Photo: Kevin Cannon @kcannondude*
INVICTRA – thrash metal from Leroy, NY
1. Tell me the story behind the name Invictra.
Josh (guitars and vocals)- I had originally combined the names of an Egyptian God and Demon to get "Ammitra" (Ammit, the patron of Death and Execution and Ra, the Sun God). An older member suggested "Invict'', which was a poem he read somewhere that essentially meant "unconquerable". Basically, we just threw the two together and made a word that closely resembles a watch brand.
2. How did you guys decide on this particular genre or style of heavy metal meets thrash? I also hear a little Trivium-esque metalcore influence in there.
Josh- Trivium is one of my very biggest influences, no surprise that's worn on my sleeve! When things got kicked off back in 2014, it was a lot different; mainly because of us being kids that had no idea how to write good songs. I think it's hard to put us under a specific label oftentimes, we have a lot of different influences that come through in the songs we compose. Our sound is mainly crafted with one thing in mind; we don't want to sound like everybody else. I think that keeps us diverse & allows us to fit into a lot of different lineups.
Alex (bass)- I think the sound we've grown into is just a collage of all the music that we like to listen to as individuals. We all have favorite bands and can pull pretty heavily from what those bands are trying to accomplish from their own angle. The fact that all of the members of Invictra like such differing material just plays to our advantage, I think. You may hear influences from bands like Trivium, Gojira, Death, Slayer, etc., and it all gets blended into our own thing.
3. How did you guys all meet in the first place?
Josh- I've known Alex the longest, we went to high school together. We only knew of each other briefly back then, we jammed once but nothing came of it until years later. I've known Dylan since high school as well, but mainly through mutual friends since we didn't go to the same school. All of us met Joe back when he played with Nuclear Winter. Those were always my favorite shows to play!
4. On a scale of 1-10, how much are you going to miss Dylan?
Josh- I can't put a numerical value on it, Dylan's importance can't be understated. He drew our logos, he was a big part in a lot of song creation & artistic direction. Being the second longest tenured member besides myself, it will certainly usher in a new era of the band. I will always cherish all of the things we learned together. With that said, there is a degree of excitement to be had having a new member to contribute to the group & grow with us as people!
Alex- A zillion. Dylan is one of my absolute best friends and the only drummer I've ever actually played in a band with. The special kind of energy he brings to this band as well as our shows is going to be missed a lot.
5. Thinking back to the very beginning, how well do you guys think you were received at your first few live performances?
Josh- Oh god, I cringe at the thought! [laughs] I think we've been pretty rock solid, and we've only gotten better over time. Once it was me, Dylan and Alex, the ante was stepped up considerably. Even early on, it felt a lot more special than it did prior. Adding Joe has only amplified that, he's probably the best performer of the group. I do have to say, we're much better at managing our tempos now. We learned how to play slower!
Alex- I had the luxury of joining well after those first few shows and after a lot of the kinks had been ironed out. That being said, we've still had our fair share of rather questionable live performances since I've been here, but they're always a good time regardless of how we're received.
6. Talk about any future recording plans you're at liberty to discuss.
Josh- There will 100% be new Invictra music released in 2024 (we're playing a couple of new songs live this summer too, so come down to Buffalo Metal Fest if you want to hear some new tunes!). It's pretty generic to say "this is our best music yet", but I think every artist strives for that to be the case. I'm so eager to get our new music out to anyone who listens, this record will be the essential Invictra release.
7. Tell us about the Invictra songs you're most proud of having written and why.
Josh- I'm proud of all in their own way, even the ones I think less of. There's always lessons to be learned & new ways to go about songwriting that you don't learn until you put your music out there and self critique it. As a collaborative effort, the trophy goes to "Chaos Theory". I think it's our best song, period. It was a blast putting that together with everybody in the same room. As for individual songs, I'll go with "Simmons Hollow". It's very fun to play live & I'm really proud of seeing that one all the way to the finish line. I think it's one of our stronger tracks.
Alex- The tracks that top my list are "Chaos Theory" and "Wretch of Deceit." I think while we were writing those songs I had really begun to hit my stride as a musician and there was a real positive energy amongst us all that just perpetuated the creative process and gave us some really strong material to work with. And what makes that experience even more rewarding is the fact that those two songs are almost always mentioned as favorites in any conversations I have with family, friends, and fans of the band.
8. Tell us about any shows you guys have coming up, other than BMF, you're allowed to announce.
Josh- There's a few in August, one of them being Rick Horton's Metal Meltdown at FnA's in Waterloo. I'm always so excited to play shows for Rick, he's a die hard supporter of the band and a truly great friend to me personally. There's another big one in August that may be announced before you read this, and then we have our end of the year "Shack Show". If you're interested in celebrating the Shack Show, shoot me or the band page a message!
9. Are you allowed to talk about potential new drummers, drummer tryout scheduling, etc.?
Josh- I can talk about whatever I want, Mike! [laughs] We're keeping auditions open to anyone who wants to try, just shoot us a message and we can work something out. I look forward to playing with more amazing musicians & continuing to evolve and move forward with our artistic direction.
10. What advice can you offer to musicians looking to join or start their first band?
Josh- Have fun with the music you play & enjoy the people you play it with. It's really that simple!
Alex- Just be true to yourself and create. If you put your heart and soul into something, people are going to recognize that and they're also going to want to be a part of what you're creating, whether that be through joining you or simply supporting you. From there it just acts as a positive feedback loop where the more genuine music you create the more others will latch on to what you're putting out there. You'll see that support and the cycle starts all over again.
11. Where do you prefer people buy your music!
Josh- If you're gonna buy our music, come get a CD from our merch stand or go to BandCamp. If you want to stream, it's anywhere else you can type our name!
Alex- Come hang at a show and buy our music there. Or don't buy anything at all and just come hang.
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