Defying Decay discuss their their new album, their current tour and what’s next

 

Thai metal band Defying Decay was formed in Bangkok, Thailand in 2010 and have been garnering plenty of praise for their heavy and melodic sound that includes ambient electronics and soaring melodies.  Started by Jay Euarchukiati (guitar/clean vocals/synth) and Aston Cowie (scream vocals), the band started out covering songs by bands such as Linkin Park, Bullet For My Valentine, Slipknot and Parkway Drive, later growing as a band and writing their own original songs.   Playing countless venues and schools in the beginning, and later local bars, they became known as one of the youngest metal band in Thailand.  Cowie left the band in 2013 and Jay recruited new members, with the line-up now rounded out by Kongpop “Jump” Thongrat (guitar/piano), Theon Adam (bass/programmer), Mark Minerov (drums) and Howard Fang (guitar).   The band recently released their latest album Metamorphosis, having released the singles “Ghost”, “Judas Kiss” and “Let It Rain” thus far.  Jay has also recently started working with Stuart Birchall, who has done video work for bands such as Bullet For My Valentine, Architects and Bring Me The Horizon.  Birchall has become the band’s video director, having directed all three of the band’s recent videos for the new album.  The band recently set out on a US tour as support for European metal band Betraying The Martyrs and you can check out the tour dates below.  Staff writer Emily May spoke recently by email with Jay and discussed the new album, their current tour and what’s next for the band.  You can follow Defying Decay and stay up-to-date on al upcoming band news, music news and tour dates, as well as stream and purchase their music, via the following links.  Check out their video for “Let It Rain” below.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | iTunes/Apple MusicYouTube | Deezer

What can you tell me about your latest single “Let It Rain”?  You have said that it was really fun to work on something that represents the band as a whole while reflecting your individual talents.  How do you feel that this song achieves that?

It has a catchy chorus and pop sound to it and it has a heavy side as our metalcore guitarist likes to make it heavier than I would usually go for, so this song shows a blend of our preferences.  In that way, it achieved that.

Your new album ‘Metamorphosis’ was released recently.  What can you tell me about the process of making the album?  Where did you record the album and what was the recording process like?  Did you have certain goals or a certain sound you were hoping to achieve going into the album?

This album was tricky in the beginning since everyone in the band were separated across the globe. So instead of the traditional way of jamming and writing songs together, we would individually come up with new song ideas and record them and share online to each other, making it quite different from the first record.  In this record, I wanted to sound more nu-metal and have more of the stuff that we grew up listening to but with some new elements combined.  I think we achieved what we intended to do, but I can’t wait to experiment more in the album.

You just started your tour with Betraying The Martyrs!  What are you looking forward to most with the tour?  

We are the first metal Thai band to do this long run tour in the US, and this is very special for us and we are proud of making it happen.  I’m looking forward to coming to the US and going to Perfect Circuit and buying modular synths and going to eat Boston lobster and meet different people in this new scene.

You’ve said your goal is to break into the European, UK and US markets, as metal isn’t really popular in your hometown.  With recent tours with Emmure and Of Mice and Men and your current tour, do you feel that you are making progress?  Do you feel you are receiving more opportunities recently to help you reach your goal?

Yes, I feel that we are taking steps to go to the direction we want and we definitely have more opportunities now to make it happen.  We just have to keep on fighting for it more.

You recently revealed that you would have new merch for this tour.  What new merch can fans expect? Do you guys design your own merch?  What inspired the designs?

I personally am not a graphic designer but I come up with ideas and hand it to the designer sometimes.  Designers we work with mainly are Stuart Birchall, who is also our music video director, and Bun Bunn, our good friend from Bangkok who started doing graphics for us at the same time that we started as a band, so we are like childhood friends working together.  A lot of things inspired our designs: cartoons, anime, k-pop, and horror movies.

What were some highlights from your Russian tour with Emmure?  What led you to decide to use your footage in your “Let It Rain” video?

Russia had a completely different vibe compared to all the Asian countries we’ve played before. People were very much into our music and you could see it.  They were very passionate and they were a very awesome crowd to play for.  Hence, we decided to document it and use it for our ‘Let it Rain’ music video.

 

You have released music videos for “Ghost”, “Judas Kiss” and recently “Let It Rain”.  What is your process for making music videos?  Do you enjoy making them?  Do you tend to have an idea of how you want your music videos to look going into the process or is it more of a collaborative process with others?

Process depends but usually I would come up with an idea for the concept of the music video, and I would discuss it with our director Stuart Birchall and we would make it happen.  I enjoy making music videos because ever since I was a kid I have always been interested in films and I was even cast in musicals when I was young.  My parents didn’t allow me to pursue it because they thought I wouldn’t focus on my studies.  So now I like to relive my acting days in a music video, which is always a blast.

You’ve said that seeing Nine Inch Nails in 2014 encouraged your interest in synth, visuals and lighting.  What was it about them and their live show that you found so inspiring?  How have you incorporated those aspects in your own live show since?

They were really different from what I was used to at that time.  I was into emo or heavy metal at that time, which usually consists of guitar, bass and drums.  When I saw them live, it looked like something I’d never seen before.  I liked what I saw and was very much interested in it even after the show that I bought my first synth, Nord Lead 2X and played around with it.  After playing around with synths for sometime, I started to want to incorporate it into the music that I was making with the band.  So now you have: “Let It Rain”, “Judas Kiss”, and many songs on our records with bits of electronics in them.

What’s next for the band after tour? 

After the US tour, we would love to look into touring in Europe and some more Asian countries before the end of this year.  We are also working on some new materials which might see the light of day sooner than we think.

 

U.S Tour Dates w/ Betraying the Martyrs

7/02 – Tampa, FL – Crow Bar
7/03 – Orlando, FL – Soundbar
7/05 – Houston, TX -White Oak Music Hall
7/06 – Fort Worth, TX – Tomcats West
7/07 – Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
7/08 – Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
7/09 – Mesa, AZ – Club Red Mesa
7/10 – Los Angeles, CA – 1720
7/11 – Orangevale, CA  – The Boardwalk – Orangevale, CA

7/12 – Portland, OR – The Bossanova Ballroom
7/14 – Seattle, WA – Club Sur
7/16 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
7/17 – Denver, CO – The Roxy Theatre
7/18 – Kansas City, MO – The Riot Room 
7/19 – Des Moines, IA – Vaudeville Mews
7/20 – Minneapolis, MN – Whiskey Junction
7/21 – Milwaukee, WI – X-Ray Arcade
7/22 – Joliet, IL – The Forge
7/23 – Detroit, MI – Sanctuary Detroit
7/27 – Hartford, CT – Webster Theatre 
7/28 – Brooklyn, NY – The Kingston

 

 

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