Interviews: Then We Died

On this new occasion, we had the opportunity to interview the Grindcore/Death Metal/Black Metal band Then We Died from the USA. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, did you plan it or came out just like that?

The name comes from a game called "...and then we died" which is a game where everyone plays as a ghost trying to figure out how they died by using a deck of word fragment cards. The dead, congregating together, in an attempt to piece together the story of their demise while working with only tiny fragments of their memories, I found the concept incredibly interesting.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

I ran into Stevo and Jim Higgins at an Effigy reunion show some years back. We were tossing around ideas about a project that would be a mix between Assuck and Samael "Worship Him". Years went by and not much else was said about it until a few months ago when I wrote a series of songs that reminded me of Repulsion mixed with Impaled Nazarene. I immediately reached out to Stevo, Mike May, and Jim Higgins about the project and they jumped on board.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

I've worked with Jim Higgins on numerous projects since the mid-90s, most notably Assisting Sorrow and The Promise Of Plague. Mike May and Jim were in Abominant together for years, and we all knew Stevo through Impetigo and his various musical endeavors.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

I don't know. It's late at night and I'm not going to message them to ask but I'm certain that we were all inspired by basically the same musical movements. Early punk and heavy metal, the first wave of death and black metal, and probably to a lesser extent the noise and avant-garde movements.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

I'm not sure really. I'm not really sure I'm an inspired artist. It feels more like an impulse. Every week or so I'll sit down and write a song. I never really know what genre of song I'll end up with until it's done. Once it's finished I'll decide which of my projects it best fits with. The Promise of Plague if it's black/death/doom metal, LustIcon if it's more typical black metal, Empyrean Asunder if it's electro/industrial. Occasionally something doesn't fit into any of my existing projects and I'll release it under a new band, which is how Then We Died was created.

6. Where was your last gig?

I'm not really that interested in playing live anymore. I'm happy with one show a year, two tops. Last year The Promise of Plague played at a local metal festival which was decent but I'm just not that interested in playing live.

7. Where would you like to act?

I'll play almost anywhere as long as it's only about once a year.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

I've worked with most of the musicians that I've wanted to work with. I've been fortunate enough to write music with many of the bands and musicians that inspired me as a teenager. I think if I ever manage to write some purely doom material I'd like to work with some of the guys from Thorns of the Carrion on an album.

9. Whom not?

Assholes mostly. No time or patience for that kind of thing.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

I don't personally experience fear before a show but I know most musicians do. Sometimes that anxiety helps fuel the show, sometimes it makes the performer a little more human, more direct, more vulnerable, and more relatable. Fear, anxiety, stress, I think exposing those emotions on stage heightens the quality of the performance. So I'd say embrace those emotions instead of trying to "beat" them.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Honestly, my biggest inspirations were some of the oldies. Elvis, Stray Cats, Lionel Ritchie, Michael Jackson, The Commodores, The Supremes, The Temptations. Hell, almost the entire early Motown Records catalog.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

I've been on stage since I was 15. I was young and dumb once and I've done a lot of young and dumb things. I'm older now and I know better than to tell those stories in a public forum. but weird things for sure.

13. What do you think of your fans?

Do I have those?

14. What do you think of our site?

Dig it!

15. Something to add?

Surgikill, The Promise of Plague, Sinistrum, Stonecutters. Go check them out.