A Greek band with a Russian-sounding name, Kemerov play “death ‘n’ roll” and sound very much like ones to watch. Find out more about them here, and sample their wares further down…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from Serres, a city in northern Greece.
How did you meet?
Matt and Giorgos (vocals, guitar) met back in 2013 when Matt was looking for people to start a music project with a vision of mixing garage rock ‘n’ roll and punk with death metal. The line-up was completed two years later by Tasos and Spiros (drums, bass).
How long have you been playing as a band?
This line-up exists since the autumn of 2015, and it also is the first full Kemerov line-up.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
No special history behind the name, it is the name of a Russian city. We liked the sound of it as well as the legend around it which says that in ancient times it was inhabited by giants.
What are your influences?
We worship Entombed and Turbonegro, while we also love doom bands like Cathedral and Candlemass, and these are who we’d name as our main influences. We try to integrate all of them in our sound, something that we think we’ve managed to do quite well so far.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
The mixture of garage rock ‘n’ roll with harder metal sounds like death or doom metal is what we think is unique in our music. We don’t hear many bands today merging these two “opposite” musical styles.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Lyrics are inspired by everyday life and how it affects the human psyche. We are openly against any kind of oppression, social or political, and also against organized religion in any form. We also like to carry a cynical and even nihilistic tone most of the time. All these themes and attitudes find their way into our lyrics.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Our live shows are full of energy, sweat and beer! We have played about twenty shows during the two years we have existed as a band, some of them supporting legendary names like Sodom, Rotting Christ, Septicflesh and Jucifer, among others.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Well, I think drunk people getting on stage dancing violently and making it hard for us to continue performing qualifies as pretty wild! As for us, the common stagediving would be considered wild or extreme by others, but it is pretty ordinary in our shows.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Giorgos uses a Gibson Flying V 67 guitar and a Marshall Valvestate amp head. Spiros has a 5-string Harley Benton bass with a Behringer Ultrabass 350 head. Tasos uses Premier and Sonor drums, Iron Cobra pedals and a Mapex 14×6,5 snare.
What are your plans for the rest of 2017?
This year we are promoting our debut album FMKD which was released on CD in January by playing live anywhere we can. There are some dates scheduled in summer festivals so far and talks about more shows for the autumn. Also, we have just launched a crowdfunding campaign so we can self-release our album on vinyl as well. You can find our campaign at Indiegogo and we appreciate any support we can get!
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Supporting one of our two main influences, Entombed or Turbonegro, would be a dream come true! As for fellow bands you should check out, Kamikazi from Thessaloniki are a band we love as listeners as well with their high energy punk ‘n’ roll. You should also check out Bat Signal from Thessaloniki with their Misfits-meets-Social-Distortion punk rock.
Courtesy of previous Band of the Day artist Opusculus: How do you distribute the non-musical workload and how do you go about ensuring visibility, attendance at shows, and an overall professional look and presence on the scene?
Matt (vocals) is also the manager of the band in a way. He is the one maintaining the social media accounts of the band, getting in contact with promoters, webzines and labels and the one giving the interviews. At this stage, we’re basically still managing ourselves, the main way of spreading the word about live gigs and generally the band’s presence is internet and acquaintances throughout the country’s scene. It all works out rather well right now, but after a certain point it becomes obvious that, if you want your band to go a step further, you will have to look for professional help in the publicity sector.
