour on the horizon?
We are in the process of booking shows and planning on playing as many as possible throughout the summer and beyond.
Where can we find your social media sites?
