No Class Assassins
11th Annual Metal/Hardcore Song Vox Pop Winner
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Record Label: Self-Released
www.facebook.com/noclassdave
Home Base: Saint Clair County Michigan
Genre: Hardcore Groove Metal
Categories Entered: Best Metal/Hardcore Song
Work Submitted: Third Times Not a Charm
Artists Featured: Jay Shurkey: Vocals, Dave Kelsey: Guitars, Aaron Schuman: Drums, Chris Stotler: Bass
Label: None
URLs: www.facebook.com/noclassdave
www.myspace.com/ap4d
www.reverbnation.com/noclassassassins
Who are your influences? Pantera, Alice in Chains, American Head Charge, Down, Acid Bath, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, EyehateGod, Crowbar, Vision of Disorder, Lamb of God, Chimaira, Goatwhore, Soilent Green, Slayer, Earthcrisis, Walls of Jericho. The full list of influences is way too long to list here.
Describe your nominated work. Lyrically Third times not a charm is about shitty relationships described in an extreme way. Almost everyone in the world can relate to having one. Musically speaking, you could say that Third times not a charm would be our punk influenced song because the tempo is a little faster and it is one of our shorter songs.
How did you raise the funds for this project? How long do you expect it will take to recoup your out-of-pocket recording expenses? Well we worked/ sold a vehicle to pay for our studio time. We are not sure how long it will take to recoup our out-of-pocket expenses, we need to advertise our name so people know about us.
Why did you choose to submit this work to The 11th IMAs? Well we chose Third Times Not a Charm because it was one of five songs on “The No Class” EP that we released last summer. All five songs were very well produced, mixed and mastered and since we could not afford to submit all five songs, we figured this song would be a great representation of what we sound like.
What’s your definition of success and how will you know when you’ve achieved it? Well, our definition of success would be to able to go out on the road and tour and then record more music without having to work other jobs. When we go out on the road and start to gain a bit of a cult following, thats when we know that we are a success. To us playing metal is not able getting rich and famous, its about being ourselves and living life the way we want, not necessarily how society tells us how we should live our lives.
How will you leverage your IMA honors to achieve your career goals? Having a song nominated by several other musicians that have found success in the music world is a HUGE Honor. We look at it as sort of a stamp of approval in a way. We hope that by receiving IMA honors, No Class Assassins will be name that will stick in peoples heads because of the Heavy music that we create which has plenty of groove and feeling to it.
Who’s sitting in your audience and what makes your fans unique? Our fans are very unique in that we have a very wide variety of people in different age groups that like our music. People as young as 11 years old to people who are in their 50s & 60s.
Are there any songs you wish you wrote and why? No, while there are plenty of great songs out there, we love every song that we write ourselves. While we are not necessarily trying to be the next “big trend” we have confidence that the material we write will catch peoples attention.
What artists are you listening to that would surprise your fans? The Doors, The Animals, Grateful Dead, The Beatles to name few.
How do you discover new music? Do you buy music or are you content with streaming? I usually find out about new music online.
How will musicians make a living if fans continue to expect music to be free? It will be a lot harder that is for sure seeing as most musicians depend on music/merchandise sales for their living.
What don’t fans/audiences understand about the music industry today? Just because a band is out on the road and touring, that doesn’t mean that they are extremely rich because more than likely they will be the exact of opposite of rich.
Are digital singles/EPs vs. full albums the future? We are still fans of full length albums as long as they are badass, not halfassed.
Finish this sentence: The music industry is… Not as easy to deal with as one would think. In order to be successful you have to have passion for your music, along with a lot of patience. Success does not come overnight, it takes a lot of hard work.
What do you have in the works for the upcoming year? We would like to find a good label that will help us get on the road to support the “No Class” EP which we released last summer. Eventually by the end of the year we would like to get back in the studio and record our first full length album.