NEGATIVE SIXXX, is a thrash metal band formed in 2017 in Oakland, California, by seasoned musicians.
In September 2018 the band released their debut EP, “The Truth Shall Set You Free”, and the current line-up consists of: Sid Frankosky – lead vocals,, Rick Chaves – rhythm guitar/ backup vocals, Chris Van De Van – lead guitar, Rawn Wadley and Brian Scholer on drums.
I recently had the pleasure of talking to Sid Frankosky on past, present and future of NEGATIVE SIXXX.
MAtW – Negative Sixxx, a warm welcome to our webzine from across the world! How are you guys?
We are great Ioana, thanks for having us. We are getting excited and ready to play this dope show with Vio-lence April 13th.
MAtW – Can you give our new readers a short introduction of Negative Sixxx?
We are from Oakland California, so ya bay area based metal band, we have been a band for about a year and a half, but we all been playing music most of our lives.
MAtW – What is the story behind the name of the band?
Well we were going through a lot of different names, when I wrote the lyrics for “Minus 6 Feet” the second track off our EP, Chris our lead guitar player said “oh, minus 6 sounds cool for a band name”, and were were kinda torn with it, then Rick said how Negative six we all liked it so then we added the 3 x’s to give that extra push.
MAtW – You are all seasoned musicians. Can you share a bit about your musical background?
Yes we all have played in previous bands over the years, we played shows together while in different projects, Rick and Chris were in a Enemy Empirl which came to an end, Rawn was in Stormbat and in Swaybone, Brian was in a cover band playing 70’s songs, I was in Striktnyne and Desecrater, so we all have experience under our belts.
MAtW – Any side projects that you are currently involved in?
Yes. I’m still in Desecrater, Rawn is still in Swaybone and Brian still plays in his cover band, but most of our energy is definitely going into this project.
MAtW – Your EP, “The Truth Wil Set You Free” includes monolithic, old-school, melodic, technical and mature compositions. How was the EP received?
We all have our own style so we mesh well as musicians and spent the time and commitment to put out some solid stuff that we truly cared about.
MAtW – Your lyrics are quite brain fodder. Who takes part of that?
I write pretty much all the lyrics so far. Rick has had ideas as well that we use, I really wanted to take the extra time and try to write good lyrics with memorable hooks.
MAtW – And how does the writing process go?
We all write together as a band we spend time on really putting the songs together the best way we know how.
MAtW – Could you share some technical details on “The Truth Wil Set You Free”?
We recorded our EP at Shark bite studios in Oakland C.A. Zach Ohren produced it. He is really good at what he does and we are happy we went with him. We will be going with him for the full length album.
MAtW – The artwork is cinematic and a story on its own? Who came up with the idea? And who is credited for it?
We were messing around with some ideas, we then hired Brian Lewis from Stone Graphics he took the ideas we had and made them his own. Brian and I went back and forth on different stuff. The end result came out stellar.
MAtW – So what is next for Negative Sixxx?
We are opening up a sold out with Vio-lence and Hatriot. We are very excited to get our name out on such an awesome show. Then shortly after that we will be playing the Mother’s Day Metal Fest then heading the boardwalk in Sacramento.
MAtW – What is your view on today’s metal scene?
We are from the bay area so everyone knows about the thrash movement and what it has done to the Metal world. Our scene has had it’s ups and downs, there is a lot of killer bands coming out of the bay area right now so it’s definitely coming back up.
MAtW – You come from a historical, metal-laden area. How friendly or fierce is the competition and attitude between bands over there?
We try our best to stick together, there has been problems when the scene gets flooded with crappy bands and that’s not good for the scene. So the bands that are working the hardest and putting in the work usually stand out. I try not to look to music as a competitive thing. We just do what we love to do if the fans like it cool if not then oh well. Can’t please everyone.
MAtW – Do you still enjoy live shows as fans as well?
Live shows is the best, there’s nothing like a huge circle pit right in front of you, and there doing it from what we are playing. It becomes a circle of awesome energy between us and the crowd.
MAtW – Is there a difference between fans’ reactions across the US? How would you describe some highs and lows or extreme reactions at shows?
Well for this band I cant say much yet because we are just getting out into the show circuit this year, so we shall see what happens.
MAtW – What should fans expect from a Negative Sixxx live show?
Tons of energy and great stage presence with cool banners and scrims on stage and us playing as a well oiled machine. We work hard to be a tight band live we don’t want to be sloppy.
MAtW – Do you have a specific practice or rehearsal regimen?
Yes, we practice usually 2 to 3 days a week for about 3 or 4 hours each practice.
MAtW – Time for the last question, the random question – if each of you could choose a superpower, what would that be and why?
Haha, I guess it would be to have a wand that could take us anywhere at any time with our gear so we can play for everyone around the world.