August 2003 - STEREOCHRIST
Hungary got a small, but fine scene of heavy bands, who are influenced by doom-infected sounds. Mood was the premier band of this active underground, but they broke up. Fortunately, some of the former members decided to start a new band, which released one good promo CD-R under the monicker Super Natural (now STEREOCHRIST). Their music is still influenced from Mood, but with a stronger blues-based sound, closer to 90's Trouble or Alice In Chains. But no matter what kind of memories it evokes, it's just good and emotional heavy music with a lot of a potential. So it was about time, to take a look into the world of STEREOCHRIST, and what will happen 'til the end of this year. Peter and Kolos were so kind to answer my questions, so it's up to you to read our virtual talk.
Why have you chosen to change the name Super Natural into STEREOCHRIST? What's the idea behind the new name?
Peter: Months after we took the name Supernatural, we began to realize just how many bands are out there with the same name. Then just a month ago Scott, our label chief warned us, that an Amerivan band named Supernatural has just released their album, and that us having the same name would cause troubles in releasing our LP in certain states. So we thought it might be better changing the name before the record comes out. The phrase Stereochrist is just one of those things, that popped out of my brain and we liked the sound of it. No religious implications whatsoever. We simply took an iconic figure, who had so much impact on our culture and imagined, if he lived in these loudly media-oriented days, he would need a giant ghetto-blaster to get his message through.
What do you think about the Christian religion? I ask for it, because of the new name STEREOCHRIST and the lyrics of "Christ Was an Angry Man".
Peter: I don't particularly prefer any organized religion, although I accept that it might work on certain levels. "Christ Was an Angry Man" is about how I imagine the man himself stripped of all the idealized beliefs and in what ways ideological obsession might be dangerous. The point is that there will always be people, who think they know things better and who think they are morally so superior to judge the acts and thinking of others.
Apart of the name change, are you still playing in the same line-up as you did on the promo?
Kolos: No, just the four of us. Fung András, who also played guitars on the promo, left the band a year ago, so now it's one guitar only. The album however has the twin guitars and our live sound is pretty much intense.
Some of you played formerly in Hungarian doom outfit Mood. What was the reason to break-up the band and are you still in contact with the old members?
Kolos: The main reason was the way the band was functioning. We wanted to play live as much as we could, while Gábor and Sanyi (currently in Wall Of Sleep) felt we should limit our gigs to the minimum. We thought, that a band should function in another way. Plus towards the end, we haven't been on the same track musically either. We don't really keep in touch with them, everyone is doing his job, that's all.
