Interview with the Band Serpent Bite

February 10, 2025

Interview with the Band Serpent Bite

By Mick Michaels

COSMICK VIEW: Hello! Welcome to The Cosmick View. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to chat with me, it's greatly appreciated.

CV: Do you think modern Heavy Metal music has evolved past its origins? Or are things relatively still the same?

Serpent Bite: Modern Heavy Metal and music in general is constantly evolving. Although the roots of Heavy Metal are the same, the complexity and composition is completely different. Now more and more bands tend to explore different sounds but the roots of Heavy Metal, the sound of bands like Black Sabbath, are still very present in the scene.

CV: Does Metal still draw people to want to listen and engage the music while challenging the audience to imagine becoming a musician themselves?

Serpent Bite: Yeah we absolutely think so. The best thing about Metal is the connection between the artist and the listener. We all started playing and learning our instruments because we are influenced by other artists, so with the huge amount of new bands/artists this surely is still the case. The Metal community always feels like a family which indirectly inspires people to pick up an instrument themself.

CV: Many believe that success for a band relies on three major components; good distribution, good PR and good booking. In the new modern music industry, all of that is without a doubt achievable by the artist themselves. Do you fell more and more established acts will go the independent route and eliminate the middle man component?

Serpent Bite: You have to keep up with the Times, it’s a lot easier than 40 years ago, mainly because of the internet and social media platforms there are a lot of more possibilities for the musicians themselves to make a name for themselves.

You can already see a lot of bigger names in the industry going the independent route. Names like Metallica have already created their own independent label to release their music and guarantee them all the profits. These bands inspire other bands to also go that route, which takes a lot of courage but in the end makes it easier to a band to market themselves.

CV: Do you feel that the idea of a band eliminating those second and third party partnerships, labels, management, bookers, etc., and doing things on their own, is a direct result of artists and bands being misled and taken advantage of for so long?

Serpent Bite: Yes absolutely it is a direct result. There are a lot of stories of bands that were misled by promoters or bookers so that the band makes as little money as possible. These stories and further evidence terrifies new bands to even approach a music label in today’s music scene.

We would lie to you if we were to say that we wouldn’t want to get signed by a big label, but there is always a sense of doubt with those partnerships. It can absolutely help you in the long run but at what cost.

CV: Do you feel there is a need or want for artists of any style or genre to rise above the past and to do more musically… artistically? Or can a level of comfort be reached and maintained as a means of sustainability?

Serpent Bite: We as band want to evolve ourselves with every record. We have a tendency to look back at our music and want to change things because we have a perfectionist look at things. Our excitement of making new music which sounds different is a direct result of our passion to music.

On the music scene itself you can see that bands try to evolve after every few years to broaden their horizon so to speak. You want to offer something refreshing and new to your fans while also satisfying yourself.

There are also exception to this topic, bands like AC/DC and Mötorhead tried to stay as simple as possible with their music, so that it is always recognizable to people.

CV: Many critics believe music is irrelevant today… just background noise. As a musician who is out there writing, releasing, and performing, from your perspective, do you still see music relevance in the world today? Is there a connection?

Serpent Bite: If music is really irrelevant today, then we as a species have failed, every piece of music (in most cases) is carefully written, recorded and released. All of this can take months if not years to do.

Furthermore without music there wouldn’t be critics. The biggest problem in the music industry today is the attention given to critics and reviews.

Everyone has a different taste which is completely normal, so why reduce a piece of art to an opinion instead listen to a song and make your own opinion.

There will always be a connection between artist and listener, it is the biggest stress reliever and motivator in the world.

CV: Has music in general split into too many genres and sub-genre classifications in an effort just to please an indecisive audience in your opinion? Is it just more of a marketing play to funnel buyers to a specific brand?

Serpent Bite: Maybe it has. You can take the sub-genre Sludge as an example, it was created by bands who originally played Doom Metal and created their own twist on it because they wanted to incorporate their feelings and emotion into their music.

That is also why we call our band a Metal band. Although everyone of us has a completely different taste in music, we create music that we want to make and enjoy performing. Everything comes very natural to us in that sense, although every songs sounds completely different that the other.

We have on our debut album so many different themes and genres that it isn’t possible in our mind to label our style in sub-genres.

And yeah there are for sure bands who use this huge amount of sub-genres to their advantage and use this as a marketing tool to further their brand/audience.

CV: What more can fans expect to see coming from you in 2025?

Serpent Bite: We are releasing our follow up album to our debut this year. We hope to release it in the 4th quarter of the year and to accompany it with a few singles and music videos throughout the year.

Then we are trying to play as much gigs as possible, even try to go abroad to establish our name in different countries and hope to also write some new material for future stuff.

We hope to bring the magic of Serpent Bite to everyone who is willing to join us on our journey. We are Serpent Bite.

CV: Thanks again for taking the time to share with our readers. We wish you all the best and continued success.

Check out Serpent Bite at:

Bandcamp: www.serpentbite.bandcamp.com

The Cosmick View

Where the stars always shine bright
www.thecosmickview.com
www.facebook.com/TheCosmickView

The Cosmick Voice Podcast - award winning show
www.thecosmickvoice.com
www.anchor.fm/the-cosmick-voice

My name is Mick Michaels...I'm an artist, music fan, songwriter, producer, show host, dreamer and guitarist for the traditional Heavy Metal band Corners of Sanctuary. Writing has always been a creative outlet for me; what I couldn't say in speech, I was able to do with the written word. Writing has given me a voice and a way for me to create on a multitude of platforms including music and song, articles, independent screenplays, books and now, artist interviews. The Cosmick View is an opportunity to raise the bar and showcase artists in a positive and inspirational light. For me, it's another out-of-this-world adventure.