The Defiled Interview

The Defiled

There’s a huge buzz around UK metal band The Defiled right now, and we got the chance to have a word with them before their gig in Glasgow on their first ever headlining tour.

The album, Grave Times, has been out for a couple of months now, are you happy with the response it’s been getting?

JC Brutal: I think it’s been getting a pretty good response, I’m pretty happy with it

Vincent Hyde: it’s quite razzle dazzle.

JC Brutal: I don’t know exactly what the sales figures are, but I guess when we put it out for free with Metal Hammer we thought people weren’t going to go out and actually buy it, but people have decided that they really like this band and went out and bought it.

With Hammer being released worldwide, have you got any new fans from outside of the UK?

Vincent Hyde: Australia, people have been posting on the Facebook “come to Australia, come to Australia!”

You released a remixed version of the 1888 EP, what was the idea behind that?

JC Brutal: I think AVD just wanted to get stuck into some more stuff because he’s got all that electronic stuff behind the music but he wanted to turn it into something extra, you know? Something in itself rather than just adding to the music. Just seemed like a good use of technology, I guess.

The AVD: I just like to come at things from different angles. I remix everything I hear. The idea behind the EP, I just like to fuck with it! I studied music technology so I really like to fuck around with things. We’ve already remixed Black Death and Call To Arms, so we’re going to do the same thing with Grave Times. It was a natural thing it wasn’t forced, we were always gonna do remixes.

This is the third date of the tour, how have the first two shows gone?

JC Brutal: Mixed. First night in Leeds went really well, response was awesome, everybody was singing along and stuff. Last night was Newcastle, wasn’t bad but…

Vincent Hyde: yeah…

JC Brutal: In a nutshell, Leeds was better than Newcastle.

Vincent Hyde: I still had fun at that show, but…

The tour is called the 13 – Lucky for Some, but what is the most unlucky thing to happen to the band?

Vincent Hyde: Being stuck in traffic.

JC Brutal: On the last tour our van completely died, which was pretty unlucky, but also lucky, because I hated that van. There’s been lots of unlucky stuff that’s happened; I broke both my heels jumping off that van.

Vincent Hyde: I wasn’t there for that.

May I ask why you did that?

Phil (Tour Manager): Because he didn’t have a ladder.

JC Brutal: yeah, I was perfectly sober… haha.
Phil: you got arrested in Germany.

JC Brutal: Arrested in Germany, now that was one of our roadies fault, because he decided to fly back to UK to watch AC/DC, leaving a bunch of stuff he shouldn’t have on the dashboard and parked us in an airport. This list could go on you know? I’m sure there’s worse.

I guess you should really have called it the Unlucky for Some tour?

JC Brutal: yeah, we’ll just wait until the final date on Friday the thirteenth, pretty much in my hometown as well so, it’s one of those gigs where all your friends and family are watching, lets hope it all goes well there.

You were just announced for Sonisphere, are you excited to play there for the third year in a row?

JC Brutal: yeah, it’s like we’re the house band for Sonisphere! It’s always good, the whole thing, aside from playing you can enjoy the festival yourself and each year there are more and more people there to watch us, so it’s progressed, hopefully this year it’ll be even better.

Are there any bands you’re looking forward to seeing live at the festival?

Vincent Hyde: Weezer look like they’re gonna be a lot of fun, I’ve never ever seen them before.

What about the Big 4?

JC Brutal: I’d really like to meet Lars Ulrich… they’re all good bands but, we’ve kind of seen them lot’s of times already.

You’ve just been shooting a new music video, is there anything you’re allowed to tell us about that?

JC Brutal: I don’t know.

Vincent Hyde: it’s… gonna be… evil?

Are we allowed to know which song it’s for?

Vincent Hyde: it’s a surprise man!

JC Brutal: is it a surprise? I’m sure we’ve been shouting it out on stage each night?

Vincent Hyde: Well, it was a surprise. It’s for Black Death.

Where does the inspiration come for the lyrics on the album?

The AVD: generally, I think the whole album is a celebration of the chaos that surrounds us all, and like, the possibility of everything that’s happening around us.

What would be your favourite track on the album?

The AVD: lyrically? Final Sleep. It’s about dying. I went through a phase of having an irrational fear of death, whatever the fuck that means. I think everyone should be scared of death. I kind of wrote those lyrics on the spur of the moment, and when I look back on the song it’s kind of like me calming myself down. I think I expelled some demons after writing that track.

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