Cai BESCHORNER
Interview by Ellie Watson
What inspired you to start creating music? Were there any other bands who influenced you?
The band who inspires me most would have to be Primus; Les Claypool's bass tone was so original and strange that I instantly picked up the instrument to start creating music with it. I built up to more extreme music from listening to death metal bands such as Cannibal Corpse and Decapitated, using Alex Webster's three finger plucking technique to gain more speed to my playing. Learning this was the reason I got into Shrapnel in the first place.
Which genres of music do you enjoy? Are there any that you dislike?
Any military marching themes I heavily enjoy, as well as most baroque pieces performed on a harpsichord or an organ. This may seem strange but the majority of pre-modern era time periods of music (classical, renaissance) are heavily melodic, which is a big part of the core of metal and why I like it. 80's Pop is amazing from A-Ha to Duran Duran to Huey Lewis and the News, though their early work was a little too new wave for my taste, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. I also enjoy the old school electronic artists like Aphex Twin and Crystal Method. I dislike modern rap (80's rap is great) and similar genres like grime, mainly because of the lyrical content being something I really find unrelatable for a concept so focused on the poetic nature of the lyrics (I know we sing about death and destruction but it’s very satirical and not the focus of the song).
When is your album coming out? How long have you been working on it?
Unfortunately, I cannot give any dates - but it will most likely be released early 2017. I do have a fully unmixed version of the album on my computer, though! I personally haven't been working on it from the start, as I joined back in 2015, but I would say ever since the last album was recorded (which was back in 2012/13) we have been creating new tracks. I have been involved with the creation of some of the new tracks since I have joined.