
EMQ’s With Nihilist Death Cult
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Canadian Blackened Death/ Crust/ Grindcore band, Nihilist Death Cult. Huge thanks to their Bassist/ Vocalist, Nick Sagias, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
My name is Nick Sagias and I play bass and vocals in Nihilist Death Cult as well as Tribe of Pazuzu. The band was started in 2018 when I sent some songs I had to my brother, which I thought he would like. If he wasn’t interested there was no point in doing it really, ‘cuz I already had Tribe of Pazuzu going. So obviously he loved the songs enough to get back into playing again and at that point, I just wanted to have some fun with a different style and hopefully record a few songs, which turned into a bigger thing as we went along, eventually recording 9 songs with Scott Middleton for a debut album. We also added Rick Kowalski on guitar and it’s already taken everything up a notch. Our most recent show was the best one yet and seems like the word is getting out.
How did you come up with your band name?
I wanted something extreme that fit my vision of what a Punk band should be… also something that fit my views, as well as just giving it everything and having the unapologetic finality of the name for people to deal with. It had to be extreme, and the logo had to look like that because it is all part of it, intertwined… You see that logo, read that name and you know it’s gonna be something heavy.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
I’m from Canada and I was born and raised in Toronto. The metal scene here is pretty lacking when you compare it to bands coming out of other areas. We should have a ton more quality bands and promoters and venues in a city of this size. The fans are great though.
What is your latest release?
My latest release is Nihilist Death Cult’s “Death To All Tyrants”, a 9-song relentless death ride of pure anger and hate – Hardcore Death Punk in the style of Punk from 82-86, with a touch of Death Metal and blast beats. It’s produced by Scott Middleton, plus a couple guest solos by Randy Harris (Tribe of Pazuzu) and Ian Mumble (Overthrow).
Who have been your greatest influences?
Our greatest influences for what NDC is about will always be early Bad Brains, early Poison Idea, and early DRI… with a touch of Nails and Terrorizer.
What first got you into music?
Probably seeing a Kiss video on TV. I always remember the radio being on from when I was very young. My mom would always have it on the Greek station then I remember hearing AM radio in the car… but I was probably around 8 or 9 years old when my mom bought me a radio / tape recorder and I started taping music off the radio. When Kiss came along they were larger than life on stage, spitting blood and fire – who didn’t want to do that??? Ha ha!
Then it progressed into heavier stuff like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and then into Thrash in the early 80’s, Punk came just a bit after, 84/85…
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
There are a couple people I wanted on the first NDC recording, but it was a bit of an afterthought and wasn’t worked out properly – entirely my fault. Hopefully they can be on the next one. Other than that I got to work with some great old friends on the new Tribe of Pazuzu which I can’t say yet 🙂
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Wacken always looks like a good time. I was fortunate enough to go to the Dynamo festival back in 91, was a wild time… Obviously, it would be a European festival… pretty much any big European festival would be killer.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
A calendar of roadkill… 12 months of different roadkill… it was not appealing in the least!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
If you wanna do something, do it… don’t listen to negative people… and turn off the TV!
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Hmmm… I dunno… Would have been cool to see Randy Rhoads make more albums.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I love creating music… I love creating art… I love sharing the music I create… It’s always fun but it’s best when I am truly inspired, which I have been able to be more focused and tap into easier these days. I’m not saying it’s easy, I just found how to tap into a creative mode better these days…
What do I hate about it? pretty much everything else. The jealousy, the backstabbing, how hard it is to get people’s attention as a DIY band, no money, spending lots on equipment and upkeep, with strings and maintenance… but it’s a labour of love. You need to go through some of those things to get to where you wanna be.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
I wish artists, the people who created the actual music that labels sell, I wish the artist would get a bigger percentage of royalties. For example, the Spotify CEO is a multi-millionaire from that software, and he’s not alone… band camp has been great for artists, but they still take a 15% cut. It might not seem like much, but multiply that by how many bands sell daily on that site. Millions of dollars again monthly to the guy who created the software or who runs that company. What would they sell if it wasn’t for the artist? And of course, I realize there are a lot of people involved but don’t tell me it’s the same thing.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Bad Brains – “Rock For Light”, Pink Floyd – “Wish You Were Here” / “The Wall”.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CD’s or Downloads?
Of all the physical formats I think CD’s were the best quality and there was no degradation every time you played it, like cassettes and vinyl. Don’t get me wrong, I loved vinyl when I had it, but I’m glad CD’s replaced the “skip, crackle, pop” format. Nowadays I don’t even have a CD player so mp3 is what I have on my computer and on my iPod.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Best gig? Wow… been lots of great shows for sure. So I’ll go with the show we played last Saturday (Dec 10th) at The Hard Luck Bar here in Toronto, with Korrosive and Of Hatred Spawn. The turnout and reception were amazing.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Hmmm… I would like to work in a studio… does that count as the same thing? I don’t think it is.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Larry David, Dave Chappelle, Jim Breuer, George Carlin and Charlie Murphy.
What’s next for the band?
We have a bunch of shows coming up including Detroit with our friends in Centenary. We’re working on new songs… no rush really for new music, as we wanna focus on shows at the moment, but all of us are writing now.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
www.nihilistdeathcult.bandcamp.com is the main one where we sell all our march and music.
Facebook.com/NihilistDeathCult
Twitter.com/NIHILDEATHCULT
Instagram.com/nihilistdeathcult
Nihilistdeathcult.bandcamp.com/
Lyric Video – Death To All Tyrants – https://youtu.be/PJR04jl5roI
Music Video – You Get What You Deserve – https://youtu.be/43tPCS0dbP4
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake
Haha, I’ll go with the Barm for some reason, but I honestly have no clue what any of those words mean ha ha… but I do love sandwiches 🙂
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Turn off the TV!
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.