A Dirty Dozen with TRYST GERMAINE from 2 SHADOWS – February 2021

According to a recent press release: “2 Shadows is a four piece Metal band based out of Vancouver, Canada, consisting of members Glen Bridden (Lead Vocals), Tryst Germaine (Guitars), James Holder (Guitars) and Mitch Harsch (Drums). The band was founded in 2015 and for the last five 5 years have meticulously and methodically honing in their craft, leaving no stone unturned. Inspired by house hold name acts such as Slipknot, Rammstein and Marilyn Manson, the band is also inspired by the modern breed of Metal acts such as Motionless In White, Asking Alexandria, Bad Omens, and Avenged Sevenfold. 2 Shadows is a combination of the most modern sounding Metalcore blended with visually theatrical imagery, creating a duality that is the core of the band..” We get guitarist and founder Tryst to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

“Screamworks” is a pretty emotional song to all of us. There is a lot of hidden anger in that track and it’s definitely somewhat therapeutic for us to get some of those feelings out. We felt a sense of relief after releasing the song and yes! There is some stuff hidden in the song actually. You would never be able to tell but there is a crack of a beer can that we recorded and processed into an impact that ended up being used on the track.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

I have quite a musical family so I definitely found the passion at a pretty young age. It started with a love for a lot of classic rock bands and then as I started discovering heavier bands, I really started to crave the raw emotion and energy that these bands had. The moment that I realized I wanted to pursue a career in music is a memory I hold near and dear to my heart. I was 15 years old and working as a stagehand part time in an arena that was in the neighboring city to my home town. I was working a Five Finger Death Punch concert and they happened to be one of my favourite bands at the time. The crew was all waiting backstage for the show to finish so we could start taking down the stage and I remember FFDP finished their last song and the crowd was just thundering through the whole arena. Then their ex-guitarist Jason Hook came out from behind the curtain and started to walk the long ramp down from the stage wearing the biggest smile I’ve ever seen as the crowd was still roaring. That movie-like vision I had experienced had left me standing there shaking in realization that that was what I wanted to be.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

My love for the style of “Theatrical metal” all started at my first concert in 2007. Of course I’m talking about the one and only Alice Cooper! That concert set the bar high and taught me early that music is more than just for listening. That songs could come to life and that is something we strive for as a band. I later found out that Alice Cooper’s lead guitar player at that time was none other than Jason Hook as-aforementioned above which is CRAZY how he unknowingly made me fall in love with music and 7 years later inspired me to pursue it.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

There is A LOT of bands that inspire me today but if I had to pick five bands from my formative years it would be Slipknot, Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch and Bullet For My Valentine.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

I would have to pick Corey Taylor. Slipknot is the main band that ALL the members of 2 Shadows share a deep love for so I think if we ever had the chance to do a song with Corey it would be such a treasured moment and experience for us as a whole.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I would describe it as very theatrical, dark, and honest. We strive to create listening and visual experience that we hope sucks people in like we got sucked in as teens to our favourite bands. We have yet to have a comparison that made us cringe. We know exactly how hard any band had to work to get where they are and if someone compares us to a successful band then we will always take that as a compliment.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Our drummer Mitch was a chef for a long time so he’s the guy that has the generator fired up on tour with the crock pot rippin on a day off! We definitely communally get the drinks in and James, one of our guitarists can do all that acoustic guitar tap/drumming while playing thing so he’s usually the first one to bust it out.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

I am not really a “starstruck” type of person but I was at this big after party at the NAMM show in Anaheim a couple years ago and bumped shoulders with some guy, turned around to say sorry and to my surprise it was DJ Ashba! He sparked up a conversation and I chatted with his circle for a bit which consisted of Devin Townsend and Glen Sobel from Alice Cooper. I eventually split to another party and ran into Jared Dines, Jason Richardson and Luke Holland outside the hotel. And this was just the first day of NAMM!

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

The best part of being a musician is the memories. All the stages, cities, and fans leave so many amazing memories that we get to share as a band which lead to a closer bond than friendship. And MAN that is an unsettling question. Music is my whole life and wholeheartedly my dream job. I will not even think about that.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

I can’t really think of anything other than maybe non music related questions can be fun sometimes to keep it interesting. But ultimately I love being able to sit down with people with a shared love for music and have a conversation. I hope I never grow tired of it or any questions because it’s a part of the job that I quite enjoy.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

No I don’t think I would. Every bad move we made as a band we learned from and grew as a team. We’ve walked a hard road to get where we are but nothing so horrid worth doing over.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

This probably sounds super random coming from a guy in a metal band but If I could have sat in on any of Johnny Cash’s early recording sessions and got to watch history being made that would have been magical. I take a lot from the raw, real emotion in his music and I carry some aspects of that into our music.

BONUS QUESTION – Due to the current world situation with COVID-19 / quarantine / shelter in place, what have you discovered you miss the most from your life before the pandemic struck?

I’m sure this is being said by every musician ever but as soon as this all started unfolding and everything was getting canceled I knew I was going to miss performing. Being on that stage may be the biggest reason why I do what I do. There is no greater rush and I miss it!

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Category: Interviews