www.facebook.com/destinedfordamnation
From: Manchester, UK
Sounds like: Melodic Metalcore
1. How did the band come together and form? Who thought of the name “Destined For Damnation” and is there any meaning behind it?
Mark: Basically we all went to the same school apart from Josh me Eden and Matty became friends and started this band, Taylor went to college with Eden and said he’d be interested in playing bass for us, after that we had a really hard time finding a drummer.
Matty: I signed up to this website for finding musicians in your local area we found Josh on there and within the week we had a full band.
Mark: I saw the name in a film on a caption and thought it’d be a cool band name, we couldn’t think of anything better so it just kind of stuck.
2. Your upcoming “Before Fate Finds Us” EP comes out on April 13th. How does it compare to your last EP and what do you want listeners to take away from it?
Eden: The newer material is definitely a lot more technical and challenging to play, we’ve always tried to raise the bar with every new song we write and hopefully we’ve achieved that with the new EP.
Josh: This is the first release I’ll appear on as I only joined the band after the release of “Lost Hopes”. I think listening to that EP and then listening to the new one there’s a very distinct difference, when writing we’d tried just to go where to song took us instead of sticking to a structure.
Taylor: With the newer material we’ve tried to incorporate a part to every instrument so it wasn’t just a riff with a bass line and a beat, everyone is playing their own thing so there’s a lot more going on within the songs.
Mark: I have always written lyrics so that everyone can take their own message away from our songs, so really I want people to take away what they need from music and us to be the band that can give that to them.
3. How would you describe your music to the average listener?
Taylor: Fast and heavy, we always wanted to make a sound that anyone could listen to and appreciate. Hopefully all metal fans will be able to enjoy our music and not just put us into a category and say they don’t like us because we’re a certain sub-genre.
Eden: We put everything into writing our music so hopefully an average listener will hear that and appreciate it even if they don’t enjoy it.
4. What can people expect from your live show?
Mark: We always give it our all on stage, and we’re proud of how closely our music on recording sounds to how we play live.
Eden: On stage it’s always just felt we’re in the right place, we give it everything when we’re up there and don’t stop until the end.
5. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
Josh: For me probably Periphery, Dream Theater and Avenged Sevenfold.
Eden: I’d love to go on tour with Of Mice and Men they’ve been my favorite band for years, other than that probably Parkway Drive and Bring Me the Horizon.
Matty: I prefer the heavier side to what we do so I’d say Suicide Silence, and Whitechapel but I’ll agree with Eden on the last one and say Parkway Drive as well.
Taylor: Really I like more of the older metal and rock, so to tour with Metallica, would be awesome. Other than that I’d like to tour with Lamb of God or Korn.
Mark: My three would have to be Slipknot, Bring me the Horizon, and Motionless in White, three bands that have inspired me in so many different ways.
6. Any crazy show stories?
Josh: We haven’t really played enough shows to have any yet, some girl threw roses at us once, I guess that’s as craziest we’ve got so far.
7. What’s your take on the current state of metalcore?
Mark: All the bands sound the same and no one’s trying anything new. We don’t really include ourselves in the sub genres we’re just a band who plays heavy music. Why does that need a label?
Matty: We didn’t set out to be a metalcore band we just wanted to play music and this is what came out.
Taylor: Most bands now set out and say we’re gonna be a certain genre and limit themselves to what they can and can’t do so everything ends up sounding the same.
8. What’s the current music scene like there in the UK both locally and country wide?
Mark: Not many people turn up to shows unless it’s a well known band.
Josh: Not many bands here do their own thing and write their own music so there’s just a lot of cover bands around with no ambition to go any further.
Eden: It seems a lot harder to get noticed in the UK as people are not as understanding of metal music so less people here become fans of your music.
Taylor: It’s been really hard building a local fanbase so we have people coming to our shows whereas in other countries people have shown us a lot more interest.
9. What’s your take on legal/illegal music downloading?
Mark: Nowadays music isn’t the way bands make their money. It’s just a way to show what a band has, if people aren’t going to pay for music at least they can hear of new bands and get into new music and support it by going to shows and buying merch.
10. What’s next for Destined For Damnation?
Eden: "Before Fate Finds Us" EP is being released on the 13th of April and there’s a few surprises coming with it. Apart from that we’re trying to play as many shows as we can and get our name out there as much as possible.
