Echo: What was the driving force behind CZYK?

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Cody: I think the whole band can agree with me on this but the driving force for CZYK is that this is what each of us has always wanted to do for a career. We all picked up our instruments with the hopes and dreams of being “one of the greats” and achieving the “pipe dream” of playing festival crowds and playing shows every night. TJ and I were in a little cover band in high school and that was our first taste at what life could be like in the future and I think all of us having 9-5 jobs right now motivates us even more to keep fighting and pushing to be a touring band.

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Echo: Who’s in your band and what is their part?

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Cody: My name is Cody Kupczyk and I play bass for the band and I act as the “Producer”. You then have my brother Kyle Kupczyk as the lead vocalist and sort of the band manager. Sam Bennett has been all over the place in terms of placement in the band as he started off on guitar but is now our drummer. Then Taylor Talerico (Goes by “Grael” or more commonly “TJ”), he is the newest member to the band and he is our guitarist… and also does some beat boxing on the side.

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Echo: Where do you guys know each-other from and how did you approach each other about forming your band?

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Cody: So I initially started the band back in 2016 but it was nothing like it is now… really the band was a concept and I was trying to learn how to write songs just in general. When my brother moved back to AZ from NE, he joined the band and took over vocal duties. Sam joined the band as a lead guitarist initially as a referral from our two other band members that are currently no longer in the band. Taylor, I knew from high school and we always wanted to be in a band together so it was a no brainer to reach out to him when the circumstances arose and we needed a guitarist. In essence we have just been adding more and more pieces to the puzzle over time.

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Echo: Kyle,  you have a great voice. How and when did you discover his talent? Have you had any previous vocal lessons or taken any classes to help you acquire your skills?

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Kyle: I’ve never thought I had ‘talent’ in terms of being a vocalist, I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. It was only until I had to decide the career path I wanted; where I started practicing intensely to get where I am now. Since January 2022, I’ve been having Vocal Lessons with Matt McAndrew, Vocalist of Rain City Drive and previous contestant of The Voice. Matt has shown me more in a year than choir ever did my entire life. He’s taught me proper technique, warmups/cooldowns and assisted me in finding my voice. Outside of having lessons with Matt, I have always been in choir since 2nd grade and proceeded all the way to high school.-Kyle

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Echo: Can you describe who or what inspires/influences CZYK's sound?

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Cody: : I think the common inspiration for all the members is Avenged Sevenfold but I don’t really think we sound like them too much… Ha-ha! We all grew up on Nu-metal like Slipknot, Linkin Park, and Korn but then we also listen to Pop Punk such as Mayday Parade, All American Rejects, and Fallout boy (Sam especially). What we listen to now is a lot of metal core both from the 2010 era and modern metal core… we try to blend all these styles together and we have been successful with it so far I think? We get a lot that we sound like Linkin Park though! The song - Paralyzed Awesome song! Cody, it sounds like you put a lot of work into that song.

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Echo: Can you please give us a description on what your involvement in the creation of Paralyzed…

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Cody: This is a very easy question to answer for me actually! Paralyzed was “my baby” in a sense haha. I initially wrote all of the instrumental in one sitting after me and my girlfriend at the time broke up. I was able to get all my anger and frustration out in the most healthy way possible… Writing about it! I think that is why it is one of our heavier songs because that is just the way I felt at the time. None of the lyrics I wrote though! Kyle was able to write about a topic that meant a lot to him and that is pretty much how we got paralyzed!

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Echo: When was the first time you hit the recording studio? What was that like?

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Cody: So, If I’m being completely honest, we have never been able to record at a real studio! Everything that has been done in the past has been recorded in my room through Guitar DI and Midi Drums. With our most recent EP “No Hope” we sent it off to our mixer “Jamison Scott” from the Tucson band “Brace Yourself” and we were able to make it all come to life. Before this EP everything else has been self-mixed/mastered.

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Echo: What was the song you recorded at that time?

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Cody: The first song that we sent to our mixer was the song “remnants” to get a feel if he can accomplish the sound that we were going for.

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Echo: Can you tell your audience what it was like to give your very first live performance?

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Cody: It was a life changing experience, and it was awesome to see all our friends and family come to support us. It was even more sick to see the mosh pit open up for our heavy songs! Honestly after our first show it solidified that this is what we want to do for the rest of our life.

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Echo: Enlighten us with some of the highlights you've experienced thus far either in the recording studio or on stage?

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Cody: The most surreal moment we had was probably playing the Nile main stage last year. Seeing the ramp up to the stage and just knowing that all your favorite bands have walked up that same exact ramp to play if front of sold-out crowds made me tear up. Then when we were performing, we also had the biggest circle pit in our career so far! It was probably a moment none of will forget.

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Echo: What can we expect from you guys in the next few months? Any type of collaborations happening soon?

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Cody: Well, this has been one of the coolest collaborations so far is working with you! We have a good amount of new material in the works and the next song we are finally transitioning to seven string guitars…. So, if you like heavy music, the upcoming songs are going to be the best we have written. We also have our show on April 12th with Until I Wake that we are super stoked for!

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Echo: Where can we go to find out more information about your band with upcoming events, merch, and new releases?

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Cody: The best way to keep up to date is our Instagram! We post every new show announcement and teaser to any upcoming songs on there! We also have a “Link tree” set up on our Instagram page to take you to our merch page and also our website at https://czykofficial.com/ Merch is always going to be cheaper at our shows so if you like what you see please come see us at a upcoming show!