Answered by Chris Sia (Drummer)
- Hello everyone, before starting with the actual interview, can you introduce yourself to the readers?
Hey there I'm Chris, the drummer of California's Split Image, and I am stoked to be here!
- Can you tell us about your musical project and how it was born?
Split Image technically started in 2009 as D.V.T. so our musical project is actually a rebranding of that band.
The name Split Image was incarnated a decade after the founding of D.V.T. in 2019. We like to call ourselves
Crossover Hardcore since our music mostly consists of punk rock, crossover thrash, and hardcore. As of lately we
decided to add some synthesizers into the mix so you got a little bit of electro in there.
- How did you think of your name? Can you retrace the genesis and the meaning of it?
When it came to naming the band it was difficult to do. It came to the point of writing down as many names and
ideas as we can, however none of the names appealed to us song/album names instead of being a band name.
One day driving home from work I was with Joey and the song Split Image by Excel played on my playlist.
Joey looks at me and says, "Why don't we just call the band Split Image?" That's where it all started! The best
part about our name is that it is a homage them. That and we all like Excel a lot.
- What are your influences and who inspired you?
Personally my influences as a drummer are Dino (Dystopia) and Joey Jordison (Slipknot). The person that really
inspired me to play music, I can speak for my brother Joey as well, is our dad. Our dad had played in a few bands
ranging from a crossover band called Local Harassment in the late 80s all the way to a metal band called
Noise Dysfunction in the early 2000s. I always thought, "Wow that is so cool." as I watched him perform with his
band in the 2000s and looked at pictures of his late 80s band to the point where me and Joey just kind of followed
in his footsteps. Not to mention that our family, especially our grandparents, are musically inclined so music
just runs in the family. As for Josh has always loved music as he always went to gigs as a show goer. When Split
Image was incarnated it soon became going to gigs to both watch and play these shows!
- Tell me your favorite bands, for each member of the group?
We have a wide variety of tastes for music! Josh (lead vocals) likes a lot of metal and old school hardcore
like the Cro-Mags, Megadeth, and Biohazard amongst many sick bands. Joey (guitar) is a lover of 2000s Nu Metal
such as Slipknot and new pop bands like BTS. When it comes to my favorite bands I have been listening to a lot of
Holding Absence and Turnstile at the moment. Like I said our music tastes are all over the place.
- How do you compose your songs?
We either compose our songs on our own time or in the band room together! I used to write songs virtually every day,
however we have so much complete songs in our catalogue that have yet to be recorded and released that I don't
have to write as much as I used to. Sometimes Josh would have ideas in mind, hum it out, then Joey and I would
transcribe these hummed tunes out into guitar and bass then bam we got a riff which then leads to a full song!
- Tell us about your first live experience and your most recent!
What is interesting is that our first live experience and most recent are very similar to one another. During both our
our first and most recent live experience as Split Image we didn't have bassist. So we actually had IEMs plugged in
as we played to a metronome while backing tracks and bass tracks were getting played through the front of house.
Aside from the technical side of things both shows were amazing and we are plenty thankful for the promoters that
put us on their shows and the fans that come and check us out.
Have you ever had "stage anxiety"? Do you have any suggestions for newbies?
I think the only time I have ever had stage anxiety was during a Battle of the Bands for Warped Tour. It was such
a huge deal during the time that I couldn't wrap my head around winning every round up until the finals. The best
suggestion that I can give to newbies is to always remember that when you're up on stage you're their to have fun
and have good time. The crowd is there for the same reasons why you're up on stage - you both love music!
- What do you think of your fans? What is the strangest anecdote related to them?
Our fans are fun, amazing, and down to earth! Nothing strange has happened - if anything it was more of a cool
thing. During our most recent show at The Void in San Bernardino, CA (shout to the IE Pyrate Punx and Leigha)
we decided to give out some free merch during our set and everyone scrambled to cop a shirt and stickers.
It was just heart warming for me to see how much our fans really dig us.
- Before concluding, we leave room for you to add the last few things!
First off if you're local to the Inland Empire in California come check us out! If you're not we will likely be
playing at a local venue near you! Secondly, sometime from July to August we will be releasing a new single
called SLOTH so keep an eye out for that one especially if you like old school hardcore mixed with a little bit
of Turnstile. Anyways, please follow us on Instagram @SplitImageCA and Spotify. Thank you so much for taking the
time to interview us!