Immortalizer's Dave D.R. on Rock Attitude

 Rock Attitude had a little chat with Dave D.R. of Canadian band Immortalizer for another interesting interview. The reason behind this interview was Immortalizer's new album “Born For Metal”.

Hi David! Welcome to rockattitude.gr! Congratulations for “Born For Metal”!

- Thank you very much! I really appreciate that! It’s been a wild ride!

First of all, please tell us some things about yourself. How did you first get in touch with heavy metal and when did you decide to become a musician?

– I grew up in a very musical household. All of my immediate family plays musical instruments. As does a lot of my extended family. So that was a big influence on me growing up. My father gave me access to his record collection when I was 7 years old and I discovered so much incredible music that way. Including Black Sabbath. Which was my first exposure to Metal.

The “Paranoid” album completely blew my mind. Hearing Ozzy’s incredible vocals and Tony Iommi’s iconic guitar riffs turned me into a fan for life. That’s my earliest memory of wanting to play heavy music and become a professional musician.

Correct me if I’m wrong but Immortalizer is your first attempt to play and release your own music, am I right?

- Actually, my journey really began when I was 13 years old. My best friend Jay and I formed a band a few years earlier and we wrote, performed, recorded and released our own material. We went on to form several other bands together over the years as well. After our last band together ended, I decided to start a full solo project which became Immortalizer!

Why did you decide to make everything by yourself? Ok, yes, you are a multi-instrumentalist but didn’t you want to try it with a full band? What are the advantages and disadvantages of playing all instruments (and even singing) by yourself.

- It was a mix of things really. First and foremost, I'm addicted to music and love writing, playing and recording each instrument. After my last band ended most of my musician friends had moved on to other things. I understood their decision but I refused to give up.

So, I set out on my own as more of a recording artist. I was originally writing material for a full band but over time Immortalizer became a full-blown solo project. My plan has always been to form a full band with Immortalizer though and have permanent bandmates.

There are advantages and disadvantages of course, having creative control meant being able to craft Immortalizer exactly as I imagined it. But I enjoy collaborating with other musicians too, so I'm looking forward to that in the future. Performing is also impossible without bandmates, so I'm looking forward to forming a full band to be able to perform and tour!

I’ve read in your bio that Ralf Scheepers is somewhat like your teacher in vocals. How did it happen? Is that the reason why he makes some guest vocals in We Were Born For Metal?

- Ralf Scheepers did start off as my vocal teacher. Being such a huge fan of his vocals and his work, I felt he’d be an exceptional teacher to help further develop my vocal abilities. He’s helped me so much in so many ways.

Ralf and I also get along really well and love a lot of the same bands and singers, so we developed a friendship while working together. While we were working on the album, I showed him “We Were Born For Metal” and he really enjoyed it and offered to sing some of the choruses with me! I was beyond thrilled! It was a huge honour for me to have him featured on the album. I owe him so much!

Any details on the recordings? Are you responsible for production too?

- I was the producer on the album as well. Ralf was very helpful throughout the making of the album though. I showed him each track as I was writing them and he gave me his input each time which was incredibly helpful. Ralf has been a huge inspiration! He transformed my home studio recordings into an incredibly professional production!

I had a lot of fun writing and recording the album. It was hard work of course, but I love what I do and feel extremely fortunate to be able to play music for a living.

How do you see nowadays Canadian metal scene? Is there a strong fan base there? Any new bands you’d like to propose?

- The Canadian Metal scene remains quite strong. Especially in the major cities like Montreal which has a huge Metal scene! Canadian Metal fans are often die-hard which is amazing. My local music store has a Metal band called The Prospects which have a lot of talent.

Have you in plans to play your music live? Even with some session musicians?

- Absolutely! I’m looking forward to putting a band together to be able to start performing and touring! I’ve already started looking into that. I’m hoping to find permanent bandmates soon, but would consider session musicians at first if need be.

David we’ve come to an end. Thanks for this interview, last words are yours

- It was my pleasure! I’d like to thank Immortalizer fans from all over the world for their incredible support with the album release! The response so far has been so amazing! Thank you all so much! Stay Metal! Cheers!

www.immortalizermusic.com
https://soundcloud.com/user-256971961
https://www.facebook.com/ImmortalizerBand
https://www.twitter.com/immortalizer_