This is Namtar Axarcuth hailing from Philadelphia PA USA, today we will be interviewing Preston from the band Chovu hailing from Kenya in Africa
1.) Hails brother ,its an honor to do this interview with you today, I have seen you guys have been making quite a name for yourselves lately, Tell the readers where the name Chovu comes from and what it means to you.
1.)Hello Namtar,Greetings from Kenya,I am Preston Samna Madoo the vocalist,AKA Lord Rot,To answer your first question Chovu is borrowes from ancient dead swahili languange which means "something bad." The modern swahili refers it to 'Kiovu'
We picked this name to represent our message of dying customs and how the christianity turned our ancestral practices to evil or works of evil.
2.) Do you guys have a specific lyrical content you stick to , or do you write about many different subjects?
2.)Yes we so have a specific lyrical content based on African warriors,demons,witches and forefathers.Sometimea just for fun we throw in alittle of Satan because of the sauce he adds to metal music but we really focus on African folklore,myths and recordes history.
3.) Correct me if I'm wrong , I am an occultist and practice many different forms of rituals, conjurings and study the occult in a million different ways as to only study one thing limits you greatly, to me it seems you may be into voodoo of some sorts, is my assumption right or wrong? And if you do can you explain your practices and beliefs and how that may tie into your music.
3.)We do practice voodoo magic and you might notice on our recent shows we gave tribute to our ancestors before playing the show.We borrowed west african theatrics of calling to the ancestors for guidance in which case during live performances old black spirits with high energy posses us and we fulfil our ritual and the deal is for them to return our flesh vessels to us after. The entire voodoo cultures runs in our blood since our ancestors had their hand in deep in the pot of the old Gods We do cleansing and protection rituals and summoning of higher power to influence our creation.
4. What are the biggest music influences for Chovu, what bands drove you to make the music you make?
4.)Biggest music influences run from Darkthrone,Carpathian forest,Psychonaut
4,Ahab,Nocturnal Depression,Moonspell,Overthrust,Skinft Among others in metal Also further from metal are african artists like Ayub Ogada for his folklore ,Fela kuti and every spiritual singer of Africa who summon and appease the ancestors
5.)Is there a scene in Kenya or are you the only band doing the kind of music you're doing there?
5.)We are not the only band in kenya but for now we are the only one doing our genre of extreme black metal and death metal elements, Other bands are like Irony Destroyed who do deathcore like sound, Last years Tragedy who are more metalcore, Straight line Connection who i would call progressive and alittle bit of nu metal..but our old scene had more brutal bands but most disbanded though characters from the old bands went ahead to form the new ones
6.)How tolerant are the people of your country of extreme metal ? Is this something you must do in secret or is it widely accepted?
6.)To be honest our genre is quite extreme here. For the first time in our five years active ,we have played twice in our own country metal scene and we still scare guys in the scene.Only interest from the crowd has prevented us from being lynched to death.Although we have been attacked before for having demon corpse paint on,we have been called an evil occult of satan for how we dress and how we feel and think.We have been denied by friends and family for our interests.Our biggest fan base is outside kenya.Here we are Something Bad,haha,pun intended.
7.) How many releases does Chovu have at this time? Are you working on any new recordings?
7.)So far Chovu has a few releasea if i can mention them
We have an exclusive album edition of WHAT SORCERY IS THIS ? released by Masters of Kaos,
We have Moran the Ep
We have 3 split albums with Overthrust,The Witch and Osy Mainty
So we are still quite a long way to go but we love the response with the releases we have done.We have close to 15 to 20 songs released and we are currently working on full length album and a possible Ep,Ouraon challenge is not song writing its recording which is unavailbale for underground artists in kenya,we have the service of mixing and mastering being offered by our friend Jay Parker but to send him the materials requires alot from us and we are not suitable financially capable country to support youth talent easy,especially a metalband.We have had support from you and other metal artists abroad and trust me thats the only thing keeping us alive our outside connection to fellow metalheads is helping us stay on the map.
8.) Is there a writing collective amongst the band or is there one person who writes the songs and teaches them to the other members?
8.)At the start song writing was a learning process from everyone but at this point im confident to say we are on the next level of this because its evident that all members take part in song writing.Chovu songs inclide riffs written by Guitarists or Bassist or arrengement by drummer or arrangement by me, its a whole contribution of effort ,in another time i would enjoy explaining everysong whose responsible for what but for now im confident in saying we are a group effort in song writting.
9.)I have had the honor of releasing one of your splits on my label Plague Demon Records, along with all of my partner labels, will you be releasing anything else with us in the future or are you aiming at a higher record deal?
9.)I remember the release with Plague Demon and how it came in handy after that step,we have made friends with Artists like Chris Waters of Imisanthrope and more American underground enthusiasts.Ofcourse we would like to work more with you we enjoy how collaborations are taking us closer to the dream of touring and being pioneers of alot in kenya so yes we wont be close minded to partnership we welcome it.
10.) Do you have any words of wisdom or hatred to the fans,readers,friends or enemies of Chovu?
10.)Anywords hahaha this is a goodone I’ve realized the first approach of most people to Chovu is hate but when they get to know us they love us to death,so my words are
Be patient we are on to something pure and revolutionary,hold your breath ,no one is free until everyone is ,so wish us luck for we fight for freedom.would like to say personally that you are one of the coolest ,laid back metal tyrants I've ever encountered and I'm honored to have gotten to know you and your bandmates, for anyone who hasn't listened to Chovu, stop procrastinating and get out there and support these guys/ and girl . Hails to all of you, and thanks for doing this interview!
Thanks for the interview we shall never forget this mighty Namtar,and i personally love your band and would love one of your merchandise in future.Thank you! Chovu https://chovu.bandcamp.com/album/what-sorcery-is-this https://www.facebook.com/Chovuband https://www.instagram.com/chovuke/