Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

DESERT was founded in 2002 by guitarist Max Shafranski in one of Israel’s industrial and cultural centers, the city of Beer-Sheva, and has expanded it’s musical palette since then, mixing in some darker colors to go with power metal glitter. I got to know DESERT through one of their fans, Kostya, whose band promotion aroused my attention and made me to contact the band. But it was a pleasant surprise to discover their talent and commitment in music… and I wanted to know more about these guys. So, please join my conversation with band’s keyboard player, Oleg Aryutkin…

Hi Oleg, I’m Tarja, welcome to Metal Shock Finland! How are you doing today?

Hi Tarja, Oleg here, the keyboard player for Desert. We’re doing great these days – done some cool gigs lately, and have fun plans for the summer! And then, it’s hot as hell down here in Israel, so we gotta consume a lot of beer and spend the days at the beach.

Sounds like fun lol…
To start, let’s talk about Desert’s early years… I know that you joined the band couple of years later, but what was the initial impulse to form the band in 2002?

Max, our lead guitarist, started the band in 2002, as a power metal thing.  Everybody wants to play in a rock band, you know 😉 Max had a vision, and what it takes to persue your dream no matter what. Alexei (the lead singer) and me joined in 2004, and the rest is history, as they say. A lot has changed since then, Max’s only original member left, and we don’t really do Dragonforce covers anymore 🙂

Also the band name has a story to tell, right?

I let you judge whether it’s a worthy story. Max always tells that when he needed a name, he looked through the window, and that’s what he saw – Desert. We were living in Southern Israel back then, in the middle of real desert, with camels and stuff. The name stuck, and I feel it really contributed to defining the band the way it is. Easiest decisions are often the best!

How would you describe your genre? and from where you take your influences?

Oh, it’s a tough one! Every Desert-member brings his own background and influences – for example, Alexei is a die-hard metalhead, Manowar and Grave Digger are his idols. I grew up listening to Deep Purple and Ozzy, and our drummer is a prog metal man. Here’s my take on about our style – ‘epic’ metal with deep male vocals, heavy, yet melodic with a lot of keyboards. We try to keep it simple without weird time signatures and overcomplicated structures. I like driving riffs and catchy choruses.

Please present us your band members…

Hmm, we kinda stopped making introductions live on stage, so I keep forgetting names..just kidding! Ok, here we go:
Alexei – lead singer, and would die for a Manowar ticket! Max – plays guitar, writes songs, and never ever curses. Zohar – he’s a drummer and is about to get married. I know, marriage is not so rock’n’roll!Also, Zohar’s the only one not speaking any Russian in the band 🙂 Sergei – has his guitar amp on 11, all the time. Another Sergei – the bass player and duty womanizer. Finally me, Oleg – I play keyboards and write songs..

How do you see the Israeli metal scenes today?

It’s growing. Not as big as Northern European ones, but there’re some great bands, like Orphaned Land. Of course, real stars of the scene are the fans- ask any band that’s played here, Israeli fans are crazy! Guys with a real passion for metal! Style-wise, core and black used to be very popular, now I see more traditional metal catching up.

A month ago you played on the main stage of Rockstad in Sweden together with Sabaton, Grave Digger, Helloween, Freedom Call and many more… What can you tell me about that experience?

Simply unbelievable. This was the first big event abroad for Desert, top production and everything, and we were honored to hit the main stage together with these titans. Joakim from Sabaton joined us for a performance on stage, so that was cool 🙂 Rockstad Falun is an awesome festival – these huge bands, great crowds from all over Europe, and excellent organization. If you’ve got a chance to visit next year – don’t miss it. I know we won’t! It’s not the first time we meet Sabaton or Grave Digger on a gig, but let’s talk about it later.

Your debut album, Star of Delusive Hopes, came out late last year, through Greek label Sleaszy Rider Records. How it has been welcomed among your fans and critics?

We saw many excellent reviews in many different languages, it was even better than what we hoped for. The thing I loved most about them – everybody seems to pick a different ‘best’ song. Israeli fans got a kick out of the CD, too, it sells great for such a small scene. Sleaszy Rider takes care for European distribution, so Finnish fans have a chance to check it out, too. We’re working on making the record available through iTunes and other such canals, too.

How was its songwriting process, and what about the song themes?

Max and me write the songs, and we do the whole arrangements, by the computer, including the vocal lines, drum parts, everything. Then when we play, it’s nothing like we wrote it. So everyone contributes their experience, creativity, and soul to the music. But we don’t jam together to write songs, like some other bands do. Maybe next album will be done differently… Regarding the lyrics, Alexei and I wrote a kind of a concept album. The key word is freedom. Most songs are tale stories fighting for freedom, and about the sacrifice it takes. There’s a lot of historic and military element, too – if you look at the lyrics, they speak of deeds by Giordano Bruno, Joan of Arc, defenders of Massada. Some stuff takes the more philosophic, personal approach on freedom, like the song Whispers.

From that album, you released an internet single “Lament for Soldier’s Glory”, with a guest performance of Joakim Broden from Sabaton. How you came up to this collaboration?

Lament.. is my favorite track on the album, the one I enjoy most playing live. Sabaton visited Israel just before we started recording, and we happened to open for them. We met the guys, made friends, showed them hospitality – took on a tour to Jerusalem. Great guys to hang out with! So when I decided that Lament.. needs to be a duet, there was little doubt who to invite. More than that, the subject of the song is close to Joakim, it’s about WWII, and his voice fits like a glove. When he agreed to record, we were, of course, thrilled – you know, normally Joakim never records with anyone else but Sabaton! Joakim came to the release party in Tel Aviv, and now he knows the Israeli way to party!

The album was recorded by producer Nick Savio, in Italy… the mix and mastering were done by Andy LaRocque in Sweden… How was it to work with them?

One word – incredible. Desert spent about four weeks in Nick’s studio, in Italy. Personally, I learned a lot from this collaboration – he’s a real professional, and the studio is top-notch. Italian food and wine are the most excellent, too! We didn’t work with Andy that much – simply because he mixes so well! He presented us the first take, saying “it’s a demo, what do you guys think”, and we were like “man, that’s it, that’s just what we need!” The guy’s a legend, having worked with so many major acts, like Hammerfall, Falconer, and many more!

What are you doing this summer? And what are your plans for the next future?

Like I said before, great plans for the summer! Have some good gigs coming, both in Israel and abroad – we’re flying to Cyprus next month to play a big festival, Aiya Napa, together with Stratovarius and Sabaton! Then, we’ve got the sun, the palm trees, beaches and beer scheduled. So yeah, gonna be a good summer, the 2011.

Now the word is yours, how would you like to close this interview?

Tarja, I really enjoyed the interview, so thank you. Desert hopes to come to Finland someday, until then – stay heavy, and listen to Star of Delusive Hopes!

Interview by Tarja Virmakari – Photos by Mark Tso
For more information, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/DesertOfficial

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