Today I would like to introduce American alt-metal rock band Lifecycle. In this interview, I speak to bass player and backing vocalist Scott about the band’s creative art, teamwork and love of Japan.
Band Name: LifeCycle
Members: Asim Rizvi (singer), John Soden (drummer), Kevin Hightower (guitarist), Joe Viggiano (guitarist) and Scott Pustilnick (bass & backing vocals)
Genre: Alt-Metal, Nu-Metal
Founded: January 2019
Originated From: Jackson, NJ, USA
Discography: Singles – Lifecycleand Burnout
How would you describe your music?
I would say it’s like a combination of Yoko Ono and a cat crying. OK, I was trying to come up with the worst sound imaginable. Actually our sound is guitar driven, aggressive drums mixed with melodic vocals.
What is your musical creative process like?
Right off the top of my head, it is so enjoyable, fun and satisfying. We are a five strong team and we approach the songs all together. Kevin and Joe (guitars) have hundreds of recorded riffs. We all sit in a room and hang and party.
We jam the riffs and create a framework. We record everything; every step and every version of the song. We play it a million times along the way and keep recording it. We let the song dictate the parts at that point.
The band self produces it along the way and we really separate ourselves from the song. What does the song need or not need? The band is only concerned with that question.
How did the band form?
I was playing with a great band out of North Jersey/NY area and I decided to form my own band instead. I put an ad online and found a singer. That singer found not one, but two great guitarists (Kevin and Joe). The singer also found a killer drummer (John).
We then fired the singer. Yep – Thank God we did because our Drummer John found our current and amazing singer, Asim Rizvi. When Asim joined the band, we started to really move fast.
How did you come up with your band name?
Lifecycle was the name of the first song we wrote with Asim. Asim came up with the lyrics and we really loved the single. At the same time we had tons of band names but most were taken. You really need to try and get something that isn’t too popular so you can grab the URL etc.
Driving home one night, on a conference call with the band, we decided to use the song name as the band name also – think Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath.
Who influenced you within the music industry?
For me personally, Mark Dearnley (engineer for Ozzy, AC/DC and tons of others) really showed me the recording process – what it is REALLY supposed to be.
It was eye opening. I use his knowledge to this day and appreciate the time we spent together.
Have you performed live much and what was your favourite gig to play at?
I have played live literally thousands of times due to my former life as a musician.
Lifecycle as a band plays live shows twice a month right now as we are trying to balance the studio time and make that a priority. Our road-map is NEW content every eight weeks. That means a lot of studio time.
To us, being a bit new on the scene, we are trying to give our fans fresh material constantly. It’s working. Our favorite gig to date has been the TLA in Philly. A TON of history there…
What is the best thing about being in a band?
Creating art (or free beer) ok, creating art.
What’s the biggest problem you’ve had to overcome so far as a musician?
Getting people to take time out of their busy lives to listen or see us play live. Everyone’s time is very important so it is really a lot to ask. We feel like the music is worth it and we appreciate everyone who gives us their time.
What plans have you got coming up this year?
We also have a YouTube series called A Day in the LifeCycle. It’s all based on time off stage, behind the scenes, daily life and anything that happens to us while we aren’t playing live. It’s borderline ridiculous but we have so much fun making it, we aren’t stopping anytime soon. There are over a dozen episodes to binge and they are all under 10 minutes long.
Other than that new content, we are continuing to play out live and record like we talked about before. New content, constantly!
What is your ultimate dream as a band?
We all really just would like to tour the world, especially Japan. We LOVE Japan. It is a band dream that is going to come true soon.
Also, if you are reading this, LifeCycle would love to hear from you about music or anything. We love talking music, life, art, whatever – just learning about people is fun and we are all about it.
To get in touch with the band, visit the Lifecycle website, where you can find their music, tour dates, links to every social media account, Spotify, Apple Music, and 30 other digital stores.
DISCLAIMER: This interview was conducted prior to the COVID-19 crisis. Therefore while you’re all self-isolating, now is the best time to check out Lifecycle’s music and video content and show your support by following them and sharing their work on social media.
In addition, head to my Music page to read other interviews you may have missed with new coming rock bands and artists.
If you’re in a band or a musician and would like to appear on this blog, please contact me and I’ll forward you an interview template.
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