Testify

Interview by Culture Shock Magazine

With their new album Mmmyaoooo and the departure of founding member Rascal Nikov, Testify establish themselves as a full fledged band rather than a TFS side project. Moses fills us in.


How did Testify come about and what is its purpose? Why did you decide to stress the use of guitar so much?

The very first motivation was creating something different,louder,heavier. The parents of Testify were Rascal and Myk of TFS. Formerly Testify was thought to be kind of a side project something like a valve for the TFS guys; a sort of musical playground to try things that would not fit into the frames of the classic TFS sounds. Nowadays Testify is a sincere band thing based on the works of Myk doing the vocals,progs,and sampling and Moses working on guitar,computer and sampler taking over most of the work Rascal who left Testify in summer '95 did before. The stress of the guitars to me is a very natural thing because I've always been a metal head. A short list of some of the very first records that I called my own may give an impression where my love for metal plus electronics is rooted; Kraftwerk,AC/DC,Gary Numan,Judas Priest,Ultravox.

How did you hook up with Fluffy and Howie Beno for the Blizkrieg mixes?How did that go?Will you be working with them in the future?

I guess the contact came from our American label,Van Richter and especially Paul Abramson. But was it Paul who asked Beno or was it Beno who asked Paul?Nevertheless we sent them material from the first album and they did it. They mixed it. Great work guys! It's a pity we never met them afterwards. It should happen at least this century!

Skrew is to produce the next Testify album. How did that come about?How closely have you worked with them? Can you tell us the title?

We did not work with the whole band but with Adam Grossman, the Skrew singer and guitar player. He had heard Testify before and told our label that he was interested in working with us. Adam came over to Germany to take part in the production. We had prepared a collection of 14 or 15 songs before, so he could chose his favorites to work on. He did acouple of great things ; sometimes progs additions,sometimes choir vocals, a little noisy guitar solo,arrangement adjustments and so on. He really did quite good work. I had the impression the he was very close to the spirit of our music. By the way I love the Skrew material too. And I like Adam as a person- quite a nice and cool guy.

What does the future hold for Testify?

Of course the new release- I guess in June '96.,called Mmmyaoooo. Also live touring in the states if possible, a deal for Germany and Europe of course touring Germany and Europe and maybe some remix work or collaberation with other acts- nothing fixed yet,just ideas.


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