INVIDIA, the new band featuring former and current members of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, IN THIS MOMENT and SKINLAB, has announced the addition of drummer Darren Badorine and guitarist Marcos Medina (SKINLAB, THE MEDINA GROOVES) to the group's ranks. INVIDIA has also signed a management deal with Music Gallery International. World-renowned producer and former MACHINE HEAD/SOULFLY guitarist Logan Mader has been pulling the producing, co-managing and co-writing duties.
Logan said: "Brian and Travis came to me with the idea to start this band on January 1, 2016. They had a few tunes in the works already, but it was just two guys and an idea. Brian was ready to pull the trigger on a full album so we jumped in the studio on the first week of January and started putting the record together. We all wrote the record together. I connected really well with Brian and Travis on a creative level. It was a very cool, fun and spontaneous way to make a record."
Shawn Barusch, the commander in-chief at Music Gallery International, stated about signing INVIDIA: "Edgy, raw and aggressive! Loved them from the first song I heard. I have history with the guys in different ways so it's about time we are all working together. I'm very excited! Even more so that we we are working with producer and co-manager Logan 'Darth' Mader. It's time to get this freight train-a-rollin'!!!"
"It's very exciting," said INVIDIA bassist Matt Snell about the MGI deal. "I've known Shawn back from the 'Family Values' tour I was on in '07. We've kept in touch ever since. He's a great guy. He's an 'always picks up the phone kinda guy' and he's a friend outside of the business. So naturally I was excited when the opportunity presented itself to work with him."
Regarding the vibe and feel of the upcoming INVIDIA album, Mader said: "I would call it hard rock/metal with big balls. It's got big choruses. It's got big hooks. It also has a serious 'metal energy,' which is where we all come from in our musical backgrounds. There are some songs that fit the American active rock radio format. There are some songs with a modern-industrial-type feel mixed with a kind of a pop sensibility and big chorus. The other end of the spectrum is more of a groove metal which draws a little bit from that classic PANTERA vibe. It gives it that sort of heavy testosterone metal feel."
In a recent interview with Rich Inzinna and Paula Noto from "The S.I.R.E.N." radio show on iRadioUSA.com, Travis stated about how INVIDIA was formed: "This all came together super fast and super flawless. I guess stars kind of aligned, really. I put something up online and Brian hit me up. He said, 'Dude, I'd be totally down t do some work together,' and that kind of thing. And I was, like, 'You know what? I totally miss singing. And I'm totally down for that.'"
He continued: "The funny thing is, everybody that's involved in this project as of now has worked together at different times except for me and Brian. So it's almost funny. It was like this circle that was just missing a piece for it all to connect. So once me and Brian got together, the whole circle came together, and within six weeks, this whole record's done, completely recorded, everybody's in place. And it's almost super ironic the way it all came together."
Travis, who still plays bass in IN THIS MOMENT, added: "We're all super excited about this project. I'm stoked to be singing again. I love playing bass, obviously, but I've been a singer for a long fucking time. I just took a huge break, so it's good to be able to kind of get back into it and kind of have my cake and eat it too, and be on both sides."
INVIDIA is:
* Matt Snell (FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH) - Bass
* Travis Johnson (IN THIS MOMENT) - Vocals
* Brian Jackson (SKINLAB) - Guitar
* Darren Badorine - Drums
* Marcos Medina (SKINLAB) - Guitar
* Logan Mader (MACHINE HEAD, SOULFLY, ONCE HUMAN) - Producer/Co-writer/Co- Manager