Interview — Simensis

Skratch Magazine

Homegrown American metal band Simensis, hails from the armpit of New Jersey. With line up no more than 6 months old,
Hugo Pinedo (vocals), Anthony Smeragliuolo (guitar), Ed Huson (guitar), Matt Falkenstien, (drums) and Maxsim “Raptor” Timashev (bass) are ready to show metal fans what Simensis, whose name is Latin for “wolf”, is all about. Preparing for a summer tour with Rose Funeral, the band recently spoke with Skratch Magazine.

Skratch: What influences your band and stirs up your creativity?

Hugo: Conan the Barbarian, Fast Food, Japanese Werewolf and ninjas.
Anthony: We are influenced but just about everything, like other music, movies, video games, and random ideas, and conversations. Basically if it’s an interesting aspect of life, we might write a song about it.
Ed: Meat, beer, good times, gore, contra (video game)
Matt: After a long days work sometimes its just easy to sit behind the drums and release some human emotions. As for as creativity, I’m always psyched when I hear something that I haven’t heard before without it being too over the top.
Max: Love and passion for music & performing.

Skratch: Tell me about your favorite two songs and what they mean to you?

Hugo: Blind March, and Dungeon. These two sons definitely show people how was can collaborate melodic and brutality to the music.
Anthony: “Down In the Hole”- Alice in Chains, this song is just pure emotion lyrically, vocally, and instrumentally. It just creates a state of mind. “Caught Somewhere in Time”- Iron Maiden. Everything about this song is perfect, just like most maiden songs. I picked this one because I think it was the last maiden song I listened to.
Ed: In flames, Embody the Invisible, this song inspired me to write melodic heavy metal.
Matt: “Hate Me” by “Children of Bodon” it was one of the first fast melodic bands I heard as a kid, and it blew my mind. Ed and I as children sat down, and eventually figured out how to play it. It was hard as shit but it showed us what it takes to be in a genre like that. “11th hour” by Lamb of God. To this day every time I hear that song it just reminds me of how I felt the very first time I heart it. The whole second half of that song is just intense.
Max:Song #1- “Flesh & the Power it Holds” by DEATH, Song #2- “Dungeon” by US, reason being because the fucking sound great.

Skratch: There are many struggles being an unsigned band. Tell me what keeps the boat afloat?

Hugo: We still don’t know, I think we just pretty much win over the crowd and play shows where you know people are going to be there, also free stickers..
Anthony: We all continue to believe in the music, no matter what when it feels like everything else is going wrong, we always just come back to the music.
Ed: Simply sharing a passion for writing music with friends, ambitions to use this to perform and entertain people.
Matt: Yeah, honestly it took awhile to figure how to keep your head afloat during tough times. But it all comes from the actual material were writing. There’s certain songs that probably kept us faithful when we should have just given up, but here we are, 7 years later still writing new material that catches out attention. It’s the whole mentality of metal, ya know, just because you wanna hear some heavy ass shit, that’s it.
Max: Again love and passion for music, and the hopes that one day I wouldn’t have to work a 9-5 shitty job.

Skratch: Where do you see the band in five years? What are your goals?

Hugo: I see us at our studio doing crack off a hooker’s ass. Haha
Anthony: In five years I’d be the happiest person on earth if I could have the freedom to do something I love to do everyday. I hope Simensis continues to provide that for myself, and my bandmates.
Ed: Hopefully playing bigger tours and making money to afford more than the dollar menu, if possible touring various places around the world.
Matt: That’s a great question I’ve learned to take it one day at a time, in 5 years I hope to be in a band that has the financial freedom of recording and touring on out own music. Whether that mean were opening up for somebody at a hole in the wall place, or headlining an arena it doesn’t matter, my goals are just to continue to push myself to the limit with drumming.
Max: I see myself touring in a signed band, constantly meeting new people, friends. Having my own studio/live sound business.

Skratch: Where do you see the band in five years? What are your goals?

Hugo: We are ALL assholes
Anthony: We all have the same flaw: we’re assholes
Ed: What they said.
Matt: I hate every single one of them
Max: They all are a pain in my ass

Skratch: What animal best represents the band and why?

Hugo: Wolf- that’s what Simensis actually means..it’s Latin
Anthony: Beaver, because look at them their awesome
Ed: Wolf. They’re hairy, aggressive and metal.
Matt: Probably would have to be wolves. I mean the name Simensis literally means wolf.
Max: I think that a beaver represents this band the best. We work hard on building a solid “dam”/ niche for ourselves

Skratch: If the band agreed on one thing, what comes to mind?

Hugo: Lets get drunk!
Anthony: Guitar rifts
Ed: We need to get the hell out of our studio
Matt: Just leave the bullshit at the door sit down and write some music we can all enjoy
Max: Show, more shows, and beer

Skratch: Tell me it's more than sex, drugs, and rock n roll! No?

Hugo: We try to keep it on the professional side we don’t let things get out of hand
Anthony: It’s more than that, barely
Ed: For me it’s all about the music. I’d still get sex and alcohol without the band.
Matt: Well ya know, sex, drugs, rock n roll, hookers, bum fights, anal rapings, child beatings, fisting..the norm ya know?
Max: Of course it’s more than that!!!!!!!!!!!! Chaning peoples life with out music, and traveling is what its all about.

Skratch: What bands would you love to share a stage with? What bands would you not?

Hugo: I would love to share the stage with inflames
Anthony: Iron maiden, inflames, Alice in Chains, Metallica, many more. I wouldn’t wanna share the stage with douche bags that think their above the people who paid to see them.
Ed: Any good metal bands that stay true to metal roots but have original edge like inflames soilwork, opeth and lamb of god.
Matt: Amon Amarth, Opeth, inflames, Arsis seriously the list goes on and on. I would rather not play with uh Primus, that’s it.
Max: All That Remains, Soilwork…hell anyone.

Skratch: Are you all good friends or more bandmates only? Tell me about your relationships.

Hugo: Unfortunatly more friends than anything. We get into the most horrible stupid biggest fights, but we eventually forget it.
Anothony: We’re definitely friends first, which has advantages and disadvantages, but its worked out well so far.
Ed: Started off as friends, music is a career choice but friends come first.
Matt: Most of us are all good friends, I’ve known Ed for over 16 years, Jesus that’s long. We would just fart and blow shit up through out childhood. Smags (Anthony) and Hugo I’ve known since early high school. And max for about 2 years. I mean I think to continue a band with dudes you see 5xs a week you have to learn how to work, but laugh while doing it. But you know it can get a little hairy mixing business with pleasure.
Max: Friends first. We hang outside of practice. I think that’s why we get along.

Skratch: Last words/final thoughts/Anything you would like readers to know about you?:

Hugo: Appreciate all kinds of music.
Anthony: Come out to our shows!
Ed: We’re a bunch of down to earth guys, always open to options and ideas, love hearing from people and meeting new people.
Matt: I wanna see you ugly faces at our next show!!
Max: We are a bunch of music lovers and we support most styles of creativity.

For more info on Simensis’ upcoming tour check out their myspace page at www.myspace.com/simensis. For booking contact manager Cathy Brown at cathyjbrown31@yahoo.com

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