 Despised Icon first caught the attention of metal fans with the release of their 2005 sophomore album 'The Healing Process', and the Montreal metalcore icons never looked back, following it up last year with the highly anticipated 'The Ills Of Modern Man'.
Throw in more than 500 shows in 3 years and two split EP's, and you start to understand why they're being so successful, they just don't know how to sit still! Komodo Rock's Mike Elliott caught up with vocalist Alex Erian to find out more about the bands upcoming tour which hits the UK at the end of January, and where the band are heading next.
Mike Elliott: You're getting ready to head out on the road in Europe
and headlining in the UK starting later this month. Are you looking
forward to the tour?
Alex Erian: Fuck yeah! It’s been almost a
year since our last visit and we had an amazing time then, so we’re
definitely looking forward to this one. We’ve literally played and
visited every single major city in North America, playing close to 500
shows in the past 3 years. This upcoming tour only marks our second
visit in Europe, and we aren’t as established there as we are in
America, so it’s a bit like starting over again. We’re stoked to be
playing a few cities we’ve never been to in the UK.
The tour
is with our bros from Montreal Beneath The Massacre! The dudes in
Misery Index and your very own Annotations Of An Autopsy are also the
bill so expect a sick show!
ME: And then you’re heading back to tour North America?
AE:
We’re actually playing 2 shows in Russia with Misery Index right after
the tour. I never even dreamed that I’d be going there one day! Should
be an amazing experience!
ME: What can European fans expect to see from you?
AE:
Our set will definitely be longer then last time we passed by! We’ll
be playing songs from “The Ills Of Modern Man” for the first time
there, as well as the best tracks from “The Healing Process”. You can
also expect to hear a song or 2 out of our first record. I think all
the bands on this tour are heavy as fuck and will definitely rock your
shoes live.
ME: Last year you released your first album for
Century Media, "The Ills Of Modern Man". Almost a year on, are you
pleased with how it's gone down?
AE: The response was a bit
overwhelming in North America! All of sudden, tons of kids were
actually screaming the words and kicking the shit out of each other in
the pit at every show. I love it! We never expected that things would
start working this good for us, never expected to get this far and
actually have records distributed over seas and tours offered to us in
countries we’ve never even been too.
We were on tour at the
beach in Florida while all our friends back home were shovelling snow!
This record has definitely opened doors for us.
ME: You recently launched the video for "Furtive Monologue" from the last album. Can you tell us a little more about it?
AE:
“Furtive Monologue” is far from being or most technical song but
there’s something about it that just makes it stand out on the CD and
when we play it live so we went ahead with that choice for the video.
It was our first time working with a different producer and we’re all
pleased with the result.
We tried to be a bit more creative
with the storyline using various twisted ideas and killer special
effects. There’s a lot of sick imagery in it and it suits the song and
the music very well. We now have 3 videos out there and none of them
look the same which is awesome in my book cause it offers fans
something new every time.
 ME: Any plans to record further videos from the album?
AE:
Century Media has paid for all our videos so far, but we actually
submitted a new music video project to a Canadian government funded
company that gives money to bands to record videos. Needless to say,
it’s hard to actually obtain it but it’s worth a try because they give
out a lot more cash for video production. If that option doesn’t work
out we’ll see if CM is willing to pay for a 3rd video taken from our
latest record.
ME: You've also announced that you'll be taking
some time off to work on a new album in the near future. Can you tell
us anymore about that as yet?
AE: Yeah well, it looks like we’ll
be touring more then expected. We’re trying to tour New Zealand,
Australia and Mexico during the winter/spring and have just been
confirmed on a major summer tour. We will probably take the last 4
months of the year to write most of the next record and finish the
writing and recording process during the first months of 2009. Being in
a band takes a lot of planning ahead!
ME: Any idea when we can expect it to be released?
AE:
We released our 2nd album in April 2005, re-released our 1st album in
April 2006 and released our latest album in May 2007. During those 3
years, we also managed to release 2 split CDs so as you can see, making
records has never been a problem for us! But seriously, I think our
next album should be out there by the end of winter 2009. Still a a
lot of shows to play, a lot of songs to write and a long way to go!
ME: Last year I hear you had problems with your van breaking down on the road. What happened?
AE:
That was during our summer tour with The Red Chord, Through The Eyes Of
The Dead and All Shall Perish. We had a problem with a loose spark
plug that popped out of the motor and our van broke down on the side of
the highway. We ended up missing 2 shows and caught up.
A
few days later, the front suspension on our trailer broke down and we
missed another show. The following day, the front suspension on our
trailer broke and we barely made it to the show.
Our upcoming Euro tour will be in a tour bus! No van to care for, no driving to do!
Despised Icon's latest album 'The Ills Of Modern Man' is available now via Century Media Records
ME: As a band, who has influenced you the most?
Suffocation – Pierced from Within
Dying Fetus – Killing on Adrenaline
Meshuggah – Destroy, Erase, Improve
The Dillinger Escape Plan – Calculating Infinity
Hatebreed – Satisfaction is the Death of Desire
ME: Bands are increasingly turning to the internet to promote their material. Do you find it to be useful for yourselves?
AE:
The internet has certainly help me discover a massive amount of amazing
bands and I’m sure it has helped us get known as well.
ME: Apart from yourselves, who do you rate as the best upcoming band out there right now?
AE: Decapitated!
ME: Can you give our readers any relevant band links please?
AE: Check out our top friends on myspace hahah
A
big thank you to Alex for taking the time to talk with us. You can
catch Despised Icon as they tear up the UK from the 28th of January.
The bands full schedule shapes up as follows:
01/28/08 Brighton The Engine Room
01/29/08 Plymouth White Rabbit
01/30/08 Newport TJs
01/31/08 Manchester Music Box
02/01/08 Glasgow Soundhaus
02/02/08 Milton Keynes The Pitz Club
02/03/08 Leeds Rios
02/04/08 Nottingham Junktion7
02/05/08 London Underworld
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