On this week’s edition of RTBOTW, we have The Enigma Code from Brookeville, MD! Having formed in November of 2009, the band have made a name for themselves in the local Maryland scene and since adding vocalist, Anthony Michelli, they have solidified their lineup and are in the works of a full-length album. We sat down with Collin and Josh of The Engima Code to tell us a little bit about the history of the band, having Anthony join the band, as well as future plans. Be sure to tune in every Tuesday for a new band of the week feature!
For more information on The Enigma Code, be sure to Like the band on Facebook and follow them on Twitter!
First, can you please introduce yourselves & tell us your role in the band.
COLLIN: My name is Collin. I engage in smacking skin (Drums) and penning deep dark secrets for the sake of people’s entertainment as well as my own personal catharsis (Lyrics).
JOSH: My name is Josh and I play guitar. Collin does none of what has been aforementioned.
With so many bands emerging in today’s scene, how do you believe The Enigma Code stands out?
JOSH: We really try our best to write music that we feel is interesting to listen to. This may translate into multiple genres of music, but it’s all stuff that satisfies us personally as musicians and I think that this is something a lot of bands are afraid of doing; going outside of their own “genres” and just doing what sounds best. Likewise, we always go all out when we play live. You don’t see too many bands that like to go balls to the wall when they’re playing live and aren’t afraid of jumping off of shit and getting into the music. These are things that we take a lot of pride in and it’s definitely something we think puts us outside of the common live show.
COLLIN: It’s because we’re different. In today’s metal scene, you see a lot of bands who are all interested in doing the exact same thing as each other and sure, there’s some brotherhood in that, but we never sought out to do that ourselves. We just wanted to write music the way we were interested in writing it, and that’s the concept we’ve maintained to this day.
Can you give us a brief history on The Enigma Code?
COLLIN: Back at the beginning of November 2009, Josh expressed his interest in making a metal band to me during a class we shared in high school. I tried out as vocalist and made the cut. We had an old line-up for a while that eventually shifted around positions, moving me onto my main instrument: drums. This line-up went on to play the first legitimate The Enigma Code gigs and lasted a little over half a year. [Josh continues and finishes]
JOSH: After that period of time, Daniel (former bass player), Devin (former guitar player), and Cory (former vocalist) decided that it was time for them to pursue other interests and they left the band in high regards to Collin and myself. We had tryouts for bass and guitar and we ended up finding Garret first to fill the bass position and later, Mike was added to fill the guitar position. For a while, we didn’t have a vocalist and either played shows instrumentally or with fill-ins, but more recently, we were introduced to Anthony via our friends in Hydra Kyll and that’s where our lineup and basic history stands right now.
How did you pick the name for the band?
JOSH: We collectively decided to go home one night and make a list of band names we thought sounded cool or whatever and when we all met up the next day in school, Collin and I were the only ones to have anything on that list. The Enigma Code happened to be on my list because I had done a school project on the topic and for some reason, the name just stuck with me and that was the one we decided to keep.
COLLIN: I think Corporate Theory was one of them. Hahaha THAT would have been weird. You can guess the one we chose, though…
If you could pick three words to describe your band, what words would you pick?
COLLIN: GIANT. CAT. EARS.
JOSH: Progressive. Men. Lovers.
What has been the biggest accomplishment for the band to date?
COLLIN: I think that actually came just a couple weeks ago. We received the opportunity to open for Between The Buried And Me, The Faceless, The Contortionist, and The Safety Fire at the Baltimore Soundstage. I’m pretty sure we were the only local band on any of the dates on that tour, so it was an incredibly huge honor. We played to what we estimated was about 200-over 400 people that night. It was mind blowing for us; we received such a great response. I’d say it was either that or when we met a fan who had been following us since the beginning. THAT was incredible.
JOSH: Yeah, the BTBAM show was a really big deal for us considering they’re one of our biggest influences, or at least Mike and I’s. Other than that, I would say doing the mini-tour to NC and back to MD was incredible for us. It kinda gave us the sense that we could really do something as a band if we really worked at it and that’s an ethic that has and will always stick with us from now on.
If you could collaborate with any band or musician, who would you want to collaborate with?
COLLIN: Oh shit. Don’t ask me this. This is a really hard question for me to answer. …Fuck. If this is me speaking from a personal point of view, I’d say maybe somebody like Thom Yorke. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Hayato Imanishi are also huge choices for me. Their minds are so creative; I would die to work with any of them. Claudio Sanchez is also huge on my list too. As for bands, that’s far too hard for me to pick.
JOSH: Jonsi from Sigur Ros, Jacob Bannon from Converge, John Petrucci from Dream Theater, and Jesse Lacey from Brand New.
The Enigma Code went on a brief headlining summer tour, how was the experience like?
COLLIN: It was fantastic! The only part that sucked was wishing it had lasted longer. Our brothers in EastDear Park and Hydra Kyll linked up with us and we had three fantastic consecutive shows. There was a lacking attendance at each of the shows, but we all had incredible amounts of fun and so it was good to us.
JOSH: It was a learning experience to say the least, but my dream has always been to go on tour so this was a taste of what it’s like, although a minor taste at that, for sure. It was incredible to be around your friends all the time and be able to just go out and experience new places and play music all at the same time.
For bands wanting to go on short tours such as the aforementioned one, what would you advise bands to do when planning?
COLLIN: Call absolutely every place you can and book far ahead of time. It’s also a good idea to make connections with the locals in those states. We’re all suffering out here, we have to lend a helping hand every way we can. Scratch each other’s backs. No one likes a bad itch.
JOSH: The only bad itch here is you, Collin. But anyway, basically what Collin said, book far in advance as well as you can and be persistent with the venues if they aren’t responding. Don’t be too aggressive or annoying, though. No one likes a bad itch.
The band recently recruited Anthony Michelli as the new vocalist for the band. How did the addition of Anthony come about and how do you feel he will contribute to the band’s overall sound?
COLLIN: We had been playing as an instrumental band for a while, pretty much after we lost Cory, who succeeded me when I went to drums. We had another vocalist for a very short time who never played a show, as well as fill-in vocalists and a couple of people who were still trying out. We thought we had given up hope when we were recommended Anthony by our brothers in Hydra Kyll. It was a long process inducting him, but in the end was the perfect fit.
JOSH: Since then, Anthony has really grown exponentially as a vocalist. He played his first show with us, but he got used to playing in front of people incredibly quickly. His contribution to the band is ever-growing and we’re ecstatic that he’s a part of this journey with us.
What’s next for the band for the remainder of the year and in 2014?
COLLIN: The remainder of the year will be spent finishing all of the writing left for our very first full-length that we are now finally in the process of recording. We’re playing a couple shows here and there, but a majority of our time is going to be spent on the writing process. As for 2014, we don’t have much currently planned other than putting out that album and embarking on yet another tour. We intend for this tour to be longer and I could definitely see us setting out with EastDear Park and Hydra Kyll again.
JOSH: Everything Collin said, except he forgot that Eastdear Park changed their name to Our Buds in Easter Park. Other than that, Collin’s got it all said.
Anything else you’d like to add?
JOSH: I’m cuddly like a koala, but I’m hot like a sofa. I’ve never felt so conflicted about library books before and think I’m bothered enough to try and run one up my ribcage.
COLLIN: Just one piece of advice: if you ever feel like you need help loving yourself, sometimes all it takes is a little chemistry lesson to get you back in the right direction.
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