https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092613607949
Sounds like: Punk Rock/Metal
From: Canada
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound?
Dual Black never sat down and said, we want to be a specific type of band. "We just started making noise together and feeling out what makes us look at each other and say "Hell yeah! that's a song I'd listen to again!" Before Dual Black , I myself thought I was done with music, but around the Fall of 2022 I could hear this band jamming on my street somewhere . I'd listen to them wondering where these guys were playing and think " Holy shit these guys are tight!" One day that fall , I was sitting in my apartment, and some dude who was squatting in the building decided to light up a cigarette in the stairwell and set the fire alarm off. Everyone in the building had to vacate the premises, I looked across the street and saw a guy I knew from years before. He turned out to be Ryan Jones, one of the guys that I had been hearing jam in the neighborhood. He looked at me and said "Dude! Hey, do you still have your guitar?" When the fire trucks gave us the ok I went across the street and grabbed my guitar and amp and we started jamming that night. With the addition of Ryan Hughes on Bass , and eventually after a line up change on lead guitar we landed Colt Knorr into the fold and that cemented the core of the band. As far as the sound of the band is concerned, we bring a raw and honest interpretation of rock and roll , with the main vein being fast and dirty punk rock. Our drummer Jonesy is a big fan of death metal and you can really hear how much he loves it when he cuts loose. Ryan Hughes our bass player brings a dark grooving bass sound to the table, he can play fast like Lemmy or Matt Freeman , and then switch hits into grungey, sludgey soulful stuff. The dude is so versatile with his sound and hands down the best bass player I've ever played with . Colt is a pop punk guy who literally learned how to play lead to jam with us. He originally filled in for Ryan on bass while Ryan was touring with another local band called the Fixer. When Ryan came back we were sad to cut Colt loose , but low and behold we were having some problems with our lead guitar guy at the time and we had to make the decision to cut ties with him. Colt came around again and put in a pile of effort learning lead guitar for us , his instincts and effort really paid off because not only does he know how to shred he came in and saved the chemistry of the band after a rough patch , helping us move forward out of what felt like a big rut. Myself ( Roy ) I've always like singing and being real loud with a guitar in my hand so I can say I'm pretty fortunate that the cards lined up for me to get to be in a band like Dual Black.
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
I hope that people listen to us and go holy shit, that's my jam. We make pure and honest rock and roll for people that like loud guitars and fast drums, with relatable lyrics that you can scream along to. I think we resonate with people who consider themselves rebels and freakers , punks and outsiders, who don't just listen to music , but feel it in every fiber of their being. I would love it if people listened to Dual Black and had it help amplify all the awesome going on in their life , or if they are in a dark place and shit is not going good, that it reminds them that the light at the end of the tunnel is not always a train. A lot of our songs, as fast as they are , deal with loss and redemption, having to pick up and move on after your life has been flipped upside down. It's kind of like saying fuck you with a loud guitar to all the bullshit that tries to grind people down. That's what music has always been for me, something that helps supercharge the soul, If people listen to Dual Black and get that same feeling, that's something we can be proud of at the end of the day. It's really humbling when someone stops you after a show and says they love your music and listen to it at home all the time.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
To the average listener how would I describe our sound? Meat and potatoes punk rock with catchy choruses. I've had people tell me at shows that we throw vibes from early Appetite for Destruction era Guns and Roses . I've also heard we sound like a bastard child of Motorhead and Social Distortion. No complaints to any of those comparisons. I love those bands. We also have a few songs soon to be released that tap into the grunge era from the 90s in the vein of STP and Soundgarden that I am excited for people to hear. It's hard to put into words what I think but , what I love hearing is the feedback our audience gives us on our sound and what they get out of it. That means more to me than what I think anyway.
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
Three bands I'd like to tour with ... I can tell you two bands that I would love to tour with again are The Fixer and Teknosis! These are two bands from Thunder Bay that are absolute juggernauts on stage and I had the pleasure of going out on the road with them last year as a solo act / roadie. It was one of the fuckin coolest experiences of my life , I met a lot of cool people across Canada and got to see a deadly metal show every night.The Fixer rolls into town looking like a bunch of Vampires and puts on an amazing show, Seiously look them up if you are reading this , Fixer -Ugly Knots and Teknosis- Shapeshifter, check those songs out you wont be disappointed. I would love to get a triple threat tour going with these two bands one day. If I had to swing for the fence and say a band that I've always looked up to to tour with I'd say Rise Against! I think a Rise Against tour with Dual Black opening would be a good fucking time!
5. What's your thoughts on AI generated music?
What are my thoughts on AI Generated music... That it's gross. It's like Skynet telling us what it thinks art and music is. . It's anti human no matter what someone tells it to pretend to be.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Punk Rock?
I think the current state of Punk rock is loud and healthy because people are feeling pretty hopeless about the future and have a lot to be angry about.Rockin general has always been a sounding board for frustration and rebellion.Most people are barely getting by , housing is out of reach for in terms of being able to afford your own home. Everyone knows multiple people who have OD'd and died because of Fentanyl , AI is going to replace you and your job and all the things you enjoy like tv , music movies and then to ice the cake , the big orange turd in the white house could have a temper tantrum, start mouthing off on twitter like a baby and get us all nuked. Punk Rock unites people who are sick of the status quo and there's no shortage of reasons not to play it loud these days.
7. What’s the current local music scene like there in Thunder Bay, Canada?
The local scene in Thunder Bay is awesome . Thunder Bay is full of talented musicians and songwriters. Most of us in the punk and metal scene call one club home and that is Black Pirates Pub. Black Pirates is the CBGB's of Northwestern Ontario. Onur has run BPP for 18 years and his bar has been the home base for all things counter culture in Thunder Bay. All of the punk and metal bands play there often and the scene at the moment is really kicking ass. There is a compilation of punk bands that Marc Viherkoski from Forever Dead has taken on to showcase all of the active punk bands in the scene called" Mind Blowing Punk Fest Spectacular" and it's not just a clever name it's right to the point. If anyone is interested in getting the best of our local scene, keep watching our social media , it will be out later this year. I love our scene , everyone supports each other, there's no gatekeeping and it's full of awesome bands , you'll never have a bad time rocking out in Thunder Bay!
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
It's the absolute shits . I think I read somewhere that Snoop Dog was the highest paid artist on Spotify one year and made $80,000 dollars .Managers at Home Depot make more than that per year. If that's what he gets paid in royalties in a year, then everyone else trying to grind to get a few thousand plays is going home with about two fifths of fuck all. It's a necessary evil to be on a streaming service though because of the potential reach to so many people, and I'm grateful for anyone who takes the time of day to rock out to Dual Black , but any of these services could pay artists more and it wouldn't hurt their bottom line . I don't think that whoever invented spotify is feeling any guilt about that while they're suntanning on their yacht.
9. What’s next for Dual Black?
The big next thing for Dual Black is that we have an EP coming out later this year tentatively titled "Fer F#%^ Sakes ! It's Dual Black!" It's going to have four tracks that range from fast and loose punk rock ,to some throw back to the grunge we grew up with , when there was no internet in small town's in rural Canada. I heard a few tracks from it earlier today and I'm really excited to put them out there into the universe. Keep watching out socials we will update everyone as we get closer to releasing it!
10. Any shoutouts?
Keep an eye out for " Mind Blowing Punk Fest Spectacular" The Compilation LP that will be coming out later this year showcasing all the best punk rock in Thunder Bay! Find Dual Black on Facebook we will post a link to where you can get your hands on a copy!
And I just want to say a huge thanks to everyone that comes to our shows and supports us ! Seeing you all singing along and two stepping to our music is the reason we get up in the morning so cheers to you all and sincerest thanks !
