Biomechanical Interview

There’s been a lot of turmoil in the Biomechanical camp, but frontman John K. has kept the band going after the departure and replacement of all the previous members. The band’s latest CD is Cannibalised, which was mixed by Chris Tsangarides (Judas Priest, Bruce Dickinson). John K gives the lowdown on what led to the split with the previous band members and the future of Biomechanical.

Chad Bowar: You have an entirely new lineup. What happened with the other guys, and how did you put together the new band?
John K: We basically had a massive argument over a few gigs with a UK metal band. I was really burned out as I was working 14 months on the album and from January 1st 2007 until the album was done I didn’t have a single day off. Things became even harder near the end because I worked 17 hour days for about three weeks. So things were pretty heavy for me. Chris Tsangarides had to interrupt the mixing because we went over the time we had planned for the mixing.

So I went back home for a week but I still kept working on the album and the work was as intense as before. In that week we had four gigs to do with the UK band I mentioned earlier. As time came nearer I realized that I simply couldn’t do the gigs. It would be too much for me and I was certain I was gonna get ill as I would have to work 20 hour days to finish on time.

I had no choice that to pull the gigs. I was very apologetic about it. I felt awful but there was no question about it. The album had to be prioritized over four gigs. The reaction was pretty bad, at first indirect but then it was suggested that the band should go and play without a singer. Something I knew wasn’t professional unless you have the right amount of instrumental tracks. As soon as I told them how I felt things got really heavy. They decided to vote out and play without a singer. I broke after that. I basically had to let them know that they either respect the fact that I put something like 95% of work for this band and allow me to make an executive decision once in a while (especially when it comes down to my health). If they couldn’t respect that then good luck to them. They made up their minds about 3 weeks after that and left Biomechanical. I still respect what they offered to the band so I wanna wish them all the best.

Read the complete Biomechanical Interview
Cannibalised Review

(photo courtesy Earache Records)