Doomed Confessionary: Dino Mifsud Lepre (Hemplifier)
Hemplifier is a stoner/doom metal band from the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea.
The band’s line-up consists of veterans from Maltese heavy music scene: Emanuel Portelli (Thy Legion, Victims Of Creation, Pilgrimage, Animamortua) on vocals and guitar, Bazaz (Lady Lizard, R.A.S.) on bass and Dino Mifsud Lepre (Victims Of Creation, Pilgrimage) on drums and samples.
Hemplifier released their debut album »The Stoner Side Of The Doom« on June 2nd, 2023 via Electric Valley Records.
Can you say a few words about your band?
We’re a stoner/doom trio from the island of Malta and we “joint” in 2019. All of us 3 have experience prior to Hemplifier and have been playing in other bands before, whilst also still active presently in other bands apart from Hemplifier. Some of us have been in the scene from the ‘90s. We are very active and amongst other things, we also organize a Stoner fest on our sunny isle with the name of Reeferfest, which this year will mark the 4th edition.
Our target with Hemplifier was always to jam, get high, compose the heaviest riffs possible whilst enjoying what we do together since we are very good friends between us first of all, and that definitely helped in defining the band and help produce what we have done so far in a faster way, since the chemistry between us was flawless from day 1.
The lyrical themes in our songs touch the spheres of sci-fi, aliens, the supernatural, occult, voodoo, weed, giants and a touch of local folklore and myth. We worship Amps and Vintage Gear!
What was the biggest challenge for the band last year?
It was definitely finding a suiting record label and release our debut album »The Stoner Side Of The Doom«! From here we would like to thank Marco once again and Electric Valley Records for believing in us, for his immense support and especially for making this dream come true for us. We couldn’t be happier with the deal we signed with EVR, we definitely feel lucky in that sense, that we found the perfect label for us and it was also one of the labels we had targeted from the day we entered the studio to record our debut.
What can you be most proud of last year?
Once again releasing our debut album but also all that comes along with the release of any album in general, and that means being booked by festivals possibly and trying to gig as much as possible to promote not only the album but simply your music and trying to put the name of the band in the limelight in order to open a door for more possibilities even in the near future. That was an extreme challenge since we were a new band and not many knew us of course, not even here on our own isle! The fact that we were ready to start gigging in 2021 and like any other band, we were haulted with the pandemic, you can imagine how frustrating that was even more for us, especially since as mentioned before, we were a new band and we had the quench to reveal what we do to the outer-world and to anyone outside of our rehearsal space. That was all a drawback in respect to the release of the album, because should we had gigged before the release of the album, things would have been definitely easier probably to book shows afterwards.
I am mentioning this, because this basically answers your question. Everything came in so fast! …in just a few months practically, and luckily, we even managed to do our first shows outside the shores of our isle! Our first abroad was a mini-tour named “Stoner Espectacular” with our bros Ditch from the Netherlands and Witch Piss from Belgium. We also played at the first edition of Tolminator in beautiful Tolmin, Slovenia. Proud all this happened and this could have not been possible if each one of us 3 didn’t work hard to make their part, but also thanks to anyone who has helped us like once again Marco from EVR, the guys from Ditch and Witch Piss, and finally Dirty Skunks and anyone who organizes Tolminator who all believed in us and invited us to be part of their journey! It was an honour to do all of this!!!
What was your biggest regret?
Probably not having done more shows abroad, but we will definitely recover that this year… we have just started the year and we have a whole year ahead of us.
What was the best concert/tour last year and why?
Definitely the afore mentioned “Stoner Espectacular” mini-tour, it’s the only one we did so far and really cool and high times were experienced!
Apart from the shows abroad, we definitely could put in our favourites the local festivals Rock the South and Nebular Festival. Both festivals we were kindly invited twice so far to play, and this year was the second time we played again in both. It’s always really fun times playing there in both of them, the vibe is incredible and they’re definitely both amongst the best, if not the best, festivals on the island. Both well organized, amazing billing every time, with cool bands not only local. Festivals we suggest to foreigners to consider attending to, added to visiting our lovely island and have a nice sunny holiday whilst enjoying such great events! Amongst these, of course there’s also our own Reeferfest, where by the way, we also have foreign acts invited each year and in the past 2 editions, we shared the stage with cool bands such as our bros Godwatt from Italy and Omega Sun from Slovenia.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
That the amazing Dopelord signed to our same label! We are fans of Dopelord and that increases the value for us personally, of the achievement of our deal with EVR.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
We have some plans but unfortunately we can’t reveal nothing as yet since nothing is 100% confirmed, but something is gonna happen… so keep your eyes peeled on our social media!
What are your plans for this year as a band? What do you personally want the most?
We will definitely try to seal some dates outside of Malta (speaking about last year’s regret in 2023 that is), we will try to recoup that. We will definitely focus more on more gigs abroad rather than in our own island.
How can people best support your band?
Like any other band, buying our merch would help immensely! We have our Bandcamp page where you can buy our debut album on vinyl from but also a variety of T-shirts to choose from. You can also buy the stuff directly from us, just contact us via Facebook or Instagram.
Also, attend gigs! Support every band actually… we thank all of you who supported us so far but please keep doing so and keep attending gigs, ours, everyone’s! Attending gigs, gives us courage to continue doing what we’re doing, what we love doing and what you love experiencing!
Do you have any message for your listeners?
First of all we would like to thank you for this interview and for your precious support!
Apart from that, we strongly suggest as mentioned before to attend gigs and to support in any way possible the bands by buying their merch also. Your presence at such events, is the only way to keep these events being organized and keep the venues where us bands can perform, alive!
Always check our social media to be updated on what we’re doing or what we’re about to do… we have some cool news for you soonish, so be aware!
Other than that, we hope to meet you all soon while we’re aboard our spacecraft, sending seismic waves to the planet!!! Stay Hemplifed!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well