Demiricous Interview

The Gauntlet: What's the history of the band?

Nate: Basically myself and the guitar player Scott were friends from skateboarding for a long time. We both were at art school and met the drummer Chris who was in a black metal band. We went to go see his band on Halloween night and thought we should start a band. We started fucking around and needed a singer. We found a guy who was in Upheavil and was the guitarist. I moved from guitar to bass and started singing. We put out a demo in 2004, and another in 2005. The 2005 demo was the one that got us the label attention. That takes us up to right now.

The Gauntlet: With the 2005 demo, were there other labels interested?

Nate: Yeah, it started out with mostly smaller labels showing interest. Then word started getting around and labels like Metal Blade came to us. It started a bidding war with a bunch of labels and basically came down to who we were the most comfortable with and that was Metal Blade.

The Gauntlet: What was it Metal Blade said or offered that enticed the band to sign with them?

Nate: Basically the way they presented themselves to us. They were really laid back about it and cool. They weren't saying 'we are going to sell X amount of records and get you out on tour', it was never anything like that. They were really cool about it, and wanted to know what we thought about things. Also the history with the label; you know when you get a Metal Blade record, you are getting 'metal', the real shit. Not some poppy half metal, half shit album. The people we dealt with were really cool too. Everything so far with them has been amazing. Everything so far has been in our hands.

The Gauntlet: What happened with the old drummer, Chris?

Nate: About a month after we recorded, we were getting ready to go to Hellfest. He skipped a practice one day and we asked him what the problem was. He didn't want to be away from home and go on tour. We talked to him about it, but you can't really make someone do what they don't want to. So we had to get another drummer and deal with it.

The Gauntlet: How has Mike, the new drummer been working out?

Nate: Pretty good. He's actually in town right now practicing for our album release show.

The Gauntlet: Are you looking to make him a full member of the band, or is he just filling in at this point?

Nate: We are just kinda feeling it out right now. We are going to take him out on tour, jam with him, hang out a bunch and then we'll just decide when the time comes.

The Gauntlet: Chris had a black metal influence and I assume that's where the blastbeats came from. Does Mike have the same background or will he push the band in a different direction?

Nate: More like um, I don't know. He played in Brand New Sin and a band called God Below. He also was the drum tech for Trivium. He's got more of a newer influence and less 80's type stuff. More like Chimaira. I don't think he'll change the direction of the band. I try to avoid anything new. All of us grew up on the older shit. I can't imagine us turning a different way. We are just going to do what we feel is right. I don't think we'll have any newer influences.

The Gauntlet: Your debut album 'One' hits the store on Jan 24, 2006. Were there any differences recording the album for a label and a worldwide release overrecording the EP's?

Nate: They didn't really sit there and say 'you should do this and try to do that'. They just helped us get into the studio. The cool part is that someone really believes in what we're doing and wants to put this shit out. So we really wanted to do the best we could. So there was a difference in that. But technically being in the studio wasn't too different. There was a little more pressure as the label is putting a lot of effort and money into it. The people at the label are putting a lot of time into us so we wanted to do the same.

The Gauntlet: Is there anything on the album you wish was different?

Nate: The guitar tones. I'll probably never be happy with guitar tones. I wanted it to be a little more out of control and shredding. To me it sounds a little too tight. I also wish I had more time for the vocals to fuck around and shit like that.

The Gauntlet: To produce the album, you brought on Zeuss (God Forbid, Hatebreed, Shadows Fall). He is more known for working with bands with a more modern, less 80's thrash sound. Why was he picked?

Nate: Basically we had a guy that was going to do it but he started to ask for a lot of money and points and we couldn't afford it. The label helped us pick him. We were listening to a few producers that Metal Blade showed us. People had told us he was really good and he was able to do it. When we listened to his stuff and talked to him on the phone, we knew he was going to be able to do a good job.

The Gauntlet: Was there any apprehension working with him?

Nate: Kinda, but not really. We knew he could make an album up to our standards and basically that was it. We knew he could make a fucking good record. Nobody was really worried. It happened and everything is cool. There was really no concern.

The Gauntlet: What do you draw your lyrics from?

Nate: It's not just my straight up shit. Usually what I try to do is is take simple and tangible subjects. I try to describe it really fucked up and intense. I try to put words together to make it fucked up and disgusting. I can't write lyrics like Lord of the Rings and dragons. A lot of it is pretty much everyday subjects that I try to describe poetically.

The Gauntlet: What bands have influenced you?

Nate: Mostly old Sepultura, old Slayer, old Metallica, Pantera, Overkill, Exodus. All that bay area thrash and shit. I also like a lot of punk rock. All that 80's, early 90's thrash shit. Then some death metal like At the Gates and Suffocation.

The Gauntlet: Why was 'Vagrant Idols' chosen as the first video?

Nate: We were pretty much down to do a video for any song. The label was asking us and suggested 'Vagrant Idols'. We said that's cool. We would have done any song, it really didn't matter. This dude Dale did it. He has done videos for Mudvayne before. He was awesome to work with. He just made it look old. It's pretty much a performance video. There's a lot of graffiti and fucked up shit. We filmed it in Queens New York under the L train. There are some trashed buildings in the background.

The Gauntlet: Starting Jan 23, fans can stream your new album on AOL.

Nate: oh yeah?

The Gauntlet: I just wanted your thoughts on being up there between Jessica Simpson and Jack Ingram.

Nate: [laughs] Oh shit! That's pretty fucking funny. That's cool...whatever. If someone is going to lump us up there with a pop group to get us out, whatever. Metal people are going to like it, pop fans will hate it.

The Gauntlet: Aside from the release party in your hometown, any touring plans?

Nate: We have 4 dates with Himsa in February, 2 weeks in February with August Burns Red, and March with Still Remains for 6 weeks. That's pretty much all we have right now so come check us out.