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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