Things are going great with the band, we're just excited to get back on tour. We've been home since we got off the Slipknot and Lamb of God tour. So we're on tour with Otep and Bloodsimple. We're unbelievably excited about the release of the album. Also our video is now being shown on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. So things are going pretty good.

How did Gizmachi come to band? Where did you get the name?

There's really no huge story about the name or how we got together. Basically, how we got together as a group was we were a bunch of high school friends jamming. Kris [Gilmore, bass] and Jason [Hannon, guitar] got together and started jamming probably when they were in 10th or 11th grade. They picked Jimmy [Hatcher, drums] up when they were in 12th grade. I think Jimmy happened to be in 10th grade at the time. In 1998, I kind of forced my way into the band. I'm Jason's cousin, so I would go to their practice and one day I just picked up the microphone and I just kind of forced my way into the situation. Then we picked Mike [Laurino, guitar] up later in 1998 and that's when the current line up became stable. As far as the name, there is absolutely no meaning behind the name. We want people to come up with their own meaning. There's no interesting story behind the name, we just like the name because there is no meaning. We don't like to be categorized.

The recording went great. It was a learning experience and a growing experience for all of us. It was great living with Clown for about 2 months, he stayed with us down in Manhattan. It was a very big growing experience for all of us, we kind of figured out who we were and who we wanted to be. So, we're very happy with the experience.

We were in a studio before, but just as a local band, you know, nothing released, nothing pressed. It wasn't the first time we were in a studio but it was the first time we were in a major studio like that.

Actually, to be honest with you, no. We're all very happy with the record, we're very happy with the production, we're happy with how it came out sound wise. We just can't wait for everybody to hear it.

The filming was [laughs]... the filming was grueling, to be honest with you. Clown had us up and down all day slamming as hard as we could. I couldn't move my neck for like 3 days after the filming. It was a grueling experience but it was very rewarding and gratifying. We're very excited to have it on Headbanger's Ball, so it's kind of like the prize at the end of the day.

I'm excited. It will, of course, bring our music to a much wider variety of audience, to people who don't already know us. The only people that really know us are the ones that saw us on the Slipknot tour. So, the fact that it's going to be on MTV is a pretty big deal for us, so we're all very excited.

It didn't really hold us up, it actually helped us out because we kind of stayed in our practice space and perfected our art and just went for it. It was kind of worthless playing a show every now and again to the same 50 people and not making any money or anything. We just wanted to kind of figure out who we were and what we wanted our music to be about. The 2 years that we spent in our rehearsal space was definitely beneficial for finding out what we're doing and what we are.

Gizmachi was picked up by Clown, from Slipknot, who runs Big Orange Clown Productions. Was it almost surreal for you guys to have to showcase for him and then be signed by him?

It was weird, man, because we were on tour with another band that Clown happened to be friends with and it was when he was doing the Disasterpieces DVD out in New York City, which I believe was back in November of 2002. I got introduced to him by a friend of a friend and I told him I was in a band and he said Give me a demo and I'll give you a call if I'm into it. I really never expected to hear from him, so I was like Wow when he called. I had probably talked to him for about 2 years on the phone, just going back and forth and he was critiquing the band and trying to help us out, before he actually called and said Hey, I'm on the Jagermeister tour with Fear Factory and Chimaira, we're going to be in New York City next week, I want you guys to showcase for me on Easter Sunday. [Laughs] That was the only day he had off, so we showcased for him last Easter Sunday. It was a trip because he walked in with Slipknot's manager and his head of security, and all these dudes just bounced in and we had to throw down. But we threw down and he loved it and we got the chance to play with Slipknot and Slayer and here we are. It's awesome.

I'm very proud, you know, it's definitely cool that Clown chose us to be involved in the release. So it speaks volumes about the beliefs in the band that Clown has for us and I can't say enough about the dude, cause we believe in that dude. If he told us to jump off of a mountain, I think we would. [Laughs] He's definitely a genuine human being.

That was nerve racking because that was our final showcase. So it was like, Alright, play great and you'll get signed, suck and you've reached the top of your pentacle. It was great playing with those bands, but it was also a nerve racking experience because we knew what was at stake. But, I guess we did ok. [Laughs]

How would you describe Gizmachi's music?

Gizmachi's music like a painting. There's tons of layers, tons of color, it could also be like a clay molding, it can be molded into anything you want it to be, it's definitely an art form. We're trying to perfect our own thing, you can definitely hear our influences in our music but you cannot single out our music to one influence, none of us listen to the same type of music, the 5 of us, so all of it melted together in what Gizmachi is.

Our musical influences range anywhere from Meshuggah to old Metallica, Primus, Dream Theater, Portishead.

That was awesome, man, that was huge. It was An Evening With Meshuggah, Strapping Young Lad and Gizmachi, so it was a fucking major score for us. Especially since we weren't even close to being signed yet and that was probably our only local show that we really were unbelievably excited about playing. That was a major score for us, that was unbelievable, those dudes are amazing! [Laughs]

Aw man, dude, yeah, I just got an advance at Catch 33, I'm trying to figure it out.

Yeah, I've got my I-pod and I-tunes make each song fade in, fade up, and fade out and I'm not getting to hear it on full play without any skipping or parts chopped out, so I really want to hear that.

Yeah, I plan on it.

Yeah, I want everybody to make sure they check out www.gizmachi.net and The Imbuing will be in stores everywhere, so check it out.