Raze - Interview - PETE'S ROCK NEWS AND VIEWS.COM

Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)

PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?

R: We’re a metal band, that’s for sure. Putting a more specific label on it is not so easy – there’s definitely a mix of grunge with big metal riffs, but we’re trying to push the boundaries of what we’re playing to make something fresh and innovative – so I guess it’s kind of progressive, too.

PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.

R: We’re from Hertfordshire, just north of London – we meet in Watford to practice. We’ve all played music for years, and are big fans of music in general – we thought that together we’ve got something to offer that people might like to hear. We settled on our final lineup last year – we write music and perform music together and have a great time doing it.

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?

R: Musically, we draw influence from a lot of 90s and 2000s rock and metal artists. Emotive grunge like Alice In Chains, or more intricate stuff like Alter Bridge, mixed with some heavy grooves from bands like Lamb of God or Pantera. Lyrically – I like to use a lot of imagery and colour to paint a scene that’s open to interpretation. Although the songs have personal meanings, none are too obvious. That’s how I like it, it means that everyone can experience the song in their own way.

PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?

R: We want to have fun creating exciting new music, and hope to expand our fanbase and share out music with others who might enjoy it.

PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?

R: It has to be the release of the upcoming ‘Pyrography’ album on July 28th this year. This is our first full-length and really encapsulates what we’ve been doing as a band up until now – we recorded and mixed the whole thing ourselves so it’s got a real personal touch to 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?

R: There are a lot of facets to promotion. We do things through our label One Eyed Toad Records – we find that things get taken more seriously when they have a name attached to them. We’ve been learning more and more as we go on and we’re continuing the spread the music out there. Thank you to everyone who’s supported us and enjoyed our music thus far.

PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?

R: We book all of our shows ourselves, either working in collaboration with local promoters or booking the venues directly. There are loads of awesome underground metal scenes out there, if you haven’t already then check out your local metal venue for an evening.

We’re about to announce a release show and UK tour to promote the debut album – keep your eyes open for that.

PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?

R: Spotify and other streaming services are a necessary evil. They don’t pay enough to get by, or even to make any kind of real contribution to the costs involved with being in a band, however – if you’re not on there, you’re not getting discovered. Streaming platforms are the new way to market your music, and if you do it right it can be really effective.

Paid downloading of music seems a lot less in favour nowadays, however I’m not against it. If someone buys a track of ours we get a much bigger chunk than if they streamed it; even fifty times.

PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?

R: I [Louis – singer] would have loved to have written the song ‘3 Libras’ by A Perfect Circle. It’s just got so much raw emotion running through it, interesting harmony and composition – for me, it’s exquisite. A real masterpiece.

PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?

R: With the loss of physical music sales, artists have taken a big hit to their income – it makes it harder the recoup of the upfront costs of promotion. I wish there were a way for releases to pay better.

PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?

R: We are currently working on promoting our upcoming album ‘Pyrography’, coming 28th July. Behind the scenes – some potential remixes of some of the songs, and new music of course!

PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?

R: You can learn more about us by following us on our social media pages – we try to keep people up to date with what we’re doing. Plus you can read a bit more about us in the ‘bio’ section. As for merch and physical music – the debut album is available to pre-order over on Bandcamp at:

https://razebandofficial.bandcamp.com

There are a couple of other bits of merch on there to check out too.

PD: What music have you available online and where can we buy it from?

R: You can listen to us on all streaming services – the singles ‘Maple’, ‘Blue-Sky Vengeance’, ‘Pyrography’ and ‘Better Off Alone’ are up there already with the album ‘Pyrography’ coming 28th July – and another single before then also. We’ve got some physical copies (including some very awesome etched wooden CDs) on our Bandcamp, up for pre-order now:

https://razebandofficial.bandcamp.com