Can you give us a brief introduction to Cylab?

Passionate, dark vibe electro-postgoth-industrial refined melt of chaos and balanced harmonic bio-rhythms.

Who are the members and what is their background, it seems you all have a long musical background?

Percy Trayanov, that's me. I come from a family of classical musicians, started playing piano at age 5. As you could imagine, through time i veered in completely different direction. Had the opportunity to work with numerous artists within and outside our genre as a performer or studio musician. I also had my fair share of remixing bands such as Collide, Imperative Reaction, Agonized by love, Christ analogue and many more.
SeVerina X Sol  She was a founding member, lead vocalist and co-producer of Diva Destruction where she recorded the group's first album "Passion's Price, which was recognized in Robert Smiths Top Ten favorites, featured rave reviews in all top genre magazines and won many awards. For five years she was the lead vocalist and partner in the coldwave-electro formation Fockewolf. Dre Robinson launched his career with NoiseBox. He has performed live as a percussionist with Otto Von Schirach, Terrorfakt, Manufactura, Haujobb to name a few. Dre is also a Skinny Puppy/Download collaborator and featured in clubs as DJ Shyza.

You started in 1999 with Cylab, why the urge to start this?

At that time, i was playing in a different band, which was all over the place stylewise. I had many ideas and general style direction, which just didn't fit with that parcticular band. That lead to me to starting my own thing. I knew this was the only way things would sound the way i wanted. Severina was a good friend of mine, at that point playing with Fockewolf. One day i invited her over to record vocals on one of the songs. 15-20 minutes later the song was complete, sounded exactly the way i imagined and i knew that the chemistry was there.

I'd say a little bit of both. Honestly, sometimes we envision things differently in the beginning stages. Throughout the whole creative process we end up changing things around,sometimes completely,sometimes not at all. But this whole musical friction makes us who we are and the way we sound. Everybody is contributing with their own identity. If we had exactly the same mindset,influences etc. we wouldn't have anything to say after 3 albums at most.

You are around since 1999 and still pretty unknown overhere in europe, do you have any idea how this is possible?

Oh, very much so. Although i started Cylab in late 1999, it really didn't become main focus for both me and Severina right away. I was still in a process of writing material and narrowing down which songs should stay or go. In meantime, Sev got involved with Diva Destruction and she moved away from Seattle. It wasn't until late 2002 - early 2003 where we decided "OK, we have the material, we got the chemistry, the songs sound unique,we got what it takes. Let's do this seriously." So, in March 2004 our first album Unparallel Universe came out. Another important reason for being unknown in Europe is the fact that we don't have european label and we haven't played any European festivals or shows. Hope this would change very soon.

What were the early days of Cylab like?

The first live dates were the usual startup dates. Although we had plenty of experience in different situations, bands and projects, we went through some trial and error like everybody else. In 2005 we got Dre. It all just fell in place. I remember the first practice we had together. I couldn't stop grinning. Things sounded great and gave this 'playing live' feel to it. The whole energy and vibe immediately translated and projected onto the crowd. From there, we went on playing with some great bands like Conjure One, Imperative Reaction, played quite a few festivals in USA. Last spring we did a tour with My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. That was an unforgettable experience.

Your music is a blend of different electronic styles, how would you describe it yourself?

Hmm. Honestly i can't give it a specific name. The media has been introducing us as post goth, Dark EBM, Electro-Industrial, almost everything you could possibly think of. We all have such a vast taste in music and that translates on what we create. I just see it as this dark electronic rollercoaster which doesn't reduce the mind to just one practicular thing.

What influences Cylab in writing music and how do you work on the music?

What turns out a Cylab song, comes from different influences, moods, events in life. Honestly almost every song is different and has different history and way of coming to life. For most parts, i write the music and Severina does her magic on it. Sometimes i have a vocal idea and she takes it to the next level. Sev has so much to offer both musically and lyrically. She just has this gift of elegant expression. Satellites was such a great collaborative experience.

You have a track on “the sanguinarian” movie. How did this happen and can you tell us a bit about the movie?

It's not only the song on the soundtrack, but we are also in the movie, too. The Sanguinarian caught us completely by surprise. We already had Satellites released and Dented Halos turned out to be everybody's favorite song. We got contacted by the director of the movie, saying that we are the perfect fit for parcticular part of the movie and Dented Halos is the perfect song for it. We also shot a music video for Dented Halos. It incorporates scenes from the movie, as well as footage outside of the movie. The Sanguinarian has very unique story. It is about this time warped place, where people from different eras and historic events somehow got stuck in it. Of course, there is a lot more to it. You can find all the info at www.thesanguinarian.com

When and where can we see the video?

Hopefully very soon. It has been edited at the moment, some additional things are being added to it. We are trying to make sure that the video is available just about anywhere. It has been already highly demanded by TV stations and TV and internet music shows world-wide. So, believe me, we can't wait.

In 2006 you released the album “Satellites” on Whispercore. How were the responses to the album?

The responses were nothing short of great coming from both fans and media. We got quite a few raving reviews from places we've never expected. It has increased our popularity tremendously. The usual reaction has been: "Wow! This is great! It doesn't sound like anything else." or "You guys have your own style." People claim that it just gets stuck in their CD players, they just can't get it out and they just have to keep listening.  One thing we have noticed is everytime we play new places, we see people singing along. It is such a rewarding feeling to see how music touches people.

Looking back now on the album, are there things you would have done differently?

Absolutely nothing. The album has a conceptual structure, listening the album from the beginning to the end tells a story. Everybody interprets it differently, i guess it speaks different ways to different people. Yet you can still listen to individual songs and enjoy it. We are very happy and very proud of it. 

Did you try to capture the “live feeling” on the album or is making an album an entire different thing for you?

Definitely on quite a few songs.  Often, when i write i try to envision how the song would be performed live, how would it sound and if it sounds different, at least make sure it's not too far fetched from the original. At the same time, there are some elements, that i insist on sounding as organic and real as possible. For an example, i used live violins, violas and cello on the track Path. Now, i know that we can't bring a string quartet to every single live show we do, but at the very least, the listener can enjoy the original idea when listening to the album.

You are currently working on a remix album. I think it’s a great idea to make a remix contest and hear what “your fans” did with your music. How did you get this idea and wasn’t it hard to get through all the remixes you’ve been sended?

Oh absolutely. It was pretty hard. We got an overwhelming response, there were so many creative remixes and so many talented artists. It was great to hear different takes on our music in such wide range of musical genres. Unfortunately there is only so much material you could fit on a CD, as we really wanted to include a few more.

Also some more established artists will be on the remix cd, can you give us some names and how did this get all realised?

Yes, we got quite a few. Combichrist, Haujobb, Imperative Reaction, God Module, Displacer, Shok. The whole idea was we wanted to introduce Cylab to the dancefloors everywhere.

Why is being introduced to the dancefloor important for you?

Numerous reasons. This being an underground genre as it is, has limited outputs and sources of introducing new bands, material etc. As great as job most DJs do and we are so appreciative of their support, unfortunately there are very limited amount of radio shows, which spin this type of music. Most parties of this genre tend to gather the right crowd and the true fans of this music. We also want to introduce other artists and colleague's take on our music. They have all done such a great job! It's all about booty-shakin' good times.

Who would you love to do a remix for?

That's a tough question. I like such a wide variety of music. I guess some names that come to mind would be The Birthday Massacre, Boards of Canada, Plaid, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult...

How important is the internet for Cylab, you are very active on f.i. Myspace?

It is very important. It is such a great networking tool and gives you the ability to connect with people and fans from all over the world.

You will be on the next Endzeit compilation as well, what are you expecting from this?

We are very excited about the release. There are so many great artists on it and the previous Endzeit releases have set the standard. I hope this helps to introduce Cylab to the European market more and more.

What would be a dream come true if it should happen to Cylab?

Sky is the limit. World domination, haha! Seriously though, we would love to keep on putting out material  the way we have, travel the world and reach as many people as possible, keep on gaining new fans all over the world, overall establish the name Cylab worldwide...and of course, keep on creating music.

Any last words for the readers?

Support underground music and keep the scene alive. Maintain its identity.