Mental Interrogation with Sanctum Incendia

Who? Ben Smith of Sanctum Incendia

Myspace: www.myspace.com/sanctumincendia

How long have you been playing together? Fraser (drums + backing keyboard) and I played in a band called WERG several years ago, but needless to say, we sucked. Majorly, majorly sucked. Sanctum Incendia have been together in its current state for about 8 months, with Rhianna (vocals) joining us about 5 months ago. We don't have a bassist, but y'know we don't REALLY need one with a good keyboardist! (Which we have!).

How did you meet? We all met through our local church (Yeah we're all Christians, but before you even think about judging us for that you should listen to the music! You might even like it!)

What kind of gear do you use? I (guitar and growl vocals) use a Vintage guitar, tuned to drop C. Not sure of the model, but it's spiky, red, awesome and has a floyd rose tremelo! Which is fun, but not useful for much in the way of rhythm. Trying to work it into the solos of our new stuff though! Matthew uses two Yamaha keyboards (plus stands) and Fraser uses one Yamaha keyboard. He also uses two drum kits, which we fused together in a rather awesome manner! One of them's a Peavey, and the other one is a Yamaha. The drum kit is pretty awesome too, we tune the Toms to a C minor arpeggio to give really interesting sounding fills. 5 TOMS!!! Plus two bass drums, a myriad of cymbals plus our own invention. A 'Clank' cymbal that we made from an old high hat. It's ridiculous!!

Is there an album that inspired you to join a band? 'Fallen' by Evanescence is what really got me into the whole heavier side of music. That was really the launching point where I found out that everything is better, louder!

What was the last album you bought? 'The Butcher's Ballroom' by Diablo Swing Orchestra. You should check them out! They're a pretty funky mix of different genres that works spectacularly.

What do you think of downloading music? It's a great way to find good bands that mainstream stores don't stock. I especially love what Google have done with Youtube, making all music accessible to anyone with a computer. It's great that you can hear of a band and find it on there!

Who would you say was your personal biggest influence? Musically? Bach and bands like Nightwish, After Forever, Kamelot are big on the influences list.

If you could trade places with another musician for a day, who would it be and why? Avril Lavigne... To change the rubbish music she records now into something awesome! I actually liked her first album... So I'd spend my day as her in the studio, and she'd wake up and realised she'd released a metal album, and people actually liked her music again! She might take a hint, you never know!

If you weren’t playing in a band, what do you think you’d be doing instead? I'd be very very bored probably. Being in a band takes alot of time and investment, which is good as it gives you something to work at every day rather than mulling around being a stereotypical teenager.

Where do you think the best metal is coming from at the moment? Definately Europe, Finland, Germany and that sort of thing. The metal from there is the best mainstream metal around at the moment. We really need to give the Scottish metal scene a boost! Anyone up for organising a Scottish metal fest? Any bands that know of venues, or venues that know of bands and want to do something like this, seriously get in touch with us to get it going! There's demand, all we need is the opportunity!

If you could only eat one kind of food, would it be savoury or sweet? Sweet.

What’s your favourite movie? Not sure. An interestin one I watched a while ago was 'Strings'. I generally like 'weird' movies. Thriller, horror, whatever. Amusement factor is a big one. A brilliant movie I've watched recently is the Scarlet Pimpenel. The acting is so ham-fisted that it makes it an absolute classic!

What was the last live show you went to (not including your own)? That would be Wishbone Ash in December of last year me thinks.

What do you have lined up next? We have a gig on November 8th, in Evanton. Just a small gig but we're happy to play anywhere! Also awaiting response on a series of support gigs for venues up here next year too.

Why should people check out your band?
1. We mix the best of classical music and metal into one melting pot, resulting in a unique and excellent sound.
2. We've got lots of inspiration left, currently got a 25 minute set perfected (5 songs) and working to expand our list of perfected songs to an hour or more.
3. I just wrote 2 new songs over the past week, which really gives you an idea of how much raw material we have to work with. Expect some fresh recordings at some point in December for sure!!
4. When everyone else finds us, you'll be able to say "Yeah, well I knew about them before you!" and own them. Which is always fun!