This is Sika
Sika. The name should intrigue you from the start. We found Sika through an online music contest and felt compelled to chat with Alexsy about their musical styling, state of the scene and anything else they had their minds focused on.
Editors Note: During the course of the interview Sika informed us they are in the process of relocating to L.A. And the band is undergoing some personnel changes. Putting the local status of the band in limbo. Never the less, the interview is below.
TCM: Who/What is Sika?
Aleksey: Sika is my brother’s nickname (his real name is Sergey). He came to visit me from Russia in 2002 and soon began jamming with my best friend from the University of Minnesota tennis team -Nate McLain. In a few months we had our first lineup in place (Sergey, Nate, Aleksey, Dave, John) and just had a great time jamming. Because his visa expired, my brother had to go back to Russia to renew it and attend Normandale Community College in fall. He got denied the student visa and within a month he was partying in downtown Novosibirsk (Russia) and was attacked at 5am by a group of thugs who wanted his discman. Interestingly, what he was listening that night on the way from the bar was Sika jams CD. These thugs beat him up very severely and he ended up coma for 10 days. He sustained 2 brain surgeries and one cosmetic surgery and to this day has a piece of plastic covering a hole in his head. During that time we were in the process of finding a name for the band, and given Sergey’s condition and him being one of the founders of the band, we all agreed on Sika.
TCM: You’re in the process of relocating to LA. What made you decide to move? And what do you hope to find in LA as opposed to Minneapolis?
Aleksey: The answer to this question is two-fold.
1) The MN scene. We have been around MN music scene for the last 6-7 years and played all the venues there are to play. In my opinion, Minneapolis is a terrible place for a local band who is trying to make it. You always hear from big bands how wonderful MN is when they come thru, and i agree, it is. However, locals don’t show as much enthusiasm towards local bands. I’ve talked to numerous local music scene veterans and they all said the same thing. All the music bars in town don’t care at all about local bands and only interested in making their money (Fineline, truth be told that’s you!). The scene in MN really lacks community feel and i got a sense from the people that they really don’t believe that your band can make it big. You can track down all the bands that made it from MN, they all either moved to LA(Prince) or just toured like crazy (Motion City Soundtrack). The truth is, nobody really cares if you are big in MN because that’s not where the magic happens, as they say. There a few bands i know from MN who were selling out Fineline and Varsity, but 3-4 years later where are they? Still in MN, and still playing Fineline and 400 Bar. That’s not what we want for our band.
In 2010 we were on our second tour to CA, NV, and TX and while we were in LA we talked to many people who work in the music industry who told us that we needed to move to LA if we wanted to make it a career. In addition, what we felt in LA is the sense that people truly thought that you may be going somewhere with your band, probably cause they see it happen all the time. That sense of belief is huge for any band! Our entertainment lawyer has been saying to us for years to move to LA, and he said it again when we met with him during that 2010 tour. It was during that tour when it became very clear to us that we needed to move to LA, in order to advance our career.
2) Our music genre just doesn’t fit MN. We like to think outside the box, experiment, take chances. We are convinced that you need to have something new and fresh to make it these days, and unfortunately, MN is just not the place to do it. Nobody really gives you props for stepping outside the box. Music scene in MN just doesn’t have faith in you and that’s too bad. In contrast, LA is on the cutting edge of music and here people appreciate you going outside the box, putting everything on the line, and really going all out. The radio stations here play Muse, Incubus, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, etc and that’s what we are going for. When is the last time you’ve heard Muse on the radio in MN?
TCM: What are some of your influences in your music. At first listen I draw comparisons to Muse. What others do you draw from?
Aleksey: Muse, Radiohead, Tool, Depeche Mode, Sigur Ros, keane, Incubus, AFI, Coldplay, Ennio Moricone, Queen, etc
TCM: What are your long term plans for the band?
Aleksey: To make a living playing music and to use the platform to openly and passionately spread Jesus and His message all over the world
TCM: If people can take away one thing after going to a Sika show, what would you want it to be?
Aleksey: I would want them to ask “When is the next show?” :)
If you want more of Sika you can find it below.
http://www.facebook.com/sikaband?ref=share
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