Interview with 'Jack Khamo' from Prominence - Lebanon
I had the pleasure having an interview with Prominence from Lebanon, the band started this year (2017) and plays death metal
1- Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
- As musical influences and writing processes for Prominence I’ve been highly influenced by the German masters Obscura and Alkaloid, Thy Art Is Murder, French masters Gojira. And even more I’ve been influenced by local bands such as InnerGuilt, Qantara, Voice of the Soul and UAE based band SVENGALI.
As for non-musical influenced it’s basically from my past experiences in life and music.... good and bad ones.
2- Have you recorded any previous CDs or posted any audio files on the Internet?
- Nope Prominence haven't released any music or CDs YET. "Slaughter of Dreams" will be released soon featuring the legendary drummer Derek Roddy.
3- What is like having Derek Roddy on drums in Prominence?
- Having Derek Roddy with me is something really big, at it is till now my highlight of my musical career, a very nice person, and a LEGENDARY drummer. Who would say no for an Ex-Nile, Hate Eternal drummer? A very big thank you to him and for his contribution with me and Prominence.
4- What live performance experience have you had?
- With Prominence nothing yet, as for personal live performances I’ve had plenty, from playing with Within Destruction to FreeFall etc...
5- What are your immediate music career goals?
- Releasing a single with prominence and an album afterwards.
6- How do you describe your music to people?
- We are the description to our music. We have our own style, our own ways of playing and writing music. We never intended to sound like any band. Whatever comes from us... we just turn it into music. That’s why we can't describe our music by words... it’s just us, a different thing.
7- What image do you think your music conveys?
- Our image is usually Power, it’s like having power and control. We are normal people on stage, and off-stage, we don't call ourselves as "satanic" or "Christian" metal band or whatever despite from the members own beliefs, we are just a metal band who wants to make music.
8- Anything you would like share, from new merch to upcoming shows/tours or songs/albums?
- Still no tours or concerts confirmed, but we already have "Slaughter of Dreams" will be released soon, and album in writing process which still needs a bit of time.
9- Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
- Song writing is usually by me and Albert, whenever someone have something new we send it over to each other. Inspiration usually comes alone, i don't usually urge myself to get inspired, i just get. Listening to music, watching bands live, all those inspire me and give me a new song feeling. So for me it’s basically influence + what comes out of me = a new song.
10- Why did you pick your band name? How did you form? Why did you decide to play the genre or genres you do? What are your fondest musical memories? What made you choose the instruments you have?
- Prominence means Dignity, and diginity for me is the most important things in life. So when I started the band on my own and before we became an actual band, I wanted to name the band something that have an actual meaning and means something to me. And as you can see I ended up with prominence. About the genre, as I said before we didn't intend to play any specific genre, whatever comes out... just comes out.
My fondest music memories was working with In the Flesh band... Derek Roddy, Ben Claus, Destructhor etc.
About picking my instruments well haha I’ve always wanted to be a drummer well you can say since birth, but didn't had the chance to learn it until I became 12, I later showed great interest in electric guitar, and I learned it on my own and that’s why I know theories and notes on drums but nothing on guitar.
12- If you were a super hero what powers would you have?
- Well, I don't know haha, never thought if it actually, but I’d actually use them for the sake of my country, for the sake of Lebanon in making it a much better place.
Thank you for your time Jack hope to see you on stage soon.1- Who are your musical and non-musical influences?- As musical influences and writing processes for Prominence I’ve been highly influenced by the German masters Obscura and Alkaloid, Thy Art Is Murder, French masters Gojira. And even more I’ve been influenced by local bands such as InnerGuilt, Qantara, Voice of the Soul and UAE based band SVENGALI. As for non-musical influenced it’s basically from my past experiences in life and music.... good and bad ones. 2- Have you recorded any previous CDs or posted any audio files on the Internet?- Nope Prominence haven't released any music or CDs YET. "Slaughter of Dreams" will be released soon featuring the legendary drummer Derek Roddy. 3- What is like having Derek Roddy on drums in Prominence?- Having Derek Roddy with me is something really big, at it is till now my highlight of my musical career, a very nice person, and a LEGENDARY drummer. Who would say no for an Ex-Nile, Hate Eternal drummer? A very big thank you to him and for his contribution with me and Prominence. 4- What live performance experience have you had? - With Prominence nothing yet, as for personal live performances I’ve had plenty, from playing with Within Destruction to FreeFall etc... 5- What are your immediate music career goals?- Releasing a single with prominence and an album afterwards. 6- How do you describe your music to people?- We are the description to our music. We have our own style, our own ways of playing and writing music. We never intended to sound like any band. Whatever comes from us... we just turn it into music. That’s why we can't describe our music by words... it’s just us, a different thing. 7- What image do you think your music conveys?- Our image is usually Power, it’s like having power and control. We are normal people on stage, and off-stage, we don't call ourselves as "satanic" or "Christian" metal band or whatever despite from the members own beliefs, we are just a metal band who wants to make music. 8- Anything you would like share, from new merch to upcoming shows/tours or songs/albums?- Still no tours or concerts confirmed, but we already have "Slaughter of Dreams" will be released soon, and album in writing process which still needs a bit of time. 9- Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?- Song writing is usually by me and Albert, whenever someone have something new we send it over to each other. Inspiration usually comes alone, i don't usually urge myself to get inspired, i just get. Listening to music, watching bands live, all those inspire me and give me a new song feeling. So for me it’s basically influence + what comes out of me = a new song. 10- Why did you pick your band name? How did you form? Why did you decide to play the genre or genres you do? What are your fondest musical memories? What made you choose the instruments you have?- Prominence means Dignity, and diginity for me is the most important things in life. So when I started the band on my own and before we became an actual band, I wanted to name the band something that have an actual meaning and means something to me. And as you can see I ended up with prominence. About the genre, as I said before we didn't intend to play any specific genre, whatever comes out... just comes out.My fondest music memories was working with In the Flesh band... Derek Roddy, Ben Claus, Destructhor etc.About picking my instruments well haha I’ve always wanted to be a drummer well you can say since birth, but didn't had the chance to learn it until I became 12, I later showed great interest in electric guitar, and I learned it on my own and that’s why I know theories and notes on drums but nothing on guitar.12- If you were a super hero what powers would you have?- Well, I don't know haha, never thought if it actually, but I’d actually use them for the sake of my country, for the sake of Lebanon in making it a much better place. Thank you for your time Jack hope to see you on stage soon.
