Hey Mike, how are you doing?
Being creative during my time off from touring. Things are good.
So I’ll start this off by talking a little about the new band your in, Death Ray Vision. How did DRV start up in the first place?
I had some demos kicking around and started sending em to my friends to see what they though. The original idea was to see who they wanted to conspire in a project revolving around the initial demos.
DRV is sort of what people would call a ”supergroup” band. But to me it seems like a group of long time friends playing fun music. Would you agree?
When looking for conspirators, why not call on your friends? I knew Pete and Brian would pull their own weight and bring their own personal touch to the project… and they did!
So I’ve been describing your sound to people as a good mix of hardcore and thrash. So with that being said, what would you describe your sound as?
I guess that is pretty much it. We are influenced by all the stuff we listened to as kids in the 90s.
What bands would you say influenced your sound? I know you guys have been playing a CroMags cover live, which totally rules. You should cover Leeway….just saying haha
Cro-Mags, Bad Brains, Agnostic Front, Leeway, Madball, Integrity, Ringworm, Swiz, Deadguy, At The Gates and Slayer
Moving on to some other things about DRV, you guys have been playing alot of local shows as of late, what shows do you have coming up? I heard you’re playing that Harvest show in Revere which is going to be awesome!
Everything is very DIY at the moment, so we are just doing shows on the fly. The Harvest show seemed like a great fit for us, so we were excited to be added to the bill. Deathrayvision.com has all the show updates.
You guys played one of your first shows at this years New England Metal and Hardcore Fest along side the likes of Biohazzard, Blood For Blood, Bury Your Dead, Terror and Trapped Under Ice. How did you enjoy the fest? Were there any bands that you specially enjoyed seeing/checking out?
Metal Fest is always a great place to showcase your band. We were excited to be a part of it, and stoked on the turn out. I saw my boys in Times Of Grace on Sunday. All in all, NEMHF 13 was a pretty rippin time.
Now you guys self released you’re new EP, which is awesome and I really respect that. What made you guys want to self release it and not do the release with a smaller label?
We basically wanted something out by our 1st show so people would know what we were up to. We recorded, mixed, mastered and put out the EP in 2 weeks. It was a rush to be able to have something so fresh come out right away. It is definitely nothing I am used to… and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Eventually it would be nice to get some distribution on a future LP, well see how things work out.
Now on to some other stuff, you played bass in the almighty Overcast. You, Brian and Pete all played in that band for those who don’t know. But is there any plans for more Overcast shows in the future or have you guys put Overcast to rest for good?
It would be cool to do something for the 20th anniversary (holy crap). But there are no current plans.
A few years back Overcast reunited to play shows and recorded a record that was released on Metal Blade Records. You played a good handful of shows including Bane’s 10th Anniversary show, and a few headlining shows including one at the Upstairs at the Palladium in Worcester. What would be the show that sticks out to you the most out of all the shows Overcast played during that time?
It always seemed like Overcast was the “unwanted stepchild” of the hardcore world. We never got a break. However, the heart warming response we got at the initial 1st New England Metal Fest we did, inspired us to play/record again.
What you’re most well know for is being the bassist in Killswitch Engage. What has been up with the band as of late? You’ve been off the road for a while since Adam is out with him and Jesse’s new band Times Of Grace.
We have been writing demos and getting together periodically to review them. The plan is to record a new KsE record this winter. No release date has been worked out yet
Speaking of Jesse, last year there was a string of shows that you guys reunited with Jesse for a selection of songs and even played as 4 piece with Adam on drums. What was that like for you getting to play some songs you guys probably haven’t played in a good chunk of time?
It was a lot of fun born out of a total mess of a tour. Howard had to leave and luckily Phil (ATR) was able to help up out by filling in. Phil saved the day. Towards the end of the tour, we thought it would be cool to have Jesse do some old stuff with us… and it was. Very fun, very energetic, and lots of “man love”. I will never forget it.
I would personally love to see that happen again sometime in the future, you guys should make it happen at the Palladium or something. Killswitch with Jesse, Shadows Fall playing all the old records, Overcast, and Death Ray Vision. It would be pretty sweet.
We are sticking by our friend Howard. Jesse is happy playing in TOG at the present moment. If the circumstance arose, it would be considered, but Howard would have the final say.
I know you do design work for bands and other things such as the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest. Do you have a favorite piece that you’ve ever designed? Or something that is more personal I guess you would say?
I think the batch of designs I did for Crowbar “Sever The Wicked Hand” (CD package, Shirt designs, Banner, ETC) came out pretty good. It was fun to work with my favorite band, a dream come true even…. but the best part was how nice those guys are. It was a joy to work for them.
Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Thanks for the interview!
Many Thanks to Mike D for responding to the questions set before him by Ben Jones
special thanks to James Milne for the epic photo from the 2009 Manchester UK show! \m/
