Empire Extreme got the opportunity to talk with Orlando’s Meka Nism. Singer Meka and guitarist Bobby Keller joined us in the conversation about music, life and everything in between.

Empire: How would you describe the band and your music?

Meka: We are called alternative metal or art metal. I practice shamanism so I call it epic shamanmetal. We put a lot of attention to creating something new.

Empire: Where do you draw your inspirations for your lyrics?

Meka: I draw from spiritual healing and more empowering themes, being your own hero and healer.

Empire. You guys have a new EP coming out, excited about that?

Meka: Dude, we recorded in Germany. We had a lot fun. Bobby loved Germany

Bobby: yeah it was great being in an environment where heavy metal is almost considered a religion, we also did a festival while we were there. It was our first time playing overseas. We are excited about the new EP, it pretty much blows everything else we have ever done before out of the water.

Empire: Did you have any time to go around and explore Germany any while you were there?

Meka: We weren’t going to but then our flight got delayed because of the hurricane, so we got some tickets to Metallica in Cologne Germany and it was my first time ever seeing them and being in that area was amazing.

Empire: How’s the music scene around Orlando?

Bobby: The scene around Orlando is great, I think it’s a little underrated because there is so much talent here in all types of genres. There isn’t any competition everyone helps out each other.

Meka: Ya we get a little foreshadowed because of the theme parks here, but a lot of quality music comes from here.

Empire: How was it like playing with Avatar?

Meka: We love them

Bobby: It was great, night in and night out they gave 110% . They taught us a lot and they took us under their wing. We got along very well. We hope to do it again.

Empire: If you could do a dream tour with 2 other bands, who would you want to with?

Bobby: I would probably have to go with Metallica.

Meka: There’s so many great bands. Ummm. Damn that’s not easy. Metallica is doing it to the next level. Let’s just get a Metallica tour together.

Empire: If you could bring back one musician from the dead, who would it be?

Bobby: That’s a tough one, especially since a lot of good ones recently passed. For me it would have to be DimeBag Darrell. He was such an amazing guitar player.

Meka: He was such a good person and the way he died, that’s a good one. I’m a huge Janis Joplin fan, she’s just a huge inspiration for me.

Empire: What Band would you want to see reunite with all the reunions going around lately?

Bobby: I was just talking about this with someone the other day, I would love to see Skid Row reunite. That would be so awesome

Meka: Oh my god (Laughs at what band Bobby wants to see reunited) I got to see Rage against the Machine and Radiohead in Japan which was awesome, they don’t come to Florida(Laughs)

Empire: Was there a reason why you were in Japan?

Meka: I lived there for a few years. I went to find inspiration and I found some. I played over 150 shows while I was there. Japan is definitely my second home.

Empire: Anything you like to plug or say to the fans before we go?

Bobby: Our single The War Inside is out how, we are going to be releasing our EP on May 10th and preorders are going to start April 1st. Please if you want visit out Website

Meka: If you like Coffee, we have a Meka Nism Shaman roast with the greats like Elvira and Fred Schneider from the B52’s. The coffee is phenomenal and I get to bless the beans before they are roasted.

About Author

Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

See author's posts