Concert Crap- Justin Foley of Lybica Interview Summary

What do you get when 3 drummers and a guitarist get together? You get Lybica, a band named after a small wildcat species native to Africa that is widely considered the godfather of the modern house cat! For 2 years musicians were frozen due to the pandemic. During that time Justin Foley was flowing with creativity and writing his newest instrumental album, Lybica, which was released via Metal Blade Records on September 16, 2022.

Though popularly known as beloved drummer for Killswitch Engage, this new record showcases Justin’s abilities to write and play guitar.

“I sorta tinkered around with guitar for as long as I can remember but I just wasn’t any good, I didn’t know what I was doing. It’s a fun thing to do and honestly when I was coming up with some of these part to these songs I thought ‘it would still be really cool to still be the one that gets to play this part and not have to switch and do the drum part.’ I’ve just been playing drums in a band for so long that I wanted to do something different too” said Justin during an interview with Concert Crap.

The emotion Justin is able to pluck out of 4 strings versus a bass drum and snare will leave your skin tingling. Tracks like “Ascend“, the first off the album, feels like you’re watching the most stunning sunset on repeat in different magical worlds. With the album being written during the pandemic, Justin surely snagged and bottled those chaotic feeling into tracks. Heavier ones like “Oktavist” give a clear insight into what one would’ve been feeling during such a low time.

“Yeah that was some weird times we were in when all that shit hit the fan and nobody knew what to do, nobody knew how long things were going to be going on like that, nobody had ever experienced it before…. Alot of sorta confusion and maybe some despair on the records and just some straight up anger in some parts…it is a different thing like you said to capture all that without words.”

With the record being strictly instrumental, Justin says that adding lyrics will never not be out of question.

“I don’t want to rule anything out that we would not have any vocals. The funny thing would be is imagining which one of us would be doing it. It is really challenging to get something out there that doesn’t have a vocal hook to latch onto cause that’s the things people gravitate towards: a singer. It’s just a unique challenge to do something without that and finding other ways to grab someones ear and get their attention and get them to listen to it on repeat that isn’t the vocal chorus.”

And though there are no lyrics, the emotions Justin and bandmates (members of Gravel Kings) are able to emote via a 4-piece band is truly superior to others. Their sounds are similar to those that Justin admires, like Caspian and Isis, but they have a similar vibe to Mastodon as well. When asked about who he would like to tour with, Mastodon was one he named.

“Mastodon would be fun as hell, that would be pretty awesome. I think we can do well with bands that are sorta of on that vibe. Progressive but not totally crazy, some stoner sludgy stuff, Cult of Luna would be awesome, anything like that we can fit in with; I think we can sort of, hopefully, cross over into some other different stuff where we’re not going to be completely out of place on a bill but kind of a sweet spot we can kinda hit.”

With epic riffs and some deep heavy drums, Lybica will surely please fans all across the board, especially cat lovers. With the outside cover featuring Joey Johnson’s (Gravel Kings) cat, the inside cover has all members, which includes Doug French (Gravel Kings) and Chris Lane, grouped together holding their precious felines. Needless to say, the band is sure to claw their way into the heart of those who adore all melodic and powerful with a hint of mean and clean. Justin hopes to tour with Lybica as soon as possible so keep your eyes peeled for a bill featuring Metal Blades newest instrumental band!

Post by Sydney Ellis