(Interview with Steve Rice)

Norman Skinner:Vocals
Steve Rice:Guitar
Jim Pegram:Bass
Henry Moreno:Drums

Band Info:

Formed in San Jose ,USA 1993.

Discography:
Imagika (1995)
Worship (1998)
And So It Burns (2001)
Devils On Both Sides (2005)
My Bloodied Wings (2006)
Feast For The Hated (2008)

Style: Metal/Thrash

Influences: Iron Maiden,Judas Priest,Black Sabbath,Forbidden,Testament,King Diamond
Website: http://www.imagikametal.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/imagikametal

The forthcoming album:

Album title: Portrait Of A Hanged Man

Tracks recorded & to be on the record: 11

Scared To Death
Portrait Of A Hanged Man
The Hit
Simple Servant
One Word
My Final Hour
Keep The Wolves At Bay
G.H.B
Shadow Of The Cross
God No More
Halo Of Flies

Song writers: Steve (music) & Norman (lyrics). Title track Portrait Of A Hanged Man was co written with Fifth Angel bassplayer John Macko.

Time in studio:

Time in Sonic Train Studios: October 26th-November 6th 2009.
All songs tracked in Fang Studios,San Mateo,California in September 2009.

Produced by: Steve Rice and co produced by Andy La Rocque
Mixed by: Andy La Rocque
Mastered by: Andy La Rocque

Record label: Metalville

Artwork/Album cover: Our drummer Henry Moreno is going to design it.He has done our last 3 as well.

Release date: March 19th 2010

Video: No plans yet.We've always talked about making a video but we never seem to get around to doing it.
Maybe this time we'll do it.It's a matter of money too,if we do it we want it to look good.

Q&A:

What's the story behind the band name Imagika?
When we formed the band and we were looking for a name our original singer was a fan of Clive Barker and he had a book called Imajica so we thought it sounded good and just changed the spelling of that.
At the time we thought it was a pretty cool name and that it could mean anything.

What are the lyrics about on the album?
On this record some of the songs are more fantasy based not kind of dungeons and dragons type of stuff .
One song called Keep The Wolves At Bay that is about a guy that gets lost in the woods and he is followed by wolves and he lights fires but there's not enough fuel so they finally get him...
So that's kinda fantasy based to me.
The opening track Scared To Death is about drowning in the ocean.
And some stuff are more personal too. Like One Word is about breaking up a relationship about having One Word left to say.

Which song from the new album are you looking forward to play live the most?
I think I'd have to say The Hit. It has an old school riff and a really cool chorus to it.It's a really fun song to play.

Any guests on the album?
Andy La Rocque on the instrumental track God No More. It's an acoustic based track. I wrote it to be before the last track of the cd Halo Of Flies.
I first thought of asking him to play a standard metal solo or whatever but then I kinda went like-everybody asks him to do those solos.
So this will be something cool for him to do and something different/weird and he was really happy about doing that.

How come you picked the Sonic Train Studios to mix the album?
This is our third record we have worked with Andy. And the second here in Varberg.
Why we choose Andy in the first place I think it was when I was listening to the Evergrey record while we were looking for someone to mix our album.
I've heard alot of other things that he has done too.
And what's so cool about Andy is that he always makes the bands sound like that band,he doesn't stamp it with "his" sound he just makes the band sound the best as that band can be and I really like that.
Me and our drummer have always been big King Diamond fans as well so we thought it would be a good idea for Andy to do it.
We have been happy with the results and that's why we came back a third time.
Maybe next time we will bring him to California :)

What are your favorite bands?
Evergrey, Nevermore,Devildriver,King Diamond,Kiss.
I like bands with a really good singer the best. I really like the new Heaven & Hell album.
I like the Swedish metal scene very much with bands like Amon Amarth and Candlemass

What's your favorite guitarplayer?
Michael Schenker,Ritchie Blackmore,Randy Rhoads,Zakk Wylde,Gary Moore,Neal Schon,Joe Satriani,Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen.
Jeff Loomis from Nevermore is also very good and Gus G of Firewind.
Alex Skolnick is my all time favorite from the bay area thrash scene.

What bands have you toured/played gigs with?
Grave Digger,Stratovarius,Agent Steel,Metal Church,Therion,Iron Savior,Testament,Forbidden.
Only time we've ever been to Europe was with Grave Digger & Iron Savior about ten years ago.We did shows in Germany and Switzerland.

And what bands would you like to tour with?
We would love to tour with King Diamond I think they would be great to play with.
Testament and Forbidden would be great as well.
We hopefully will do some US dates with Pretty Maids and Praying Mantis next year.

Any plans to come and play in Sweden?
If we can find a suitable tour I really hope so.And if the record gets great reviews as well. Sweden Rock Festival would be really cool.

What is the best moment in this band so far?
For me I have to say that holding our first cd in my hands. That was a cool highpoint.

What can we expect from Imagika in the future?
The new cd in March and promote it with lots of live dates and hopefully some in Europe as well.

Imagika comments on:

Sonic Train Studios:
I think it's cool.Very good that you can sleep here as well.Great location.

Andy La Rocque:
A really cool guy and mellow. A great personallity. He and I really hit it off and get along great.Very comfortably to work with.

Varberg:
I think it's nice.This is my second time here.A cool little place.
Last time was in September so next time I wish I could come here during the summer when the city really comes alive.
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Andy Flash Report 5/11-2009