Interview with JACKDEVIL

The band: Jackdevil

Country: Brazil

The Man: Ric Mukura (lead guitars)
https://www.facebook.com/jackdevilband
http://jackdevil.bandcamp.com/releases
http://www.jackdevil.com/

Interview by Vpower

Today I talk with a band from Brazil, they may not be very famous in Europe for now, but in Brazil they are striking quite hard it seems. They have just released their second album, Evil Strikes Again, and they are eager to go on tour and swallow the world. So, do not make them wait...

Hello guys, you have just released your second album, how do you feel about it?

We feel great! A lot of work was put into making this album and we're stoked to finally share it with the world! The whole process of making a new record takes a pretty long time (in between composing new songs, rehearsing, recording, mixing...), and finally seeing the finished product out - and the repercussion that comes with it - is immensely gratifying.

Yes, congratulations for all that effort and the final prize. What would you say to those who have listened to your debut album?

If you liked our debut album (Unholy Sacrifice), you definitely need to listen to Evil Strikes Again! It's harder, faster, has more melody and more aggressiveness... It's still Jackdevil, but improved in every way. I say it without a doubt, it's our best release yet!

I would say you practice an Old School Thrash, but you still have some elements in your music from other subgenres, as Heavy Metal or Sludge Metal even, what do you think?

Yes, we definitely bring elements from various genres of metal (such as Speed Metal or NWOBHM) but with a strong old school Thrash metal foundation. That said, our stylistic approach isn't to forcefully mix those different elements  nor is it to sound like any of our specific influences; we don't compose a song thinking "this will be a thrash metal song with touches of Iron Maiden"; we just make the music that we love, using the elements that we think sound right, shooting for the best song we can make.

Sure, and it sounds natural and agressive as hell. You are still very young, as a band but also as persons, it seems from the pics... Tell us a little the story of Jackdevil

Our current, stable line-up was established in 2011; the founding members are André Nadler (guitars / vocals) and Renato Speedwolf (bass guitar), who formed the band in 2010. I (Ric Mukura - lead guitars) joined somewhere around april of 2011 and Filipe Stress (drums) joined a bit later that same year. Even though we're a pretty young band, we've dedicated a LOT of time and work into the band; so much so that only a few months after Filipe joined we already started to work on our first official release - our demo Under the Satan Command, released early 2012. At the time we also released our first music video, for the track Under the Metal Command - which now has over 250 thousand views on youtube! At that time, we were voted (through public vote) the "national revelation metal band" by the website Whiplash.net, something we're very grateful for. Since then we've been working tirelessly and have released a new album every year; our EP Faster Than Evil in 2013, our debut full length album Unholy Sacrifice in 2014, and now our second full length: Evil Strikes Again - 2015. We've been playing all over Brazil and, later this year, are going on our first international tour, throughout latin America!

Yeah, it seems you don’t lose time, guys. And well, what to said about the 250.000 views in Youtube, just amazing. What are your main influences?

I'd have to say, mainly, the early Bay Area Thrash Metal scene and the NWOBHM movement. Some specific bands would include early Slayer, Metallica, Exodus, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Exciter, Tank... the list could go on and on!

How does the team work in the composition of an album?

Everyone gives input in every song. Sometimes one of us might come with a nearly complete song, and the others will just suggest some finishing touches and details; other times we all get together and try to make a song from scrap; maybe one of us shows a riff to the others, and months later someone will come up with a killer tune with that riff... There's no specific formula.

No, there is not, but it seems it is a fluent process, for you are delivering great staff with non stop. How ambitous are you? Dream a little…

Personally, I would love to be able to travel all around the world, playing in different countries, meeting different cultures. That, and being able to make a living out of the band - so that I'm not forced into splitting my time with outside work and the band!

Well, looking at how the things have gone until now, I grant you the first, and about the second... it’s a little more complicated, but with hard work and inspiration everything is possible. Internet has demolished all geographic bounderies, so now we can listen to your music in Spain in the release date at the same time as a Brazilian guy. But the question is different when it comes to see you in a live show. Are you touring out of Brazil?

Yes! As I said earlier, we will be heading out on our first international tour this year, playing through latin america! The final dates are still to be announced, and we will be playing with some pretty renowned names such as Onslaught. Anyone interested should stay tuned to our facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/jackdevilband; we will be releasing dates and further information as soon as we can! We also have some future plans to reach some other parts of the world, but it's currently a bit too early to give any more details.

Onslaught! Something not to miss, people. Thrash Metal is living a second youth, with so many bands, old and new, delivering their goods. How do you see the Metal scene right now?

It's in a pretty interesting spot; as you said, there are many bands, both old timers and newcomers, releasing new material every year, and with the internet being as widespread as it is, it's pretty easy to get your hands on said material from all over the world.

Unfortunately, the internet can also work as a double-edged sword; many people get lazy with the empowerment that the internet provides, and end up not really supporting struggling bands. Even worse, some people use the anonymity and "free-speech" of the internet as a way to try and actively hinder the work of some bands.

A damned thing, well, it’s impossible to control everything and some guys just really... Let’s change a little the subject. So, imagine you have been abducted by an alien, a very bad one, a cruel race from a distant planet that has come with very bad intentions to the Earth. First, you want to fight him, what song you would choose? Second, you prefer to keep peace & love, what song you would choose?

That's a very interesting question! To fight them, something that gives me the drive to go foward and face any problem; I think I'll go with I Am The Demon, by Speedwolf; a song to turn me into a demon, strong enough to fight them off! As for keeping peace and love... I am torn between Hendrix's version of All Along the Watchtower - I think this song has a pretty powerful, soothing, peaceful yet powerful vibe to it; or maybe I'd just show the aliens NIB by Black Sabbath; I don't think any species, cruel as they might be, would have the courage to destroy something as awesome as Black Sabbath!

Hahahaha, cool and exact answer, Ric. If you could change something in the world just by picking up the phone, what it would be?

I could give the cliche answer of creating world peace, getting rid of prejudice, this kind of stuff... but to keep things a bit more interesting, I'll answer: I think making artists not have pay for food, transportation, housing, this kind of stuff - would be awesome. That way, they could truly focus on doing their craft and not get intimidated by the prospect of not being able to afford food.

A very mature and conscious answer, yeah. Well, let’s get back to the Metal question. I like your cover art, it transmits energy, as your music. I would say it even has some air to Iron Maiden art. How did you get it?

The art was drawn by Ronilson Freire, a friend of us from our hometown, who draws comics such as the Green Hornet. We really like comic-book artwork and his style in particular, and thought it would make a perfect fit. He was also responsible for the drawings from our previous album (Unholy Sacrifice). But anyways, we came up with the idea for the cover art and all the other art too (there's a bunch more artwork in the CD booklet), and got in touch with him to actually put it into practice!

Maybe is time fo me to extend the interviews to the comic field too...A great artwork, no doubt. You have released two albums in two years. Do you still have more material in the fridge or now you will take a break in the composition?

We do have some ideas cooking up for a new future album, and we believe that a band shouldn't ever truly take a break from composing; that said, we will give more emphasis into playing and touring for the upcoming months. We don't ever slack on creating and releasing new material, but we want to give a little bit more time for the whole process to mature for our next album.

What are your plans for the future?

For the near future, we're both releasing a new music video for one of the tracks from Evil Strikes Again, and we're also getting ready for our upcoming latin american tour (stay tuned to our facebook page!); other than that, we're planning other possible future tours. The work never stops for us, we're always planning and trying to put into practice new ideas for the band!

We will keep an eye on you Facebook to stay updated. Thanks a lot Ric, if you wish to add something…

Thank you for having us for the interview and for the review on our album - we really appreciate that! A huge THANK YOU to every one of our fans and anyone who watches the growth of our band, from anywhere in the world! We really appreciate that, and we hope you all like Evil Strikes Again as much as we do! Cheers!

Thanks, Ric. Great band, this Jackdevil, and people with the feet on the ground too. Congratulations and a big success in the forthcoming tour!