Published: January 24, 2009 10:13 AM EST
By: Isaac Davis Jr., MBA (Juniorscave.com)
New Music Spotlight February 2009 Edition
Eric St-Cyr of Epyllion
Rock / Grunge / Pop
We recently caught up with Epyllion's Vocals, Guitarist Eric St-Cyr who expounded on the year of the group for 2008 and what fans can expect from them in 2009. Here is what formulated. Enjoy!
Isaac: Hi Everyone. Welcome to your interview with Junior's Cave. Now that 2008 has officially ended, what are your reflections of the year 2008 for Epyllion?
Eric St-Cyr : We had a really productive year, starting as "The Eric St-Cyr Band", and by December turning into more of a group effort and changing the name to Epyllion. We had a lot of upward momentum going for us, and despite a lot of setbacks that we had personally; we were able to achieve a lot.
Isaac: How did everyone come together as a group? What drawn you to each other?
Eric St-Cyr : Three of us, Ryan Cahill, Hitsman and myself were in a nine piece super group called "The Conservatory for the Regression of Sound", and we were the rhythm section, so it made sense to keep on working together. My brother Jason came on board, he and I have been in bands for a long time, including twelve34 (Cyclone Records). When it came time to find a drummer, we auditioned several and went with Chris Zimmerman, who was the younger brother of an old classmate of mine.
Isaac: Elaborate a little about whom were your biggest influences in the music industry and why?
Eric St-Cyr : Being a teenager in the 90s, I always looked up to the bands that were making waves back then. There are the obvious ones like Nirvana, Green Day, Bush - but I also always revered bands that paved their own sound, and made something that now comes for granted, like Better Than Ezra, Collective Soul, Soul Asylum.
Isaac: Let's talk about what you feel Epyllion will bring to the music industry?
Eric St-Cyr : We aren't too focused on the industry side of things, we make music as an art form. It doesn't need to be "Art Rock" to be artistic, it's an expression of our inner emotions that makes it art. That being said, we've never really worried about the music industry, as it's never worried about us - so we probably bring from fresh life to an overcrowded industry where everybody has their hand out begging for change.
Isaac: If you had an opportunity to work with one artist or group, who would it be and why?
Eric St-Cyr : It would be great to work with a Canadian legend like Randy Bachman, or even a current Canadian artist who isn't afraid to test the waters, like the guys from The Trews.
Isaac: How would you describe your music to others?
Eric St-Cyr : At first our music is very safe - the stuff that you'll hear on our various online sites are the songs that we know will grab somebody's attention at first. But once you pick up the album, there's a ton of interesting, rule breaking music that I think might be our better body of work, the unheard stuff. We're working on a complex double album, where both discs end up telling a story all together, so the music gets rather complex - but in between those, there are some 3 and a half minute songs that we can post online and once again grab peoples attention.
Isaac: What type of feedback have you received from your previous releases?
Eric St-Cyr : We've received some positive feedback about our first release "Things Left Unsaid" from the mainstream media, because it was a fairly accessible album, there weren't too many risks. We wanted to define our basic sound, and then expand from that.
Isaac: What can fans expect from your latest CD you are working on currently? What is the inspiration behind the CD?
Eric St-Cyr : I think this double album that we're currently working on is going to fly over the heads of the majority of music listeners. Our fans will of course enjoy it, because they will see our logical next step, but people who are going to be exposed to us for the first time through this album are going to be confused. Then again, I don't think listening to a band's concept double-album is anywhere to start with ANY band for that matter.
