written by Marko Jakob
Pix666: Hey CK. Thanks for your time. How are you doing these days, are you alive and well?
CK Smile: Hi, I’m fine thanks and yes! I’m alive fortunately. I hope you do too.
Pix666: Thanks. I’m fine, too. Please introduce your band to the readers in a few short sentences. What kind of music does Chaoseum make?
CK Smile: The band was founded in 2018 by our guitarists Loïc and Val, the 1st album “First step to hell” was released in the same year with Lola Van Lo on vocals. In 2019 Lola quitted the band and they called me to join them. We have many influences: heavy metal, metalcore, nu metal… we’re not really fixed, we just want to play what we want.
Pix666: What was your inspiration to become a musician and what are your current favourite bands?
CK Smile: Music is the best way to express all emotions. I started to play music with my dad when I was a little kid and I’ve never quit… and I never will. I really like many bands but at this moment I listen to Massive Attack and Genesis.
Pix666: As you said, you joined the band about a year after it was founded. How did you get in touch with the guys?
CK Smile: I met Loïc (guitarist) a few years ago and we played in a band together. We kept in touch all these years and one day he told me “Hey man I have a new band! Do you want to be the singer?” Later, I met Val and Greg. The story’s longer but it’s a good summary.
Pix666: You’ve been on the road with Chaoseum for about two years now. What have been the best experiences and milestones so far?
CK Smile: My first crazy experience was my second show in my country, that was on a big stage, opening for Eluveitie, in front of a thousand people. But after I had many other crazy experiences on tour in Russia, at the famous “Whiskey a go go” in Los Angeles, at the Namm show. I can’t wait to get back on the road with my brothers.
Pix666: In April, your new video ‚Smile Again‘ was released. Where did you shoot the clip, what is the message of the song and how were the fans’ reactions?
CK Smile: We did it at Pixel Studio in Monthey (Switzerland). Smile Again… It’s about this “mask” that many people use to hide their weaknesses, anger, sadness, shame or even loneliness. I’m one of them..but I use my smile. I wanted to share that in a song. The reactions were good and unexpected 😉
Pix666: Nine months ago your album ‚Second Life‘ was released. Did you use the difficult time with all the Corona restrictions to write more new songs? Will there maybe be a new album in the near future?
CK Smile: Of course we used this time for this album, finally all these restrictions were a good thing to finish this album. A new album..? You will see 😉
Pix666: You had a tour planned for this year that had to be postponed because of the Corona pandemic. Are there already new dates, will the tour be made up for?
CK Smile: We don’t have the exact dates at the moment, all we know is that the tour with Fleshgod Apocalypse will be this autumn. We hope the situation will not postpone it again.
Pix666: I think that much of bands’ main income comes from live concerts. How do you keep your head above water? Are fans buying more shirts and other merch at the moment?
CK Smile: We have a good community buying our albums, shirts and other stuff on our website and with “le Lapin blanc merch” a good partner for sale goodies bands. That helps us a lot, yes.
Pix666: Social media and music streaming are both a blessing and a curse for bands. From your point of view, what are the advantages and disadvantages of this development for your band Chaoseum?
CK Smile: Yeah that’s a good thing to me, the big advantage is that people can see that music is still alive and discover other bands. The disadvantage is you can’t live this beautiful moment screaming and drinking your beers in the crowd and on the stage. I miss being on the stage front of you!!
Pix666: You have an eye-catching outfit as a band. How important is the visual component for you?
CK Smile: Very fu***** important! We are ugly so we need makeup on our faces to be a little bit sexy… haha just kidding. We like this theatrical visual not to give only music and maybe follow our legends like Kiss or Alice Cooper. Robert Smith in my case 😉
Pix666: As a musician, you certainly spend most of your time creating music – but what else do you do in your free time when you want to get your mind off things – are there any interesting hobbies that you pursue? 😊
CK Smile: I love horror movies, so I collect figures and other goodies from horror movies and I like video games so I play a lot… Yeah I’m fu**** nerdy and I’m proud of it. And I drink good Whiskey, really, only the good ones.
Pix666: Where do you see Chaoseum in about 5 years – what are your dreams as a band and on which stages would you most like to play?
CK Smile: We are a small band trying to grow up everyday, my dreams are to play on big fests, on famous stages, to meet many other bands, to see the chaos family becoming a big chaos family and to continue to see your smiles on your faces.
Pix666: Do you have any other news about Chaoseum, that you would like to share with the fans?
CK Smile: Yeah, a new acoustic album will be available really soon this year and we’re already working on a new album to kick your ass so stay tuned my friends 😉 And all what I can say to our fans is THANK YOU so much and I love you… and for those who don’t know us… I’ll love you too 😉
Keep your smile Pix666 and thank you.
Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting answers – Good luck for the future – hope to see you soon live on stage again!!!
https://www.facebook.com/chaoseum/
photos © by Stéphane Harnisch
