Encore Magazine - Wilmington NC

NC Represent: The Karmatics and other locals convene at Marrz
By: Ben Brown

A celebration of sorts will be shaking the walls at Marrz Theatre on Saturday, May 21, as five NC-based bands hold their CD-release parties. Including The Karmatics, Chambered, DownSide, Unsleeping and Ctrl-Alt-Del, all are represented by the same music management group, Confused Illusion, who is hosting the event. What you’ll hear when attending the party is a big chunk of today’s rock-genre spectrum, from metal to alternative to melodic hardcore. Standing out of the mix is Goldsboro-based indie band The Karmatics, whose bassist, Jeff Sills (JS), was kind enough to introduce his band and their ambitions via phone interview.

e: What’s shakin’ on the Goldsboro scene?
JS: So what’s shakin’ in the Goldsboro scene? Goldsboro is the home of a group of totally independent musicians, some in bands and some as solo acts, with a thirst to put the art back into music.

e: You are a self-pronounced indie-rock band. Since this genre has stylistically exploded over the past few years, to whom do you give influential props for your sound?
JS: When you ask who we give props [to], well, it’s more of the fact that we all have different musical backgrounds, and that’s what makes our band special. But to answer the question in short, we all like similar artist such as Bob Dylan, The Cure, Radiohead, The Beatles, My Bloody Valentine and the Smashing Pumpkins.

e: How did the name The Karmatics come about for the band?
JS: The name The Karmatics? Well, it’s funny you ask. Basically it’s just a word, just a name, like The Beatles. We could have been called The Beatles; of course that’s already taken. But to be honest, the name just came and it could have been a subconscious fact that all of us believe in Karma in some sense or another.

e: You’ve acquired management to help the band progress. How has that helped? What have you learned?
JS: It allowed us, as a band, to focus entirely on the creative process of music as an art form. We love to create great music as a band [while] not [spending] a lot of time practicing our undeveloped business-marketing majors. With management, it’s more about the music for us rather than the business of music. Our management helps greatly with freeing up time on the business end.

e: Any touring planned in support of the new CD?
JS: As any band would answer, touring is always on our minds. We are looking to play as many shows as possible. Our music sounds great on CD but even better live, so we’ve been told. I guess we can owe that to the emotion and vibes we get off the big crowds. Fans are the biggest part to a band’s success and the best way to reach a fan is giving them one awesome live performance. Having a cd just allows them to take that personal connection they just received home with them.

e: What is the listener going to get out of the new CD?
JS: Our CD will refresh listeners with a vacancy of clichés found in most mainstream music today. We have a new style all our own which can be associated with the indie genre, but we like to call it the “Karmatic” style of music. ...So far it has left the people who have heard it wanting more.

e: This last one is a free space for final words. Anything brief you want our readers to know?
JS: We, as a band, agree that our final words would be to anyone reading that we do not suck...for real!!! If you can’t tell by now, we are a bunch of lighthearted loving guys who like to joke around have a good time and play great music. Show up at one of our shows and you too can share the beauty of what our band is about.

As a note to you younger rock fans, this event is all-ages, so take advantage of a rare occasion. Mark your calendars, palm-pilots, nerd-packs (or whatever you have)—show starts at 9pm..