*When did you really get involved into music in general and into metal specific? Who was responsible for your interest in (metal) music?

Anett: My father. He listened to a lot of rock / metal music back when I was a teenager and I got my first guitar from him, too.

Kutor: Back when I was a kid, my parents listened to a lot of good Hungarian rock music and I liked some of it, but for some reason they didn’t really stick with me, I just listened to a lot of stuff for a long time. Then sometime in my teens I was exposed to Nightwish, Apocalyptica and Rhapsody, I think these were the three I started to really love.
Dave: I started to learn playing on drums and other percussion instruments at the age of ten. My grandpa played on percussions in the army, so I guess it is inherited. I learnt in the beginning classical music, then during the music school I started to take lessons from a private teacher. I was introduced into metal music by my friends in the primary school.

*Which artists or bands did influence you the most?

Kutor: Even though symphonic metal, classical music and movie scores are undeniable, I’m actually influenced by a lot of other sources as well, such as bands like Tesseract or Haken, or sometimes even some electronic stuff or video game music.
Dave: I am also influenced by a lot of very talented drummers, I created my own style watching and analyzing their playing. In terms of bands, symphonic metal bands have inspired and influenced me of course, but I could learn sometimes from funky and pop bands as well (there are so many, I cannot take an example from them) 🙂

*Which instrument do you play and how and when did you learn to play? Did you have lessons in school or private lessons? If so, was that because your parents expected that from you? Or did you learn to play the instruments by yourself? Do you still follow some lessons?

Anett: I played the piano in school but I didn’t like it so much 🙂 So sometimes my parents had to force it a little bit because I hated to practice regularly. Luckily since then somehow I realized how important it is, I get used to it and in the last years I even like it. Today, I still have singing lessons and I practice a lot. I think this process has no end, this is a lifelong learning.

Kutor: Unfortunately my parents didn’t push me to learn music, partly because my mother had to and didn’t really enjoy it. I picked up the cello by myself, after thinking about an instrument for a long time.

Dave: As I mentioned earlier, I play besides the drums a lot of other percussion instruments: xylophone, vibraphone, marimba, timpani, claves, maracas, guiro. I’ve learnt in music school more than 12 years, and I started to take lessons in parallel from one of the best known private teachers in Hungary: János Szanyi.

*Do you follow others or are you interested in other styles of music besides metal? If so, what is the music you prefer to listen to?

Kutor: A lot, obviously a huge part of it is symphonic or prog metal, but also artists and bands like Celldweller or Dead Can Dance, which widen this spectrum quite a bit.

Dave: I like many independent drummers, but I listen to the music of jazz, funky, pop-rock drummers as well.

*Is music a full time job for you now or do you have a job beside music? If so, what kind of job are you doing? If you would be really successful with music, would you quit your other job?

Dave: I wish music could be my full time job, but we do not reach that level with the band yet. I work in a telecommunication company as a finance specialist, and if we would be successful in the music industry, I would quit for sure. 😀

Anett: We all have full time jobs beside music. I’m a data manager and 3D modeller. I really like the second one, but I’m not sure I’d keep it if I could make my living from music :).

Kutor: I guess everyone would love to be a musician as a full-time job. Being in a band with ambitions is already much more than a hobby, it takes a lot of work and it would be great to be able to do it without distractions.

*If you could start a band with other musicians on other instruments, which artist would you pick for which instrument and why? (Something Like an “All Stars Band”.) Would you still go for a symphonic metal / cello metal band? Or would you do something completely different?

Anett: I think I would try something new, something less serious. For example, I have a lot of funny Hungarian lyrics in my drawer, so maybe someday I will make good use of them :). If I did that, I’d choose musicians I’ve known for a long time and I trust.

*If you had been banned to an uninhabited island and you may pick 5 albums to listen to, which albums would you choose and why?

Kutor: ‘Cult’ by Apocalyptica, ‘Once’ or ‘Dark Passion Play’ by Nightwish (I’d probably toss a coin to decide), ‘Images And Words’ by Dream Theater, ‘Release’ by Afro Celt Sound System, and ‘The Serpent’s Egg’ by Dead Can Dance.

Anett: This changes oftenly depending on my mood and on which concert I’ve just seen recently 🙂 So now I’d go for ‘Congregation’, ‘Bilateral’ and ‘Coal’ by Leprous, (they played a show here in Budapest some days ago, so I’ve become a big fan again), ‘Toxicity’ by System Of A Down, because that album makes my happy all the time, and hmm let’s say ‘LUN’ from Destiny Potato because I’ve just listened to the first half of that album and I’m definitely curious of the second half 🙂

*Every new album of a band or an artist is the best one, that’s what they always say. So here is a chance to promote the album. Why should a music lover buy your album? What are the standout tracks for you on this new album and why?

Kutor: As far as I know, there are no other symphonic cello metal bands. Apocalyptica (and a very small number of cello-based bands I know of) plays cellos but without an orchestra and most of their music is instrumental. So that should be motivating to give it a listen! Fortunately we did some songs with kind of catchy tunes, so I’d recommend the ones with music videos for a start. For people ready to dive deeper I’d show ‘Celestial Alignment’ or ‘Rainmaker’.

– See “CD-Review” for a review (written in Dutch) for the new Leecher album ‘Deviant’ (Nail Records) –

*I know you will promote this album through live concerts (on tour with Visions Of Atlantis). If so, would you prefer small clubs or big festivals? And is there a chance we can see LEECHER in Belgium (There are no concerts in that tour in Belgium)?

Anett: For me, it depends on the reaction of the audience. We’ve had bad experiences with festivals but we’ve played also great and unforgettable shows to only a bunch of people in a small club. But of course it’s more motivating when you can see a lot of people in front of you. With this Visions Of Atlantis-tour we expect really big clubs, so it’s quite exciting. I hope this tour will open some more doors for us, so maybe we will have the possibility to visit Belgium as well in the future. I’ve never been there so I’d love it.

Kutor: It always depends on the audience, if people like what you’re doing and express it loud enough, even a few people can give you a lot of energy.

P.S.: This interview was conducted before the restrictions due to the Covid-19 Virus.