Interview Interrogation: Shayan from Trivax (England)

Although Trivax originated in Iran, the frontman Shayan S. moved to the UK in 2010 to pursue becoming a metal musician. The rest of the band members are from Birmingham with the exception of bassist 'S' who originates from Syria. So where East meets West and liberalist and conservative cultures clash, Trivax stands strong as a force of nature. Shayan spoke to GMA about growing up as an Iranian metalhead, challenges faced and what it's like being immersed in the British Metal scene.

"If you're religiously or politically against what the Government (Iranian) do or believes in then you can almost be executed"

Trivax didn't form in the UK, so could you tell us it's origins? What is the Iranian scene like?

     "Eh no I originally formed the band on my own in Iran in 2009. I can't really say there's much of a scene because it's illegal over there to be doing this kind of thing. There are obviously some musicians who are trying to be active but obviously the quality of what comes out isn't quite as good because people don't really get to exercise the rights for music. So obviously because there's rarely any gigs or anything like that. As bands, they don't really have a great deal to offer but of course there's a lot of good musicians who have come out of there. From The Vastland is an Iranian Black Metal band formed by a friend of mine called Sina who is now based in Norway, and they're doing quite well at the moment.

     The name Trivax translates to 'storm', it's a transcription of a war, of a name that's in Farsi and yes it came about nine years ago as I mentioned in April 2009. I just decided that this was what I needed to be doing, I didn't really have the circumstances to be doing it at the time, it's just the hunger to create and play extreme music and to light up the fire that's in you."


So would most Iranian metalheads leave the country to pursue metal music careers, etc?

     "I wouldn't say most, no, they would like to but I don't think anyone can do it"


What can happen if someone in Iran was found to be supporting metal music?

     "Well it can usually just start off with getting arrested by the culture police which means they'll cut your hair, eventually they'll let you go on bail, or if you're playing live music without permission from the Government, then that can go very badly... they can break your instruments and things, finally if you're religiously or politically against what the Government do or believes in then you can almost be executed."


What do your parents think of you playing metal music?

     "I think they might have been slightly sceptical at first, but I have to say that they have been greatly, greatly supportive - it might not be something that they'd listen to themselves, but they really enjoy it, they support that it is something I believe in because they see that it's not just a hobby or just something for me to try to and impress my friends with. This is my life. They're open-minded about it."

The Bull, Birmingham / Source: Birmingham Mail

Did you face any challenges when you wanted to learn to play metal music?

     "None really, it'd a different environment to what it is like here, I was that desperate to actually play and I learned that whatever difficulties that were in the way, I would push through them."


How does it feel to be at Bloodstock?

     "Feels pretty amazing, yeah so far everyone has been kind to us and we're very much looking forward to the show."


Do you get nervous when going on stage?

     "erm... I don't, I... it's a very strange state of mind, I'm not sure if I can really talk about it and have it make any sense, all I can say is that it gets very intense and excitement."


Do you feel metal music in general and not just Bloodstock, brings the world together irrespective of socio-cultural and political differences?

     "Absolutely, that's why we are here, we share this metal music together with people I've never met before, but we're all brothers and sisters in metal."


Are there any greetings or thank you's that you wish to send out?

     "Many thanks to those who have supported us over the years and devoted the time to come, we're only really getting started with Trivax and we're going to do our best to get out there as much as possible, and conquer each one of you".

https://www.facebook.com/trivaxband