Inflikt are rising luminaries out of the Portland underground scene. Their music is crushing, melodic and promises to infect you with their brand of metal.
The band went through line up changes in the past but became the strength it has become known for when front man LB William joined the band.
They are such a solid, driven unit, all supremely focused on their dream. I would put my money on them.
INFLIkT, out of Portland OR offers a new breed of metal. One that is equally crushing as it is infectiously catchy. INFLIkT stands out as one of the best metal acts in the Pacific Northwest.
Since forming in 2002, the band has been pounding the Pacific Northwest black and blue with high intensity performances. Reaching out as far as Idaho to Northern California, INFLikT has left their mark. INFLIkT has shared the stage with such national acts as DAMAGEPLAN, FIVEFOOTTHICK, THE HAUNTED, Pissing Razors, Speak No Evil, UnJust and 36 CRAZYFISTS.
INFLIkT delivers a sound that is very hard to "tag" but it is one that humans can relate to. Remember early Korn, Pantera, Deftones, Helmet, Slipknot? INFLIkT does. That is the vein through which INFLIkT pulses.
Heavy and very marketable, INFLIkT brings you a NEW BREED OF METAL.
INFLIkT is currently shopping a recently recorded demo to labels and management companies. The band is planning a full west coast tour for the summer of '05 and is in pre-production of their debut music video.
PM: What are your influences?
Joe: Jimi Hendrix, SRV, Dimebag, Page Hamilton, Tom Morello.
Stephen: Eddie Van Halen made me want to play and Stevie Vie made me want to quit.
Ken: My influences range from Buddy Rich to Tommy Lee, Alex Van Halen. Drummers that are very progressive, heavy and are
showman.
Kurt: I don't have any influences.
Stephen: Ya he does...Coal Chamber!
LB: I'm heavily influenced by a lot of the artist of today. I keep my roots pure but I try to pay attention to whats going on
in the scene.
Damien: Anything heavy!
PM: So How was Inflikt created?
Stephen: Joe and I played in a band together when we were kids back in Grants Pass where three of us come from LB, Joe and
myself. We disbanded because we were just too young, then got back in touch with each other here in Portland. I was in
2XNoise and when that failed I hooked back up with LB and have been together ever since with different lineups but we've
always been together, LB & I. Then Joe came in and we had the core back together. We auditioned a few drummers then sicko
came into the picture and changed our whole world. Then we held auditions for a bass player, Kurt showed up and was just
insane with his enthusiam and his flip flops (laughter). I said as long as this guy don't where flip flops anymore I'm down.
I've known Damien since high school, so I've known him for years. I saw him at the pledge of allegance tour and we hooked up
from there. With his management skills he is a star player for us.
PM: How would you best describe the Inflikt sound?
LB: Can anyone describe their own music without sounding pompous? What I won't do is say who we sound like because that would
be a list of about 100 bands. We pull in so many different styles of music that it's really hard to describe. I quess maybe
Nu Metal with an old metal feel with extremely emotionaly driven vocals.
Damien: Melodicly crushing.
PM: What was the first album you ever purchased?
Joe: Dokken - Tooth and Nail, I had it in school with me and got sent to the principal's office because of the cover...I was
so proud of it.
Stephen: Motley Crue - Too Fast For Love, my father who is one of the biggest influences of me playing music looked at that
then me and did about five different takes, because if your not familier with the album cover it shows a guys crotch.
Laughter
Ken: Motley Crue - Shout at the Devil, them and Van Halen were the two bands I started collecting the most.
Kurt: The first two CDs I ever bought were a Weird Al (Alapalooza) and a 2 Live Crew.
LB: Micheal Jackson - Off the Wall, I sat in front of a mirrorfor like two weeks with a microphone and sing to that. I just
about shit my pants when I got Thriller cuz I was all about Michael Jackson.
Stephen: Then spent four weeks in front of the mirror with a dishrag on your hand for a glove!
Laughter
LB: Actually that year for Christmas I got the glove! I remember it came in a box and it was on a fake plastic hand.
Damien: My senior year of high school I got a Sepaltura album and have been into metal ever since.
PM: If you could do your dream show as a band where would you want to have it and with what other three bands living or dead?
LB: I would like to say we knocked out one those shows when we got to play a couple weeks ago with Dimebag and Vinny.
Inflikt: Pantera, Beatles, Metallica with Cliff Burton at the Roseland Theatre We play first but we would need a $200.00
gaurantee...Laughter.
PM: What is the Inflikt writing process?
Inflikt: That in itself is a work in progress. Our writing process is very open, everyone in the band has say and a voice in
the final product. Sometimes it's premeditated and sometimes it's off the cuff.
PM: As Inflikt what would you say is your greatest accomplishment?
Inflikt: Finding a lineup that gels as we do. The respect and friendship that we have with each other. Our mountain top
accomplishment would be getting to play with Damageplan, we still don't believe it happened, we think we had a collective
halucination.
PM: If you were to be picked up by a label would you be ready, willing and able to hit the road?
Inflikt: YUP! Our bags are already packed.
Damien: These guys have been playing forever and they deserve it.
PM: Any plans for a full length album soon?
Inflikt: No, we will wait til someone else can finance it. We will just continue to update and pump out demos.
PM: Where do you record?
Inflikt: Geomana Studios, yes Chris Finster is the man! Every local band should go there!
PM: I've been to many of your shows and know you always draw a crowd. What would you attribute your draw to?
Stephen: I don't know, It started impressing me when I started seeing faces of many people I don't know.
Joe: I think it's because people vibe off the fact that we want this so bad, like they can feel how bad we want this. When
all of us are on stage we're kicking it down and they kick it right back to us!
LB: We work really hard not only in our song writing, but at our performance. We try to put out the best stage performance
we can, to make it a good show for the crowd. Going to other shows to show our support to other bands. I can't count how
many people came that will come and listen to us because they saw our name on PortlandMusicians.com.
PM: Are there any thanks you'd like to send out at this time?
Inflikt: Deffinitely first and foremost, thanks to Chris Finster of GeoMana Studios. Deffinite thanks to Damien for all the
hard work he does. This guy even cooks us authentic Mexican food. A huge thanks goes out to the fans that support us!
