Interview with Eric Wesa (Bass and Backing Vocals) of Medevil and Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?
EW: I’d like to describe Medevil as a power/progressive band, but really we don’t hold ourselves to a specific genre when we write songs. Especially on our new tracks, you’ll notice each song has a different style we tackle. We are a group of passionate musicians that create music out of a love of the genre, rather than trying to appeal to specific fans of genres.
PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.
EW: I grew up in Chilliwack, BC Canada my whole life. None of my family are musicians or artists, but I got into music when I met my stepdad who introduced me to various rock and metal bands such as Kiss, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, etc. It didn’t take me long after picking up my first Iron Maiden album to want to pick up a guitar, but I actually started off playing acoustic music when I was around 14. After just over a year of playing guitar, I met Liam, and we formed Medevil.
PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?
EW: I honestly get inspired by my bandmates, Medevil has been the only band I’ve been involved in my whole music career and my bandmates bring in different elements from their favourite bands. Brett introduced me to some progressive bands like Haken, Porcupine Tree, and Meshuggah. When I started the band, I and Liam were heavily inspired by Metal Church and would write riffs that were similar in nature. In general, I try to keep an open mind when I write and try to make sure each song has its own ‘identity’. When we write songs that sound different than the rest that we wrote, that gets me extremely excited.
PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?
EW: My biggest aspiration and the reason I formed Medevil in the first place, is to compose an album that is truly ambitious in soundscape and people think of as a ‘Masterpiece’. I don’t care too much about sales figures, if we make money that’s nice but I really just want to put something out that I can look back on in my old years and be like ‘damn, I can’t believe I wrote this’.
PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?
EW: I’ve never been so shocked and proud of us as much as when we managed to become National Finalists in the Wacken Metal Battle Canada 2015. We only just started our new line-up and signed up just hoping we could pass the first round and be proud of that. Making it to the top in Canada proved that people really like the kind of music we make, and I really felt like the group we formed was special.
PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new artists emerging from bedrooms
in the day of the home studio. How is that going?
EW: We are trying to build back up momentum after such a long break during Covid for sure, but we are very confident that our music will get heard once we put it out. Starting off by getting on as many blogs and radios as we can to spread the news, things are going smoothly so far!
PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?
EW: We are playing Hyperspace Metal Festival IV on April 13th! When we book our shows we usually reach out to our friends in Vancouver, there are quite a few promoters and bands around so it’s pretty easy to get something set up. We use our social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to send our fans updates when we have shows booked. We are currently playing live with temporary members during this turbulent time, and so we continue the search to find some permanent members for our live sets moving forward.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?
EW: I think it’s great to get your music out there, but it’s also very easy to get drowned out in the crowd. You really have to work your ass off to promote your material on digital stores if you are independent, but if you have music that is good enough sharing and word of mouth go a long way. Pay is shit though haha, we mostly rely on shows and merch to make money.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
EW: I’m a pretty big fan of Iron Maiden’s ex-singer Blaze Bayley actually, and the song ‘Stare at the Sun’ is one of my favourites. The way he tells the story in that song and the build-ups to the chorus really feel epic and was one of the early tracks that got me wanting to write more epic material.
PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?
EW: Yeah, the music industry on the digital front is a mixed bag for me. On one hand, you have an endless amount of creativity and artists on a platform that you can listen to in the palm of your hand, on the other, there’s something special about going to a record store and finding out new bands you’d try out on a whim because the store clerk recommended 
them to you. Or even just ownership, no one can take away your physical copies like a digital storefront can. It seems Vinyl is making a comeback, and I’d love to see both Vinyl and CD still be viable for artists in the future.
PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?
EW: Now that we are finally putting out Mirror in the Darkness, we are already starting to write some new songs. We are also getting some new videos prepared for after the album’s launch, so stay tuned for those!
PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?
EW: You can find more news and buy our albums digitally through our Bandcamp, so make sure to hit ‘Follow’ if you want to know more about our releases: https://medevil.bandcamp.com/
We have a surprise coming soon for those who pre-order! You can also follow us on our Facebook and Twitter for updates on our future shows and other plans
Medevil links:
Band/Artist location – Vancouver, British Columbia
Facebook – You Tube – Bandcamp –
Twitter – Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Last Fm
Check our page for Medevil
