Interview With Kozen
Today we have an interview with Kozen, a sick band hailing from the greater Toronto area, check them out and give them some love, these guys are killing it and if they are any indication as to what the Canadian music scene is like I need to check out some more Canadian bands - And so do you! Read the interview below.
Tell the readers a bit about yourselves.
"We’re KOZEN - a band from all around the greater Toronto area, and we like to mix things up." What do you all do in the band?
Max Aka - Vocals, Guitar Sidone Harrison - Vocals, Keys Jericho Leal - Guitar Jonathan Aristide - Bass Jared Leal - Drums What kind of music do you guys play?
MAX: "We consider ourselves Melodic Progressive Metal, but mostly because we’re a metal band that combines many different styles. We’ve got a lot of influences from Nu-Metal and Post-Grunge stuff from the early 2000s, and also a lot of influences from Jazz, R&B, and Gospel music." Any new music on the way?
MAX: "We’re currently working on new material and we’ve been performing one of our new songs (Waveway) live for a little while now. Beyond that, we’ve been writing a lot, but I can’t say much more than that." What musicians inspired you to start making music?
MAX: "Mike Shinoda inspired me to start writing songs. He’s super multi talented and it meant a lot to me to see someone else who was half Japanese making something unique." SID: "Larnell Lewis, Jamal Hartwell" JON: "Daft Punk, Fred Hammond, and James Brown were the first for me." JERICHO: "From the top of my head, I would have to say As I Lay Dying, Symphony X, Andy McKee, Akira Yamaoka, and KoRn/Brian Head Welch." JARED: "Armin van Buuren, Hooverphonic, Sade" Is there any music you listened to as a kid you still listen to now?
MAX: "I always like revisiting music from Disney movies. That stuff is great." SID: "Everything, really." JON: "I still listen to the same music, but just a lot more styles now." JERICHO: "Guns N Roses, Triumph, Bee Gees, Hall and Oates, Nobuo Uematsu, Backstreet Boys, Godsmack, Michael Jackson, Sonicflood, Evanescence." JARED: "I think so, yeah - Led Zeppelin, Bee Gees, Hall and Oates, Billy Idol, Nobuo Uematsu, The Killers, Muse, Epica, Blink-182, Godsmack, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, Positively Dark, Sonicflood" Top 5 albums?
MAX: “Crashings” - Falling Up JARED: “Promise” - Sade SID: “Live From Another Level” - Israel & New Breed JON: "I don't really know albums like that, but “Seat At The Table" by Solange is the first one I have really listened to completely." JERICHO: “Imagine” - Armin va Buuren What is the favourite show you guys have ever played?
SID: "Moustache Club in Oshawa with Static Prevails & No King For Countrymen" JON: "Garlic potatoes." MAX: "Hahaha, by which Jon means our first show ever, in Ottawa. After the gig the girl who booked us insisted that we needed to get Shawarma while we were there, and random strangers at the restaurant were insistent that we needed to get garlic potatoes with our shawarma." JARED: "Mississauga at The Factory with Polarity." JERICHO: "Rehearsal Factory with Polarity." Worst show you’ve ever played?
JERICHO: "Never really had a “bad” show yet, so… Can’t really say." JON: "The one downtown cause it was cooooollldddd!" SID: "That was the Smiling Buddha." MAX: "Oh yeah that show I think we just played to the other bands haha. Shout out to Her Majesty The King, By The Blood, and Lights In The Valley." JARED: "Wasted Space, cuz I didn’t play." Favourite gig you’ve been to?
JARED: "As I Lay Dying in 2010" JERICHO: "Cool Tour 2010, Toronto, Sound Academy - As I Lay Dying, Underoath, Between The Buried And Me, The Acacia Strain, blessthefall, Architects, Cancer Bats, War Of Ages." MAX: "The Undying Tour - Becoming The Archetype, August Burns Red, Spoken, Zao, and Demon Hunter." What is the favourite song you guys have made?
JON: "Calluses I think!" SID: "Calluses." MAX: "Everyone loves Calluses except me, and I wrote that one lol. My personal favourite is Shadow Ocean Stagnant." JARED: "My favourite song we’ve written isn’t out yet." JERICHO: "Still to be released, actually." Any gigs coming up?
MAX: "March 10 we’re playing Toronto with Hoshi Furu, The Parallax, and Odd Ones. We’ve got some other shows coming up too that aren’t quite set in stone/officially announced yet." If you had to describe your music to someone who had never heard you before, how would you describe it?
MAX: "Singer-songwriter Jazz Metal." JARED: "Rock" JERICHO: "Some kinda experimental rock, but I’d say just listen and see." Is there somewhere the readers can listen to you guys?
https://kozen.bandcamp.com https://kozen.org/music What do you think of the Canadian Music Scene?
JARED: "That’s us right? It’s alright, it’s good that there are musicians in Canada. Nothing compared to the UK." JON: "The business side is there, but there’s not enough local shows and outdoor events." JERICHO: "You mean like, Shania Twain? Hell yeah!" MAX: "There are SO MANY incredible bands and artists out right now who need so much more spotlight. People should definitely check out Romancer, Crown Lands, By The Blood, Static Prevails, Her Majesty The King, Loony, Leila Dey, and Kavale." SID: "I don't know, I'm a worship leader." Thanks for chatting to us today, anything else you want to say to the readers?
JARED: "Yes." MAX: "Get shawarma in Ottawa." JON: "Jesus loves you!" JERICHO: "Stay tuned." SID: "Two things: I’m single, and God loves you!"
