Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Sound In The Signals Interview
I recently had the opportunity to interview Thus Spoke Zarathustra. We discussed musical inspiration, songwriting, guest features, collaborating with Ephyra, choosing the artwork for new album ‘Act Like You Don’t Know’, and more. Check it out below.
First, thanks for the interview.
Thank you for having me!
Your new album ‘Act Like You Don’t Know’ came out in May. Have you been pleased with the response it’s received so far?
It’s blown me away to see the response it’s gotten. The band was started for fun so its cool to see people get into the music.
Your sound is influenced by some classic deathcore bands and albums. Can you tell me how you came up with the idea for the band and what you drew from sonically?
I was listening to Tracheotomy and Tactosa from Florida and felt very inspired by those two new bands to give my own take on older deathcore. The name for the band is the name of a book by Nietzsche I just thought it fit the style of music. I really liked that these newer bands had a sound that was older and made me feel nostalgic in a good way so I felt I could take a stab at that.
What’s your favorite part of the songwriting process? Why?
I like laying out song structure probably the best because from that I feel you can branch off smaller elements to bring out unique parts to your music.
My personal favorite song from the new album is “Percules”. Can you tell me about writing that song? What made you want to have Razel Got Her Wings feature?
The song was started with lyrics first. I kept hearing the first line in my head and then I started writing the guitars & drums for it. There was originally a big pause right before Dakota’s part and when I was throwing samples on the album I was like “how can i make this pause more over the top?” And then I don’t know how but the screaming sample from entombment of a machine popped into me head and I was like THAT’S IT. Dakota is a monster of a vocalist and a good friend so I really wanted him to be on the album. Very stoked that he also wanted to be apart of it.
The album has a few features. How did you decide on those? Was there someone you wanted on it, but it just didn’t work out?
All of the vocalists featured are good friends who are all amazing vocalists who sing for amazing bands so I wanted them to be part of this record. There was one person I wanted to have on this record but ended up not being able to but hopefully in the future we can work together on another song.
The artwork for the album is really interesting. Where did you get that image from and what made you decide to use it?
Jack took a still from the movie Cutting Moments and I thought it looked crazy.
You released the album through Ephyra and about everything they’ve released this year has been great. How did you end up working with the label?
Ephyra is awesome. Chris and Vaughn are very good guys and good friends. They work hard and every band they have decided to work with is awesome.
What’s it been like to be part of that label when every release is selling out and getting a ton of hype? Do you have a favorite release from the label?
It’s cool to see all my fellow label mates get the recognition they deserve. My favorite release is a tie between Papercut 2 and That Which Feeds on Life by Centralya.
Ephyra released CDs and cassettes for the album, which both sold out. Will we see a potential second run of those? Is there any chance that you’ll ever press vinyl?
Possibly yes to both these questions.
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you so much for having me and thank you to everyone who supports this band as well as Ephyra and the other bands on Ephyra. The label as well as this band has some cool things coming up.
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