Author: Rok Klemše
Location: Rock Cafe, Postojna
Interview date: 04.02.2010
Panikk are a young thrash metal band who recently put out their first demo, with four tracks. They play a pretty distinctive blend of Bay Area thrash mixed with German and British thrash metal influences. Despite some serious technical problems during their set on the 5th night of the Epic RockLine Contest, they powered through to the end like pros and sat down with us for a chat after the show.
RockLine: To start off, tell us who and what Panikk is.
Gapa: Vocals and guitar.
Žiga: Lead guitar.
Jani: We’re Panikk, and I play bass.
Simon: I play drums.
RockLine: You recently put out a demo with four tracks on it, so tell us how the demo came about and how the songs on it were written.
Žiga: We recorded at Zalokar’s studio.
Gapa: Yeah, we recorded with Zalokar, and we’d agreed he’d record four tracks for us for the demo.
Simon: He ended up undercharging a bit in the end… The production is a little shaky too, and the room we recorded in was just barely big enough to cram a drum kit into.
Gapa: Still, despite the less-than-ideal conditions we got the demo done, and we’re pretty happy with how it came out.
Simon: We recorded it in four days, and we still had a bit of a fight over the mix…
RockLine: The songs on the demo present you as a kind of mix of “old school” thrash metal in the style of old Metallica, with occasional touches of German and even British thrash à la Xentrix and Onslaught.
Žiga: Yeah, everyone can talk about their own influences.
Gapa: Personally I’m more into early Metallica, Exodus, Forbidden too, and the songs kind of came together in that vein. But I didn’t limit myself with “this song has to sound old school”. I started working on the songs, and then Žiga, who listens to different music, added his ideas and brought a different energy to them.
Žiga: I joined the band when one song was already finished, and then the two of us wrote the other three. Gapa mostly listens to thrash, I’m mostly into technical death and thrash, and Jani listens to new age metal…
Jani: Are you talking about me again?
Žiga: Stop, let’s not start this again!
Jani: I joined the band because they needed a touch of Robbie Williams, meaning showmanship and energy. I think I added the cherry on top, or a solid plus.
Gapa: Jani really did add a ton of energy, yeah.
Jani: I add my parts to the songs last, and they’re basically guitar lines.
RockLine: So you’re more aimed at the female audience?
Jani: Of course!
Simon: Me, I listen to pretty much everything.
Žiga: Except power metal.
Simon: Except power metal. Otherwise, from jazz to any genre where I can find good stuff.
RockLine: So did the song Tribal come about mainly because of your influences? Mostly because of the tribal drumming at the end of the song?
Simon: Nah, actually we all wrote it together. Tribal already had that kind of lyrics and ethnic vibe, so we said why not throw in a drum ‘n’ bass part too, even though it isn’t really that.
Gapa: Simon has definitely raised the level of our music, though, since he’s got original ideas when it comes to drumming.
RockLine: Your first gig was at Rog, right?
Simon: Yeah, in front of 200 people. The organizer said it was the biggest crowd they’d ever had at a show at Rog up to that point.
Žiga: Because it was a Friday and there was a vodka party. And Neisha played after us… They just never showed up.
RockLine: Considering you play thrash, and that lately Slovenia (and elsewhere) has been flooded with bands in that genre, were you ever worried you’d come across as just another thrash band?
Gapa: No, I honestly didn’t stress about it. I’ve always wanted to have a thrash band, I found the right people, and the band has the right energy. Each of us adds to the songs, and I don’t think we can even be compared to the other bands, I think we’ve got something that makes us stand out.
Simon: Yeah, everyone brings something from the kind of music they listen to. If I listen to jazz, blues, and he listens to thrash, we’ll mix it all together and make whatever we want.
RockLine: I pretty much ask every band that entered this contest why they applied. What was yours?
Žiga: They didn’t even know, I signed us up, hehe.
Simon: I’m from Postojna, and I had no clue about it.
Gapa: We spotted it on MySpace.
Žiga: It’s a great chance to play a gig.
RockLine: And the typical closing question: what are the plans for the future?
Gapa: We’d like to record something else in the summer.
Žiga: Otherwise, to combine progressive, thrash, death, and jazz as well as possible, with a touch of Avril Lavigne.
RockLine: So basically a more “pussy” Atheist.
Žiga: Yeah, kind of (laughs). We’ll be like Atheist, except with female vocals, sung by our girlfriends.
Jani: Feeling and soul have to be in every band. It started with thrash and carried on with different influences. You’ve got to keep practicing and keep the desire, and then something good can happen.
RockLine: You ran into some technical problems on stage today. What exactly happened?
Gapa: I think my cable died on me. I’m still not totally sure what went wrong.
Žiga: The other day we ran over Gapa’s guitar with a car, he’d just paid for it, and now he’ll have to shell out for a new cable too (laughs).
Simon: We’d need more money for better gear, I don’t even have one whole cymbal (laughs).
RockLine: Ok, thanks for the interview.
Panikk: Thank you, and we’d just like to add: come see us at our gigs.
Photos: Martin Prezelj
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