Getting to Know… LifeCycle | Interview 🎤

For the 54^th interview in the Getting to Know… series, The Musical Hype gets the scoop on New Jersey alt-metal band, LifeCycle. 

“…We place a high value on candy, food, beer, whiskey and bringing you guitar driven rock with great melody…” What an awesome way to describe what makes your band unique, right? Right! That answer alone to the first question of the 54^th interview on The Musical Hype’s Getting to Know… series definitely makes the Jackson, New Jersey alt-metal band LifeCycle distinct.  For the record, the rest of the answer provided is pretty rad too, but you’ll have to read it for yourself! Providing just wee bit more background info, the band is comprised of five members: Asim Rizvi (vocals), John Soden (drums/vocals), Kevin Hightower (guitar/vocals), Joe Viggiano (guitar), and Scott Pustilnick (bass/keyboards/vocals). Without further ado, let’s jump right into Getting to Know… LifeCycle: Interview #54!

Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype (Faulkner): Let’s get this started off right. For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes LifeCycle distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

LifeCycle: What makes LifeCycle unique is the fact that we place a high value on candy, food, beer, whiskey and bringing you guitar driven rock with great melody.  We always ask the audience to remove their socks prior to entering the venue.  It helps our ability to rock socks.

Faulkner: #Rad! Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did LifeCycle form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

LifeCycle: The band was formed when Scott (bass) placed an ad on Craigslist to find a singer.  Scott found a singer.  The Singer found not one, but two great guitarists (Kevin and Joe).  The Singer found an amazing drummer (John) We then fired the singer. John found a new singer (Asim).  That was an odd route to getting the band together, but it worked great.  Our vision was to make guitar driven metal but without screaming and conforming to the cookie cutter formula.  We didn’t want to get a band that just screamed verses and sang choruses.

Faulkner: Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

LifeCycle: Nothing has changed.  Since day 1 our goal is to tour and tour.  We love Japan and the long-term goal is to get to see our friends in Japan and play there live….as much as possible.

Faulkner: Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

LifeCycle: You are correct, everyone is influenced by someone else.  Our biggest influence is each other.  There are five of us and we all write. We all have a say in how these songs are created and how they come alive. Of course, we enjoy other bands, but our main influence is LifeCycle.

Faulkner: Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

LifeCycle: We are playing our self-titled debut single “Lifecycle” available now! The song makes you want to drive fast, lift weights, jump off things etc.  The crowd starts getting into it.   After 2 minutes of this intensity, this guy makes his way to the front row and holds his hand out.  I look in his hand and he is holding two teeth. I look up at him and he smiles…they were his teeth for sure because that smile was missing some key parts and it was freshly squeezed!  He didn’t look upset. A little smile and he made his way back into the pile of humanity…

Faulkner: Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

LifeCycle: Our 2nd single, “Burnout” is being released on March 4th 2020… if you are reading this and its after that date, you can buy or listen to it everywhere!  Recording it was just really amazing.  It starts with a killer guitar intro and were able to add some strings also. In addition, it’s a big hook chorus so that was also really fun putting it together.  The creative process for “Burnout” is my favorite to date.

Faulkner: Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

LifeCycle: The band is really into comedy. When we get together, it’s tough to not fool around and goof off.  We aren’t very serious most of the time, so we carve out extra time at rehearsals because we are having too much fun.  Due to this, we created a YouTube series called, “A Day in the LifeCycle”.  This episodic series takes you on an insane journey into the days and nights of the band.  It’s ridiculous at times.  We think you will enjoy it.

Faulkner: Closing this thing out, what is you/your band currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.

LifeCycle: Lifecycle is constantly putting out content.  The debut single, “Lifecycle”, dropped Jan 15, 2020.  The follow up single, “Burnout” drops March 4^th, 2020.  Our roadmap is set forth to give our fans a new single every month or so to keep things fresh.  On top of that plan, we make new Episodes of “A Day in the LifeCycle” every other week.  There are about 15 episodes so far to binge.  (They get better as they go!).  Our website is also a great place to get it all……one stop shopping.  I have included a few links for you to get everyone in the mix.  thanks for having us!

“Lifecycle” – Single (Spotify/Apple)

Socials & Such: Website • Facebook • YouTube

Faulkner: Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.  Thank you and may the Schwartz be with you!

Photo Credits: Break the Glass Photo, Brent Faulkner, LifeCycle, The Musical Hype