Sathya interview
Photos provided by Sathya
Bloodstained Skies: Where did the name Sathya come from and what is its significance to the band and the music?
Bob (bass,vocals): Sathya is of the ancient language of Sanskrit, meaning or pertaining to truth.
Dave (lead guitar, vocals): The meaning has musical significance to us in our approach to the way we write and compose our material as we stay true to our standards and continue to do our own thing despite what may be happening with the mainstream scene. It is of the utmost importance to us to create music which is interesting for us to play and to listen to. Creativity and originality also play a major role in its meaning. We are not going to cheat our fans by sticking to a predictable and formerly paved path. Rather we strive to throw unexpected twists and turns into our music to throw the listener off and have them say "That was fucking amazing".
Bloodstained Skies: The band was formed in 1997. Did the members have much experience in bands prior to that time?
Bob: We all played in bands before, but these efforts were nothing in comparison to what we are doing with Sathya.
Bloodstained Skies: How does the songwriting process normally work in Sathya? I don’t see songwriting credits in the CD. Is it usually a collaborative process, or do certain individuals write songs mostly on their own?
Dave: Most of the songs on the CD started as guitar riffs and evolved from there with everybody adding there own twist on the riff. Our current writing process has also evolved though as we have grown as a band stylistically and collaborate from the ground up. The next CD is going to be fucking amazing.
Bob: Also much of the time we'll just come up with cool jams and either work them into a song or develop them into their own entity.
Bloodstained Skies: You guys take a somewhat unique approach for this type of music by having the entire band involved in the vocals. What are the advantages of doing it this way as opposed to having one guy doing all the lead vocals?
Dave: The main advantage is being able to write the vocals from our perspective as the musical writers, it also allows us to be able to collaborate together lyrically putting our creativity together and creating a more diverse final product in sound and ideas. The main disadvantage is since we don't have a designated front man we have to work that much harder to accurately reproduce our songs live, but we have proven to do this extremely well.
Bloodstained Skies: How do you guys feel about the self-titled CD now that it’s been done for well over a year?
Dave: The CD was primarily funded, produced, and artistically directed by us so we are extremely proud of what we have accomplished, but this is just the beginning of what we have to offer. We have received many great reviews and appreciation from fans not only for the CD but our live performances as well. It’s especially nice to hear that everybody seems to have different particular favorites which shows that the album has something to offer on many different levels rather than just having one or two good songs.
Bloodstained Skies: My favorite track is “Top Gun”. Does the band have any favorite songs on the CD?
Bob: Band favorites include "Demon Slayer", "Ohm", "Top Gun", "Dethroned" and "Gunn Dance" but we also have more recent favorites which have not yet been recorded.
Bloodstained Skies: There seems to be a strong Swedish influence in the band’s sound. I’d almost describe it as a mix of elements of In Flames and Opeth, but with a distinct flavor all its own. Is that an accurate portrayal, and what bands do you guys look up to the most?
Bob: Obviously those are both great bands and the Swedish scene as a whole is pretty fucking great. We're just metal heads, we dig metal all over the spectrum - traditional, speed, black, doom, ...etc. Yeah that's pretty accurate - we do of course strive to keep it original.
Dave: There are so many great metal bands out there from all over the world that we listen to so it's hard to say who our primary influences are. We do have a very melodic, harmonious sound though so we are definitely in line with the Swedes but upon further listening are not easily defined.
Bloodstained Skies: What is a Sathya live show like? With the songs on the Sathya CD, do you try to play them as they are recorded, or do you change them up much in your live shows? Which songs do you think work best in a live setting?
Bob: It’s a fucking gargantuan assault of brute intensity and beauty, with us as the players doing all in order for ourselves to be vehicles for this music. As far as the songs go, we've been throwing a lot of newer stuff into the mix - which we've been receiving even greater responses to.
Dave: With the extra live energy the music comes across with added speed and force remaining as tight and crisp as any studio recording could offer. We are much more suited to a live setting rather than a stale studio environment. For the most part the songs are played just like the CD sticking to the same arrangements but with varied solos and some tasteful improvisation.
Bloodstained Skies: What are your plans for the rest of 2003?
Bob: To further the word of Sathya as much as possible, including the recording of a new album as well as developments in our merchandising and web site.
Bloodstained Skies: Has the band attracted interest from any record labels?
Bob: We've had interest from some smaller labels, as well as some management and promotion companies, but nothing so far that made us feel that we couldn't do better ourselves.
Dave: We own the band up to this point and it is much more profitable for us to keep it that way until the right offer comes around.
Bloodstained Skies: What are your goals for this band? Are you happy with the way things are progressing to this point? Do you see this as a band that will be around for many years?
Dave: We are very satisfied with our progress up to this point, we understand that you must have patience and perseverance in order to achieve any respectable goals in this business. We don't require to be rich asshole rock stars but only to make a comfortable living out of what we love to do. You will definitely be hearing a lot more from Sathya in the future as we are professional musicians with a vision and have only yet begun our quest.
Bob: Our goals are simple, only to create and play music that will align the planets and bring universal peace and harmony. As far as band longevity goes, matter is never created nor destroyed, therefore we are eternal.
Bloodstained Skies: Do you all have day jobs? How much time do you have to devote to Sathya?
Dave: Unfortunately we are still tied down to our day jobs for financial reasons. We try to devote as much of our spare time as possible to Sathya - rehearsing, gigging and promoting in order to get this band off the ground, so we can ultimately ditch our jobs and spend our time doing what we were born to do. Jobs come and go and none of us have any career goals besides music which is our number one priority.
Bloodstained Skies: What is the metal scene like in Portland, and the region overall? Have you guys had a chance to share the stage with any national or international bands? Do many bigger-name metal bands make it up to that area often?
Bob: The scene is pretty cool in Portland. There's a good number of talented metal bands here, as well as a bunch of punk and hardcore.
Dave: We definitely get plenty of bigger-name metal acts that pass through here, much more than you would think. I'm sure that is partially due to being the main worthwhile stop on Interstate 5 between Seattle and San Francisco so it is very convenient for larger touring acts to stop here and they are never disappointed as we have masses of head-banging metal heads in Portland and the surrounding area.
Bloodstained Skies: If anyone is interested in hearing your music or finding out more about the band, is there an email or snail mail address to which they can write?
Dave: Send any questions or requests to
sathyadave@msn.com. Our CDS are currently $10 including shipping to anywhere in the U.S. And a couple of dollars tagged on for shipping outside of the U.S. Our web site, Sathyametal.com, should be back online within a couple months but for now if anyone would like to hear a sample of our music, check out Nightpiper.com, whom is one of our bookers. You will find a couple audio samples of Sathya there as well as many other Portland bands.
Bloodstained Skies: Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Dave: Thank you to all of our loyal fans who never dare miss our live assault, thank you to all the magazines and webzines who have supported us as well as the countless number of clubs who invite us to play time and time again. May the metal force be with you all.
For a Sathya bio and the Bloodstained Skies review of the band's debut release, go here.