Hell Spawn

 

Well seeing this is our first interview with Triaxis, we would like you to introduce the band to our readers for those who don't know Triaxis yet! (who raised the band, when etc..)

Hello, Triaxis consists of Krissie Kirby on vocals, Glyn Williams on lead guitar, CJ Wilson on rhythm guitar, Becky Baldwin on bass and Giles Wilson on Drums.  CJ and Giles formed the band in 2006, Krissie joined in 2007 and they began writing original material which became the "Lord of the Northern Sky" EP (2008) and the album "Key to the Kingdom" (2009). After a few personal changes, Glyn joined in 2010. 2012 saw the release of "Rage and Retribution". Then Becky joined us in 2014 with "Zero Hour" or latest album being released in 2015.

In 2014 you parted ways with your former bass player, musical differences?

No, Owen wanted to do other things and he felt it was time for him to move on. We respected that. He’s been working with an AOR band and has recently become a Dad.

He was replaced by Becky Baldwin, did you discover her or was it the other way around?

We posted an ad for a new bassist and Becky applied. From the moment she set up her gear there was a definite ease in chatting between us all and her bass skills are unsurpassed. She bew us away with her audition, so we knew she was the right fit for Triaxis.

Did she already have an input on the new CD?

Yes, she’s had lots of input on "Zero Hour". Not only with bass lines, but also with lyrics and melody too. She’s proven to be a real team player and has become part of the family very quickly.

You just released your 3rd album, before we talk about that, let's take a look at the 2 previous CDs! How do you look back at them?  Still happy and proud of them?

We look back on them with great fondness and yes we are still happy and proud of them.  They helped shape the Triaxis you see on stage today so we wouldn’t be anything but proud of them. Plus people still request to hear songs off both, so we must have done something right ;-)

For the new CD "Zero Hour" you worked through Pledge for music, more and more bands use this even if they are signed to a record label, care to elaborate?

The industry isn’t what it used to be, you don’t get huge advances from the label that you eventually pay back through sales of the record. Now we have to fund every stage, more or less, from the getgo. Unfortunately, studios are becoming more and more expensive, so to enable to help meet some of the cost we basically used pledge as a giant pre-order but with exclusive items that only those who pre-order would be able to get. That helped us to ensure we could put out the best album we could possibly do.

The pledge reached it's goal in only 9 hours, that must have given you all a good feeling? You even reached over 200%, did this exceed your expectations?

Oh definitely. We were utterly blown away with how our fans responded, worldwide. We couldn’t believe the response and to hit the target in 9 hours was simply astounding.  We can’t thank everyone enough for their support, it still makes us smile when we think about it.

On the new album the guitars are heavier than before, but the melody is still around, I mean, it's still Triaxis but a bit heavier! Agreed and was that also the intention?

I think this is the sound we were aiming for on all albums but we got it spot on, on "Zero Hour". James Stephenson (who did the mixing and mastering on "Zero Hour" and "Rage and Retribution") has really helped us capture the guitar sound we more or less have on stage.  He’s done an amazing job, again.

Every now and then you come over to Belgium, what do you like about our country? And is there a difference with crowds in the UK?

We love playing Belgium, you guys are so passionate about live music that you’ll travel all over to see it.  We were surprised to see two Belgian fans in Hastings last summer, but it was closer to their home than ours which still makes us scratch our heads. You truly do support the live scene and we can’t thank you guys enough for that. Plus there’s always Duvel beer for Glyn, which keeps him happy haha!  The UK fans are just as wonderful in their support.

The artwork gives the new CD a darker feel, are there certain songs linked theme wise?

The artwork was inspired by the title track, "Zero Hour". We used Colin Marks (www.Rainsong.co.uk) again as we did on" Rage and Retribution" and he really captured the essence of the song., including incorporating ‘Oz’ in the design. There is no actually theme to the album and it wasn’t written with a specific theme in mind, it just happens that we like writing songs about war, struggle, death and chaos. With the anniversary of World War 1, it was only fitting to write something around that. It was just coincidence that we then had a song about gladiators, a world being destroyed, Boudicca, World War 2 etc.

Why the title "Zero Hour"? Could you tell us something more about it and the song?

We all agreed that we liked the song title, it’s the song that really captured a lot of imagination for us, and we knew it would lend to a great cover.  When Glyn produced the fledgling outline of the track we all sat with our mouths open. It was utterly stunning and we knew we had something special in that song. I think it was Giles that came up with the idea of this grand figure that could destroy worlds and is about to wipe the slate clean after the inhabitants have destroyed the world’s resources etc. CJ, Becky and Krissie then added to the lyrics and melody and "Zero Hour" came to life.

How does a Triaxis song come to life? Is there somebody who comes with an idea, what comes first the music or the lyrics etc...?

There’s no set way that a Triaxis track comes to life.  We all approach it slightly differently. One may come up with a whole song and that gets added to or adjusted slightly by the rest of us, or someone will come up with just the music and then another will add lyrics and another add melody, or it comes from just a riff and everyone adds sections. It changes with every single song. For "Zero Hour", Glyn came up with the bulk of the music and others wrote melody and lyrics. But usually it’s a big melting pot of ideas and we just run with something to see if it works.

On "Zero Hour" there is even a song about Boudicca, the Celtic queen of the Iceni, tell us something more about that...

Glyn posted the music to this one and it was very Celtic in feel. Krissie decided to run with this one lyrically and tried a few different ideas based on Celtic warriors but ultimately it could only be about one person. For those who have never heard of Bouddica, she was the Queen of the Iceni Tribe in East England under Roman occupation. When her husband died the Romans didn’t recognise the claim on the Kingdom down the female line so refused to acknowledge her claim on the tribe, so she went to war with them and almost destroyed the Romans. She burned the capital of Roman Britain to the ground but was captured. Instead of waiting whatever the outcome would be – probably a long slow public execution – she drank poison and killed herself.  She didn’t allow the Romans a victory.

Tour plans for the new album and when are you coming back to Belgium?

We toured the album through 2015 and will continue to do so in 2016, and we’re hoping to be back in Blegium sometime in the Autumn of 2016 as it’s been too long since we were last over to see you guys.

Are there certain things you would like to see happen in the near future or festivals you would like to play?

We played SOS Festival again last July and also played the Sophie Lancaster stage at Bloodstock in the summer, which was a huge deal and honour for us. We’d love to do Wacken maybe and Female Metal Female Voices Fest. But we’re happy playing as often as we can and just having a good time doing so. Thx for the interview and support!

 

 

http://www.facebook.com/Triaxis

Nico

 

** Shortly after this interview, the band released following press announcement!!!

 Important Announcement from CJ and Giles:

It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce that Giles and I have decided to take a break from our beloved Triaxis.
This may come as a shock, but to those who are involved in a band/the music business will know that being in a band is a big commitment and at times can be all-consuming in many ways.

There is no other reason for us taking the break, other than it has been 10 years of the band being a massive part of our lives and we'd like some time off. 
There are no musical differences - the music is awesome! 
There are no fallings out - we love all our bandmates dearly and the line up is the strongest it has ever been!
This has not been an overnight decision, and has been on the cards for a little while. But we wanted to ensure that Zero Hour met its potential, and that we did the fans justice.

We co-founded Triaxis almost 10 years ago (wow!) and over that time Triaxis has grown from a couple of folks playing covers of our favourite bands, to the Europe-touring-Festival-playing-beast that it is today. Over the years we have recorded and released 3 full length albums (plus demos and eps), played major UK festivals and spread our wings across into Europe. There have been many sleepless nights, a lot of sweat, several pairs of leather trousers, a lot of broken drumsticks, some tears and luckily not much blood, but it doesn't compare to the belly aching laughs, face hurting smiles and windmilling joy that being in a band brings. It is so much more than playing an instrument and I can honestly say we gave it our all, through the tough times and the awesome. We are so proud of those achievements and it is an irreplaceable experience that we will cherish forever.

Although Giles and I will be taking a break, Triaxis will continue. Krissie, Glyn and Becky are on the hunt for top quality musicians to fill our studded boots.

For how long we will be away, we do not know, and whether we will return at this stage we cannot say. I'll be completely honest that right now the thought of someone else onstage in Triaxis, instead of Giles and I, feels... very weird and sad, but I am sure you will all support them into this next phase of the Triaxis story, as will we.

But all is not lost, we aren't running to the hills just yet! We will be gigging up until the end of March 2016. So get down to London, Cambridge, Birmingham and Seven Sins Festival to see us play and send us off with a smile.

Thank you to our family, friends and the fans for your never ending support. Those that have followed us from the very beginning, and those that have just recently found Triaxis.

And of course a big thank you to our bandmates - Krissie, Glyn and Becky - for their support and understanding, their hard work and musicianship. It's been a hell of a ride \m/

Love CJ & Giles 
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On behalf of Glyn, Becky and myself, we want to thank CJ and Giles for absolutely everything. Without them there would be no Triaxis and while we are sad that they've decided a break is needed, we support them wholeheartedly. We've done some crazy stuff that we never thought we'd do and have so many amazing memories, not least three full length albums that we're all very proud of. We hope our wonderful fans respect CJ and Giles's decision, just as we do. We will miss them on stage, on the road and in the rehearsal room but they don't get rid of us that easily off stage. We have forged friendships that surpass the confines of the band, and for that I am truly grateful. So I encourage our fans to get to one of the gigs this month or in March and let's send CJ and Giles off with a bit of a bang. We will be looking for a guitarist and drummer to fulfil our current touring commitments and start a new chapter in the Triaxis story, details of how to apply will be released in the next few days. We wish CJ and Giles nothing but love for the next chapter of their lives and hope one day to share the stage with them again, when the time is right.

Krissie