Interview with Rich Nguyen of Breaking in a Sequence
By Mick Michaels
COSMICK VIEW: Hello, Rich! Welcome to The Cosmick View. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to chat with me, it is greatly appreciated.
Rich Nguyen: Well, first and foremost, thank you for having me and
helping us spread the word about the new EP!
CV: What do you feel sets the band apart from other bands, especially those of
similar sound and style? What's the specific allure your sound and
style have that has people taking notice?
RN:
I think the specific allure to us initially is having David in the band.
People know about us because of him, and the majority of people like what they
hear when/if they give it an honest chance. Currently, I don't think
there is a band out there that has our similar style and sound. We
naturally gravitated to a more NuMetal sound and it's taboo these days to be
playing NuMetal. I feel like I expand our sound even further, by putting
a melodic icing over the whole thing; which bands would generally do nothing
but scream over this type of music.
CV: For any band, dynamics is key to grabbing an audience's attention.
What do you feel is the main ingredient to having such a captivating dynamic
and being able to bring something more to the music?
RN:
I believe it is chemistry...you can't fake that. We luckily have that
chemistry when we play and all get along really well. There's just something
that magically clicks when we are together. I think that magic makes its
way into our songs and it shows.
CV: How would you describe the ultimate musical
experience for your fans? And how does the band go about
creating that musical vision, while generating the impact the band
wants to have on its audience?
RN:
I don't know about the ultimate musical experience.... We don't really have a
vision, nothing is planned. We just write what we think sounds good for
ourselves, and we release it so that other people can hear it. Overall, we
just want people to come out for a good time. Have some drinks, move a
little, sing along and smile.
CV: The music business has always been one that regardless of who you are,
where you came from or where you've been, you can either sink or swim.
Does this type of realism have any effect on how the band drives itself to
succeed?
RN:
Absolutely not.... We play music because we LOVE music. It is our
passion. We aren't playing to become the next big thing or famous or
anything like that. So the sink or swim mentality does not apply.
All of us, aside from David, have our established careers outside of the
band. We have the distinct opportunity to create and play music with an
icon; a chance which 99% of the populous of musicians out there will never
get. At the end of the day, musicians want to be heard, and we get
heard...worldwide. Good or bad, we are enjoying the ride for what it
is....
CV: In your opinion, is there any middle ground for a band or is it a do or die
climate in today's music industry?
RN:
We are indeed in that middle ground gray area; but it's a rare place to
be. This doesn't mean that we are successful, just in a different
situation than other bands. There are other bands hustling and are successful
in that middle ground, but it's hard to survive in the current music
landscape as a rock/metal band. It's much harder for smaller bands,
especially because the industry and fanfare has changed A LOT. You will
never see the success of the older days because labels aren't willing to invest
in artists to develop them anymore. Also, the genre fans have this alpha
mentality and will constantly berate new bands until their confidence is shot and
that drive to succeed is lost. Bands just aren't able to reach their
final form anymore. This is why you don't see many new huge bands
emerging and the last of the big acts are from the early 2000s. Rock/metal
simply aren't being marketed anymore. Actual instrument sales are down.
Kids aren't forming bands anymore; they're just playing for social media
likes. Stylistic playing traits have been killed by "click"
centric recording standards. Autotune has saturated into
everything. Everything is perfect now. Humans aren't meant to be
perfect. It's made every band virtually the same...this along with other
variables such as the devaluation of music in general is going to kill the rock
and metal genres if something doesn't change.
CV: How would you describe the band's internal energy? Does the band’s outward
appearance align with its true inward nature from your perspective?
RN:
I don't know what our outward appearance is like, but I feel we are
ourselves. There are no gimmicks to be had, just trying to be as real as
we can be.
CV: What's at the core of the band's songwriting approach? Are there
certain elements that are considered when a song begins to take form and
evolves?
RN:
Writing for us is all over the place. Mike or Joe could come in with a riff,
or David and Chris could be warming up with a drum and bass groove and it
builds from there. We generally like to build the song from scratch in
the room…not bringing in prewritten songs to present. They'll play the
riffs and parts until everyone is comfortable and they will record it and send
it to me to hear. From there, I will break down the song into pieces and
reassemble it the way that I want it for my vocals. I'll write and track
the vocals to the song and they relearn the structure and rewrite the parts
around my vocals. It sounds daunting, but it's natural for us.
We've been writing this way ever since I joined the band. It's basically
like our own internal checks and balances before we work with a producer to
tighten the screws even further.
CV: Do you allow things to just happen when writing; seeing where a song goes,
or is there a certain course of action and structure you keep a song on, thus,
essentially making it destined to achieve its overall potential?
RN:
Absolutely, we try every idea, just to see what happens. Sometimes it
works and sometimes not. Sometimes it just naturally changes as we play
the song more. It's all based on feel really.
CV: Do you feel how the fans and critics describe the band’s music accurately
reflects how you would describe the band’s music?
RN:
I honestly don't know. I don't read what the critics and fans have to
say. I'll sometimes get a glance at a comment or two, but I don't
purposely go and read them all. I feel like reading good and bad reviews
skew your mental outlook on things. Good reviews can definitely give you
a confidence boost, but also inflate your ego. Bad reviews will do the
opposite. I believe in balance, so I just won't look. However,
David does describe our sound as late 90s/early 2000's nu metal with updated
vocals and I agree with that.
CV: Walk us through a typical show for the band...what can fans who have
never seen you perform expect?
RN:
Fans can expect a real band performance, no backing tracks, no Autotune, just
us having fun, enjoying the moment; mistakes and all!
CV: What more can fans look forward to seeing coming from the band?
RN:
We will go through the single cycle with "Defy The Algorithm".
Then, if we are lucky, and the stars align, we will have another EP ready by
the end of summer! We have already started tracking the drums for it.
CV: Thank you again Rich for
spending some time talking and sharing with our readers. I wish you all the
best and continued success.
RN:
Thank YOU for your time and for having me!
Check out Breaking in a Sequence at:
Instagram ► https://instagram.com/biasbandoc ◄
Facebook ► http://facebook.com/biasbandoc ◄
Twitter ► http://twitter.com/biasbandoc ◄
Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/artist/7bWoqOf24X6SuyQE6qjrU4 ◄
Apple Music ► https://music.apple.com/us/artist/breaking-in-a-sequence/1450440556 ◄
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