Band members
Jared Gunston – Guitars & Vocals
Jared Gunston – Guitars & Vocals
Hannes Matthysen – Drums & Backing Vocals
Shaun Pearson – Bass Guitar & Backing Vocals
Justin du Preez – Guitar & Vocals
I see all four guys in the band sing, this must be quite powerful on stage – are there tracks where you all sing at the same time?
That is definitely the idea! The band started off as just two guys singing but as the line-up changed we have turned into a band with four guys with vocal abilities. During ‘It Begins Here’ there are parts where two guys scream and two guys harmonise at the same time
Who is considered the lead singer?
That’s the thing about Chromium, there isn’t really a lead vocalist, a lead guitarist etc. We all sing, live Jared does more of the control and interaction, but vocally the entire band is a unit!
Do you sing screamo style?
We used to consider it that, but metalcore and screamo have changed a lot since we started, so we define everything in our bands as just ‘vocals’ now! J
Who are your international influences?
Metallica, Killswitch Engage, InFlames, Megadeth, Dream Theatre.
Why the name Chromium?
Honestly, we were looking around for cool names and really trying to find that correct name, and I think someone found a periodic table saying, check some of these out! And Chromium came up or at least chrome did, and we liked it because the meaning of the word was ‘a very unique metal that needs to plate other metals to make it stronger’.
When did you guys form – and was it in the back of a school science class?
The original line-up had ‘Basson’ and ‘Gunston’ who were always school friends and had performed in every band together! It was sort of in college days where we started writing in the home studio of Gunston and decided ‘why not take it live?’
How big is the metal scene in SA?
It’s definitely growing, but I’d have to say Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Pietermaritzburg are the places to perform! The people in these places are crazy and hunger for it!
Does your metal have a South African stamp on it?
Difficult to say! But where ever we go we’ll let people know we’re an SA band!
Why have you chosen to come overseas to the UK and not the US?
It’s all a matter of visas, and funding. We’d love to hit US, but we need to go out on the road and give this thing a try out of our own country. I think UK and then Europe (next year) will give us the experience we need to tackle a big country like the US.
Do you have many UK fans?
I’ve had emails on a weekly basis asking us to come perform and with this UK announcement we’ve had some excited fans contact us!
In what way does Jaegermeister sponsor you and does this mean an endless supply of Jaegie?
They funded tours before, and yes… we get about a case a month… hehe!
I see you also have Tattoo Ink as a sponsor – does this mean you get tattoos for life too?
We hope so!
Chromium are playing around the UK from 14-29 May – see SA PROMO events guide for details.
