DESPISED ICON – Day of Mourning

Kanadiske Despised Icon slapp sin fjerde fullengder for en drøy måned siden og da Century Media tilbød oss å ta et lite intervju med bandets bassist Max Lavelle, var ikke vår skribent Ole-Kristian sen å be.

If you were to describe your band to a random guy on the streets and you were going to explain to him what type of band Despised Icon is how would you describe that?

If Suffocation, Dying Fetus and Internal Bleeding all banged each other and had a bastard child, that would be us.

Which of your songs do you feel describes your band and the type of band you want to be the best?

For me I would say "Warm Blooded" off "The Healing Process". It captures elements of extreme blasting, technical guitars and laid back grooves.

To be in a metal band, especially the type of metal you guys play you don't exactly have hits and stuff like pop/rock bands has, but do you feel that the there is one particular song the audience always loves and gives a special kind reaction to when you play it?

For us it would be "I the Ams of Perdition" and "MVP".

With all the different types of subgenres that have been added to metal in the recent years what do you think of metal nowadays, the new wave of metal?

To be totally honest I'm not the biggest fan of the new wave of metal. It seems like its turning into a huge trend. I grew up listening to Nasum, Cryptopsy, Dying Fetus and Exodus. When I would go to shows it was considered underground and you would never see girls or tons of kids with flat ironed hair. I'm still a huge fan of old thrash and grind. Most of the new bands I get into are a lot of the Swedish D beat stuff and technical thrash bands like Revocation and Martyr.

Do you feel like you belong to the new wave of metal or the old wave? I mean in the way you play your metal and the type of music you produce?

I will always belong to the old wave for sure, and with writing and producing you can never go wrong with your roots, stick to the basics you know.

"Day of Mourning" is your fourth studio album in 7 years, how do you keep your motivation up in the studio?

We all love this band and the music. Writing music that we are genuinely into is             motivation enough.

Was there anything different when you made this album? I mean was anything different, band attitude, motivation, etc…

I'm pretty sure we all had the mindset that we had to step this album up from all the other records and put out a well written heavy ass album. So we busted our ass writing 90 % of this record on tour, we were determined to make this an album we would all be proud of.

Do you still feel the same when you play? I mean when you first started it was probably new, exciting and hopefully fun, but how do you feel when you play your songs today?

I feel the same, I love playing live, I wouldn't want to do anything else.

Since the band started you have toured along side bands like Hatebreed, The Black Dahlia Murder, Deicide, Exodus and Job for a Cowboy. Are there any bands in particular that you enjoyed touring with and that you have formed a good friendship with?

Black Dahlia are awesome dudes we get along great with them.

Following on the last question do you think that the metal genre that you guys belong to and maybe just metal in general is more supportive of each other than other musical genres like rock, electro and pop?

Absolutely, the metal community is one of the most tight knit genres, we all share the same hardships and anyone who does this for a living knows metal is a tough business.

Over the last 20-30 years there have been lots collaborations between bands, sharing singer, guitar players and so on. If you were to chose one musician, either a singer or one playing an instrument and you made a song with this person, which person would it be, why would you chose this person and how would it sound like?

John Levasseur, the guitarist on Cryptopsy‘s "None so Vile" record. It would sound like a more abrasive melodic/grindier Cryptopsy.

If you could take 3 bands, any 3 bands still touring and go on tour with them, which three bands would it be and why?

I will choose Dying Fetus because I have loved that band since I was 14, Municipal Waste because they're fuckin awesome and Kind Diamond because they shred.

Is the band Despised Icon a political band? I mean do you try to convey a message with your band name, your album titles and your lyrics and so on?

We are not political, we chose "Despised Icon" because it sounds better than "Toe Tag" which was going to be our original name.

What is next for Despised Icon when it comes to touring? Are you visiting a country you haven't played yet?

So far 2010 is starting to get booked up. I'm not going to go into great detail but we have a full US tour and a few Euro tours and maybe Spain which we have not been to in the history of this.

Are you planning on touring Europe any time soon, and if yes will Norway be on that tour?

Shits yeah motherfucker! We have a full Scandinavian tour with Parkway Drive in April of 2010.

What was the catalyst for you getting into metal? Was there any band, song, event (concert/festival) or something like that that catapulted you into the metal scene that you participate in today?

I probably watched the Metallica "Binge and Purge" box set like a thousand times when I was younger. I remember watching that and thinking that's what I want to do with my life.

If you weren't't in a metal band what kind of profession do you think you would have?

I would be a professional kick boxer, something like sports medicine or personal training.

This might be a bit strange question but how did your family react when you first told them you were in a deathcore band? Have they come to terms with you being in a metal band?

My family is very supportive and proud of me.

We have all heard stories and rumours about how it is to be on tour and how it is to be in a metal band, can you describe how it is to be a part of the metal scene and go on tours?

Touring is not for everyone it is very mentally and physically taxing. You don't sleep a lot you don't eat well, I try to exercise a lot but that's still hard. Unless you are Metallica you are not a rock star and if you think you are, you're a jackass. Shit is hard and it's also great at the same time. For me I love travelling and performing for others being away from home and friends can be the death of a band, I guess it needs to be in your heart to do this for a living.

 

http://www.myspace.com/despisedicon