NIGHTMARE TOYS

Monday, August 17, 2020

THE METAL TIMES NEW ALBUM INTERVIEW : ULTIMATA

 

1. Introduce yourself and your band and tell us why we should

listen to you.

My name is Andrew Aylward and I am the vocalist for Ultimata.

People should be checking us out because we are sonically heavy as

hell and are all dedicated musicians constantly pushing to create better

and better music to bang your heads to.

2. What do you classify your sound as, Who do you tell people you sound

like?


We classify our sound as metalcore. We take the classic mid-2000's

metalcore sound, give it a modern update, and put our own twist on that.

Think Born of Osiris meets Lamb of God with deathcore style vocals.

3. With digital music in today's world would you vote to keep or eliminate physical

media?

While digital is the primary means of music consumption for the majority of listeners,

I believe physical media can and should always be in demand. I personally still

collect CD's to add to my collection. I like pulling out the insert, or lyric book, and

looking at the art, reading the credits and lyrics. It also just looks visually appealing

on display.

4. What is the reason you decided to be a musician and has that reason paid

off?

I decided to be a musician after attending Rockfest 2017 and seeing all the

incredible bands such as Parkway Drive, Alexisonfire, and Killswitch Engage

putting on the best live performances I've seen; technically and physically.

After seeing Killswitch Engage perform, I told myself I wanted to start taking

vocals seriously and get involved in the music scene by any means

necessary.

5. How do you feel about females in metal getting special attention? Do you feel it is

fair?

I don't find female musicans in the metal scene get "special attention". They've had

to grind out their local scenes just as much as any other musician to get where they

are. Tatiana Shmaylyuk of Jinjer, Lita Ford, Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy,

Linzey Rae of The Anchor and many others got where they are by talent,

personality, branding and solid musicians performing alongside them.

6. In the world climate with hatred being at an all time high and metal being an “angry”

music, do you think your music contributes to anger and hatred?

Our music does not preach hate or incite violence. Sometimes lyrically it certainly does

tap into inner anger or disgust with certain things in the world or my personal life, but

anger is a natural human emotion and expressing it constructively through music is

cathartic. Our single "Voiceless" has a positive message. The chorus says:

"Voice for the voiceless

Heart for the heartless

Mind for the mindless

Revolution starts with you"

Take from that what you will, as I am a firm believer music is subjective to the listener,

despite artist intent. My intent is to leave interpretation open to the listener.

7. Are you opposed to religious beliefs or politics being used in

music?

Being a hardcore punk fan, I'm definitely not opposed to politics

being in music. Nor am I opposed to using music to express

yourself spirtually, religious or otherwise. Inspiration can come

from injustices, or spiritual awakening. All the power to the artist to

draw attention to subjects they feel are important and lights a fire

under their own asses.

8. We have dive into some pretty deep issues here do you think your music sends a

message and if so what is it?

Like I said in an answer above; I prefer to keep my lyrics open to interpretation. I will say

the general vibe and theme I was going for while writing "Voiceless" was that change

begins internally before it manifests externally. My interpretation is that it's about

introspection and finding answers within yourself rather than trying to find them from

elsewhere.

9. The market has changed and many bands believe that record labels are a thing of the

past, with many labels now charging bands to “sign”, how do you think a band can make it

in today's scene?

I think band's need to be more aggressive in their self-promotion and marketing. They

need to know who their demographic is, where the people they want to hear their music

are, physically and on the internet. Engage them on a personal level, through metal

appreciation and promotion groups, make friends, create engaging content. Invest in

Facebook ads and Google ads. Experiment, and find the formula that works for you. What

works for us and our fans will not work for everyone!

10. With the thousands of options including Netflix, sporting events and everything on

demand, why do you think people should take the time to listen to what you have to say in

your music?

I think people should take the time to listen to our music because it makes you feel

something. It doesn't feel like it's been put into a metal regurgitation machine, and spit out

to appeal to the largest audience. We've taken aspects of music we enjoy, and used it to

form something familiar yet totally original. We have three guitarists, synth, solid bass

lines, drums and vocals. We are heavy as hell, and if you dig heavy, you will like us. I'll let

the music speak for us.

11. How do you feel about pay to play? Do you think it is fair for a band to have to pay

money to play?

Pay to play is a predatory business tactic in my eyes. Performance arts require massive

amounts of investment, financially and personally. Buying gear, practicing, driving to and

from gigs, promotion, cost of recording, production and distribution. In my eyes, everybody

who is serious about reaching an audience outside of their local bubble treats music as job.

For myself, when I'm not working, I'm networking, promoting, jamming, or gigging. A labour

of love, but labour none the less. Labour deserves compensation, in more than just

exposure.

12. It is fact that you are the talent and the entertainment, explain what you think is the

most important key to success?

I believe the most important key to success is the musician's willingness to be a

self-starter; to be willing to seek out opportunities to further their brand rather than

waiting for that oppurtunity to fall on your lap. If you build your brand, DIY style, and

make those personal contacts and interactions, THEN the people you want to network

and work with will come to you. In my opinion, that's the key difference between bands

who stay on the local circuit and the bands who break through to a national or


international market. But hey, I just scream into a microphone. What do I know. Take

everything I say with a grain of salt.

13. In country music and even in some cases rock music is written and performed by

different people would your band perform a song written by someone else?

If we're talking covers, we are totally comfortable in playing music written by someone

else, as long as we're putting our own spin on it. If we're talking music we put out under

Ultimata on record written by someone else, we would definitely want an equal

collaboration of creative input, so that's a maybe. We need to be able to have our own

input on music we put out under our name.

14. If you are pro-female in music are you pro using sex to sell your

music?

Nothing wrong with using sex to sell music, whether you're a man or a

woman. Plenty of male musicians have used sex appeal to catch the

attention of their fans. Unfortunately I'm not as blessed in the looks

department as some of those men so it's out of the question for me!

15. What is your view on the lawsuits against people saying lewd or unprofessional

things to women or men and how does that affect an art described as sex drugs and

rock n roll?

My opinion on that is that if there are scumbags in the industry, they deserve to be

exposed. Equally so, for false accusations, I believe the accusers deserve the same

punishment that the accused would have received, if it can be proven that there was

malicious intent. But I'm no law expert, and definitely not judge, jury and executioner!

16. Ok let's lighten up a bit. What is your favorite band of all time and

why?


My favorite band of all time, changes fairly frequently as I'm always

discovering new music! At this point in time, I would have to say the

Misfits! They have a consistant discography for the most part. I enjoy

both Danzig and Graves eras (though I prefer Danzig). My favorite

album would have to be Earth A.D/Wolfs Blood, the cd version. It's

their heaviest and fastest album in my opinion and contains some of

their best songs.

17. What would you be doing if you were not in a

band?

If I wasn't in a band, I would probably be focusing

on horror or high fantasy writing. Stephen King,

Clive Barker, and R.A. Salvatore are my favorite

writers of all time. I still want to write a novel at

some point, but I'll have to find a better

work/band/social life balance in order to fit that in

the schedule!

18. Do you have a favorite sports

team?

I don't have a favorite sports team

as I don't keep up with most sports. I

absolutely love MMA though. I keep

up mostly with UFC. My favorite

fighter of all time would have to be

Anderson Silva. My favorite

up-and-comer is Khamzat Chimaev.

The man has only had two fights in

the UFC so far but he's absolutely

dominated the fights he's been in

and I'm anticipating he will be

champion within the next three

years tops.

19. If you could get on stage with anyone dead or alive who would it

be?

I would love to share the stage with Trevor Strnad of The Black

Dahlia Murder. The man is a phenomenal vocalist and frontman

who I look up to. Necropolis was one of the first vocal covers I ever

posted. Trevor, if you see this, get at me. Let's make this happen in

2021!


20. This is your shot to let loose, Throw down your biggest complaint about the

music biz.

My biggest complaint about the music buisness so far is how band's are constantly

beefing with each other and putting each other down. Sometimes there's genuine

reason, but other time it's just petty high school bullshit that should be squashed.

When you are in a local scene as small as the one I'm involved in, there's no room

to be fighting with each other. Get over yourselves, shake hands, and combine

forces to do something great for the scene. It benefits everybody involved in the long

run.


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