2.In July you had released a new album, what are some of the things you feel you have done different musically with this recording that you where not able to do with your previous releases? This album was pretty special for us. With Vigilance, we had the concept in our heads and tried to write something to reflect that concept. In some ways it was quite ambitious, and in others it seemed to be a logical evolution of what we were already doing. Especially when you look back to stuff from the first album. By the time we got to Drift we had more clarity on the direction we wanted to take our story, and the type of sound we wanted to accompany it. We tried more genre bending with this one. I would say this is most obvious in the title track. This trilogy is meant to have a specific sound associated with each character. Vigilance had the whistle. drift has the harmonica. We did a much better job of incorporating different vocal styling and instruments in this album, which is actually quite important to the aesthetic of the Grit trilogy .Also, just as a general note, we are better players. We are more capable at putting out music that really reflects our vision of what Deschain should sound like.
3.This is your first album to be released in 3 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame? We recorded the album about 3 years ago, and then ended up sitting on it for a while. This was primarily due to members of the band relocating. We were all at a point in out lives where we needed to concentrate on other things. So we took a bit of a break. It was nice, because it took a bit of pressure off. We took our time with the post production, and were able to get Subterranean Watchtowers to do the final mixing for us. With this album especially we wanted to take that extra time to make sure the final product was worth the wait for all of us in the band and for those who followed us.
4.The new album is a second part of a 3 album trilogy, can you tell us a little bit more about the concept and lyrics? The concept behind the Grit trilogy is that every person must choose to be the sum of their actions, or their ideals. To achieve peace are you peaceful, or do you get rid of anything that disturbs peace through violence? Through these struggles random aspects of life make things more complex, leaving vulnerability and destruction.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Deschain'?
6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the album cover? The album cover is an abstract view of a canyon, with a silhouette of a man walking into the sunrise. The shadow he casts into the canyon behind him is sprouted with slowly rising demons and regrets of his past.
7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance? We always wanted to give a little extra with out performances. Some sort of visual element to compliment the audible. We started very simple. All black no lights except for small purple LEDs attached to our instruments. As we started to develop as a band, and as we began to move toward the Grit trilogy out stage set up got more elaborate We set up candles. Put out animal bones we found in the woods, and used incense. We try to go creating a picture. But the music is always very intense we feel, and once we started playing we would not stop until the end. No banter, no bullshit. Some of our best shows were definitely the really early ones. We did a few basement performances that were really fun. Anything with a more intimate setting ended up being the best for us. One good experience was probably our first show ever. We weren't even a full band yet and we played over drum tracks, in a room that was much too big. It was some local "festival" which had a couple punk bands and a stand-up comedian. The whole awkwardness of that show was just very memorable and king of hilarious.
8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future? We don't have any plans for touring or performing right now. We haven't performed in quite some time, mostly due to the fact that out band members live in different parts of the country. Perhaps one day we will reunite for a show or two, but for now we are very focused on creating our music.
9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest? We are still looking. Although a few labels have reached out we feel none of them have fit our sound and vision as band.
10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal? It seems like the majority of our fan base is outside of the U.S., which is sort of strange. We have gotten some good reception from South American and Ukraine. Overall, the consensus seems to be that people think we are interesting. We go for concepts that are unique to the genre, and we are commended for putting our own spin on Black Metal. It is a genre that values heritage and individualism. I think that the people who listen to our music recognize this and appreciate that we are not trying to be another band wondering around in the forest wearing corpse paint. Especially because we are American.
11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future? We want to complete the Grit trilogy, and are very excited about the direction the next album is going. In a nutshell, the next album we will take the more sporadic elements of our music and expand on that. In some ways, it is almost Schizophrenic in a sense. As far as what is coming after that, we have toyed with a few ideas. Perhaps something more ethereal and sci-fi based is one of them. Nothing is set in stone for that yet.
12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays? One good thing about Deschain is that all of it's members have different musical backgrounds and musical tastes, We have blues, punk, industrial, classic heavy metal and death metal backgrounds. For Drift, we took from some of our more indie rock influences, such as Fleet Foxes and The Bravery, and Tom Waits. Some of the metal that influenced this album would be Black Sabbath, Wolves In The Throne Room, Krallice, Taake, Rwake, Between The Buried and Me, and as always ENSLAVED!
13.What are some of your non musical interests? We are all pretty big music nerds, Bryce and Dean both enjoy record and CD collecting. But outside of that, Dean is also and Archaeologist and puts a lot of his non musical focus into history and ethnography. Patrick and Bryce have a new musical project in the works as well currently working under the name Maybe You Should Drive.
14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? Just that we are very proud of this new album, and have been happy with the positive response we have gotten thus far. We hope that this will help fuel our next record.
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