JO: Hey,, thanks for putting up these questions. Sure the band's inception happened in fall 2013 when Rob (bass) started seeking musicians to collaborate with back then. By time, Chris C (drums) showed interest in Rob's creativity, followed by Leo (guitars) and Chris B (guitars) at a later stage. In the same period, the band had a hard time finding a dedicated frontman, which made things rather tough for the band to progress. The guys placed various adverts which went somehow viral online and it was till then when I stumbled upon the advert (while being on a short vacation from London to Berlin) and decided to give it a shot. Regretfully, we also had to part ways with Chris B as his interests drifted apart from the band's direction, and till now we decided to proceed as a quartet. However at some point we will be looking for a second guitarist to fill in the vacant spot.
2.Recently you have released a demo, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
JO: Not an easy question to answer! To be precise we are trying in evolving our own sound and that isn't an easy thing to do. Worth saying that Mendel Bij de Leij (ABORTED / ORACLES) applied his magical approach in the overall sound by improving both "thickness" and "chunkiness" in our 'Rupture' EP. All I can say (especially for those who are reading this) is that through our initial package, we've been fairly described as a nice mixture of Necrophagist, Carcass (mid-90's), The Faceless, Beneath the Massacre, Death, and Arsis. Subject to any evolution, it is highly possible that there will be a significant difference between the EP sound and the sound in our future recording(s).
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
JO: Lyrical-wise we cover a wide array of concepts falling under the spectrum of psychology (cognition, existentialism), ancient philosophies, Gnosticism, sci-fi, and general struggles from a personal stance to a collective one. Pretty much we intend to be rather conceptual and at a certain extent to bring something worth reading for the audience.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Peripheral Cortex'?
The band moniker can be interpreted in various ways not limited to ‘anatomy’, ‘an edge’ of a cortex such as the edge of the earth or a shell; and last but not least an additional cortex (i.e. mechanical) attached to the brain. Pretty much sci-fi related! Worth saying there was a lot of brainstorming in forming a name that suits our musical approach befitting the technical death metal genre.
5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
JO: To be quite frank, we only had one show recently in a local venue which we didn't promote for the sake of being a 'warm-up' gig intended for the few. The scope behind it was simply to fine tune ourselves before hitting the 'real' stage.
6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
JO: We have plans underway to do performances locally and hopefully overseas such as the Netherlands, Czech, and perhaps the UK at a certain point. Yet on the other hand we are focusing in writing new material in order to expand our set list (which will set us forth to the studio).
7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
JO: At our current stage it is impossible to seek any record deals, and that's also why we are in a writing-mode. For the time being we only got 2 studio tracks, and although we are satisfied with the result, in the long run they might not be satisfactory enough to be utilized as a promo to target labels. Consequently we are still building our audience. Nowadays, stable labels prefer to sign bands with a good dose of creativity and amount of followers (for marketing purposes).
8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of melodic, progressive and technical death metal?
JO: We didn't have a heavy exposure, not just yet. So far the feedback was between good to overwhelming by listeners, few press and bands alike. Interestingly enough we even got invited by two bands from the US and UK to share the stage with. So I think we can take it as a good sign despite the fact that nowadays it is not easy to promote a 2 track EP unlike in the early 90’s back then…
9.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
JO: At the moment it is unrealistic to define release dates and related future plans. Although we are goal-oriented, we are taking things the way they come instead of setting expectations which may eventually change. Concerning full lengths we are aiming at entering the studio hopefully by late 2016 therefore the anticipation for a release launch might happen within the same year or early 2017. On a better note, we will appear on the ‘Official Tribute to Pestilent’ with the track ‘Soul Search’ (from the ‘Spheres’ album) featuring Dying Fetus, Legion of the Damned, Severe Torture, and Forgotten Silence among many others… which will be released via Magik Art Entertainment (Russia). So at the moment we are getting our hands full.
10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
JO: In terms of musical styles and tastes, we came from different backgrounds. There are diverse tastes that we have in common, and others not. For instance Rob is quite into extreme tech death metal, jazz, and any other technical genres. Chris has quite a thing for symphonic extreme metal (Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septic Flesh for instance), Leo is quite open though his focus leans towards progressive music, whereas for me, I come from the old school scene of death, black, thrash, avant-garde, and synth music. Apart from metal, we listen to various genres. Don’t be surprised if you spot me in an event like Lollapalooza for instance hahahaha. I hope that sums it up :)
11.What are some of your non musical interests?
JO: We all have our full time jobs or studies, so to put it that way...anything related with our work (for instance in my case I read a lot about user experience and usability), and sports.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Well John, thanks loads for this interesting interview. As for the rest, stay tuned with our Facebook page www.facebook.com/peripheralcortex and feel free to download our EP from https://peripheralcortex.bandcamp.com
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