Formed in early 2004, Wormbox is a 5-piece based in Calgary, Derek Hayden as the newly added lead vox, Mark Fiset and Jay Rapp playing guitar, Rick Fiset on bass and James Jameson behind the kit. Playing a breed of metal, as described in their bio that is a 'modern sound with old school elements and enough intensity to satisfy everyone across the metal spectrum, yet accessible enough to attract new fans to the genre.' Mark did an email interview with me in mid-April.
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Wormbox has recently been shaken up a bit with a line-up change that most definitely affects their overall sound. 'We parted ways with our singer, which was a very difficult decision but nonetheless - it happened,' explains Mark. 'Initially we were expecting to go through another six months of auditions in the basement, but once we came to the decision that we should start to have a look at who was out there, the first email that was sent out put us in contact with the right guy. So things definitely moved along a lot quicker than any of us expected.'
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Keeping it all together is the result of a common passion among the guys for the music. 'We all have varied influences and interests as far as what we listen to and what we play on our own time, but when we get together and write we really tend to all end up at the same ground,' notes Mark. And in the true fashion of a musician that cares more about making music than becoming wildly famous, Mark's thoughts on why they all work so hard at it, 'it's just what we want to hear and what we want to play. We're happy that other people seem to like what we're doing but that's really just a bonus.'
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In terms of getting the music out there, they previously released an EP, had their track Hate Therapy on the Cyclone comp disc, The Greatest Underground Show on Earth, and are working on new material now. Songwriting within the band really just comes together as the band plays, 'there's not really a set formula, we'll get together and rehearse our set and in between songs we'll start goofing around and something will catch our ear,' explains Mark. 'We normally record our rehearsals in their entirety, then sift through it later to pick out any good stuff. Some songs start with a riff, a bass line, one of our songs was launched by a drum pattern that James came up with.'
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So the first disc they released was an EP, explains Mark that was done, 'very quickly at a friend's basement studio. We got started at about 7:00 in the evening and finished at 4:00 in the morning. Most of what you hear on there was done in one take, although there was more time spent mixing later that week.' A far cry from their experience with Brad of Cyclone Records. Hooking up with Brad happened through the On the Verge comp disc, explains Mark, 'there was a compilation CD in the works featuring Calgary Metal Bands and part way through the preparation for that, Cyclone got involved and decided to release the compilation themselves. After hearing the track we had submitted, Brad who heads the label, got in touch with us and things kind of went from there.'
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Recording the track Hate Therapy for the comp, they headed to Alchemy Studio in Calgary and worked with Jeff Mueller. 'We did it in about as much time as we spent doing the entire EP. We were happy with what we had by the end of the day but had planned to tweak the mix a bit more, but with time constraints and computer problems like files being corrupted and not working we weren't sure what the final product would sound like,' Mark tells us. 'Brad assured us that the fine people at The Lacquer Channel, who were mastering the CD, would look after us and do what they could with what they had. They did a great job and we're completely happy with how it turned out.'
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Mark's update on the upcoming EP
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'We will be re-writing all of the lyrics which will be left up to Derek. This way rather than just filling someone's shoes he'll be contributing and making the songs his own.'
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Up to the line-up change, Wormbox had planned to get into the studio, and now courtesy of their new singer, Derek Hayden, they'll have brand new lyrics for a few of the EP tracks and Hate Therapy. Mark with the details, 'we will be re-writing all of the lyrics which will be left up to Derek. This way rather than just filling someone's shoes he'll be contributing and making the songs his own.'
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The Playlist
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Mark's Playlist (bands)
1. Children of Bodum
2. In Flames
3. Vex Red
4. (old) Metallica
5. Lamb of God
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