Diskreet Interview is up...
DISKREET INTERVIEW
1. Being a very Tech Death Metal band from the USA. Do you find yourselves a bit out of the more gore and guttural Death scene. I will tell you I find you far more interesting..
Andy/Diskreet: As far as "scenes" go we've never identified ourselves with any one scene. We just play and write what we enjoy and to the most extreme of our abilities. We're all into a little bit of something different and when we collaborate we put our overall style collected from our influences together to create what is Diskreet.
Andy/Diskreet: As far as "scenes" go we've never identified ourselves with any one scene. We just play and write what we enjoy and to the most extreme of our abilities. We're all into a little bit of something different and when we collaborate we put our overall style collected from our influences together to create what is Diskreet.
2. There is a Melody and Sci Fi or maybe the better word is futurist sound to Diskreet was this done with thought about it or did it just come natural?
Andy/Diskreet: I would just say that we are always trying to move forward and be better musicians and Malcolm helped create that sound a lot with his leads and solos along with his creative structuring. We don't write things we aren't happy with and most of us enjoy death metal, metal, and music of all sorts for that matter, of the highest caliber. At the same time we are still trying to make listener friendly music and not go too far with technicality or structure.
Andy/Diskreet: I would just say that we are always trying to move forward and be better musicians and Malcolm helped create that sound a lot with his leads and solos along with his creative structuring. We don't write things we aren't happy with and most of us enjoy death metal, metal, and music of all sorts for that matter, of the highest caliber. At the same time we are still trying to make listener friendly music and not go too far with technicality or structure.
3. You're working with Seige of Amida/ Candlelight again how has the label been for you to work with.. Are you glad to be working with Candlelight as well?
Andy/Diskreet: Seige of Amida has done great for us in way of getting us published and distributed and bringing us over to Europe but keep in mind we were their first band and they have grown a lot and made way for their label a lot since our last release. We have nothing but positive feelings toward them and are excited to release this new album. Candlelight has done good for us in the press world but all in all this has been a self employed uphill battle so far. Who knows what the future has to offer Diskreet but we could use all the help we can get.
Andy/Diskreet: Seige of Amida has done great for us in way of getting us published and distributed and bringing us over to Europe but keep in mind we were their first band and they have grown a lot and made way for their label a lot since our last release. We have nothing but positive feelings toward them and are excited to release this new album. Candlelight has done good for us in the press world but all in all this has been a self employed uphill battle so far. Who knows what the future has to offer Diskreet but we could use all the help we can get.
4. What bands brought Diskreet to make music as you make now?
Andy/Diskreet: That's a tough one but I'll just list some bands I know we all agree on. Necrophagist, Origin, Arsis, Decapitated, Nile, The Red Chord, Despised Icon, Decrepit Birth, Animosity, etc. etc. etc. Its really hard to pin point certain bands because i think musicians become a collaboration of everything they've ever connected with musically and that is a subconscious thing that is hard to define.
Andy/Diskreet: That's a tough one but I'll just list some bands I know we all agree on. Necrophagist, Origin, Arsis, Decapitated, Nile, The Red Chord, Despised Icon, Decrepit Birth, Animosity, etc. etc. etc. Its really hard to pin point certain bands because i think musicians become a collaboration of everything they've ever connected with musically and that is a subconscious thing that is hard to define.
5. Do you enjoy performing live or is the real magic the studio for a band like Diskreet?
Andy/Diskreet: We love playing live. We strive to play what we record and write and the way we connect with the fans on stage is more important than in a CD player. But, what we record has also got to be of high caliber or no one would give a shit to come see our live show.
6. The more I listen to "Engage" the more things I hear there is a strong love of Bay Area thrash I hear in guitars esp solo would this be true or am I just hearing things?
Andy/Diskreet: We love us some Bay music on the drums and rhythm guitars but Malcolm's soloing is, to me, his own thing. He is an amazing guitarist and composer of his solo's. It goes back to people's collaboration of what they've loved, themselves, over the years. Malcolm's solos have voice and are perfectly played to the songs they are placed in. He brings them alive.
Andy/Diskreet: We love us some Bay music on the drums and rhythm guitars but Malcolm's soloing is, to me, his own thing. He is an amazing guitarist and composer of his solo's. It goes back to people's collaboration of what they've loved, themselves, over the years. Malcolm's solos have voice and are perfectly played to the songs they are placed in. He brings them alive.
7. The vocals are brutal but still not low and garbled ( I mean this as a compliment..) Is it difficult to keep the lyrics clear and yet brutal like this?
Andy/Diskreet: Babcock is a beast. We are huge fans of his approach to vocals and that is why he is in the band. He puts everything he's got into belting his lyrics out. That comes from old brutal core bands i think; but its like when your pissed as fuck at someone and you're telling them to fuck off but musically. Haha!
8. What's your thoughts on the Current US Death metal scene?? are there new stand out bands for your or is Europe still holding the crown for Diskreet?
Dustin/Diskreet: I think there's a lot of exciting stuff coming out of both areas right now, you still have a lot of awesome classic staples out of our country touring like Suffo, Severed Savior, and the like, while there are still some up and comers we're actually all pretty excited for such as Fallujah and Vale of Pnath, and I'm personally happy to see bands like Devourment pop up on everyone's radar; but I feel that the US death metal scene more caters to the Deathcore sound at the moment, which is fine - people will like what they like, every band garnering attention has their own deserved uniqueness that stands them apart from everyone else. But with bands like Spawn of Possession, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Gorod, and so many others, it'd be ridiculous to ignore the incredible stuff going on in Europe.
9. The artwork for Engage is crazy detailed tell us a bit about it and why was it chosen?
Andy/Diskreet: When we came up with the title of the album this is almost exactly the scene that popped into my head. Engage the Mechanicality has a double meaning. The E.P. was entitled Infernal Rise meaning "here we come." This album means engage conformity and the way things are "supposed to be" and do it your way from the gut. But it also means we introduced ourselves with the E.P. and now were ready to take on this beast of a music business and try to make it work for ourselves.
Andy/Diskreet: When we came up with the title of the album this is almost exactly the scene that popped into my head. Engage the Mechanicality has a double meaning. The E.P. was entitled Infernal Rise meaning "here we come." This album means engage conformity and the way things are "supposed to be" and do it your way from the gut. But it also means we introduced ourselves with the E.P. and now were ready to take on this beast of a music business and try to make it work for ourselves.
10. I ask all bands whats your thoughts on the current digital musical age do it help or hurt bands and why?
Dustin/Diskreet: It's a double edged sword in it's own way that ends up doing both, and I'm speaking more along lines of internet piracy. Without blabbing too much, it's a great thing that it's a great way of free promotion, plus you get your art out to that many more listeners, and as an artist, that's what you really want. But there is a numbers game too, and folks with the power to develop your careers don't care that 40,000 kids downloaded your album and gave raving comments about it, if you only sell 2,000 units - that's what they see, and you become high risk. I think there's a happy middle to be discovered, where bands see more from what they do, and labels stop seeing revenues tank - but I think the music industry has become so used to the way things are, that developing hypothesis' for the direction to take that industry is very risky. Overall, I think it can help everyone, bands, labels, and music lovers alike, once the correct new formula is developed.
Dustin/Diskreet: It's a double edged sword in it's own way that ends up doing both, and I'm speaking more along lines of internet piracy. Without blabbing too much, it's a great thing that it's a great way of free promotion, plus you get your art out to that many more listeners, and as an artist, that's what you really want. But there is a numbers game too, and folks with the power to develop your careers don't care that 40,000 kids downloaded your album and gave raving comments about it, if you only sell 2,000 units - that's what they see, and you become high risk. I think there's a happy middle to be discovered, where bands see more from what they do, and labels stop seeing revenues tank - but I think the music industry has become so used to the way things are, that developing hypothesis' for the direction to take that industry is very risky. Overall, I think it can help everyone, bands, labels, and music lovers alike, once the correct new formula is developed.
11. You seem to let Myspace be the bands world to the internet to you feel that is the best way to expose the band to new listeners?
Dustin/Diskreet: Part of the digital music age equation seems to lie in utilizing social network sites to self-promote yourself on the internet. Bands I played in 10 years ago, I had to develop full on websites, that saw a limited amount of potential to gain exposure and spread our music to people who may, or may not, enjoy it. Fast forward that time to 2004 and beyond and you have myspace. Quite honestly, as far as the internet goes, I see ReverbNation becoming the new face of where to go for seeking out music, and seeing what's up with your favorite bands, it has a lot more content and options to offer more than Myspace, but with so much content, it becomes a little cluttered and looks more like a giant presskit than a place to promote your music. Myspace is still simple, and because it's free, it makes an ideal website. Purchase a domain for a year, re-direct it to your myspace and you have everything fans want from a band website: tour dates, music, videos, photos, bios, blog/news updates, and a way to communicate directly with you, and the coding is still ideal to develop a website that is unique for you and looks professional. Yes, I'm a nerd like that.
Dustin/Diskreet: Part of the digital music age equation seems to lie in utilizing social network sites to self-promote yourself on the internet. Bands I played in 10 years ago, I had to develop full on websites, that saw a limited amount of potential to gain exposure and spread our music to people who may, or may not, enjoy it. Fast forward that time to 2004 and beyond and you have myspace. Quite honestly, as far as the internet goes, I see ReverbNation becoming the new face of where to go for seeking out music, and seeing what's up with your favorite bands, it has a lot more content and options to offer more than Myspace, but with so much content, it becomes a little cluttered and looks more like a giant presskit than a place to promote your music. Myspace is still simple, and because it's free, it makes an ideal website. Purchase a domain for a year, re-direct it to your myspace and you have everything fans want from a band website: tour dates, music, videos, photos, bios, blog/news updates, and a way to communicate directly with you, and the coding is still ideal to develop a website that is unique for you and looks professional. Yes, I'm a nerd like that.
12. Thanks for the time any closing thoughts here.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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