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The power of voodoo

We interview Douglas student Chris Osterman about his band Iron Kingdom

SO aa
@iinamymnir

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

ver the holidays I received
a message from, and
eventually got to speak

with, Chris Osterman, lead singer
and guitarist for the Surrey-based
metal band Iron Kingdom. Chris, an
extremely talented musician—who
recently won the Raymond Burr
Award for his achievements in the
Stagecraft and Event Technology
Program here at Douglas College—
was eager to tell us all about Iron
Kingdom’s debut album, Curse
of the Voodoo Queen (2011), its
upcoming release party, and how
the band got to this point.
How did Iron Kingdom get
started?
Chris Osterman: | started the band
in grade seven, around 2004, and
that was with our former guitar
player. After about three or four
years, my sister [Amanda] joined
the band. She told me that she could
do better than the drummer we
had [at the time], so she learned the
drums and did in fact do better than
him—now she’s our drummer. Our
bass player [Leighton Holmes] was
also in the band around the time
our [ex-]drummer was; [Leighton]
quit for two years, found himself
again, decided that this is what he
really wanted to do, and came back
in 2011. Our new [rhythm] guitarist
[Kenny Kroecher] joined after we
recorded our debut album, Curse of
the Voodoo Queen.

We used to be called Twisted,
then in June 2011 we decided
to change our name to Iron
Kingdom—[partly] because of

8

 

13-minute-long song, [which] took
me two years to write. It’s just

full of crazy stuff; there are stories
on every song. [Leighton] wrote
about half the lyrics for it before he
first left. We [even hired] an artist
from Vancouver named Nicholas
Frenette to do the cover—he met
me here at Waves, actually.

It’s been a ton of work,
figuring out distribution to...
everything. We had to make our
own website, [which Amanda] did
all the work for—the barcode was
another whole thing. Everything
about making an album is tons of
work, but it’s totally worth it. It’s
something we're all very proud of.
And you have a release party
coming up. What’s happening with
that?

CO: The release party is [this
Saturday] January 7—there are
four bands on the bill. All Possible
Humans is going to open the show,
followed by a band [called] Harlot,
then Stryker, and then [us]—we’re
the headlining act, and we're going
to be playing an hour-and-a-half
set. It’s at Jolly Mac’s Pub, in the
Guildford area: free admission, free
parking. We'll have the CD there for

Twisted Sister, and we were having
problems because we couldn’t get
a dot com and stuff like that. We
didn’t really like the name anyway,
so now we're Iron Kingdom.

How would you describe the
band’s sound?

CO: Basically, I started playing
because I was listening to Deep
Purple and Van Halen. I really
wanted to play guitar, so right away
I was already influenced by the
‘70s/’80s traditional kind of classic
metal and hard rock. We decided
to continue with that; it took a few
years to really develop our sound,
but it just naturally became that. It
was always rock.

Has your education at Douglas
helped you progress in any way?
CO: Actually, the Stagecraft
program has helped me. There

are always a few things, like just
funny gear things—we have [a lot]
of gear—and I’ve found out these
[tips] in Stagecraft like, ‘oh that’s
what that little knob does, now

I get it!’ It’s kind of funny. [The
program’s] really helpful because I
know how to properly do lighting
and stuff now, whereas before I
just had gear and was like, ‘okay, I
think this is how it’s going to work,
so let’s just hope for the best.’ It’s
nice to actually know what you’re
doing.

Can you tell us about the new
album, Curse of the Voodoo Queen?
CO: It’s a full-length album: 10
songs, 48-minutes long. I wrote

the first song on the album [from]
when I was 16 up until now,

so [it’s all been a process over
about] four years. There’s a crazy

sale, [along with] T-shirts, posters,
stickers—all that kind of stuff. The
first band starts at 7:30 [p.m.], and
then we’re on at 10 [p.m.]. Itll be a
fun show,

Do you have advice for any other
up-and-coming musicians?

CO: As long as you're still loving
what you’re doing, then you know
you're doing the right job. The
second that it [stops being] fun

is when you might want to start
thinking, ‘something’s not quite
right here,’ and maybe that it’s time
to move on. It’s a long hard ride,
but it’s worth every minute.

What: Iron Kingdom CD Release
Party

Where: Jolly Mac’s Pub (14817 108
Avenue, Surrey)

When: January 7 @ 7:30 p.m. (This
Saturday!)

Cost: FREE!

If you're an artist of any sort
(musician, actor, painter, etc.), feel free
to contact us at arts@theotherpress.
ca. Whether you've got a show coming
up or just want to get your name out
there, we're eager to hear from you!

 

@ Back: Kenny Kroecher
Front: Leighton Holmes, Chris Osterman, Amanda Osterman