Interview With 'Meka Nism'
Firstly, introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the band and how you came to be?
Hello, my name is Bobby Keller from the band Meka Nism out of Orlando, Florida, in the USA! We are a female fronted metal band and came about in 2010. Our singer, Meka, was living in Japan at the time and came home to Florida with some material she had written. Her and some mutual friends at the time started what was the earliest form of Meka Nism called Meka Nism and Her Rusty Tears. Then in 2010, is when I joined the band and we shortened the name and started our journey to take over the world, haha.
What were you all up too prior to the band, was this always the chosen path or did you have other dreams and aspirations?
For Meka, I think this was the chosen path and one that she’s been on for years. This is all that she has wanted to do for as long as Ive known her. For myself, I was always around music and guitars so it felt pretty natural picking up a guitar and starting to play it. Growing up I was more into sports and played basketball all the way through college. However in 2008, guitar pretty much took over my life and was the best choice I have ever made. So, my goal and Meka’s goal as well as the rest of the band is to continue to work hard and achieve our goals and dreams. We want to make it and take our band to a whole other level.
Tell us about your latest EP and why our readers should check it out.
Our latest EP, called “The Shift: Anthems for a Revolution”, is something very special to us. It is a huge jump from our very first EP, “The Dance at the End of the World”, both sonically and song writing wise. The whole idea behind this EP was to write uplifting, positive songs that show people the light in the darkness. Waking up as a person and realizing you can control a lot of whats going on, is the message behind a lot of our songs. If there are people or fans that are looking for an incredible music journey to go on, then check out our EP, The Shift. I promise you will like it :)
Have you ever come face to face with someone within the music scene who has left you awestruck and why?
Yes, actually. Just recently, back in May of 2016, we were on tour with Avatar. We had heard of them and really liked their music being it was somewhat similar to ours presentation wise. Very theatrical and heavy, and pretty at the same time. Going on that tour was something that I will always hold close, because watching how they worked, how the performed, and how they never seemed to take a day off, even though they played like ton of shows back to back to back. Their professionalism, work ethic, and just overall stage performances really inspired us all. We learned a lot from that tour and will always be so thankful to Avatar!
If we were to head out to one of your live shows what can ourselves and others expect?
We are a live band, plain and simple. It was always a challenge for us to capture that live feel while recording. So if you were to come to a show, Id say be prepared for a lot of energy, heavy guitars, in your face vocals, and the a life changing atmosphere. We like to create not just a show but a performance and an experience.
If you had one artist/band that you could go on tour with tomorrow who would it be and why?
Honestly, we would love to go out with any band especially Avatar again, but I think if we were offered a tour with Trivium, we would be all over it in a heart beat. The reason being, is that they are true professionals and Orlando natives as well. We are all pretty good friends and think it would be a great time to really represent Orlando as a city and show the world that there is an abundance of great bands here and a music culture that rivals any great music town in history.
You can spend an hour with a musical icon living or dead, who would you pick, why and what would you speak about?
If I had the opportunity to spend an hour with any musical icon, it would have to be Dimebag. He and Pantera were huge influences on myself and my guitar playing. Not only was he one of the greatest of all time, but the way he treated people and how kind he was is what stood out to me. I try to model a lot of my life around how he was. The stories of generosity and treating complete strangers like they were family are endless. If anything happened to me, I would want to be remembered that way. If I was with him, I'd probably talk about guitar obviously, but maybe try and take it somewhere else. Like talking about life experiences or his favorite KISS albums.
And finally and most importantly is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?
Haha, I think so. I mean it takes place on christmas eve and it’s one man trying to save humanity. Why not? haha.
We just want to say thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.
Website - http://www.meka-nism.com/
