Intrusive – Interview – Thanks for Asking!

Intrusive – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

We connected with Adam and Brian from the band Intrusive. This is what they had to say.

RRX: Every artist’s first song is a milestone. But so is the latest song. Describe the first song/album you recorded, and also the latest song/album you recorded; what are the differences?

Adam: The first song we recorded for our debut EP Kill Them!, was the song “Hunt to Kill”. Joel and I wrote the music for this song back in 2020 in about 10 minutes. We didn’t have a guitarist at the time but we knew what we wanted to write. The music for “Hunt to Kill” was inspired by the Celtic Frost song “Ground”. The slow chugging riffs and grooves Celtic Frost used in their song was and still is one of our influences on our overall sound.

Compared to our latest record, Mortuary of the Devil, Kill Them! was written primarily by myself and Joel. Like I mentioned, we didn’t have a guitarist in the beginning so I wrote most of the music on guitar even though I’m a bassist. With Mortuary of the Devil, the entire record has contributions from every member. Our sound has come together and rounded out as we work as a complete writing team. The last song off Mortuary of the Devil is “Terror in the Flesh”. It’s starts off fast and trashy, leading into a groove slam riff eventually giving way to a slow harmony ending fitting of Morbid Angel evilness. Without every band members likes and ideas, this song wouldn’t exist.

Brian: Ironically, the first song I ever wrote was the last song I recorded. “Blood of the Innocent (Dillon)” off our new album Mortuary of the Devil, was the first song I ever wrote. I was dealing with a pretty traumatic event in my life, and I just started writing. Fifteen years later, I heard the music at practice, and I said , “That’s the song. This is where I will use these lyrics.” It was kind of bitter sweet because I was finally going to use this song, but at the same time, it brought back some bad memories. At the end of the day, I’m extremely happy it’s out there in the world, and now I use that song as a tribute and not a reminder. When it’s time for that song, I stand up straight and scream it from the top of my lungs.

RRX: Like songs, every artist has a unique feeling about their first show. What was your first show like? Was it your best show? If not, what was your best show like?

Adam: Our first show was outside overlooking a pond. It was the first show in the capital district after the pandemic lifted. We were the opening band of about 10-12 bands celebrating a friend’s birthday. No one had heard us before that. Luckily, we got a good response. That wasn’t our best show. We played the songs too fast in our excitement. Our best show, would have to be back in December opening for Suffocation. That was our release show for our 2nd release titled, Mortuary of the Devil. That night we sounded better than we ever have, really tight. Nothing went wrong. The crowd response was louder and crazier than I expected. There’s not too many pits where you see one guy air guitaring as another is flailing a rubber chicken about.

Brian: My first time ever on stage performance was doing a guest spot for Assault on the Living. That was also the first time I ever recorded or sang live. It was a White Chapel show, and there was 800+ in the crowd. Needless to say, I was extremely nervous. When I stepped out on stage to do my guest spot, I felt the music vibrating through the stage.  It was amazing. I was bitten by the bug, and I never looked back. The best show I ever played was probably the release show for our latestest album, Mortuary of the Devil. It was at Albany Empire Live with Suffocation. Huge crowd. This was our second album, so we already had our legs under us and had built a solid base. The place was packed, and the response was unreal. So much energy, and the crowd was going super hard during our set, We fed off that energy and the pit. That night was one of our best performances ever, in my opinion.

RRX: Music genres are difficult for some artists. Some strictly adhere; others not so much. What is your perspective on the genre you play, or the genres you hover around?

Adam: We play death metal. We try to keep an older 90s style incorporated into our writing along with other influences. Whether it’s Troycore, doom, stoner, slam, or brutal, we always are open to mix in a full range of styles of music that we enjoy listening to into our writing. For us, writing death metal doesn’t mean we have to adhere to a certain formula to fit in our genre. As long as the riffs are heavy, we’ll use it regardless the style of music. Same goes for the lyrics Brian writes or an idea for lyrics I’ll pass onto Brian. Some of our lyrical content has nothing to do with the typical lyrical context of death, doom, and gloom you’ll find throughout the death metal genre. Some of our content is very atypical and personal lyrically.

RRX: We all get a little support from those around us. And we also can be impressed by our fellow performers. Who do you admire in your community, and why?

Adam: There’s so many to pick from. Off the top of my head bands like Malefic, Invoke thy Wrath, Concrete, Tyranize, and Gartlock, they’ll play riff and I’ll think, “That’s sick, I wish I wrote that!” And in hearing what they’re doing is an influence to try something similar or push what we’re currently writing to be as heavy as what those bands are putting out. The new Malefic record, The Second Coming, is so amazing to listen to. It’s albums like that, that make me revisit what we’re currently writing for Intrusive and think, okay can this song be better and if so how? If not, that song idea is pushed to the side and we work on the next idea. If we used every idea we’ve ever had, we’d have enough for a double album like Sandinista! by The Clash.

Brian: I’d have to say as far as fellow performers and getting help and support would have to be one of my boys for a long time, Dustin Rose, one of the vocalist of Assault on the Living. He is the one who convinced me to say, screw it and try something I really wanted to do but was a little nervous about doing. Started trying way back in the Traumaside days but didn’t convince me until the second Assault album. Once he got me in there though it lit a fire under me. We have always supported each others projects. My kids too, big supporters of mine. A cool thing to me is that my kids show up to almost every Intrusive show now that they are a little older.  My girlfriend and our merch girl Elaine, who kicks ass. Not to mention all the amazing musicians in our scene. We all support each other, that’s why this scene is so amazing.  So much talent and good music in the Albany scene amd I admire every one of them .

RRX: “The best laid plans of mice and men…” I don’t really know the quote, but I know this one; sh*t happens. When we least expect it, calamity befalls us. Sometimes just comic inconvenience. Please tell us a story about some comic inconvenience that happened to you whilst performing?

Brian: On our new album, we have started using some samples. This is a new thing for us. We bought a sample board and started using it in live performances. One night, I got everything set up and plugged all the cables in and powered it up just like always. We’ll I forgot to have the sound guy check the levels before we started. Two songs in, I hit the pad, and nothing plays.  It’s crickets throughout the venue. So, we proceeded to do the set with none of the samples. Not the end of the world , but when we finish, I look, and my dumb ass plugs the cable into the wrong jack. Had I just stopped and asked the sound guy to check, I would have realized it right away, and we would have had samples.

RRX: With services like Spotify, streaming revenue can be pretty dismal. Without spilling secrets, do you have a promotional mindset or philosophy?

Brian: I feel like we have a strong social media presence. With Facebook and Instagram, you can reach more people than you think. I post on some pages that have huge followings on social media. Posting on some of these pages gets you out to dozens of countries, not just your local communities. We have had comments left on several platforms that we had to take and go to Google translate just to see what the comment said. Not to mention, the Albany scene is so tight that bands promote each other as well. If something I post doesn’t reach someone, theirs probably will, and we do the same for them.

Adam: Social media is a full time job. If you’re not posting content almost daily, you’ll be forgotten about. I’m constantly promoting our shows multiple times weekly, whether it’s the show flyer or a YouTube link of one of the bands we’re playing with show night. When we haven’t a show to promote, I’m posting links to our studio recorded music, links to our live performance videos, where to buy our merch, photos local photographers captured during our shows, and reposting content other local bands have posted on their pages. It’s a numbers game, the more you post the more people you reach. The show flyer I post on a Sunday might not be seen by the same people as it’s seen if I post it on a Tuesday. So trying to generate engagements takes work but it pays off in ticket sales and streams.

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