Artist: Elm Street
Genre: Heavy / Thrash Metal
Label: Massacre Records
Link: http://www.metalelmstreet.com
Band members:
Vocals and Guitar – Ben Batres
Guitar – Aaron Adie
Bass – Brendan Ferrugia
Drums – Tomislav Perkovic
Time for Metal / Maddin:
Hi, Elm Street! Thank you for taking time to answer us a few questions about the project Elm Street.
Elm Street:
Hey dudes!! No problems at all, its our pleasure!
Time for Metal / Maddin:
Since your name should remember many people of the „Nightmare on Elm-Street“-movies – Would you please tell us, why you’ve chosen exactly this name for your band?
Elm Street:
No doubt we are fans of the old school slasher movies like Friday The 13th, Halloween & of course Nightmare on Elm St although the main reason we chose this for the name of the band was because we wanted people to refer back to the 80’s when metal was at its best.
When you think Freddy Krueger you straight away think back to the mid 80’s when those movies first came out and when bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest where heavily in the mainstream music scene so it’s a great memory for everyone that was lucky enough to be apart of that era.
Time for Metal / Maddin:
Elm Street was formed in Australia in 2003. Please tell us more about the reasons for you to form a band and why did you choose the type of music you’re playing now?
Elm Street:
We formed the band purely for the love of heavy metal music; none of us knew how to play an instrument when we made the band which made the whole journey really interesting haha. We all grew up together in high school so we got each other into different bands from thrash, glam, traditional and power metal so everyone had basically the same influence which is what makes the band really unique.
As we began writing music we never actually discussed what type of music we wanted to play or anything like that, the songs from the album Barbed Wire Metal are basically songs we have been writing since 2003 and are what they are. We play music we love and music that we would love to hear in our stereos.
Time for Metal / Maddin:
Did anyone of you play in other bands before?
Elm Street:
Our only band has been Elm Street and will only ever be Elm Street haha!
Time for Metal / Maddin:
What are your favourite drinks?
Elm Street:
That’s an easy one dude, Jack Daniels of course!
Time for Metal / Maddin:
I wrote a review about Barbed Wire Metal. The record almost kicked my ass over the ocean straight to you guys. Are you reading all the reviews you get or are they rather needless in your opinion?
Elm Street:
HAHA! That’s killer man, really glad you liked the album!
We actually have been reading all the reviews, purely because we love to hear where our music has reached around the world.
No matter what the reviews are about, either good or bad it’s great to see we are getting responses from countries all around the world and that’s the main thing.All we’ve ever wanted to do is make music and play shows wherever we can and by Massacre Records releasing the album they are helping us move closer to that dream.
Time for Metal / Maddin:
The first impression your listeners get from your new release is the artwork, which shows a skeleton-biker and some businessmen. What do you want to tell your listeners with this decadent piece of art?
Elm Street:
The front cover done by the great and famous Ed Repka is based on the lyrical theme of the title track. It’s basically saying that we’re gonna be taking no shit from no one, no matter who you are and we’ve be invading people’s lives with nothing but the truest heavy metal \m/.
Time for Metal / Maddin:
Do you have a special ritual to get ready for a live show or something?
Elm Street:
Nothing fancy or weird haha but we love to stay ready for a show at all times. No matter where the show is we always find somewhere to warm up so you’d probably see us jamming for a good hour together backstage before pumping out a kick ass show!
Time for Metal / Maddin:
Are there any live performances planned in Europe / Germany in the near future?
Elm Street:
Ofcourse! That’s the dream to travel the world and the first stop is Europe! We’ll be there sometime this year with one show already locked in for Germany in May, so expect to see us all over Europe in the next few years.
Time for Metal / Maddin:
Have there ever been thoughts about cancelling the project Elm Street until now?
Elm Street:
No way! We live and breath Elm Street, it is our first and only band we have put together individually so we’re going to see the project through right up until we can get it to be successful.
Time for Metal / Maddin:
Many people use the internet to find out more about new bands and releases. Would you please tell our readers where they can find you?
Elm Street:
Yeah! You can find us at http://www.metalelmstreet .com, www.myspace.com/metalelmstreet, follow us on twitter at @metalelmstreet or hit us up on facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/metalelmstreet.
Time for Metal / Maddin:
At Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obws3h3Cqw8) your fans can watch the official video for Barbed Wire Metal, directed by McGVideoCore. In my opinion the Video shows, that pure awesomeness may be created without big fireworks, monsters, naked ladies or whatsoever.
But are YOU fully satisfied with the video?
Elm Street:
Were extremely satisfied with the video. We worked really hard on making it the best we can even though it does not have alot of special effects although now that you mentioned it we should of had some naked ladies haha! The whole concept was that we wanted to make it look really intense with the equipment, our performace, the landscape and the camera movements so I think we did a really good job executing that.
The song is about balls to the wall metal and what metal means to us so I think seeing a band do what they do is what people would want to see rather than a story line.
Time for Metal / Maddin:
Speaking about the internet in todays‘ society – What do you think about illegal sharing of music?
Elm Street:
I think it’s a cool thing, without that our album wouldn’t of reached that many countries around the world.
I see a lot of musicians complaining about it but the reality is you cannot escape it; it’s just how life evolution is nowadays. We’re all 21/22 years old so I’d be lying if I said I’ve never downloaded music haha I still do till’ this day, it’s more convenient and when you put in aspects like touring, recording, filming etc.. There’s no way you can afford millions of CD’s.
Time for Metal / Maddin:
What are your plans for the future?
Elm Street:
Touring, touring & more recording! First step though is getting over to Europe and playing to some of the best crowds in the world!
Time for Metal / Maddin:
Thank you for investing your time in this interview. I’m wishing you all the best for your future plans and I am hopefully looking forward to see you live someday. Do you have any last words for your fans and our readers?
Elm Street:
Thank you for sharing this interview and for taking interest in our music, it really does mean the world to us!
Stay true, stay metal and keep the heavy party going \m/ we’ll see you shredders on the road soon!