F An Interview with Kriss from Casteform - SHDCVLT

An Interview with Kriss from Casteform

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Elexa: Hey, Kriss! We appreciate you taking the time for this interview. Mind starting us off with the band you're in and what your role is?
Kriss: Thank you for having me, and sure. I play in a band called Casteform and I am the guitar player.
Elexa: No problem! What city is your guys' hometown?
Kriss: We are all scattered around. I'm from Downey, the vocalist is from Los Angeles, the bassist and drummer are from the Hawthorne area. But generally, we just go with Los Angeles.
Elexa: Tight. And you guys consider yourselves melodic-hardcore. What're some features that separate you from other melodic-hardcore bands in SoCal?
Kriss: We don't consider ourselves melodic hardcore; there are so many sub-genres now, especially In melodic hardcore. It's a bit hard to try and explain to someone what our actual sound is so we leave that to our listeners. Even though the music we have up now may give off that pretense, it wasn't planned to sound like that, lol. On another note, I think what separates us from other melodic hardcore bands is that we seem to be drifting more towards a darker and underground sound.
Elexa: Interesting. Are there any bands or that influence your guys' sound?
Kriss: We are all fans of early Touche Amore, Calculator, Loma Prieta and comadre. I would say those bands make up a big part of this band. Which is why it's here today.
Elexa: When and how did Casteform start as a band?
Kriss: This band started in June of 2014. So we haven't even been a band for that long. Before this band started, we were all part of different bands doing our own thing. But I was always joining someone else's band which was cool. I just wanted to play and I was always open to playing anything. But the downside was I never really got the chance to put in my own input. When I wasn't playing with whatever band I was in at the time, I would always be writing at home and one day I just wanted to start something on my own from the ground up. Luckily, my vocalist now, at the time was playing in a heavy heavy band, lol. But he had contacted me saying he wanted to start a side project so it was perfect timing. After that, I got in contact with my bass player and drummer who were already great friends of mine. So one day we just scheduled a day to meet up and jam the songs I had. From there on its been going really well and we couldn't be happier how this has turned out.
Elexa: Fuuuck, haha. The odds were definitely with you. That's tight though. So have you guys played any shows yet? And if not, when do you plan on doing so?
Kriss: Yeah, I got really lucky, haha. I am very thankful for every member in this band. We have played a good amount of shows and already have done small tours. It's been going great. We are leaving at the end of April up North, so we are very excited about that. Casteform has a lot of things already set up for the rest of the year, we're super stoked.
Elexa: Haha, ace! Are there any other bands from SoCal tagging along with you? You guys have a very unique sound which is rare to say about the hardcore scene down here. Are you guys coming out with more songs?
Kriss: Not on this one, but later on we might. We are actually just finishing up recording two new songs for a split we will be doing with a band from Mexico. Once that's done, we plan to record a new EP that's also currently half way done.

Elexa: Are there any local or signed bands you'd ever wish to share the stage with?
Kriss: We have had the chance to share the stage with a lot of great locals and to us that's more than enough. Our friends in Lesser, VRIL, Sleep Spindles, Echoes and Method Act- all very great locals and great people. We are playing a show on April 4th with a great line up so we are looking forward to meeting and playing with more great bands from the area.
Elexa: Nice, nice. I've seen Lesser and Echoes a number of times. You guys are also signed on Open Door Records with A Shark Among Us. How'd that come about?
Kriss: Yeah, they are a great local independent label just trying to help out the local scene come up. The EP we currently have out now is on their site. They were nice enough to help us out with that so we are thankful we have some sort of support.
http://opendoorrecords.limitedrun.com/products/538983-casteform-cd
It's also available for free on our bandcamp. http://casteform.bandcamp.com/releases
Elexa: What should we expect from this EP?
Kriss: I can't really say what to expect, other than to just take a listen for yourself and be the judge. Two songs seem to be one style and another two completely change, so there's definitely a sort of diversity. But already we have gotten great feedback. We are still fairly new, so more listeners telling us what they think would also help us progress as a band.
Elexa: As we end this, is there anyone you'd want to thank or would like to have future fans keep in mind?
Kriss: We just want to thank Open Door Records, my band mates, and everyone who has taken the time to actually listen to us, download our music, or buy a CD and merch. It means a lot to us so we hope to keep seeing more and meeting more great people. Also a big thanks to SHDC, you guys are great! Don't stop helping the local scene.

CONVERSATION

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