What was the beginning pint for your music career? How did it all start?
Everything started with an idea from a group of friends who really loved metal music. They wanted to create something. They wanted to make content, send a message to people, write music, and play live. That was the main idea.
The members of Inmate had already played in various bands before, but over time, those bands stopped playing for different reasons. So we decided to come together, combine our energy and ideas, and ultimately create a new band Inmate.
That happened in 2005, and since then we’ve been playing as Inmate.
Was there any bumps on the road? What kind of challenges did you have to deal with?
The biggest challenge we faced in the early days of Inmate was finding a vocalist. For at least two or three years, we played as an instrumental band. We didn’t want to miss any opportunity to perform live, so we just played our original songs without a singer.
We went through a few vocalists until 2009, when our first official vocalist joined, the one who also recorded our first album. From that moment on, we started performing as a five-piece band.
Of course, over the years, we had quite a few lineup changes. But for the past couple of years, the current lineup has been stable. Now we really feel solid as a group. We know each other well, we understand what to expect from one another, and we’re clear on each member’s role in the band.
That’s why we’re able to function well and focus on what we love most: creating music and playing live.
What was the most fulfilling and satisfying moment so far?
There have been quite a few satisfying moments in our career. Otherwise, we probably wouldn’t still be around. But if I had to highlight one thing, it would definitely be the fact that we have recorded six studio albums. That is something we are extremely proud of. These days, it is really difficult to keep a band like ours going, to stay focused, and to maintain clear goals. So the fact that we have consistently worked hard and stayed committed means a lot to us.
Of course, we have also played shows with some well-known bands, which was a great experience. But I would also like to point out two special moments.
First, we were the first metal band ever to take part in the Slovenian national Eurovision contest. We actually competed twice, and it was a unique and valuable experience for us.
Second, last year we went on a three-week European tour with Ektomorf. That was another huge milestone for the band, being on the road, sharing the stage every night, and connecting with fans across Europe.
All of that keeps us motivated and reminds us why we do what we do.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Our music includes genres like melodic death metal, metalcore, thrash metal, new age metal, and also some heavy metal influences. We are four different guys with quite a wide range of musical tastes, and when we combine all of that, we get Inmate.
In our music, the lyrics are very important to us. We put a lot of energy and attention into the lyrics because we believe they carry great significance. We want to send a clear and positive message to our fans and listeners, so we focus on that and avoid sharing any violent or meaningless lyrics.
We truly put our effort into this because we believe that lyrics are very, very important.
What is your creative process like?
The creative process is something that is ongoing all the time in our band. Creating new music is the most important mission of being in a band because, first of all, we really enjoy writing new songs. We love playing our own music, but there is nothing more satisfying than finishing a song, recording it, and sharing it with our fans, especially when we receive positive feedback.
In most cases, the creative process starts with the guitar players creating riffs. Then, during rehearsals, we work together to add drums and develop the full instrumental. Once the instrumental is finished, we record it and then begin working on the lyrics.
We are constantly writing new songs even after a new album is recorded and released. While performing those songs live, we are already working on new material. The creative process in our band never stops.
We truly believe that if this creative process were to stop, Innate would cease to exist.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
Oh, it is hard to say because the music industry is a fact that we have to accept. Of course, it would be better if bands could earn more money directly from royalties and from songs playing on Spotify, YouTube, and other music platforms. If these shares could be a bit bigger, especially for bands that do not have millions of views and plays, they could earn more. Right now, they earn very small amounts.
One thing we would definitely like to change, especially in our country, Slovenia, and maybe elsewhere, is how shows are organized. We believe there should not be shows without entry fees. Nowadays, people are not willing to pay for bands, especially smaller ones. When there are events without entrance fees, people lose the sense that every event, no matter what kind of music it is, has costs for production, security, bands, and equipment. When everything is free, it becomes worthless. The work is lost and no one respects it.
If people pay for tickets, they understand that they have to invest something if they want to see a band live. In our opinion, there are too many events everywhere, so it would be better to have fewer events with bands who are actually paid for their performance. This way, it would be easier, especially for smaller events.
Otherwise, there is no interest or motivation to have a band if you do not earn at least enough to cover your costs.
If you were asked to give a piece of advice to upcoming bands, what would that be?
You have to believe in what you are doing. You need to believe in everything: your music, your presence, and your live show. You have to know the purpose of being in a band. The most important thing is that you enjoy doing all these things.
Being in a band is a very beautiful experience, but most of the time when you are not on stage and do not have the attention of people, it can get very hard. You can lose motivation quickly because you have to rehearse, invest in your gear, promotion, and booking. You have to work very hard on these things, and it can be really tough sometimes.
Therefore, you have to be confident in what you do and enjoy it. Otherwise, you will quickly leave everything behind and do something else.
What has been the best performance of your career so far?
The best performance is always our last show because we always give 120 percent, no matter where we play. Whether it is a big festival or a small local gig, we put in our full effort. Over the years, we have grown both musically and personally, so we keep getting better. We work really hard on this, and we are confident that we can always say our last show was the best performance ever.
If you didn’t become a musician, what would you be doing now?
Besides being musicians, we are also very active sportsmen. We do rock climbing, cycling, hiking, and many other sports. Staying fit and healthy is very important to us because it helps us perform our shows at the highest level. We believe that being physically active supports our energy and endurance on stage.
There was no way we would not become musicians because we love this music so much. There was no obstacle that could prevent us from making music as a band. Anyway, we were going to become musicians because music is addictive and hard to give up. Music is our life.
What is new with the band at the moment? What are you currently working on and would like to share with the world?
Currently, we are still in the phase of promoting our latest album, Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, which was released in April 2024. We have a few shows planned until the end of the year to support the album.
At the moment, we are also promoting our new video for the title track, Let the Dead Bury Their Dead, which is dedicated to our lost guitarist and great friend Andrej Beziak, who tragically passed away at the end of last year, 2024. It was a huge loss for our band, but we decided to continue without Andrej. We want to keep the story of Innate going because we are confident that Andrej would have approved and wanted this.
We will definitely make another video from this album, and we are already working on new songs for the next album.
