Hi Pete, how are you doing?
Hi Ed! Great to hear from you and thanks for the interview.
Can you give a brief introduction to Shiv-r?
Well, Infacted Recordings calls us their new "secret weapon" for industrial club-music! Shiv-r is a symbiosis of our dark fucked up natures and a more intimate delicate side.
Most people know you from The Crystalline Effect and Plaque Sequence, what is the current status of those bands?
The Crystalline Effect is still active. Although I'm using it more as a platform for explorations into the world of electro at the moment, and staying away from EBM. A new album should be finished this year and it will be quite different to previous stuff. Unfortunately, this leaves no time for new Plague Sequence material. Plague Sequence will still be alive, but mostly as a live project, when I need to do solo shows that encompass improvised material and tracks from my other projects.
Did you had the feeling you were starting all over again or could you use th experience that you already have, in what way could you use it?
It definitely was like starting again. The places I wanted to reach with Shiv-r were different to what TCE and PS had reached, so it made more sense to plug it as a totally new project, rather than a side-project. Already it feels like it cannot be said, that most people will know me from TCE and PS...
What was the reason for you to start Shiv-r, was there a part of you that didn’t fit into TCE or PS musically?
Yes - a very big part! With TCE we got to do some European mini-tours, supporting bands like Hocico, XP8 and Snog. These bands, particularly Hocico, put on such an amazing show. I really wanted to do something that could get a visceral crowd reaction like this. It was also an opportunity to work with my bandmate.
Besides you Shiv-r consists of Lee Bulig, how did the two of you meet and what made the both of you decide to start this band together?
Lee and I both grew up in the same small town in Australia and spent some years in high school together. We were both among the best musicians in the small high school, especially Lee, who is actually an extremely proficient saxophone player and is a conservatory trained musician. We both moved to Sydney at an early age and made music simultaneously but separately, him with his project Stark and me with The Crystalline Effect. His music was always much darker than mine, even though we had the same influences. So Shiv-r is us FINALLY working together. This is a way for me to tap into Lee's extreme dark melodies, while I provide thumping club beats and vocals.
Both you and Lee are responsible for the music, have you divided things or do the both of you come up with ideas, how do you work on music on together?
Our roles are pretty well defined and we send files online between our separate studios on opposite sides of the world, as Lee lives in Bangkok and has for several years. The beats, percussion, basslines and many of the structures are my responsibility. But the leads and atmospheres come from Lee. Sometimes I'll come up with a lead-line, but I'll send it to Lee as an optional layer so he can replace it with a darker lead-line of his own. Other times Lee will start a song and use a temporary kick drum and bassline, which I'll replace with a more banging club-sound. By now we're conditioned, Brave New World-style, to accept our roles in the band and be happy within them.
You got signed to great labels like Infacted in Europe, Metropolis in the USA and Deathwatch Asia in Japan, how did you get in contact with them and did they fall for Shiv-r right away?
I met Torben from Infacted at Summer Darkness in 2008. A few days earlier we'd made our "Parasite" EP and I had some copies on me. When we started Shiv-r earlier that year we ideally wanted to sign to a label like Infacted, so I handed Torben a copy of the EP. A week later I got an e-mail from him saying he thought our EP was the Bomb and wanted to take us on-board. We worked really hard from 2008-2009 with the sole goal of making a killer album so that this Infacted interest could come to fruition. So when it did, it was incredibly rewarding. The Deathwatch Asia and Metropolis deals only recently came together in 2010, thanks to Torben's work. Given that Shiv-r is totally unknown, it was satisfying to get the interest of these labels based completely on the music, and not a pre-existing fan-base.
You just released your debut album “hold my hand” It was planned to be released last October, what caused the delay?
6 months' delay isn't really so bad for an album, you know!
We have read some reviews already and all are very positive. We also noticed that all mention combichrist, how do you feel about already being compared to the bigger names in the electro scene?
That comparison has been with us since the "Parasite" EP, too. It's important to me that our grooves and production are strong enough to stand up to the likes of Combichrist, but we think we bring something else to the table. It's particularly the contributions from Lee that set us apart, in my humble view. His other-worldly melodies and dark atmospheres are elements I haven't heard from anyone else in this scene. It's my job to make sure that it stands up in a club and pounds the shit out of the dancefloor. So, if all reviewers can hear is the Combichrist-elements, that's okay, because they are important. But we know, and hopefully the listeners who like us most will also know, that there is "something more" to us than the club-sounds...
How would you describe your own music?
Erotic eruptions of emotion for the sexy party!
Did you feel when recording you were making something special or did it strike you afterwards that you simply released a great album?
With the first song we wrote, "Buried", something clicked and we knew we were on to something. I think the key is evolution, spontaneity and experimentation. Making "Buried" was unlike making any track we'd made before, and we think that's why it "clicked". So as long as we keep things fresh we hope we can continue to come out with something special.
What was the most challenging in making this album for you?
Just the time involved, I think. I moved countries twice while making this album. So between the ever-changing studios and balancing this with a dayjob and DJ work, finding time to sit down and bang it out was the biggest challenge, especially when we were so damn excited to be working on an album for our dream-label, and making music we loved at the same time.
Is there any track that stands out for you personally?
Apart from "Buried", I really love performing "Open My Vein" live. It's got a really satisfying vocal delivery. "The End (Pt 2)" is also a special one, in terms of atmosphere.
In Shiv-r you are the singer, is being the frontman something you always wanted to do? Does it feel different onstage for you?
It's very different, but honestly it feels more comfortable than being stuck behind a keyboard/guitar already. I wouldn't say it's something I always wanted to do - growing up I always just wanted to be the guitarist... But I didn't want to rely on a singer, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, that I could get on a stage and do it right. I don't think I am a very good singer.. But I know how a good singer should sound, and I try to do that. So, if the vocals or the frontman-energy aren't sufficient, I only have myself to blame. This is how I like it.
What will be next for Shiv-r?
We're working on our next album. As you mentioned, Hold My Hand has been done since October 2009, and we have been doing nothing but remixes since then. But now we are concentrating 100% on writing our next album.
Any last words for our readers?
We've shot a filmclip for our song "The End" which is currently in post-production. The production values are very high and it follows the transformation of an innocent protagonist who enters the wrong fucking club. So keep an eye out for that and hopefully we'll be touring near you soon!
www.myspace.com/shiverindustrial