"A Word" With Tommy from Butterfly Coma !

Around a year ago, I was browsing Myspace when I came across one hell of an awesome band, Butterfly Coma hailing from Germany, they play their own brand of metalcore, which is "uncompromisingly heavy, but yet multi-layered melodic music"

The band's sound is a blend of haunting keyboards, powerful riffs, pounding drums and bass lines, alternating vocals from heavy growls, to melodic singing, with samples and scratches to add to the mix to create the Butterfly Coma sound !

Formed in 2006, the band is busy touring at the moment while also writing material for their upcoming full length album ( which sounds like its gonna kick some major ass ! )

I got the chance to catch up with Tommy, the band's spinner (turntables) and sampler to ask him about their upcoming plans, the new album, favorite activities to pass time on tour, bands that inspire them and alot more.
Here's how it went:


TMR: Hows everything going lately with Butterfly Coma and your stand-in guitarist Demian ?

Tommy: Hey Bro, first off thanks for your interest in Butterfly Coma. We are doing great!
After the decision to go seperate ways with our old guitarist, we asked Demian to step in as a stand-in guitarist, so we are able to fulfill the forthcoming confirmed show dates. We knew Demian for quite a while as he is guitarist in the band N-Jected, with whom we are friends. We are happy he joined us, cause he is a dope guitar geek and a sound guy too. Apart from playing show, we are now writing songs for our forthcoming album.




TMR: When can we expect a full lenght album from you guys ?

Tommy: Like I said, we are busy writing new material right now. Lots of crazy ideas and inspiration which has to be canalized into proper songs. We felt like everybody, first and foremost ourselves, is so sick of that same old metalcore formula that we need to kick it up a notch. I know every band has it's own sound and own style, but to be honest, when listening to metal/hardcore/metalcore lots of the bands sound pretty much alike. This is where we are gonna push the envelope in any regard this time. I don't wanna blab too much, but we are going to do it differently: sound, songpatterns, singing, riffing, drumming, the whole thing. We will let the original musical background of the certain band members shine through a lot more this time. We have Benny on the keyboards who has a classical education in piano and composition. My turntable-style incorporates HipHop, Jungle and the weirdest sample shit. Sven on the drums is mainly domiciled in blues, rock and jazz. Dennis is a true all-round singer that covers clean singing, brute shouting, even good old rock-style vocals and everything in between. Together with Dominic on the bass and Demian on the guitar who are straight up metal/hardcore players we are gonna rearrange the whole thing. It's still gonna be metal, but with a twist to impress.

But in order to answer your question: We expect the full length album to be officially released by summer 2009.



TMR: Which bands and musicians inspire you ?

Tommy: Wow, that depends pretty much on which band-member you ask. Generally I would say Queen, Guns n' Roses, Sting, Dream Theater, Slipknot, Machine Head. Toooo many good bands to mention. I think deep down we are all inspired by those bands we grew up on. But then we really appreciate a lot of newer bands too who certainly kick ass and influence what we consider good modern music. I guess any good song you come across can be a source of inspiration. No matter if it's metal, pop, electro, rock, classical or even HipHop. You hear it, you like it, it nests in your brain, and weeks later, when writing new stuff, it has a touch on how you put your ideas.



TMR: What are you listening to lately ?

Tommy: Loads of stuff. Hmmm, let's say August Burns Red, Bury your Dead, Parkway Drive, Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, Raunchy, 36 Crazy Fists... I could go on and on.



TMR: While on tour, whats your favorite activity to pass time ?

Tommy: I would love to say it's writing new material. But experience showed us it's more about partying hard, drinking and joking around, hitting band mates in the balls when they don't expect it. Watching (adult-)movies, and taking the inspiration to the female audience (only those of us who are not in a relationship)... :-) Also a little bit of working out and keeping in touch with our loved ones.



TMR: Aside from being in a heavy metal band, what else do you guys do on your normal day to day lives ?

Tommy: Benny is a well-known producer here in Germany. He produced the latest Albums of Caliban and Emil Bulls. Benny and me work together a great deal, releasing a horror-soundtrack-album just recently, and we are songwriters for other artists. Makes it a full-time job. Dominic and Sven both got their own studios, recording bands and they both go to college too. Dennis and Demian work regular day jobs apart from putting much time into music.



TMR: Who would you like to share the stage with ?

Tommy: We already had the opportunity to share the stage with great bands like Hatebreed, Sepultura, Sick of it all, Bleeding Through, As I lay Dying, August burns Red and Ill Nino just to mention a few. These are bands we are actually fans of, so it's the greatest pleasure to be able to open the show for those guys and being given the chance to reach a wider audience. For the future I would say we are greatful for every opportunity to support bands who made it big in order to spread our music. I guess top of the list would be the bands we listened to lately.



TMR: Would you like to add anything ?

Tommy: Yeah, thanks for having us! And thanks to all the people who show up at our shows, buy our CDs and spread the word about our music we love so much. Keep it rockin! Horns up, aight!



I would like to thank Tommy for taking the time to answer my questions (coz I definitely know you guys are on a busy schedule) thanks alot man !

Make sure you check out the band's Myspace so you can listen to some of their awesome music, "Yellow Blood" is a "friggin sludgy heavy sing-along" thats a must listen to...then head over to their official merch store and buy yourself a t-shirt or a copy of their 2006 demo.

ALSO !!!

Check out the band's killer video for their song "Your Killing Me" featuring Miss Germany Nelly Marie Bojahr and directed by American singer Marc Terenzi.

You're Killing Me