Interview with TOMMY MISCI – VOCALS, KEVIN MISCI – GUITAR, DAVID MISCI – BASS, MARCEL ZIMMER – DRUMS OF SERPENT BITE and Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?
SB: We are hard hitting 4-piece Metal band. Although our music has a lot of different styles we always refer to it as Metal. We do this because we do not want to pigeon hole us in making the music we want.
We don’t want to limit but push ourselves in every situation. We always try to broaden our musical horizon with every performance or record.
Serpent Bite is more than a band, it is a family.
PD: Can you tell us about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc…
SB: All the members of the band are from the South of Luxembourg. Kevin, Tommy and Marcel are from Rumelange while David is from Sanem.
Tommy (Vocals): As a Kid I always imitated my favorite Songs while I was in the shower or in front of the mirror. I remember vividly that my Brother (Kevin) and I always played Air Guitar and sang songs while we played in the living room.
Kevin (Guitar): I really started with music when I was 12 years old. Music was always something me and my brother bonded on. We grew up with a lot of different music with bands and artists like AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Jimi Hendrix and many more, these made us the musicians we are today.
David (Bass): I also got into music when I was 12. I got my first guitar as a birthday present and really loved music ever since. I always wanted to create a band together with my cousins (Tommy and Kevin) which we did with Equalizator. Now with Serpent Bite this dream still lives on.
Marcel (Drums): I came to music because of my obsession with the Guitar Hero / Rock Band franchises. It broaden my mind in terms of different music genres, while also creating the ambition of learning an instrument. After playing in a band together with Kevin for a few years, we decided to create a new band alongside Tommy. After recruiting David as the bassist in the band, Serpent Bite was born. It is the perfect band with the perfect people in it.
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?
SB: We all have completely different taste in music and things to write about in our music.
Tommy (Vocals): There are many artists who inspire me. Early inspirations were AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Guns N’ Roses and the list goes on. As of writing style it depends on the mood of the song. It can be influenced by a Horror movie or a story about a depressed person with problems in their life.
Kevin (Guitar): My hero is and always will be Tony Iommi from Black Sabbath. His powerful guitar riffs always convinced me to pick up the guitar, just like Jimi Hendrix knocked my socks off. These man knew how to play the guitar, their music was so cool and inspiring that I always played Air Guitar in front of the mirror.
David (Bass): My main inspiration is Paul Gray from Slipknot. He was a fantastic bassist and more importantly an amazing songwriter. I also really like to watch and listen to guys like Fieldy from Korn and Jim La Marca from Chimaira, which also is my favorite band.
Marcel (Drums): The first drummer who really made me think “I want to do that” was Brad Wilk from Rage Against The Machine. His hard hitting style while also incorporating different styles of music is so amazing. I really don’t have a favorite drummer, I am so impressed by everyone of them that I can’t pick one. The band which inspires me the most in making music is definitely Coheed and Cambria.
PD: What are you aspirations as an artist?
SB: First of all we love making music together, so we aspire to record as many records as possible while evolving ourselves as humans and a band.
Of course we want to reach the point where you can travel the world and make a living with making music, but also growing our audience is a key ambition of us. We want to share our music with as much people as possible.
We want to do everything we can as long as it is fun and enriches our live.
PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?
SB: Without a shadow of a doubt, recording and releasing our first record. It is the evidence of hard work paying off. We have played some amazing venues with amazing people which drives us even more to experience more proud moments together as a band.
PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new
artists emerging from bedrooms in the day of home studio. How is that going?
SB: The promoting aspect of music is something very new to us. We never really deep dived into that topic, but we see now that it makes a huge difference in the music business.
Social Media posts are super important, this should be done regularly so that a listener can connect much easier with the band.
You have to share your music with everyone, you have to constantly alert your listeners/fans about upcoming stuff or news regarding the band. It is a very tough job, but it is also very rewarding.
PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?
SB: Until now we are doing the booking completely by ourselves.
But because we are located in Luxembourg, the booking of shows is really different than at other places in the world. In such a tiny country everyone knows everyone, so you have to work together to broaden the audience of everyone in the music scene. We currently are booked for the few shows in the next few months, but we try to at least play one show per month.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?
SB: Downloading music online in theory is not good for the artists themselves regarding the monetary side of things. On the other hand it is very good to expand your reach in terms of listeners. We condemn it either way because it harms the one people who should be rewarded in the music business, the musicians themselves.
Streaming sites are a completely different thing because the music mostly is uploaded by the bands themselves because it is much easier to grow your audience with having your music on those streaming sites. For us it is a very good tool to broaden our audience while constantly having access to a space where we can upload our songs without having to physical release those songs.
The thing we really don’t like about streaming sites is the disappearance of physical copies of records. There is no better feeling that to buy music from your favorite band, open the music case and put it into a record player, if this disappears more and more we will be gutted.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
SB: Tommy (Vocals): Hard to chose. I think I would have loved to have written “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC, I just love the band and especially Bon Scoot. His voice was so unique. It is a song that will stay with you forever. On the other hand “Eye Of The Tiger” by Survivor would also be one, I love the band and I’m a huge Stallone Fan since I was a kid so it would be an honor to write something for him.
Kevin (Guitar): I would say “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” by Black Sabbath or “The Boys Are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy. Both songs are masterpieces and incorporate everything you need to have in a song.
David (Bass): “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica, it’s just a masterpiece. I really like the lyrics and guitar parts on that song. It never gets old.
Marcel (Drums) : Personally “In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth” by Coheed And Cambria. The progressive nature, the catchy chorus and the awesome build up at the end. It is just perfect piece of music from the first to the last second. A close second song is “Regular John” by Queens Of The Stone Age.
PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?
SB: Tommy (Vocals): More and more people should go to concerts and connect with their favorite band. People should absolutely support more their local bands and their music.
Kevin (Guitar): That streaming platforms would no longer exist, people would appreciate music more and not just see it as a product. People would listen again more to music together if a vinyl or CD was put on.
David (Bass) There should absolutely be more support to the local bands here in Luxembourg. It is very hard to even play at bigger stages because the bands get absolutely no coverage on mainstream TV/radio. Maybe get the possibilities to play bigger stages like “Wacken” to fulfill our dreams.
Marcel (Drums): The main issues are all very much known to everyone. The greed from record companies is bigger then ever, which should absolutely be changed and even punished. It is very hard to finance the making of music, so there should be something to promote or help bands make music because they are a huge part of a nations/city culture.
PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?
SB: At the moment we are working on finishing our second record. We want to release it this year, most likely in the last quarter of the year. We are planning to release also a few singles and music videos to accompany the record and also want to play as many gigs as possible.
Furthermore we want to create more merch so that people can wear our name on their chest.
PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?
SB: You can learn more about the band on our social media accounts, our linktree and also at our gigs we are always very open to talk to people. You can listen to our music on all major streaming sites and buy it at our gigs. Our merchandise is also available at our gigs.
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/serpentbite
Serpent Bite links:
Band/Artist location – Luxembourg
Website – Facebook – You Tube – Wikipedia – Bandcamp –
Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – LinkTree –
Check our page for Serpent Bite
