Among the fastest rising stars on the UK metal scene. Defects have been going from strength to strength since the release of their debut album, Modern Error last year. So we jumped at the chance to catch up with drummer Harry Jennings and guitarist Luke Genders at this years Slam Dunk Festival. Check out our full length interview with the boys below to find out what they’ve got in the works for their second record. Who would be their dream tour mates and much more besides!
So, it’s your first Slam Dunk Festival weekend, how’s it been so far?
Harry: You know what…
Luke: Tiring man *laughs*
Harry : Yeah, knackering *laughs* You know what though, its one if those festivals that’s so legendary. Twenty years next year it’s been going and it’s got this legendary status. So to be able to be part of it and to open one of the main stages it’s just really special. The suns out, crowds awesome. Yeah it’s been great. We’ve really had a good time.
You guys seemed to pull a really great crowd this morning!
Harry: Yeah man! Leeds is always a bit difficult because the stage we’re on, Main Stage East, it’s quite far away from the entrance. So if you’re first on it can be challenging but we had a great crowd to start with and by the end it was absolutely packed so, yeah we just had a lot of fun. Everyone was up for it, everyone got involved so yeah, it was a really good one.
Seeing that many circle pits that early in the day was pretty impressive. You definitely left some people with some new bruises to take home!
Harry: Yeah… I think people are just keen to get in and…
Luke: Smash *laughs*
Harry: Yeah man, you’ve been queuing all morning to get in. You’ve been there, done that and yeah you might be annoyed about something and you just wanna forget it and get involved. So we really hope we delivered for them at the start of their day.
You absolutely did, it was a killer set. You even dropped a new track in there as well for them!
Harry: We did, yeah we did. Little cheeky one. This weekend is perfect for it really. Being at Slam Dunk it was the perfect place to launch the next phase of what we’re going to be doing. We’ve got the new single coming out in about three weeks. So the build for that will start after this weekend and we’re kinda road testing it right now.
That must be a good test bed for new material?
Harry: Yeah and it’s gone down even better than we thought to be honest.
Luke: Yeah and it’s been very nice having a new song in the setlist for us as well hasn’t it?
Harry: Yeah, I mean we’re quite used to playing songs that aren’t released yet from the tours we did in 2023.
Yeah I remember we caught you guys at Bloodstock that year and I think at that point all you guys has officially released was your EP, Modern Error wasn’t out yet was it?
Harry: I don’t think the EP was even out at that point…
Luke: Dream Awake was out, but that was it I think…
Harry: I think we maybe had Scapegoat out, End of Days and yeah Dream Awake so we only had three songs out and we had like, a forty minute set?
Luke: Yeah man and the EP wasn’t even out until the end of that year.
Harry: That’s right, so it’s not our first rodeo road testing new songs but I think for us, more was at stake with this one. Because we’ve put so much time and effort into this next record that it was just really special to see the reaction it got.
Definitely, everyone went pretty wild for that one.
Harry: Yeah, we tend to write more these days with the crowd in mind to see how we can get them involved as much as we’re involved you know? So that they feel like they’re part of it with us. That was the main aim of that song really when we were picking the first single to bring out…
Luke: We wanted a super bouncy number really for festival season. Let’s just go y’know!
Harry: Yeah that was what we were really going for in picking that song.
So, with the new single does that mean there’s a new album on the horizon? Are you guys heading back into the studio?
Luke: Yeah as we said in press yesterday we’ve got a few experiments, a few potions we’re cooking up.
Harry: We’re going back into the studio in September. We’ve recorded two new songs, two new singles for the new album and then we go back to finish the rest of the album. So we’re coming back hot off the press with Trivium in August, straight back into the studio. Well, I am… *laughs*
Luke: Yeah you’ve got to track drums straight after that tour *laughs*
Harry: We come back from Germany and I literally have like, a day off and then I’ve got a full week tracking drums for the rest of the album…
Luke: You did yourself over there bro *laughs*
You’ve scheduled yourself into a bit of a corner there by the sound of it?
Harry: Yeah but it’ll be fine, I’ll be warmed up y’know… just not for the songs that I need to be but…
Luke: You’ve just got to try not to re-do Modern Error again!
Harry: Yeah but it’ll be fine you know, I’ll make it happen *laughs*
The Trivium announcement last week seemed like a really a big one for you guys?
Luke: Yeah very excited for that!
Harry: Very exciting, very nerve wracking but there’ll be a lot of new fans, big venues. I think a lot of people our age, we grew up on Trivium and Bullet For my Valentine, Finch, Funeral for a Friend. So it’s great and Heafy’s always been a really big supporter of us online and when we got the call y’know we were just like…
Luke: Let’s go bro!
Harry: Absolutely, even if it was in Timbuktu we’d make it work! Super excited for it, can’t wait, it’s gonna be great!
Going back to that, you guys have been out on the road now with In Flames, Of Mice & Men, Funeral For a Friend, Orbit Culture and now Trivium. Who would be on your dream tour line-up?
Harry: I’ve always preferred being second on, out on a tour. It’s later on, doors are already open and that’s what you think about in a band. That just boosts your ego but I’m gonna say I’d want to open but it would be…
Luke: I’m gonna say it would be us, Orbit Culture, Of Mice & Men, Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium and Metallica. So it’s my own festival really *laughs*
That’s a killer line-up right there!
Harry: Yeah I respect that! If it was a three band bill though, I’m going to say it would be Defects opening… *sighs*
Luke: Tough question that one!
Harry: Yeah it is! I’m trying to think of who I’m really bopping right now… I’m going to say Kublai Khan and Knocked Loose actually!
Luke: That’s a good show right there!
Harry: It would just be for me you know. My partner is massively into more underground hardcore and that’s just kind of brushed off on me and I’ve gotten really into it now aswell.
That would be huge, especially with Knocked Loose having rocketed into the mainstream a bit more recently.
Harry: Oh yeah, that’s not me saying they’re underground now. They’re out on tour with Metallica next year. The thing is with Knocked Loose, I still think it’s heavy as f***!
Luke: Oh yeah that’s just more fashionable right now but it’s still nasty!
Would you say working alongside Poppy more recently has just branched them off into a much wider audience than that kind of music would usually have?
Harry: Yeah 100% I’d say that’s definitely had an effect.
With that in mind, is there anyone you guys would like to collaborate with?
Harry: I tell you what…
Luke: We’ve got some friends coming down…
Harry: Yeah we’ve got some friends coming in on the next record. So we’ll leave that on a cliffhanger. Because we’ve got some surprises coming for the second album. We called up some people and they all said f*** yeah! So watch this space!
Sounds good! So after this you guys have got a pretty huge summer festival run lined up?
Harry: Yeah man we’ve got Mystic Fest, Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Impericon, Summer Breeze, Resurrection Fest… So we’ve got a pretty packed summer. Then we’ve got a show with Northlane, shows with Trivium. We’re going to announce a couple of headliner shows in Europe in the coming weeks. It’s really exciting, it’s going to be a busy time but we’ve been off for six months writing the new record and now it’s time to jump back to where we left off.
Luke: It’s just full on again now. You get used to being off, just at home, chilling and now it’s just like, we’re back on it again!
Harry: Yeah *laughs* that’s basically where we’re at now. Back on it, head first!
You were talking about being back out on the road once your socials the other day actually and trying to decide who spends the longest getting ready for these shows?
Luke: Definitely not us! The culprits are on that table over there *gestures toward Tony and James being interviewed nearby*
Harry: Yeah we just don’t care *laughs*
Luke: Rough and ready aren’t we? That’s why we get tattoos, you’re already dressed!
Harry: That’s why I came really close to shaving my head because I just don’t care.
Have you guys got any tour antics you wanted to share, any secrets from the bus?
Luke: I don’t think that’s safe! We all just have a very cool friendship *laughs*
Harry: Yeah I think the thing we’re very good at is, when the chips are down, we all really lock in together but we still know how to have fun with it!
Luke: We drink, we party, we have some good days, some bad days but we all come together.
Yeah we caught you knocking back that beer funnel mid-song earlier that was pretty impressive!
Luke: Yeah that was the wrong time! I thought he had it all loaded up for me and if he’d hit the chugs I’d have been fine but it was a bit late!
Harry: You’re gonna have to go home and practice that!
Luke: Yeah definitely! *laughs*
So, anything you guys want to say before our time’s up? Anything you want to tease for the fans?
Harry: Just keep your eyes open, we’re going to be out and about across Europe but we’re gonna be coming back to the UK ASAP! New music is dropping very, very soon and yeah… that’s all we can say or the record label will kill us!
Amazing, thanks for your time guys, we look forward to hearing it!
Defect’s debut album, Modern Error is available to stream/purchase now via Mascot Label Group. You can check out our full album review here. For more information on their summer tour schedule including their upcoming European dates with Trivium, you can head over to the bands official website. Keep you eyes peeled for new music coming soon by following them on social media!
