London’s Cinematic Metallers Opensight Answer Our 10 Questions Of Biblical Proportions

Tweet

Opensight’s masterful cinematic Metal opus, Ulterior Motives, is an ingeniously inventive Prog/Rock/Metal hybrid that’s currently turning heads and sharpening the minds of those who like their music to be suitably cinematic! So, what better time to throw our 10 Questions Of Biblical Proportions their way….

1. So….what are you up to then?

Danni Stanner (Bass): “Getting ready for world domination!”

Ivan David (Vocals): “We just released our latest record Ulterior Motives and have been getting really good feedback from everyone. We also played a launch show on September 4th in London, hosted by our friends from Chaos Theory Music and were overwhelmed by the audience response. We did some video projections for the first time and got to play the whole record so we’re quite happy now. We have some more shows coming up and will also keep spreading the word about this release, before getting back to writing more new stuff.”

Genia Penksik (Guitars): “What, right now? I just spent the day helping to build a wall in the new Paddock Studios (the studio we recorded Ulterior Motives in) and I am absolutely exhausted. In a more general sense, being temporarily unemployed. Does that count?”

Redd Reddington (Drums): “Eating chocolate, drinking beer and looking for strange objects in the sky when I should be answering interview questions.”

2. Which album/artist/gig/experience made you first realise you ‘Worshipped’ Metal?

Danni: “Watching Metallica’s “Whenever I May Roam” video on TV”

Redd: “Burn My Eyes by Machine Head instantly took my breath away.”

Genia:” I’ve been listening to early 70s classic rock since I can remember. Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin have been favourites since I was about 9. I remember in particular obtaining a copy of The Battle Rages On on tape. It’s far from their best but I loved how heavy it seemed at the time for me and listened to that poor tape on endless repeat for about a year. Certainly led the way to me listening to heavier and more modern music. Lateralus by Tool also contributed to that massively, later on.”

Ivan: “That’s a tough one. Album? I remember being quite captivated by Metallica’s Master Of Puppets (cliché answer, I know…). Artist? Iron Maiden due to them being a great example of a band that goes beyond music and approached a whole concept with mascot, visuals, attitude and mindset. Gig? My first Metal gig where I felt like a proper fan, Testament during the Demonic World Tour ‘98 (or 97? Argh! I don’t remember!)”

3. Name the one album that epitomises Heavy Metal over all others.

Danni: “Master Of Puppets”

Ivan: “Rust In Peace because of the good songs, cohesiveness of the record as a whole and impressive performances. But that’s what comes to my mind right now. Maybe if you ask me tomorrow I would say Piece Of Mind by Iron Maiden or the first Black Sabbath record.”

Genia: “Golly, big question. I think Black Sabbath or Deep Purple In Rock for me. Arguably, where it all began.”

Redd: “Black Sabbath’s Black Sabbath. It’s all there.”

4. Which guilty pleasure album do you listen to the most? Be honest now.

Danni: “Ghost Reveries -­ Opeth”

Redd: “Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygène is amazing from start to finish. Proper geek music”

Ivan: “Well… when people talk about guilty pleasures they normally refer to ‘pop’ related stuff. So I guess that for me it would be perhaps any of the Madonna ‘Greatest Hits’ records (The Immaculate Collection or Celebration). But nothing is a guilty pleasure anymore. I listen to whatever I want, admit to it and bear the consequences and embarrassment from my dear purist friends from the extreme music inquisition. I know my “Metal Worshipper” credentials are impeccable, though… hehehe.”

Genia: “I really don’t feel guilty about anything I listen to. I think the only one I can think of is maybe Pure Heroine by Lorde. I still thinks it’s a masterfully written and produced album, but perhaps I do feel a bit too old to really connect with the subject matter.”

5. You have one opportunity to introduce your band to the entire world, which song do you blast them away with?

Redd: “Tough choice but I’m going to say “Antagonist”.”

Danni: ““Alibi”.”

Genia: ““Alibi” off of the new Ulterior Motives EP. Honestly, I think it’s a fucking cool track and showcases what we’re about pretty damn well.”

Ivan: “Yeah, our new record Ulterior Motives opens with “Alibi”. I think it’s quite effective. People don’t know what to expect during the intro and then boom! Metal! AND surf rocky guitars, AND spy themes, AND Film Music… it summarizes our clandestine intentions quite well.”

6. You find yourselves booked on a mammoth, 12 month, non stop, around the world tour, what 5 essential items do you take with you in order to survive?

Genia: “5 whole things? Most of the items I care about are musical equipment and I’m guessing that goes without saying. Let’s see? A Kindle. E­-cigarette (or just tobacco, if we’re honest). A phone to keep in touch with home.Clean underwear. Diet Coke.”

Redd: “Drum sticks are a good start. My silver and jet ring, it’s my talisman. Book: H G Wells’ The War of the Worlds; DVD: Monty Python’s Life Of Brian; and a DVD player to watch it on.

Ivan: “Smartphone/Movie/Music player with noise cancelling headphones, extra batteries and chargers, a collection of genre films, earplugs, books and lots of chocolate!”

Danni: “Phone, Laptop, Audio Interface, Comb, Lighter.”

7. What’s been your most memorable experience on the road?

Ivan: “I already mentioned our record launch which was a great experience but being part of the Metal 2 the Masses competition was also something special for us as a band.”

Danni: “Afterparty after my first Bulldog Bash.”

Redd: “I got to jam with Captain Sensible after the Bulldog Bash a few years ago. I was pretty drunk at the time but my lasting memory of the Captain is seeing him gallop into the night on the back of a stuffed purple unicorn.”

8. You’re given the chance to handpick the ultimate 4-piece Rock and Metal supergroup (living or deceased). Who’s in the line-up?

Danni: “Geddy Lee -­ Bass, Steve Vai -­ Guitar, Mike Mangini ­- Drums, Freddy Mercury ­- Vocals”

Genia: “Every time I try to think of one of these I just end up with the line up for Led Zeppelin or Tool. Here’s one in the spirit of the question, though… I would like to think the results would be hauntingly dark and humorously twisted. Vocals – Layne Staley, Guitar – Mikael Akerfeldt, Bass – Geezer Butler, Drums – John Bonham.”

Redd: “Bass: Jack Bruce; Vocals: Freddie Mercury; Drums: Ginger Baker; Guitar: Dimebag.”

Ivan: “Richard Christy on drums, Michael Anthony on bass, Mike Akerfeldt and Devin Townsend on lead / rhythm guitar and backing vocals (they would be trading solos). Mike Patton on lead vocals, synths and also playing unusual instruments like vibraphones, toy keyboards and so on.

The band’s music would be a frantic blend of dramatic heavy guitars, invasive angst driven synth sounds, folky acoustic passages, excessive Spaghetti Western-styled orchestrations and powerful operatic three part vocal harmonies by Patton, Townsend and Akerfeldt during choruses. Everything with a melodic sensitivity, traditional verse/chorus/verse structures and laid on top of a really rumbly/farting bass sound and jazzy (but heavy) individual drum patterns. Michael Anthony would do a high pitched scream at the beginning of every song… that would be biblical!”

9. Hard Rock and Heavy Metal is blatantly the greatest thing ever invented but what’s the second greatest invention of all time?

Danni: “Motorbikes.”

Redd: “CJ Wildheart’s DevilSpit hot sauce.”

Genia: “If we stick with the music theme, I’d say synths and electronic music in general. Otherwise, I don’t know. So many important inventions out there but I’ll probably go with Diet Coke.”

Ivan: “Those sunglasses that you wear for X-ray vision or to discover aliens disguised as people and hidden messages on billboards… Wait… no… sorry, that was from that movie They Live. Maybe They Live is the second greatest invention of all time… after The Godfather and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly obviously…

10. It turns out Ozzy’s luscious long hair is imbued with time-travelling qualities and just one stroke of his lion’s mane can transport you back to any Rock/Metal gig of your choice. Who do you go and see?

Danni: “Iron Maiden, Donington 1988.”

Redd: “Pretty much any Cream gig.”

Ivan: “Well, it would be cool seeing a show when Black Sabbath and Van Halen toured together, actually. Or maybe that Iron Maiden show at the Rainbow Theater in London? Deep Purple’s Made In Japan? Your questions are too tough man… haha. It’s pretty hard to decide!”

Genia: “The 14­-hour Technicolor Dream at Alexandra Palace in 1967. As much for the atmosphere and history of it, as for the music. Short of Woodstock I can’t personally think of a better place to be to get a taste of late 60s counterculture and music, before it all promptly retreated up its own arse.”