Nervous Existence

(Metal/Pennsylvania)

"It was our first time as a national act opener. We were mixed with fear, anxiety, and shit in our pants thinking of the crowd and not messing up somehow."- Rob Sampsell (on opening for Drowning Pool)

Interview by Randy Mallett

December 2009

BP: So what's the music scene like for you guys in PA?

NE: The music scene around here in PA is fairly dull and uneventful unless

you’re traveling a good distance to hit up some good gigs elsewhere, or

you’re a fan favorite of your local and surrounding area. Besides that, most

people are into the “Hardcore” genre around here, which brings most bands

to just want to be in that genre. We try to be ourselves and it’s paid off so far.

BP: The band's been around for a bit right? What.. 2005? How did you

guys get together?

NE: Well, It was the Summer of 2005 that Elliot, Jared, Mike, and Zach had

got together and just jammed away in Elliot’s garage. They jammed for a

few weeks and had gotten two songs put roughly together. I was walking

down the street one day and had run into Elliot. The weird part about it was

he was in search of a lead singer. I happened to want to be a lead singer

for a metal band. He said “Hey man, do you want to join a band we put together and

sing”? I said “Hell yeah dude”! We made it up to Elliot’s, I used some little Peavey amp to

sing through, I did some improv vocals to what they had created and then it was set in stone; we were officially a band!

BP: Alright, you call yourselves metal (or at least your MySpace page does..lol) but with all these fucking sub-genres out now, you gotta be more specific right? Haha. What's your style?

NE: That’s something I could never actually pinpoint myself to be honest. We just say we’re “metal” because that’s what we are, but we leave the sub-genre up to the fans to decide because we can’t. Haha... I could say we have progressed in many, many ways from our first album, to our latest album. I’ve personally heard “Man! Your band used to sound like old Unearth, but now you sound like Opeth and Lamb of God”!.. Our intentions are to sound like US, but we appreciate the good comments. So, to the listener, we are Heavy Metal / Progressive Metal I would have to say.

BP: Looks like you've already got some good gigs in the bag.... opening for Drowning Pool? Wow... that must have been pretty awesome.

NE: It was our first time as a national act opener. We were mixed with fear, anxiety, and shit in our pants thinking of the crowd and not messing up somehow. Haha! But we all were super psyched to be playing that show with DP in Cleveland. It wasn’t until we were on the stage that everything felt so right, and things went superb. We kicked Cleveland’s ass with our music, and things got more serious with us as a band. It was our turning point I could say.

BP: And you've done a bit of touring?

NE: Unfortunately not much at all. We all either have education, or multiple jobs that soak a lot of our time up to be away from Oil City for more than the weekend. We hope to land a BIG deal sometime soon so we can say “goodbye hometown bullshit, Hello USA” and fulfill our dream. We want to do that anyway, but nobody is there paying the bills unfortunately… We just drive hundreds of miles, jam at a show, have fun, then drive hundreds of miles back home, etc. It works for now.

BP: Well, you released your first full length, "Repent for Nothing" in '07, and you didn't wait very long to follow up with your sophomore effort "Reparations." What has evolved since the first cd?

NE: Upon recording our first album “Repent For Nothing”, we knew we had potential to be something more than that. Everyone liked what we had, but we knew we could bring a fuller, heavier, and more intricate sound that people would love. We immediately started writing new material. We busted our asses evolving into who we are now as a group, becoming way tighter and not following your basic verse/chorus/verse/chorus pattern. Our main goal with this new album “Reparations” is to show our capabilities and talents to the masses, and let everyone know we’re ready to shine our own light in the metal world.

BP: What's the band's "studio method?" By that I mean, some bands go in, set up and in several hours or a few days, they're done. Others go in, spend a lot more money, and take days or weeks to finish the album. What did you guys do?

NE: Well, money’s tight. For our new album, we practiced and practiced; made sure we were all on the same page, went into the studio and did most of our work in one take like we had planned. We recorded all of the instruments and vocals in like three or four sessions total. We took a listen to the rough cut and were satisfied our work had paid off. I could say most of our money went to post-production and mixing, but not much mastering what so ever. Basically what took the most time was getting all of the levels right to achieve the sound we wanted. We had a great and knowledgeable guy who really made an awesome album for us and we are thankful of him.

BP: You still got copies for sale?

NE: Ha! Freshly sold out of hundreds of copies of our old album. We are ordering more very soon. Our new album is about to get pressed and ready to release to the masses also. We hope to have a great CD release party / show.

BP: Awesome, let us know when that happens. So what's next for the band? Sell as many cd's as possible? Sign a record deal? Keep kicking the local scene's ass?

NE: I couldn’t have said it better myself!… Really.

BP: What are you listening to right now, or if you're not listening to anything, what's in your cd player/mp3 player/iPhone/iPod/or whatever other wacky ass electronic music device you have?

NE: I have a stacked playlist of tunes right now pumpin’ through Windows Media Player ranging from Opeth, Mastodon, Meshuggah, Lamb of God and Iron Maiden. I’m set.

BP: Nice! Ok, here's some free space for you. Say anything you want. No holds barred.

NE: I just want to say to the aspiring artists coming up in the music scene right now to play from the soul. Don’t worry about your friend’s band or any other band around you or what the scene is into. Play the music you were destined to play and love what you do, and have an awesome time doing so. As long as you’re happy and enjoying yourself, that’s what it’s all about. People will appreciate your originality, and confidence is everything.

BP: Alright, that's it guys. Thanks so much for contacting BP - we appreciate the time and wish you only the best of luck!

NE: We thank you so much for your time as well. Really, you have a great thing going for you right now and we hope for more great things to come. Also, we hope to talk again soon. Much love from Nervous Existence and rock on!