Travis Thune began playing percussion instruments and the snare drum in his fifth

grade concert band. In junior high he continued with concert

band and was introduced to a standard drum set. It was also at

this time that he started listening to Heavy Metal. Travis started

listening to early Metallica and Megadeth CDs. From there, he

branched out to other thrash bands like Slayer, which is still his

favorite band. It wasn't long before bands like Sepultura, Celtic

Frost, Testament, Venom, Diamond Head, and Pantera also

became part of the mix. By the time high school arrived, Travis

was searching for heavier and more extreme bands. He began

listening to death metal bands like Cannibal Corpse, Deicide,

Hypocrisy, Morbid Angel, Krisiun, Death, Carcass, Sinister

and At The Gates. He also started listening to black metal bands

like Emperor, The Abyss, and Mayhem. Travis loved the

heavier, angrier songs. Add all of these influences

together and you end up with the attitude of Lars Ulrich, the

intensity of Dave Lombardo, and the groove of Vinnie Paul,

with a dose of double bass drumming and blast beats thrown in

for good measure. Travis loved the brutality of Paul

Mazurkiewicz and Steve Asheim. Gene Hoglan, however,

was the most fascinating drummer to Travis when it came to

technicality. Albums like Death's "Symbolic" CD became very

inspirational to him. This was when he decided he wanted to do

this for a living someday. He had always considered it, but now

he was certain. Travis formed a band in late high school/early

college that changed names several times and never

went anywhere. The band wrote nine songs and none of them

had lyrics because they could never find the right singer so the band eventually broke up.

Discouraged by the lack of commitment his band mates had and

unable to find anyone with the same passion and commitment

while in college at ASU, he waited. It wasn't until well after he

got his bachelor's degree in business administration his patience

paid off and he met Masaki Murashita and formed Hemoptysis in the summer of 2007. Hemoptysis put out their debut EP, "Who Needs A Shepherd," in September 2008. It has received over 20 positive reviews and is available for sale on iTunes and Cd Baby. They re-recorded the first song on that CD, "Shadow of Death" with the famous producer, Ryan Greene. Hemoptysis has shared the stage with such bands as Obituary, Goatwhore, Krisiun, The Berzerker, Warbringer, and Exmortus. Check out Hemoptysis at www.hemoptysismetal.com or www.myspace.com/hemoptysismetal