Hi, Ivan. Greetings from Germany! What are you up to these days?
With quarantine we haven't been able to see each other in months, so ultimately we're just trying to keep our minds occupied at home.Would you please introduce your band to our readers who are not aware of your band and music?
We're a duo from West Melbourne who play doom blended with various unrelated influences, check us out if you don't mind violins.
Give us a little insight into the formation of the band. When and how did it happen?
We formed IVAN in 2015 after meeting again after a few years of being out of touch. We reminisced about the terrible music we made as teenagers together and decided we could probably do a better job at making music as adults.
At what age did you guys start playing instruments? Since when are you into metal music?
We both started roughly when we were 12-13 years old. Similarly we were both discovering extreme genres at that time, starting with Death Metal. Also a lot of System Of A Down.
Ivan recently released "Silver Screens". Tell us something about it. Walk us through all the tracks lyrics and meaning.
Silver Screens is a personal album describing our own thoughts and emotions, but we want this listeners to be able to relate their own experiences to the music. We blended a variety of textures and melodies with doom metal riffs and lullaby style sections to accurately convey these feelings.
How has been the response so far by the listeners? Have you started working on new songs already?
So far the response has been quite positive! We're glad our fans enjoy it as much as they do. IVAN is always working on new music, but we only start recording when we feel we've written music that we're truly happy with and represents where we are on our musical journey.
What, according to you, is the secret behind band’s success?
We'll tell you as soon as we figure that one out.
If asked to differentiate Ivan from other bands from Australia, how would you like to respond to it?
Australia has such a diverse music scene that we think each band here has their own sound. It's really difficult to compare all the awesome and unique music that comes from here.
Which bands/artists do you draw your influences from? Which are your favorite local bands?
We're big fans of Shape Of Despair, Corrupted, Vampillia, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, David Sylvian. The list could go on forever! Lately it's been a lot of Kamasi Washington and Joji. As for our favourite local bands, it would have to be Be'lakor, Mournful Congregation and King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard.
How often do you guys gathering altogether just to fun?
We would usually hang out a couple of times a week just to talk shit, play videogames and drink. It hasn't been an option for a while due to quarantine though.
Ivan is very promising formation. Talking of your future, 2 years from now, where do you see yourself?
We're glad you think so!
Hopefully we're performing on stage by then with a few more releases under our belt.
Well, that’s it. Thanks a lot for your time. Speak out to all your fans and supporters.
Thanks for having us. We hope our fans continue to enjoy our music or at least tolerate it.