I recently was contacted by a band known as DEF-CON-ONE. Hailing from the North-East of England (Also known as the most badass part of the country), DEF-CON-ONE may (from their name) sound like a Nu-Metal band to those quick to judge, but those that take the time to check out the band, will find one of THE bands you need to watch out for in 2011.
Although DEF-CON-ONE took me away from my porn browsing habits, I can forgive them, as instead of having a self-induced orgasm, I was offered a full-on Metal eargasm. It was definitely worth the time. Hell, as soon as I heard that Antton of Venom was involved, I just had to check these guys out.
For those of you out there that haven’t heard the band before, they play a very groove oriented form of Thrash Metal (well, at least that’s my opinion). They actually remind me very much of an old-school Burn My Eyes era Machine Head, but with a heavy Pantera influence. Unlike many unsigned bands though, DEF-CON-ONE don’t rely too heavily on their influences and have developed their own sound incredibly well.
All four of the guys were kind enough to answer some of my questions, so check out my interview after the jump. You won’t be disappointed!
Dose of Metal: Hi there, how did you hear about Dose of Metal?
Johnny: Facebook!
DoM: What do you think of the site?
Davey: Cool!
Antton: The site is great, its good to see a site dedicated to real metal and supporting underground metal music too.
Johnny: Its badass! \m/
DoM: Your name is DEF-CON-ONE. That’s quite an unusual name. What was the idea and inspiration behind the name?
Davey: Over to you lads!
Antton: The name came from a good friend of the band and the moment we heard it we thought it summed up the power and aggression in the band, defence condition one is the state of all out war and basically is that big red button being pressed, kkaaaboooom, DEF-CON-ONE.
DoM: You guys have been around for around 10 years now, but only now do you feel the band is complete. What are your plans for 2011?
Steve: Gigs, touring, and selling lots cds and merch hopefully..
Antton: We have been refining everything and we are busy recording more tracks, hopefully we will be able to get a record company to release it, we’ve just gotta get those a&r guys to listen to our music, when there is like a trillion metal bands out there its hard but with the help of metal sites like this we will hopefully stand a better chance of being heard.
Johnny: Gig, Drink beer, gig, drink beer, gig!
Davey: Gigs, gigs, gigs
DoM: What and who are your biggest influences?
Johnny: Pantera, Stuck Mojo, Slipknot, AIC, Sevendust…..and many more!
Steve: Pantera, Slipknot, Testament, Sex Pistols.
Antton: Pantera, slipknot, testament, lamb of god, machine head, i guess the list is endless…
Davey: Gary Numan, Siouxsie Sioux, Adam Ant, Layne Staley, Seb Bach, Phil Anselmo, Chris Cornell, Simon Marrs.
DoM: You play a very groove oriented, but fast, form of Thrash Metal. Ever get musician’s equivalent of wanker’s cramp? Got any warm up and warm down exercises?
Davey: Smoke tabs to warm up…drink beer to warm down!
Antton: Before a gig we all warm up differently but start off slowly and slowly speed it up as for after the gig its all down to beer n how much we can drink, lol!
Johnny: Just play anything, it dont matter what ya playing just get ya fingers moving. And warm down with a beer like Antton said.
Steve: Just a few finger excercises to warm up. And a shit load of beer to warm down!
DoM: You’re all from Newcastle, England. What’s the Metal scene like there, and is it as good as the drinking scene?
Antton: There is alot of metal in the north east and there is alot of good bands coming out too, the metal scene is definitely as good as the drinking scene, the problem is the same as its always been though, all the a&r guys are based in London and getting them to travel up north is difficult, there was a local label years ago called neat records which signed a good lot of band who might not have been heard of.
Davey: The metal scene is coming back into its own, there are some cool bands in Newcastle at the moment…….but the drinking scene always tops out!!!!!
DoM: The Angel of North: Thrash Metal (icon) or scrap metal (crap)?
Steve: CRAP METAL!
Antton: Scrap metal, its all rusty n shit, waste of good money !
Johnny: Scrap!
Davey: Its fuckin cool, its the first thing you see to let you know your home when you’ve been away “down souf” (that’s meant to be in cockney…. I should have said “doon sooth.”)
DoM: Which albums have been rocking your 2010?
Johnny: As always, Pantera(all)! Some AIC(Dirt, Facelift) Throwdown(Deathless), Lamb of God(Wrath), Slipknot(Iowa)…..Drinkin party music its gotta be KISS!
Steve: Mostly old Misfits albums and the Pantera back catalogue!
Antton: Lamb of god!
Davey: Well ive just joined DCO so it has to be the tracks we are working on… they are full on groove ridden ear assaults on your lug holes…..its everything i cant buy in the shops!!!!!!
DoM: If you could play/tour with any one band, past or present, who would it be and why?
Johnny: PANTERA!
Antton: Pantera, they were the undisputed heavy weight champions of metal period.
Steve: Greatest metal band ever…
Davey: Fuck thats a hard one. for me i cant split Pantera and Alice in Chains. both for different reasons. Pantera for sheer adrenaline and power and AIC for some breath taking harmonies and deep dark grooves.
DoM: Lord of the Rings or Star Wars?
Antton: Star wars!
Davey: DUUUUUUUUUUH!Star Wars dude!
Steve: Star wars, i agree with Kevin Smith ‘lord of the rings is 3 movies of people walkin to a volcano’.
Johnny: Star wars (not the new 3 coz they’re shite!)
DoM: Pantera or Metallica?
Antton: Pantera!
Davey: Pantera….all day!
Johnny: DAMN thats a hard choice……..no not really PANTERA!
Steve: Have a wild guess????? METALL………i cant do it! Its PANTERA without question!
DoM: Thanks, any last words for our readers?
Steve: Check out DEF-CON-ONE, buy some shit, tell your friends and get them to buy some shit!
Antton: Please check out our tunes and if you like what we do please spread the word of DEF-CON-ONE. Cheers.
Johnny: Drink beer and check out DEF-CON-ONE!
Davey: Check out our tunage, i’ve got a sneaky feeling you will love it!!!! Horns up…
DoM: Thanks for your time guys! It’s been awesome \m/
And now you’ve read the interview, make sure you check out the band. DEF-CON-ONE have a variety of tracks to check out at the following links below. Warface being a particular favorite of mine.
