Interview taken from the perspective of Tommy Rogers (Drummer) of Struck/Down and Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?
TR: We often describe ourselves as a Doom/Groove metal band but we really do cover a lot more sub genres than just those two. I think with this release we’ve also heard ‘Brit Riff Beasts’ come up a bit so I’m happy to roll with that!
PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.
TR: We all come from Canterbury based in Kent, UK and quite naturally found each other to make music together. All of us have our own separate stories but for myself it was seeing other bands in our local scene that really pushed me into wanting to be a musician. Many years and thousands of pounds later and here we are!
PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?
TR: Musically it’s just hearing a meaty riff or a cool groove which is enough for me to sit down at the kit or with a guitar to write! Hearing other people’s music inspires me to strive to not only want to play it but put my own skill into Struck/Down.
As for lyrically our songs this EP and last have followed a story of a cursed priest named Father Bernard. Ultimately the story follows his grasp of chaos on modern day people. If you look deeper into the story though you can pick up on layers or metaphors relating back to our own personal experiences and the state of the world as a whole.
PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?
TR: To make it. It sounds cliche but we want to be up there playing our music to as many people as possible. That’s the long term goal anyway, on more of a shorter term its to have as much fun as possible and grow Struck/Down step by step.
PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?
TR: Playing Bloodstock Festival in 2021 after winning Metal To The Masses. It was such an amazing opportunity not only to see where the band could go if we kept pushing but we went into it like sponges by observing, talking and meeting as many people from other bands as possible. Not to mention the opportunity to really see what it’s like to be a part of a bigger festival and all that comes with it.
PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new artists emerging from bedrooms
in the day of the home studio. How is that going?
TR: It’s an artform itself at this point to be honest. I’m very lucky to have an interest in social media, graphic design and video editing and that the guys have a lot of faith in my marketing ideas. We take social media and PR very seriously which might sound boring but we truly believe it’s the best way to get yourselves heard.
PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?
TR: Promoting shows actually goes hand in hand with promoting music, we ultimately leverage our social media presence in order to do so be that with graphics or more video based content. As for booking shows, it’s all run through our booking agent at Squid Bookings Co. (squidbookingsco@outlook.com).
For upcoming shows we have:
25/03 – Ye Olde Salutation Inn, Nottingham
10/06 – The Gryphon, Bristol
07/07 – The Penny Theatre, Canterbury
15/09 – Six Six Bar, Cambridge
PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?
TR: It’s a catch 22 in my opinion. Sites like Bandcamp offering the purchase of high quality renders of tracks are great and ultimately allow a band to gain some support back from fans who want that. As for Spotify, I absolutely believe they need to be paying more but it’s also such a powerful tool to get artists’ music heard. In our own experience it’s better to work with the modern day of listening than against it.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
TR: For me personally, Mastodon – Blood and Thunder. It’s a timeless, groovy classic that I still listen to on rotation to this day.
PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?
TR: I think personally the industry needs to pay more attention to the needs of an artist and offer them a livable wage within their deals. It’s unfortunate to see so many musicians still struggling to make ends meet whilst industry heads make all the money. There’s a lot to unpack in this, I feel like it could be an entirely separate interview!
PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?
TR: Right now it’s a mixture of things for Struck/Down. Our EP ‘To Witches..’ drops 07/07 with two singles in between (the first of which will be dropping 31/03) so we have a lot of prep work in play for that. We are preparing a new set for our upcoming shows so lots of practice as well. Other than that we are constantly writing so it’s always all hands on deck!
PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?
TR: Check us out on your chosen social media platform:
https://www.instagram.com/struckdown_official/
https://www.facebook.com/StruckDownUK
https://www.tiktok.com/@struckdown_official
Merch can be found here:
https://struckdown.bandcamp.com/merch
PD: What music have you available online and where can we buy it from?
TR: We currently have a digital version of our current EP ‘From Demons..’ available if you want to get yourselves up to date with the current chapter of Father Bernards chronicles:
https://struckdown.bandcamp.com/album/from-demons-ep
Struck/Down links:
Band/Artist location – Kent, Canterbury
Facebook – You Tube – Bandcamp – Merch –
Twitter – Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer – LinkTree –
Check our page for Struck/Down
