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THE BAND: Enclosed is an interview with Die!Nasty's late bassist, Cy Wi, prior to the tragedy that ultimately left the vocalist as the sole survivor. This interview was conducted in light of recent rumours regarding Cy's decision to quit from the band. This also covers the band's beginnings and their rise to fame.

TIME AND TIME AGAIN, DIE!NASTY HAS BEEN KNOWN TO REINVENT THEIR SOUND THROUGH THEIR POLITICAL INCLINATIONS AND EXPERIMENTATIONS WITH DIFFERENT GENRES. COULD YOU WALK US THROUGH THE BAND'S BEGINNINGS AND HOW YOU CAME TO BE A PART OF DIE!NASTY?

Die!Nasty was really the brainchild of our guitarist and vocalist. By now, everyone knows Die!Nasty really just started out like any other high school jam band, so we all sort of knew each other in one way or another—crossing paths in the halls or hearing about each other through classes. By then, I was sixteen when I dediced to take up bass. My family had just recently adopted my foster sister and she was really guarded and didn't like to talk much. But I remember her loving the bass, and so I enrolled into her strings class in high school in order to get closer to her, and along the way, I found a family outside of home.

Up until now, I'm not exactly sure what made us stand out from the rest of bands out there. Personally, I played bass to support my friends' ambitions, and never really expected us to make it big. It was a bumpy ride—everyone can expect that, but for some of us in the band, we needed to play, or to be onstage, whether that was some musty club with an audience of five, or a concert hall with an audience of thousands. We were young, we wanted to be heard, so we pretty much did whatever we can to be, be it busking, or begging clubs to let a bunch of ratty teenagers play when there's a cancellation. Our guitarist really pushed for us to keep going and to never settle for less. We never allowed ourselves to get used to it and stagnacy wasn't an option.

Exploring other genres came way later. When we established our sound, we stuck with what was authentic to us and gave it ornamentations. That's essentially all there is to it.

FOR SOME, DIE!NASTY HAS BEEN KNOWN TO BE AN ICON FOR LIBERAL IDEOLOGY. WHAT INSPIRED THE GROUP TO INCLUDE THEIR POLITICAL BELIEFS INTO THEIR MUSIC?

Wow, this is really tricky question! Our vocalist is the lyricist so you might want to take that question up to them, but I'll do my best to answer. We're aware some of the subject matter in our songs is relatively political. That's not entirely a new concept. In my opinion, I don't think there's anything wrong with standing up for what you believe in. I personally didn't mind so much as long as we're able to reach out to people. This whole politics-in-music has been around for a while and it shouldn't really destroy the band's reputation. I mean, Wagner was a racist anti-semite but people are still completely enamoured with his work today.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADDRESS THESE ALLEGATIONS REGARDING YOUR INTEREST IN QUITTING FROM THE BAND?

Oh, man. I—there's really no way around this since it's going to be released to the public sooner or later. I've discussed it with the band, and they fully support my decision to leave. I'm currently helping them with auditions for the replacement.

I've been lucky enough to build a career with people I love, and I've never really treated it like a job. It was never like that. There was never a dull moment with them. I have dedicated nine years of my life into Die!Nasty and those nine years are something I do not wish to take back. I don't regret any of it. But I need to refocus myself, focus on my family, focus on my personal relationships...and I can't do that when I'm constantly touring with the band. This is going to be my last tour with them.

PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF YOUR SISTER HAD ANY INFLUENCE IN YOUR DECISION TO LEAVE. AS THE PUBLIC IS AWARE, SHE IS AMONG THE TOP SESSION BASSISTS AND CURRENTLY OWNS HER OWN RECORDING STUDIO. SHE WAS DOING QUITE WELL FOR HERSELF UNTIL SHE SHOOK THE MUSIC INDUSTRY WITH NEWS OF HER OVERDOSE.

Please leave my sister out of this. She wouldn't appreciate me getting defensive over her, but her story is not for the tabloids to feast on. She's doing well in rehab, and is cleaning up after herself. The best I can do as her brother is to be there to support her. You can poke and prod anywhere, except when it comes to my sister.

DIE!NASTY IS KNOWN TO BE AN EXTREMELY TIGHT-KNIT GROUP. DO YOU HAVE FULL FAITH IN THEM BEING CAPABLE OF MAITAINING DIE!NASTY'S SOUND UPON YOUR DEPARTURE? WHAT TRAITS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IN YOUR REPLACEMENT?

Die!Nasty is a very ride-or-die group. It still is. I'll always be present when they need me to look over things. From what I know after years of having spent my life with this group, any sort of new addition needs to be just as passionate about music as the rest of them are. They need to be entirely different from me, because if they aren't, then I know for sure that my bandmates will start comparing. They need to—they need to play with blood. The band won't expect anything less than that.
 

Surprise! This narrative is not set in Korea! The band is primarily based in New York, but the story will feature snapshots from when they're touring all over the world.

I'll try not to give away too much of the plot since there is definitely some mysteries that should remain mysteries until they are revealed later on in the chapters. It starts out like this: Die!Nasty is a world-famous band that has been around for about nine years. At the peak of their fame, news of their bassist, Cy, deciding to leave the band surfaces, thus putting the band's influential career at stake. It's not uncommon for a band to start the moment a major change is introduced (like a member leaving, for example). On their last tour together, the band suffers from a major accident that leaves the vocalist as the sole surviving member. But here is where the conspiracy begins: excluding the vocalist, only the bassist is found at the scene of the accident. The guitarist and the drummer are nowhere to be found and are pronounced missing, and later, dead after months of searching to no avail.

The vocalist and manager (whom are very much alive), the guitarist and the drummer (whom are presumably dead), and the synthesist (who is the youngest and the new addition). Please keep in mind that if no one applies for the manager position, I will take it upon myself to either create my own character for that role, or pick another applicant whose character fits the role best.

This will be answered later on in the story.

These are the genres that count: blues rock, jazz rock, soul, alt-rock, progressive rock, and electronica.

By blues rock, I mean a sweeter version of Nina Simone's Feeling Good and a modern version of Something's Got A Hold On Me by Etta James (and if you're curious, please search for the live videos of Etta's songs). Sugar Pie Desanto is great too. And for actual blues rock, think Janis Joplin. And Jimi Hendrix. (I'm mentioning a lot of female artists but that doesn't mean I'm biased towards any gender for any position. I just love them!) Jazz rock and soul are pretty straightforward. Please keep in mind that they will never end up on country music territory. I'm aware blues tends to teeter over the edge between jazz and country. This band is definitely inclined more towards jazz. Alternative rock and progressive rock are also relatively straightforward. Electronica had minimal presence in the beginning, though the band definitely incorporated more of it in their later discography. Please note that alt-rock and electronica are as mainstream as they get.

It's impossible to separate music culture from drug culture (and definitely mental health). They've always been interwoven in every era you choose to examine (such as impressionism and Erik Satie's alcoholism). Drug culture will definitely be present in this narrative. I will not discourage applicants from mentioning drug culture in their apps, however, please tread carefully! Ample research will help a lot. I will not be taking this situation lightly. If you need help in your research, or wish to confirm a specific detail about drug culture in your app, I beg of you to please approach me first. This will help prevent an app rejection and a very displeased Damien.

THE FACE: All ethnicities are accepted! Please do consider other ethnicities (not just East Asian ones) when applying! Wilhelmina has a great archive of models for you to use. Please refrain from using underaged models. Under no circumstances will I allow racebending. Indyamarie Jean and Shon Minho are taken by me!

THE AGE RANGE: Excluding the synthesist, they should land anywhere from mid to high twenties. The synthesist is the youngest at 18. If applying for the manager position, it would probably be best to keep them in the high twenties for their age.

I've stated in the app itself that you can format it however way you want. I think it goes without saying that everyone loves an interesting character. Here are some words I associate with each plotline that may (or may not?) help you build your character.
VOCALIST: feral.
GUITARIST: crazy.
SYNTHESIST: ratty.
DRUMMER: soft.
MANAGER: hovering.

You have free reign over the backgrounds of the manager and the synthesist. Aside from that, if you're applying for the vocalist, guitarist or drummer (the original members), please remember that they all met sometime in high school and got the band together at around that time (in the style of the band Muse).

Since the story begins with the uncertainty of whether the original members are alive or not, collaborations will be tricky. If you decide to do it, please do so with the knowledge that you will be making my life harder since I will be working out the relationships by myself later on (I'm half joking). Love interests are optional and you can place them here as well!

It doesn't have to be that extensive especially if you're applying for the original members. They got together in high school and figured out stuff from there.

The interview is conducted a few days after the press release announcing the band's revival. All the members (the guitarist, the vocalist, the bassist, the drummer, the synthesist, and the manager) are assumed to be present and alive. Please answer the interview in either third or first person.

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STAGE NAME: Cy
AGE: 27 years old at the time of death
NATIONALITY: Korean-American (double citizenship)
FACE CLAIM: Shon Minho

INFO: Cy was a figure of stability in the band. His inherent affability and strong sense of responsibility made him a natural mediator. Much of the band's success is owed to the late bassist as he ensured his bandmates would not succumb to the same affliction his sister is currently going through. It is therefore safe to assume that he considered it a failure on his end to prevent his sister from suffering through that fate. His sister was entering her second week in rehab when he decided to leave the band in order to mend his family's relationship. He was planning on starting several independent projects at the conclusion of his last tour, one of which would have been a music festival featuring an independent artist lineup curated by famous bands in order to promote performers to the music industry.

PERSONALITY TRAITS: responsible, pious, compassionate, benevolent, self-critical, crowd-pleasing, smart, protective, smothering, affectionate, overwhelming, stubborn, bland