Some Kind Of Muffin

Forget about subgenres. Put your preconceptions aside and just accept. This is heavy metal, my friends. Ion Storm is steeped in myths and lore of its own creation standing on the shoulders of giants. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ion Storm!

Could each of you give me a little on your musical background and how you joined Ion Storm?

Chris “Killgrinder” Newman: I formed it. As far as background I come from the school of “Crank the amp/Hit strings and raise hell!” Thats all I’ve ever done, I hate click tracks and theory and even giving a shit about what the bpm(beats per minute) is and it’s allways been like that for me.

Grady: I haven’t had any musical training at all really. I just ended up getting a guitar for my birthday one year and I started teaching myself songs from bands that I was into. The first band I was in was “Mirus Malum” which is a project that me, Tim, and our friend Drew originally started. If you like middle eastern scales and Egyptian themes in metal then you should like it. The way I ended up joining Ion Storm was a strange process. To shorten it up, Ion Storm’s old drummer knew my grandma and was shown a homemade music video me and my friend made which led to her recommending me to Chris.

How did Ion Storm start?

Tim “Bullet” Martin: If I told you, I would have to kill you.

“Killgrinder”: “Ion Storm” started as “Kill” when i was around 13, After years of writing down ideas and riffs in my bed room, i looked at the towering pile of notebooks and cassettes and said “OK its time to do something with all this.” I spent two months puzzle-piecing it all together and came out with 100 songs. Picked out 20 to fill a “Debut” record and then picked 10 of those to fill an hour live set.

Spent months whoring for a practice space. After that was done I put out an ad to bring in other musicians. Spent 4 months practicing/hiring and firing till getting our current lineup together which is pretty solid and we all have the same sense of humor which is a plus \m/.

Grady: Chris. Simple as that. haha

Do you have an overall philosophy for the band and if so what is it?

“Killgrinder”: Yeah, We don’t and will not ever write about “Real” life. We write our own myths and stories 100% of the time. You will never hear us crying about an ex girlfriend or politics in our music…..Ever!

“Bullet”: We definitely have our own personal philosophical perspectives on things, and I think it all comes together to make a pretty great and unique sound once we can focus it into one cohesive musical presence. We’re all pretty creative guys.

Grady: Our philosophy involves the belief that every emo should be killed with fire.

What is the song writing process?

“Killgrinder”: Well  so far all the music is mine. Tim and I write the lyrics and Grady helps with arrangements and vocal melodies.

“Bullet”: After 30 minutes of jamming: “Ah dude that was fuckin great! How did it go? I don’t know! Did anyone record that? No. SHIT!”

Grady: It’s a pretty standard process. It begins with us lighting candles and making a pentagram in the center of the room. We then chant sacred unholy phrases in latin as a means to appease the Metal Gods. After that the possessions occur and we channel the dark energy into what you perceive as music.

“Bullet”-drums, Grady-vocals, “Killrinder”-guitars

What’s the story behind the name of the band?

“Killgrinder”: I had a lawyer write to me to change the name of the band and the same day I was watching star trek and they were on this planet and a giant storm came and destroyed everything and somebody yelled “It’s an Ion Storm!” It was a no brainer.  hahaha!

“Bullet”:  The name literally means “eternal storm” if you go back to the original greek. It represents the sound we are going for well I think.

How would you describe your sound?

“Killgrinder”: Its a 50/50 mix of 70’s stoner doom and 80’s thrash with modern Viking/Thrash vocals and myth based lyrics. I call it “sci-fi metal,” Tim calls it “Myth Metal” \m/.

“Bullet”: I could give a long creative description involving way too many adjectives here, but instead I will just say that its aggressive, melodic, dark, and you should listen to it to find out for yourself!

Grady: It sounds like the beautiful screams of agony that would be echoing from a planet being devoured by an ion storm.

What song of yours best represents what Ion Storm is about? 

“Killgrinder”: “The Craft” Covers it all. It has doom parts, thrash parts, really dark lyrics and it’s super heavy and catchy.

“Bullet”: We are all about making good music that you can really feel, bang your head, and beat the crap our of your friends to. “God VS Minotaur” is a pretty good representation of what we are about.

Grady: Not sure what song best fits Chris’ vision of Ion Storm but my favorite so far is probably “Rise ov the Centaur”

Any plans for live shows? If so, why should people come see you live?

“Killgrinder”: October 2012!, I have all the gear ready and a backdrop in the mail. We have a few offers lingering and really it’s just crunch time to practice, practice, practice!

“Bullet”: We absolutely have plans for live shows. People should come to our shows because we will rock the hell out of them, and possibly initiate the Apocalypse.

Grady: Yes. We have some stuff lined up in October. If you like whiplash and blown out eardrums then you’ll love us.

Any plans to record?

“Killgrinder”: Yes. We start tracking drums early October with a producer and then I will be recording all the bass and guitars except for a few solo sections, Grady has to keep it tight. Then late October I will be producing Grady’s vocals.

General plans for the future?

“Killgrinder”:  We are going to do a few local gigs to warm up and then start on the California and Seattle markets.

“Bullet”: Write music, play the hell out of our setlist locally, hopefully go on tour before long.

Grady: Fuck shit up.

What is your favorite robot?

“Killgrinder”: ROBOCOP!

“Bullet”: The Terminator. I guess that’s a cyborg, but he’s mostly a machine so that counts.

Grady: Quickstrike from Beast Wars.

Thank you so much Ion Storm. And, dear reader, here is a little teaser of what they sound like. No vocals, but you can get a feel for the music and lyrics.

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Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/IonStormOfficial/