interview with Derev

Derev is a progressive rock band that captivates a global audience with its innovative blend of progressive rock and traditional Middle Eastern music. After fleeing the war in the Middle East and finding refuge in Toronto, Canada. Drummer Michel Karakach reunited with his best friend, guitarist Armand Bablanian, to turn what was once just a childhood dream into a powerful reality.
Alan – Hi Derev. Thumbs up for a well-made album.
Michel - Thank you for having us. We’re really happy with the response we’ve been getting from the fans so far.

Alan – Where are you from? Do you currently live in Canada? Toronto? Everyone?
Michel - We’re from all over the world. Armando and I (Michel) have Armenian origins, he’s Italian, and I’m from Syria. Our bass player Stan is from Russia. Our Keyboardist, Ran, is from Israel, and our current vocalist, Mike, is from Canada. We’re all living across the Greater Toronto Area. Also worth mentioning is that the vocalist on the album, Adel Saflou, is also from Syria and currently residing in the Netherlands.

Alan – After arriving (flying) to Canada, when did you start to realize Derev?
Michel - Derev actually began when Armando & I met around 15 years ago back in high school in Kuwait. We were both very passionate about Music and wanted to make a living off of it. Unfortunately, due to the stigma around Rock & Metal music in the Middle East, we weren’t able to pursue the project and went our separate ways to go to University. Armando came to Canada, and I went back to Syria. Flashback to 2018, when I was able to immigrate to Canada through a refugee program due to the ongoing war in Syria. After arriving, I contacted Armando to revive the project, and we made it happen, and here we are today with 2 albums released, touring Canada with 3 other fantastic musicians.

Alan – Who is in the band? How did you get together?
Michel - Armando (guitar) and I (drums) are the co-founding members of the band. We met Stan, Ran, and Mike recently right before releasing the new album. We were auditioning for band members and were lucky to have found them.

Alan – So how many releases do you have out? Albums and music videos?
Michel - We released our first EP “Leap of Faith” in 2021 with an animation video for “Futile”, a music video for “Turab”, and a lyric video for “Delayed”. “Troubled Mind”, our full-length album, was released in March of this year with an animation video for “Room 9”, a music video for “Tides of Time”, and a lyric video for “Cyclone”.

Alan – You recently released a full-length album called Troubled Mind. Describe the songs briefly. Both the musical side and the lyrics/stories.
Buried Voice:
The album opens with “Come forth, troubled brother, step outside your cell,” inviting listeners to embark on this journey of self-discovery. It sheds light on our darkest faults and secrets we try to ignore, run away from, and conceal, highlighting the inevitable growth of our guilt when these truths are buried. The chorus emphasizes the persistent voice of our subconscious, urging us to confront our fears and acknowledge our mistakes. 
While the middle section showcases the struggle of the protagonist with their own thoughts, the song concludes with “You hold the key in your hands,” reminding us that the path to true freedom and happiness lies within our own grasp. Musically, it’s a powerful 7-minute track with a lot of proggy elements and different moods throughout, offering a preview of what's to come.
Cyclone:
Building on the narrative, this song revolves around the negative thoughts that plague our minds, constantly reminding us of our perceived unworthiness and shortcomings. This mental state, known as "Imposter Syndrome," makes us doubt our skills and successes, leaving us feeling unworthy, ashamed, and fearful of being exposed. The song portrays these thoughts as an antagonist chasing and tormenting the protagonist, emphasizing their weaknesses and mistakes. The song's title reflects this artistic vision, symbolizing a relentless cyclone that only finds peace in chaos. The song’s foundation is the minimalist guitar pattern, which repeats throughout the song, slowly building the tension as the bass and drums join in, creating a slow yet tension-filled atmosphere.
Crawl Space:
This short track serves as a bridge, taking you from the cyclone in your own head into a dark and disturbing room in a mental asylum. The claustrophobic atmosphere really feels like being in a crawl space. The track subtly hints at what’s to come in the following track.
Room 9:
This track marks the album’s peak of intensity, both musically and lyrically. Its concept revolves around Schizophrenia, one of the most severe mental illnesses. The intention behind writing this song was to illustrate the struggles of schizophrenic individuals dealing with symptoms of psychosis, hallucinations, and disorganized thoughts and actions.
The song portrays a schizophrenic patient confined in an old asylum, trapped in a perpetual state of psychosis, haunted by hallucinations and delusions. As the patient imagines a way out, he embarks on a journey of lost memories, only to find himself back in the same room, trapped forever. Titled "Room 9," the song's name refers to the patient's room number and carries a significance in Japanese culture, where the word for "nine" ("ku") sounds like the word for pain or suffering.
Musically, this is the heaviest track on the album, maintaining relentless intensity from start to finish. The 7/8 time signature adds to the sense of urgency, mirroring the protagonist's constant state of rush. I invite everyone to watch this song’s music video as it brings the song’s story to life.
Paracusia:
Our first instrumental track! Initially, this song was not being written as an instrumental. We knew we had a strong foundation with the main sections of the song, but at some point, adding lyrics was feeling forced, so we decided to keep it as an instrumental track and use it to showcase the band members. Specifically Stan and Ran, who shine on this track. Stylistically, it’s also a bit of a chameleon. It morphs from a funky upbeat groove to an Arabic feel, then a traditional heavy riff, only to calm back down to an almost Latin jazz style. “Paracusia” means auditory hallucinations; hearing things that are not really there, a name that complements the main theme of the album.
Tides of Time:
This track showcases the distress of “cognitive immobility”, a mental trap that leads to an effort to recreate past incidents that one lived in the past. By doing so, the person attempts to retrieve what was left behind, leaving them stuck in a place that no longer exists in reality.
Leaving my hometown in Syria at the age of 25, after having built so many wonderful friendships, memories, and experiences, was a struggle I never knew I’d have to deal with until I did. Finding myself reminiscing over and over about my past life inspired me to write about it as a form of therapy. I never knew this was an actual mental diagnosis until I did some research on it. This song stands out because of its acoustic approach in the first section, carried out by acoustic guitar, bass, and cajon. From there, it builds and grows until it reaches the guitar solo.
We had the opportunity to work with Michael Cao to create a beautiful music video for this song that really captures the mental state discussed.
Darker Self:
This song talks about embracing our true selves. Specifically, the instinctual, animalistic side we often suppress in an attempt to please others and fit in. Ignoring this side of us in dire times renders us weak, fragile, and miserable. Our darker self is portrayed as a beast in hibernation, the lyrics start by enticing this animal to “Rise up and shake the dust off.”. As the song progresses, we begin to understand the true value of these traits that were deemed disgraceful and learn to embrace them, rather than bury them. This track delivers a powerful message: no matter how flawed we may be, the first step towards healing is accepting every part of ourselves — our heritage, experiences, mistakes, and illnesses. Only by removing the mask we wear can we rise above and become a better version of ourselves.
Musically, this song offers a bit of everything. The Durbakkah intro, which is soon followed by a heavy guitar riff, is a nod to Opeth. It blends mellow acoustic parts with heavy, dark themes and guitar solos. The song doesn’t have a traditional structure; instead of an 8-bar chorus, there is a one-line hook that repeats throughout the song and the outro.
A Trace Within:
This song offers a melancholic portrayal of "Complicated Grief," a case of prolonged depression lasting years after the loss of a loved one. It paints a scene of a grieving protagonist standing before their loved one’s grave, reminiscing about their past together and sensing their presence, yearning for a sign to affirm that feeling. Titled "A Trace Within," the song refers to the enduring bond that remains within the protagonist, a trace that continuously begs to be pursued.
On the musical side, this song offers a novel taste of our sound. Unlike the more musically intricate tracks, this piece is relatively simple, yet reveals a different side of the band. Notably, this song marks the band’s first attempt at using electronic beats, diverging from their traditional acoustic roots. Moreover, this song is the first to have female vocals provided by the talented Hiske Oosterwijk and a piano solo written and performed by Ran Zehavi.

Alan – You are getting quite a lot of feedback, not only in Canada. Tell us about it.
Michel - Yes, we are, we’ve received great reviews of the album from European and international industry professionals. Most notable was an interview and a review of “Cyclone” on PROG magazine, the number 1 progressive rock magazine in the world. Shout out to our publicist, Jon Asher, for facilitating a lot of that.

Alan – What do you have in store for the album for 2025? A tour of the States and Europe? Where will you go?
Michel - We recently toured Ontario, Quebec, and Eastern Canada in anticipation of releasing the album. We’re currently touring Western Canada, going all the way to Vancouver, B.C, and back, with 15+ shows on the horizon. We’re also looking into touring Europe after, but the U.S will most likely not happen in the near future due to logistical reasons, but we’re always up for any opportunity that comes our way.

Alan – How satisfied are you with this work? And what kind of feedback do you get from the audience when you perform?
Michel - We didn’t really know how people would react to this release until it was out. Since then, we've received tons of positive feedback. The most common response has been people telling us how emotionally captivating the album is, and how they can relate to some songs on a very personal level. As if they were written just for them. We were also surprised by people highlighting songs as their favorites that we didn’t expect them to engage with, like the instrumental or the last song on the album.
As for the live performance, the energy of the fans has been overwhelmingly positive, and every show we get to meet more people who are seeing us for the first time and are blown away by the performance. So, we’re pretty happy with people’s response overall.

Alan – Speaking of performing. Do you have any funny experiences that happened to you at a concert, on the way to a concert, or while recording an album or music video?
Michel - Well, I wouldn’t call this incident funny, but it’s quite an interesting story to share with you. We were travelling from Quebec to New Brunswick to play a show in Bathurst. After 8 hours of driving, we found ourselves on a road in the middle of nowhere, with no lights, no cars around, and no phone or internet signals. All of a sudden, a moose appeared in the middle of the road, which caused us to divert as we were driving 100 Km/h. If we were to hit that giant moose, we’d probably not be having this interview now. A few minutes later, we get a flat tire, which forces us to get all of our touring gear and instruments out to be able to lift the car and change the tire. So, we’re in the middle of nowhere, no cars passing by, no phone signal, no communication with the outside world, and our gear is on the side of the road…that’s when rain starts pouring down on us. This was a pretty tough situation to handle, but we managed to change the tire and get back to our destination. It was definitely a story worth mentioning throughout the tour.

Alan – Let’s stick to live playing. What concert or performance do you remember the most? What was your top performance?
Michel - We recently played our album release show at the Supermarket in our hometown, Toronto, which was a very special night for all of us. Seeing the place fully booked and the sheer amount of support was just incredible. Not to mention the amazing musicians that joined us on that bill for the night. It was one of those nights when the stars aligned and everything went perfectly.

Alan – What is the highest goal you’ve reached so far? What do you think has been your biggest success so far?
Michel - There have been numerous major wins we’ve had throughout our career so far. Being featured on major news and media outlets is one of them, and getting the opportunity to play Canadian festivals is another. But if I were to highlight one specific incident, it would probably be us opening a show for the Finnish band “Swallow the Sun” at the Velvet Underground in Toronto. Which was our second show ever, by the way.

Alan – Zines are mainly read in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Do you know these two countries? Do you know any bands or artists from these two countries?
Michel - We definitely do, our bass player Stan has been to the Czech Republic and had great things to say about it. We’re not really familiar with any Metal acts from either country, but that’s going to be on our top Google search queries after this interview.

Alan – Thanks for the interview and the breakdown of the album. I hope to see you at a festival in Europe sometime.
Michel - We can’t wait to meet all of our fans in Europe, hopefully very soon. 
https://www.derevmusic.com