ChitChat - With Seraphic’s Guitarist Raouf
INTERVIEW BY: EM VIOLET
EM:
What is the main reason you decided that you wanted to play music?
RAOUF:
I was obsessed with some of my early guitar heroes, such as Zakk Wylde, Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, among many more! Just listening to their music didn’t feel like it was enough for me. I wanted to play along properly and learn how to make those sounds too. But in all honesty, I would’ve been happy to have just learned to do a pinch harmonic at the time!
EM:
What band or artist would you love to collaborate with?
RAOUF:
I’d love to collaborate with a pop producer. Someone like Childish Gambino, for example, because I think working with someone with a completely different musical taste and songwriting style could bring out something very exciting. Then again, it could go either way of being awful or genius.
EM:
If you got to choose any venue to play at, which one would it be and why?
RAOUF:
In the world? Royal Albert Hall. There is a history and majesty to that venue that makes it quite unique to the world.
EM:
What is the main inspiration behind the sound you create?
RAOUF:
Of course we’re inspired by bands such as Nightwish and Epica who have been at the top of the symphonic metal genre of which we’re apart of. However, we’re all individually inspired by many different artists and sounds, and together that’s what makes Seraphic. For me personally, my guitar playing is inspired by bands stretching from thrash legends Megadeth, to more progressive bands such as Leprous, Opeth.
EM:
What is your proudest moment as a band?
RAOUF:
I’d say getting to support Kamelot was a great moment for us. We’re all massive fans of them! But really, releasing this second album might have to be right at the top. We’re so proud of the evolution the bands has undergone and the second album really captures that for us.
EM:
Have you missed playing live and what is something you are excited about for your next show?
RAOUF:
I definitely have! We’ve been lucky to be in Queensland where the threat of COVID has been relatively small since the initial first wave back in March/April. So luckily, we’ve played a couple of shows since then. Next show will be our album launch which should be very special! It’s selling out very fast too. We’ll be playing the entirety of our new album Chrysalis, so there will be many songs we haven’t played live yet.
EM:
Tell us a little about your new album and where all the inspiration came from when writing?
RAOUF:
Each member I’m sure will have a different source of inspiration, but for me I really wanted to capture the beauty and spirituality of some of the songs by complimenting it with the right instrumentation. As a guitarist, you can get carried away with always writing guitar for everything, but I think for this album I took a more holistic approach and looked beyond my own instrument. All of us wanted to create music that enhanced the song’s meaning, and that sometimes meant experimenting with different sounds to get there.
EM:
What is your favorite track on the new album?
RAOUF:
Everyone will say their favourite is the title track Chrysalis! So I’ll also give a shoutout to my second favourite Midnight too, which was our most recent single release.
EM:
Are you excited to see everyones reactions to the new music?
RAOUF:
Absolutely! Release day can’t come soon enough! I’ll be there refreshing our social media pages and reading everyone’s reactions to it.
EM:
What’s next for Seraphic?
RAOUF:
It’s unpredictable times right now, so it’s hard to say what is exactly next for us. But! We are pushing on and still making many exciting plans for 2021. We would love to tour this album, so if domestic borders open up for Australia we’ll certainly be looking to do that.
