Today, friday august 21st, Tallah premieres his fifth single and new videoclip for the song «Overconfidence», from their up coming debut album «Matriphagy», that comes out on october 2nd via Earache Records.
This week, we have had the pleasure to chat with Max Portnoy (Drummer) and Justin Bonitz (Vocalist) from Tallah. They share with us some of their expectations on the release of «Overconfidence» and all this new cycle, Max’s musical education, how they ended up calling themselves as nucore band, and more.
Spanish version of the interview here.
HEADBANGERS LATINOAMERICA: Hello Max and Justin. I’m Franco from Headbangers Latinoamerica, and first of all I like to thank you for allowing us do this interview. Max, after work in Next To None and issued two records in that band, which has a more prog metal style. What was the motivation that lead you to experiment in a more extreme music such as Tallah has? How did you come up with the term nucore to define its music?
MAX PORTNOY: «I had been surrounded by progressive music my entire life, and even though I still love that that style of music, after playing in a prog band for so many years, I realized that wasn’t what I really wanted to do. I enjoy playing prog drumming but whenever I get on stage I want let loose and play something loud and obnoxious, which Is why I formed Tallah. I took all the influences I had in the metal world and melded them together and put my own twist to it. I wanted it to be dark, heavy and chaotic, that’s the type of music I love the most, so I wanted to make art that reflected what I was truly into. As far as the label «Nucore», we sort of gave it to ourselves out of necessity. I’m not a big fan of categorizing band’s under a label, because I feel like you limit what people may perceive your band as once they hear the label. But now a days people really focus on that aspect of music so you need to call your band SOMETHING, and since we do draw influence from sub genres of metal like numetal, hardcore, metalcore, etc, it made sense to use the label nucore.»
H.L: And when it comes to writing and compose music. Do you base it on a lot of music theory or is it just based on your own musicality and what you feel that sounds good?
Max: «Song writing is 100% based on my own musicality and what sounds good to the ear. I’m a firm believer in the idea that you dont need music theory to write good music. I took many music theory classes all throughout high school at my performing arts school, and all I see it as is a helpful guideline for people who don’t know where to start. I never look back on what I learned in those theory classes, it feels kind of pointless to me. I’ll just pick up my guitar and play whatever I’m feeling, and if it sounds good to my ears then that’s all that matters. You can tell when you’re writing if something sounds off and ugly, and that’s when you experiment with different notes till you find the one you were picturing in your head. I’m not trying to say music theory is bad and don’t bother with it, because it can still be helpful, but what I’m saying is it isnt a requirement.»
H.L: On the «No One Should Read This» 2018 EP the band featured two guitar players. Now the band is a four piece, right? Any plans on getting a new member? Or you guys will just stick like this with one guitar only?
Max: «We will definitely be adding more members. Tallah isn’t intended as a 4 piece, but we haven’t had the best of luck finding fully dedicated members in the past, and going into this album cycle, we wanted to keep things locked in as the 4 of us for now as we find other members. It’s hard to find the right person to join the band. You want them to have everything you’re looking for, but on top of that, they have to enjoy the band, the guys within the band, and we need to like being around them too. We’re going to be spending most of our time with these people, so we certainly don’t want to end up with a two-faced, asshole in the band with us. It takes time to not only find a good fit, but to make sure that everyone gels with eachother and we’re all happy.»
H.L: Justin, so far you have proved to be a highly skilled and talented vocalist. And you do some things that very few vocalist do. Like, for example, in Red Light there is a lot of voices and vocal techniques that I’m not sure how to named them. How did you come up with those kind of vocal techniques?
JUSTIN BONITZ: «No, I would not say I “came up with” the technique. I am thirty years old. I have heard a lot of voices in cartoons, movies, video games, music, and in the real world. I mimic people. Sometimes I fuse two or three characters together and make something different, but I am sure somewhere, somebody else already did it. My version just might sound “unique” because my voice is stupid.»
H.L: I thing that one of the most attractive and interesting things in Tallah’s music is this variety of vocals and screams. And how well they apply to the instrumentals. Do you think that you will be satisfy with the result with any other band? Or you feel that you found the right people?
Justin: «I hear music, and if I like it, I make noises over it. Max composes crazy instrumentals, so I put crazy vocals over them. If Max composed chill instrumentals, I would put chill vocals over them. I am versatile, so I will do whatever the music calls for. I have five solo projects, all different genres, and I do whatever style of vocals I feel is needed to get my point across. If I were in another band, I am sure I could make it work and be satisfied with the results because music is not just about the vocals. Everything has a place and purpose.»
H.L: About Matriphagy’s concept. You said previously that there is two stories in it, the literal story about what’s going on with Kungan and his mom, and a figurative or symbolic story that is up to us, the listeners, to find out what does it represent and means. I was wondering what’s your own interpretation of this symbolic aspect of the album? Was it inspired on a real experience?
Justin: «If I gave you my interpretation of the symbolic story, I would be telling you exactly what the symbolic story is, and that would defeat the purpose of having people figure it out on their own. And no, it was not inspired by a real experience. I love my mother very much, and I would never change a thing about my upbringing or myself. I was a very happy child, and I am a very happy adult.»
H.L: As for the band, What are your expectations for the near future once Matriphagy comes out? Any particular goal what do you plan to achieve in this album cycle?
Max: «We’re definitely hoping to get back on the road, like most band are right now. We want to be supporting other great bands and spreading our music to more and more people. Our hopes are high obviously, but even if we can sell out smaller club venues to our own fans by the end of this cycle, I would call that a success in my eyes.»
H.L: Tell me about ‘Overconfidence’ and the video that comes out today. What can we expect?
Max: ««Overconfidence» is a song we’ve been patiently waiting to release since before the album was even recorded. I think it’s exactly what our fans are wanting and will even have some surprises in them, as we’ve developed our sound even more from the EP. It’s a very upbeat, driving song, that doesn’t let off till the song is over. I’m super excited for people to hear it, and see the insane video that goes along with it.»
Justin: «You can expect an extremely fast-paced, high-quality production that ties into some of our previous videos. The song has that special “Tallah sound” that everyone is starting to love, and I do not believe it will disappoint.»
H.L: Thank you guys again so much for granting us and allowing us to do this interview. Is there anything else you would like to add?
Justin: «The only other thing I want to add is that I am starting to see a lot of people look up to me, especially other vocalists and children. They send me messages saying that I inspired them to be a better singer/screamer and that they want to be like me. While it is flattering, do not try to be like me. That defeats the overall message of all my work. Be you! Be the best possible version of yourself! If you do not know who that is, go figure it out, but stop bending to the wills of others. Stop letting outside influences dictate your thought patterns. “When a person decides to be themselves, they offer something no one else could ever be.” -50 Cent.»
Max: «We have alot of great stuff planned for the near future of Matriphagy, and you aren’t going to want to miss it if you’re into what we do. We will be updating our social media pages frequently with all the cool stuff that’s coming. Matriphagy drops October 2nd, and if you care for a cool vinyl or signed CD, they’re located at Earache.com/tallah.»
Also, Justin has confirmed us that there will be more singles before «Matriphagy» comes out. So, as Max said, make sure to follow Tallah‘s social media so you don’t miss what’s coming up next.
Listen Tallah on:
Bandcamp | Spotify | Youtube | Dezzer | Apple Music
Tallah’s social media:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
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