NIGHTMARE TOYS

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

VOKILLS INTERVIEW : Mish /TORIZON












1.Please introduce yourself and tell us who you sing for

My name is Mish and I sing for an Australian Heavy Rock/Alternative band Torizon


2.What / Who made you want to sing?
  

Personally, music was my therapy through a traumatic childhood. Listening to music was a cathartic coping mechanism for me. I was in deep depression and contemplating suicide when I was 15 years old. I was sitting in my room one evening and turned on the TV and “Bring me to life” by Evanescence started playing. I was drawn to it immediately because for the first time in my life I found someone/something I could relate to. I started writing songs, learning guitar and singing. Eventually I found my strengths in singing and songwriting so I ditched the guitar and stuck with singing for a while, although I ended up playing piano later. 


3.Who was the first singer you saw live that gave you chills? 

Amy Lee from Evanescence 


4.Many people say heavy music is just screaming, How would you combat that statement?

That’s what I hear all the time too! For me, heavy music is a representation of the most visceral human emotions. Most instrument players in this genre are not only super talented; they also know their way around music theory and composition across different genres. They create and resolve tension within the song structures, often rhapsodic in form and bend the “music rules” -  notice heavy music usually has more than just a typical verse, chorus, bridge song structure...they have some serious intro’s, outros, solos and off course breakdowns...it takes a lot to write and rehearse so many different passages and play them at crazy tempos. The lyrics usually have meaningful messages and the vocal style requires some serious skills and maintenance. It’s not just screaming, a well written heavy song is a journey. 


5.If you growl or do harsh vocals how do you keep your voice after such violent performances?

I used to do fry screaming in my previous bands but I ended up injuring my vocal chords quite badly as my vocal anatomy isn’t robust enough to sustain this vocal style. The rehab took about a year and I needed another year to build my vocal stamina. Since then, I prefer clean singing for the longevity of my voice (I can sing clean vocals for hours!)


6. Do you have a warm up routine? Tell us about it ?

Yes, I always warm up my voice. My routine is the same for my vocal practise, playing live shows and recording. I like to run through scales up to on octave range in a hot shower. After that I loosen up my jaw, larynx, neck and shoulder muscles. Then I start some forward placement exercises with different vowels, arpeggios, twang with vowels, belting with vowels and slurs, bubbles, vocal sirens and minor scales if I am singing songs with minor tonalities. I also like to gargle with sea salt, baking soda and honey before performing. I have silent reflux so I need to watch my diet very closely on performance day.


7. Do you think power or performance is more important?

In my opinion, they are both important in live shows. Regular practise is what gets your power to a point where you can sing whilst interacting with the crowd. I’ve always focused on vocal power before performance because my job is to play my instrument well on stage; in my case it happens to be my voice. 


8. Who do you think gets unfair vocal praise, someone the world thinks is great but is not? / And 
   

Tatiana from Jinjer is definitely underrated as a vocalist - she is a powerhouse! I saw Jinjer just before the COVID-19 restrictions and she blew me away. Hmmm...I don’t like to mention who is unfairly praised as musicians are highly critical of themselves anyway.


9.Name your top 5 vocalist

Fiona Apple, Devin Townsend, Sia, Christina Scabbia, Maynard James Keenan, Kelly Clarkson - it’s too hard to pick five haha!


10.Micheal Buble or Jim Gallette? Just testing your skills here

Jim Gillette


11.Who do you love to listen to that would surprise people?.

Tori Amos and Fiona Apple - I love them both so much for their unique brilliance.


12.If you could remove the autotune from any singer who would it be?

I wouldn’t remove the autotune...
 

I have included our social links below:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/torizonband/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/torizonmusic/ 

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