Octainium

Octainium = ENERGY! And this describes this metal band perfectly.

With bouncy riffs, catchy chorusses, melodic hooklines & technical solos, mixing clean and growling vocals, these guys offer a wide genre of music. Based in Centurion, it is obvious to note that Octainium love what they’re doing, making their music ever more powerful.

Band members include: Maritz (Vocals), Gert (Drums), Sikes (Guitars), Grinch (Bass) and Cameron (Guitars).

Octainium is definitely one of the best live bands to watch in 2012, get into it- sooner rather than later!

Interview with Octainium vocalist; Maritz

SAG - Tell us about your band name; how did it originate?

Maritz: I (Maritz) founded Octainium in Wales, UK in 2006. I always like a “one-word-name” e.g. Metallica, Soilwork, Gojira, Korn, etc… So that was something important to me- to get 1 word that will describe the band/music. I saw the music (and especially live performances) as “energetic”, so that’s when I started playing around with words similar to “energy”. The word Octane sorta pooped up, and stuck in my mind [… a combustible fluid of the highest “octane”], so I ended up making up a word that doesn’t really exist- Octainium. It, to us, purely means ENERGY- a word that is very important, and luckily- very relevant to our live shows. A toy car company in the US also calls themselves “Octainium”, but we had it 1st :)

SAG - Just for the benefit of anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of listening to you yet, how would you describe your music?

Maritz: Can I sum it up in one word? – “ENERGETIC”.

O.K- I suppose I have to delve in a bit deeper… Right… it is metal. We use catchy riffs, bouncy breakdowns, melodic choruses, metaphoric lyrics, deep growls, sinister-like high screams, synchronized guitar melodies, cool drum patterns, and quick solos here and there. Oh, and boyish charm to top it all off…

SAG - What inspired you guys to become musicians in this genre?

Maritz: Your music tastes develop in your teens, so instead of following the charts of “what is cool this week”- I suppose all metal heads will search a bit deeper for something they can relate to more… Metal is an art form. The instrumentation is normally quite technical and the lyrics, metaphorical (not superficial). It’s quite aggressive music and it draws one in over time. It’s natural to go into such a direction if the whole band enjoys heavy, aggressive music. We started off being a bit lighter (almost between rock and metal)- we called the genre “Melodic Hard Rock”, but after some time we realized that, when rehearsing- we enjoy playing the heavier songs more so than the lighter ones- so it ended up being a natural evolution. More metal!

SAG – Now that your debut album The Prophecy is completed, what is the next step in the band’s career?

Maritz: To tour! We really want to play everywhere and anywhere to get our music out there. To pick up a nice record deal along the way to make things easier will not be frowned upon, haha! But yeah- to play a lot of shows, to win over crowds, to make people in every town Octainium fans! If anything- the bigger dream and goal is to get onto a European Tour with some more established bands- we have sent our debut for some international reviews, including a few labels as well, so hopefully something will brew out of that. I always saw Octainium as an International band, touring the World! Always work towards your goals, they say…

SAG - Is there a particular song on the album that you’re especially proud of?

Maritz: We have like 30+ songs, so this album (of 11 tracks and an intro) is really our favourite songs put together. We wanted a strong debut- so NO B-sides on this one

The newer ones, like Eradicate the Shrewd, Exorcism, The Chimera & The Prophecy are, I think, an idea of/the direction of what a lot of new material will sound like in future albums to come, but it doesn’t mean that I favour them above the rest- “Your Demise Is Set” & “Brown Garden” are songs I wrote (originally on an acoustic guitar) in Wales, where I started the band in 2006 sometime, but I’m still proud of it today. Every song fits The Prophecy, to choose is like “picking your favourite child” at the end of the day- it can’t really happen

SAG - If Octainium could work with any other artist in a big event, who would it be and why?


Octainium

Maritz: Ooh, that’s a long list we’re talking about here… A world tour with In Flames, Korn, Lamb Of God & Chimaira would be pretty cool… We’d love to tour with some of our favourite bands- I think that is a massive milestone on its own. To have collaborations done with some members of those bands would also be epic! Nuclear Blast is doing an album review for us now (along with some other international & local establishments) – if we get signed by them, oh well… Let’s just say that it would be the start to a whole new chapter in our lives! \m/

Also, to feature some famous porn stars in an Octainium Music Video would be pretty “Rock star”- someone like Jenna Jameson let’s say… At least we’d get quite a few YouTube hits in this manner
SAG - Axe and equipment you’re using at the moment?
Maritz: Cameron “TC” Tomlin: Epiphone Les Paul Standard & Fender Squire 7 String Strat. Marshall MG100 Amp, Boss Metalzone MT2 pedal. RotoSound Strings.Kyle “Sikes” van Wyk: PRS- Nick Catanese signature series, Line-6 Spider jam Amp & pedal. RotoSound Strings.

Hendrik “Grinch” de la Guerre: Ibanez Ergodyne 405 series Bass Guitar, Ampeq 240 watt bass amp, RotoSound Strings.
SAG - What, relating to music, truly pisses you off?
Maritz: People who try to be like someone else… Trend-followers who can’t come up with their own style, so instead they copy what someone else is doing in order to get noticed… That’s fucking lame man… You didn’t see Da Vinci painting the same concepts as Van Gogh or Metallica trying to be like The Beetles…
Just be yourself and do your own thing…

SAG - Tell us a bit about your views on metal in South Africa based on your experiences as a metal band.

Maritz: Metal is less frowned upon than let’s say 5 years ago- so the scene has grown, deathcore came and went, gigs are easier to come by and so on, so it’s an improvement already. I heard “MK Ondergrond” is a dedicated channel to expose our heavier genres a bit more- that’s cool.

Unfortunately it kept sort of “stable”, at least since we started (Jan 2009), instead of rapidly growing- a lot of cool venues have closed down due to this as well. There is still this “ego-war” between a lot of bands in SA, instead of touring together, playing a lot of shows, promoting each other and just “be friends”- a lot of the bands don’t get along, because of ego’s getting in the way and “my band’s better than yours” attitudes and so forth. We did a little project earlier this year however, called The Cause Tour- where a lot of bands played some shows together to raise money for one particular “Cause”. To help each other like a family. That was a great success and a lot of bands (30 or more) got involved! That should happen more often, we should work with each other instead of against each other…

SAG - Any up-and-coming tours/gigs we can look forward to?

Maritz: We’re heading down to PE and surrounding area just after X-mas for a couple of shows- we’re planning to do a tour down to Cape Town during 2012 and play 20-30 towns/ cities on the way and back. We really want to do the whole “touring thing” like it’s supposed to be done…

A good way to stay up to date with what we do is to like and check into our FB page regularly: www.facebook.com/octainium




Octainium

Come to an Octainium gig- if you love it, buy an Album and T-shirt and err, tell 9 friends

Added comments:

Octainium would like to make a special mention to Roy from Bothner music- Thank you for the RotoSound Endorsement- we haven’t looked back since. For the best Sound- use Roto! \m/

Thank you SA Guitarist for the interview- it’s been emotional! - SA Guitarist

Octainium = ENERGY! And this describes this metal band perfectly.

With bouncy riffs, catchy chorusses, melodic hooklines & technical solos, mixing clean and growling vocals, these guys offer a wide genre of music. Based in Centurion, it is obvious to note that Octainium love what they’re doing, making their music ever more powerful.

Band members include: Maritz (Vocals), Gert (Drums), Sikes (Guitars), Grinch (Bass) and Cameron (Guitars).

Octainium is definitely one of the best live bands to watch in 2012, get into it- sooner rather than later!

Interview with Octainium vocalist; Maritz

SAG - Tell us about your band name; how did it originate?

Maritz: I (Maritz) founded Octainium in Wales, UK in 2006. I always like a “one-word-name” e.g. Metallica, Soilwork, Gojira, Korn, etc… So that was something important to me- to get 1 word that will describe the band/music. I saw the music (and especially live performances) as “energetic”, so that’s when I started playing around with words similar to “energy”. The word Octane sorta pooped up, and stuck in my mind [… a combustible fluid of the highest “octane”], so I ended up making up a word that doesn’t really exist- Octainium. It, to us, purely means ENERGY- a word that is very important, and luckily- very relevant to our live shows. A toy car company in the US also calls themselves “Octainium”, but we had it 1st :)

SAG - Just for the benefit of anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of listening to you yet, how would you describe your music?

Maritz: Can I sum it up in one word? – “ENERGETIC”.

O.K- I suppose I have to delve in a bit deeper… Right… it is metal. We use catchy riffs, bouncy breakdowns, melodic choruses, metaphoric lyrics, deep growls, sinister-like high screams, synchronized guitar melodies, cool drum patterns, and quick solos here and there. Oh, and boyish charm to top it all off…

SAG - What inspired you guys to become musicians in this genre?

Maritz: Your music tastes develop in your teens, so instead of following the charts of “what is cool this week”- I suppose all metal heads will search a bit deeper for something they can relate to more… Metal is an art form. The instrumentation is normally quite technical and the lyrics, metaphorical (not superficial). It’s quite aggressive music and it draws one in over time. It’s natural to go into such a direction if the whole band enjoys heavy, aggressive music. We started off being a bit lighter (almost between rock and metal)- we called the genre “Melodic Hard Rock”, but after some time we realized that, when rehearsing- we enjoy playing the heavier songs more so than the lighter ones- so it ended up being a natural evolution. More metal!

SAG – Now that your debut album The Prophecy is completed, what is the next step in the band’s career?

Maritz: To tour! We really want to play everywhere and anywhere to get our music out there. To pick up a nice record deal along the way to make things easier will not be frowned upon, haha! But yeah- to play a lot of shows, to win over crowds, to make people in every town Octainium fans! If anything- the bigger dream and goal is to get onto a European Tour with some more established bands- we have sent our debut for some international reviews, including a few labels as well, so hopefully something will brew out of that. I always saw Octainium as an International band, touring the World! Always work towards your goals, they say…

SAG - Is there a particular song on the album that you’re especially proud of?

Maritz: We have like 30+ songs, so this album (of 11 tracks and an intro) is really our favourite songs put together. We wanted a strong debut- so NO B-sides on this one

The newer ones, like Eradicate the Shrewd, Exorcism, The Chimera & The Prophecy are, I think, an idea of/the direction of what a lot of new material will sound like in future albums to come, but it doesn’t mean that I favour them above the rest- “Your Demise Is Set” & “Brown Garden” are songs I wrote (originally on an acoustic guitar) in Wales, where I started the band in 2006 sometime, but I’m still proud of it today. Every song fits The Prophecy, to choose is like “picking your favourite child” at the end of the day- it can’t really happen

SAG - If Octainium could work with any other artist in a big event, who would it be and why?


Octainium

Maritz: Ooh, that’s a long list we’re talking about here… A world tour with In Flames, Korn, Lamb Of God & Chimaira would be pretty cool… We’d love to tour with some of our favourite bands- I think that is a massive milestone on its own. To have collaborations done with some members of those bands would also be epic! Nuclear Blast is doing an album review for us now (along with some other international & local establishments) – if we get signed by them, oh well… Let’s just say that it would be the start to a whole new chapter in our lives! \m/

Also, to feature some famous porn stars in an Octainium Music Video would be pretty “Rock star”- someone like Jenna Jameson let’s say… At least we’d get quite a few YouTube hits in this manner
SAG - Axe and equipment you’re using at the moment?
Maritz: Cameron “TC” Tomlin: Epiphone Les Paul Standard & Fender Squire 7 String Strat. Marshall MG100 Amp, Boss Metalzone MT2 pedal. RotoSound Strings.Kyle “Sikes” van Wyk: PRS- Nick Catanese signature series, Line-6 Spider jam Amp & pedal. RotoSound Strings.

Hendrik “Grinch” de la Guerre: Ibanez Ergodyne 405 series Bass Guitar, Ampeq 240 watt bass amp, RotoSound Strings.
SAG - What, relating to music, truly pisses you off?
Maritz: People who try to be like someone else… Trend-followers who can’t come up with their own style, so instead they copy what someone else is doing in order to get noticed… That’s fucking lame man… You didn’t see Da Vinci painting the same concepts as Van Gogh or Metallica trying to be like The Beetles…
Just be yourself and do your own thing…

SAG - Tell us a bit about your views on metal in South Africa based on your experiences as a metal band.

Maritz: Metal is less frowned upon than let’s say 5 years ago- so the scene has grown, deathcore came and went, gigs are easier to come by and so on, so it’s an improvement already. I heard “MK Ondergrond” is a dedicated channel to expose our heavier genres a bit more- that’s cool.

Unfortunately it kept sort of “stable”, at least since we started (Jan 2009), instead of rapidly growing- a lot of cool venues have closed down due to this as well. There is still this “ego-war” between a lot of bands in SA, instead of touring together, playing a lot of shows, promoting each other and just “be friends”- a lot of the bands don’t get along, because of ego’s getting in the way and “my band’s better than yours” attitudes and so forth. We did a little project earlier this year however, called The Cause Tour- where a lot of bands played some shows together to raise money for one particular “Cause”. To help each other like a family. That was a great success and a lot of bands (30 or more) got involved! That should happen more often, we should work with each other instead of against each other…

SAG - Any up-and-coming tours/gigs we can look forward to?

Maritz: We’re heading down to PE and surrounding area just after X-mas for a couple of shows- we’re planning to do a tour down to Cape Town during 2012 and play 20-30 towns/ cities on the way and back. We really want to do the whole “touring thing” like it’s supposed to be done…

A good way to stay up to date with what we do is to like and check into our FB page regularly: www.facebook.com/octainium




Octainium

Come to an Octainium gig- if you love it, buy an Album and T-shirt and err, tell 9 friends

Added comments:

Octainium would like to make a special mention to Roy from Bothner music- Thank you for the RotoSound Endorsement- we haven’t looked back since. For the best Sound- use Roto! \m/

Thank you SA Guitarist for the interview- it’s been emotional! - SA Guitarist

Please read the article - Beeld