Barney: The band came together back in 2001, but we went through a whole bunch of line-ups before we got to the band we are. We started out as a five-piece band, and now we are a four piece band. We have had three ex-singers, one ex-guitarist, one ex-bassist, one ex-drummer. I am the only member who has been with the band from time it started. James joined us three years ago, just before performing in Dubai at Turbulence 1 festival, and Rami joined us in 2003 just before Turbulence 3 festival.

James: I have only changed from bass to bass and vocals

YT: This is a very commonly occurring phenomenon in bands, where you keep changing from one band to another. Why is this the case?

James: Both myself and Rami were in Qatar and moved here for our studies, and that is why we are in this band. But yes, peope change a lot of bands, but sometimes, it is just because they don’t click together. Sometimes, it is because they have to move away and things like that.

Barney: For us, it is the style of music that we are into that got us together. We share the same interest in music, and here in Dubai, not a lot of people listen to a whole lot of Death metal.

YT: Name some of the bands you collectively listen to.

Rami: Testament, Pantera, Sepultura, Slayer, Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Hatebreed…the list goes on.

YT: How was it like starting up the band? What was the reaction that you received from your parents?

Barney: Music is something that is very much a part of my family. My parents were always supportive, and wanted me to succeed. I have taken some time off college in Canada to be here, and they know about it, and understand how big deal this is to us. So, they have been great.

YT: What about your studies? Do they not get affected by things like this?

Barney: Education and our studies are the first priority for us. Although I don’t really like studying something I am not really interested in, I am still willing to put my best efforts into it because my parents are looking up to me to complete this course, and it is the least I can do after they have provided me with everything that I can think of. Again, the music we are into is not an industry that is going to thrive in the UAE. So we know this is something that we cannot rely on to pay the rent. In Europe, on the other hand, the kind of recognition that death metal and metal music in general receives is amazing!

Rami: When I started out with the band, I never thought that I would look at music as a career choice, and that is why I was serious about my studies. But now, I have changed my mind, and am actually considering music as a career.

YT: What do you guys focus on performing – covers or originals?

Barney: When we started off, we used to play a lot of covers, but for the past two years, we have been focusing a lot on our own original material. We play some covers also. If, for instance, we have a 30-minutre set, we play two originals and two covers.

Rami: When our line-up developed a little, we started playing more original stuff. Initially, we had to deal with a lot of members moving from the band, and different influences being brought in and out. But now that we are established, we have become more serious and work mostly on our own songs.

YT: What are the kinds of stereotypes that you have to deal with?

Barney: The point of view of the artist is different from the point of view of the listeners. We are normal people. We are university students, we don’t disrespect anyone, but because of the kind of music we make and listen to, people assume that we are “dark and evil”, but that is just because they don’t know.

YT: Why do you think you have to face this kind of sceptical attitude from people?

Rami: We are living in a country where there is no metal scene. In a place that is predominantly into pop music, people are not used to music that forces you to believe, they just think we are desperate for attention. But this is just the way we are.

YT: Do you plan on changing this stereotype, and if so, how?

Barney: We have taken it on ourselves to expose our music to this part of the world. In the Dubai Desert Rock Festival 2005, you have bands like The Darkness and Machine Head performing. There will be members in the audience who are not into extreme metal, and we want to show those people how serious we are. We want to convey the energy of our music to people, to watch us and take it in.

YT: Unlike a lot of other genres of music, rock music is usually associated with deep and meaningful lyrics, accompanied by heavy music. What are your comments about the kind of songs you write?

James: This is what is so great about metal music. It is not for people who are looking out for a simple song that doesn’t require you to think a lot. Metal songs deal with a lot of serious emotions, but are not as dark and bleak as people expect them to be. If you take the time to read the lyrics, I have seen a lot of people who get surprised by what they read.

Barney: Our Kind of music has to do with a lot of philosophy in life – about war, poverty and politics. When James writes a song, he doesn’t write about what is happening in his personal life. He writes about what is happening in the reality that we are living in.

YT: With the kind of music that you are into, you can’t get away with flimsy lyrics. You need to have songs that mean something. Does that make your job as song writers difficult?

James: Not at all. In other genres people are paid because of the production value of the song, and the marketing that they put into the song. We don’t have to cope with something like that. I think it is the hardest thing in the world to write about something that you don’t mean. But for me, the easiest thing to do is to write about something that I believe in.

YT: Why do you think your genre of music is so widely neglected by production companies?

Barney: That is because no major record label wants to take the risk of promoting a band that talks about things that they don’t want to hear.

YT: Tell us more about your album.

Barney: Our album is titled Human Chaos, and the idea behind the album is that evil exists in mankind and you have no one to blame for the evil around you, except yourself. The idea we are trying to promote is that before you point fingers at others, you need to look at yourselves. With humans killing other humans, and the gruesome images in the media, we are talking about the “heavy things” that people find difficult to talk about.

YT: How do you feel about opening for huge international acts like Sepultura and Machine Head?

Barney: The biggest crowd we have performed in front of is 1,700 people. But the highlight of the performance is not being able to perform in front of so many people, it is sharing a stage with Sepultura – a band we have loved for years. They have influenced us musically. I am more nervous about performing in front of them than in front of a huge crowd!

YT: So you are not daunted by the size of the audience at all?

Rami: Once you are on stage and start performing, all you see is the crowd in front of you. No big deal (laugh)

YT: Anything you want to say to fans of death metal in the region who are thinking of following in your footsteps?

Barney: If you don’t enjoy the music and are in it just for the fame, forget about it because there isn’t any when it comes to this kind of music. Do what you have to do because you love what you are doing, not because of what others think and expect out of you.

Rami: If you wanna know more about us, look up at our website www.nervecell.net