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Interview With Karo Torosyan From Orcus

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  • Interview With Karo Torosyan From Orcus

    INTERVIEW WITH KARO TOROSYAN FROM ORCUS

    Cellular-News, UK
    June 25 2006

    Glendale, California's progressive black metal band, Orcus has been
    making its mark on the local Los Angeles music scene with their dark
    and mysterious brand of heavy music. They are getting ready to release
    their debut album 'Birth' on June 26th and have recently opened for
    the likes of Obituary and My Ruin. I took some time recently to get
    some questions answered by their bassist, Karo Torosyan.

    Rocket: So are you originally fom Glendale?

    Karo: No, I was actually born in Armenia. I was about four years old
    when my family decided to move to California and I've been roaming
    around Glendale and Los Angeles ever since.

    Rocket: When did you start playing the bass guitar?

    Karo: Well, it's actually kind of funny because I started out with
    playing Classical guitar at the age of 12, and that didnt go too
    far and I started playing classic rock and then metal. When I played
    metal it just seemed natural for me to switch to bass, and I think
    it worked out pretty well. I definitely have a lot more fun playing
    bass than any other instrument.

    Rocket: What kind of basses are you playing? Give us the model
    and specs.

    Karo: Currently my most prized possession is my Fender Jazz bass. Its a
    remake of the 60s model. I did most of the recording on our new record
    Birth with a pretty decent Ibanez Soundgear bass, but I definitely
    prefer the Fender Jazz over anything else Ive played.

    Rocket: Nothing beats the Fender tone. Never will. What kind of
    amp rig?

    Karo: What I really want is a good Ampeg rig, but I've been using a
    pretty decent Fender combo amp that pumps out 300Watts and is very
    easy to get a few really good tones out so it's working fine so far.

    Rocket: What kind of strings do you use currently? Give us the Brand
    name and is it light or heavy gauge?

    Karo: I'm really infatuated with flatwounds lately. DAddario makes
    a good set of flatwounds, and anything with regular tension is perfect.

    They're a lot smoother to play on and you get a deeper and more hollow
    tone out of the bass that way. If you're downtuning flatwounds will
    typically just sound like shit, so you just stick to higher tensions
    and you're good.

    Rocket: Right on. I can hear all the notes being taken by the students
    of metal out there right now. Ha! Do you play with your fingers or
    a pick?

    Karo: Fingers! It just seems much more natural to me and I prefer the
    sound you get from fingerpicking, plus it gives you room to slap the
    strings when you need to.

    Rocket: My sentiments exactly. To me, playing with a pick is really
    like masturbating with gloves on. So who are a few bass players past
    or present that have had the biggest influence on your playing?

    Karo: Martin Mendez from Opeth, Cliff Burton of Metallica, and of
    course Geezer Butler.

    Rocket: That ole Geezer! Haha! Wicked bassist... just listen to early
    Sabbath... I mean, really listen... and he'll simply blow you away.

    How does the songwriting process work with Orcus, where you are
    involved? Do you have something to do with the song being created at
    inception or are you the last guy in line to add yer two cents?

    Karo: With Orcus, everyone pretty much gets to take part in the
    songwriting. We'll all come up with little things here and there and
    put them together. Every now and then I'll come up with a guitar riff
    or two and I'll put together all my basslines. I'm also involved in
    writing some of the lyrics.

    Rocket: What's been your favorite metal album for 2006 so far?

    Karo: That would have to be Stormblast by Dimmu Borgir. I dont know
    if that would be considered cheating since its a re-issue with better
    recordings and production, but that'll have to be it. Dimmu Borgir
    has been nothing short of pure genius ever since Spiritual Black
    Dimensions, so its by far the best album this year as far as my
    opinion is concerned.

    Rocket: So do you ever take time to answer fan mail on the Orcus
    Myspace profile?

    Karo: All the time, pretty much every day. If you send us something
    on myspace, well definitely read it and reply.

    Rocket: What's the funniest thing that's ever happened to you on stage?

    Karo: That would have to be when my A string randomly popped in
    the middle of a set. Thankfully, I had a second bass that I was
    originally just going to use for the songs where we downtune, so I
    had to use that bass for all the songs and try to tune as quickly
    with the keyboards as possible in between songs.

    Rocket: What's the next Orcus show we need to keep our eyes open for?

    Karo: We'll be playing on July 7th at the Key Club in Los Angeles.

    Well be playing with our good friends, Neurobox.

    Rocket: Give a shout out to your biggest supporters.

    Karo: Of course my family, and the long list of amazing friends: Meher,
    Arman, Vartan, Monica, Nayrie, Gev, Tuft, JB and her friends, Tak,
    James, Jess, Anna, Marine, etc. Most importantly, I'd like to thank
    everyone that takes the time to listen to our music and appreciated
    as we intend it.

    http://www.metalunderground.com/interviews/de tails.cfm?newsid=19882
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