Garza Podcast - 99 - DISTANT: The Deathcore Resurrection, Metal, Politics & Europe Vs. USA Fast Food

Episode Date: October 9, 2023

Garza sits down in-person with Netherlands deathcore band DISTANT. https://www.linktr.ee/distantofficial SPONSORS: Click this link to purchase from Sweetwater & help support the podcast: imp.i114863.net/rnrmVB DISTANT is: Alan Grnja - Vocals Nouri Yetgin - Guitar Elmer Maurits - Bass Jan Mato - Drums CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Broken Down Tour Van/RV  04:15 - Hand-Delivered Starbucks Flex On-Air 05:25 - Tour w/ Left to Suffer, Cabal & Justice for the Damned 08:15 - Deathcore Markets/Demand Throughout the World 12:55 - Hard Work & Success 14:48 - Drawing From Influences & Making Your Own Sound 16:18 - Coming From the Netherlands & Slovakia, How the Band Met Each Other 22:49 - When Distant Officially Began 25:30 - Reflecting on Challenging Moments, Staying Committed 27:20 - Challenges Acquiring Visas to Tour 30:50 - Chaos and Carnage 2022 Lineup 36:16 - Coming Up As a Band In the Netherlands 41:19 - Taco Bell, McDonalds & Fast Food in Europe vs USA 48:21 - Getting 17 Vocalists on “Argent Justice,” Including Members of Suicide Silence, Emmure, Bodysnatcher & More 53:45 - Trivium/Matt Heafy 57:50 - Future of Metal “The Renaissance of Deathcore” 1:00:36 - Distant’s Dream Tour Lineup 1:02:27 - Suicide Silence Appreciation, Thoughts on Industry 1:06:14 - Visas, Politics & Future of Distant

And I was like, what are you guys doing? Like, I actually started getting mad because, like, I always get up early. And if I make some noise, they were like, uh-uh-uh-n-uh. And I was like, what are you guys doing? Why are you making noise? But now it explains a lot, actually. I didn't know. The whole engine was just whistling and everything.

So it was like, okay, this will probably explode. Yeah, because you were driving down to California, which is known as, uh, Jay, correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the great bind, which is, I think, a very dangerous freeway to drive on. Whenever I need music gear, I always go to sweetwater.com. If it's mics, headphones, or studio, and recording gear, Sweetwater has you covered. Next time you need any music gear, support the podcast by using the link in the description and comment section below. How are we doing, dudes? We're going? Sick.

So you broke down? What's up? Yeah. Okay. Today we woke up to a broken down RV. That's great. That sucks, dude. Yeah.

But I thought It sucks because there's a shortage of Transportation like with the bandwagon stuff Yeah Super shortage I never even seen that option before in my life Yeah like I saw a couple bands do it And it was pretty last minute

Because like we've been looking for RV For a while And like from like a private Rentals and stuff like that But Sam wouldn't lend it out to a touring band or they haven't had a trailer hitch so that would be like a big downside so we went with this and

God damn sounds like it's working out oh yeah it's great it sucks not because you're already on like no sleep you're always sleeping like shit and then you wake

up kind of and then there's issues yeah it's definitely sucks waking up into getting everything out of the RV to a Another one to like shout out to Cabal for helping us out here and jamming us and our stuff into their RV for the ride here.

God bless you. Yeah. Dude, long leave cabal. So where did you guys break down? It's like two hours away from here. So I was thinking like because you came from up? Yeah, yeah, from up north. It was like mid-mountains.

Oh, yeah. You're like mid-California. But we made it to like a truck stop, so at least that, like, we didn't break it down in a... You didn't see the ride before because... Yeah, like... I woke up at 2 a.m., like, okay, something is going on. Yeah. Wait, wait.

Yeah, the RV couldn't go more than 35. Then we hit the hill. And we were going like... 20? That was going on. Because I heard a lot of noises. I was waking up and I was like, what are you doing? I actually started getting mad because I always get up early and if I make some noise that

were like, ah, nah, and I was like, what are you guys doing? Why are you making noise? But now it explains a lot, actually. I didn't know. The whole engine was just whistling and everything. So it was like, okay, this will probably explode. Yeah, because you were driving down from California, which is known as a Jay, correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the grapevine, which is, I think, a very dangerous freeway to drive on.

Probably. Especially during, like, the wee hours of the evening. Oh, yeah. Because it's swerving, going up and down. It's full, yeah, yeah, I got a great vine. It's known to have a lot of accidents. Great. Yeah, so you guys, you guys are up there.

It's cool. Yeah. I bet. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have distant. Thank you guys for being here. Thanks for having us. Given your circumstances, you still made it. Hell yeah.

That's fucking safe. Always, always a clutch. Boom, oh, ho! I told you, hand-delivered Starbucks. Hell yeah. That's how we do with this. See, Jay, look how you are. I told you, this is how it should go down.

I think this is you. Hell yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I think we're all addicted to caffeine. No, I should have a bigger one. Oh, there's so much better. Oh. Oh.

It's always a gamble. Like, oh. Oh, yes. That's definitely a drummer coffee. This is me. What the hell is that? That's mango, drag or fluid lemonade. Singers.

I like my sugary stuff here. I get it. Well, speaking of sugary stuff, cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Boom. From across the world. That's a big-ass coffee, dude.

Hell yeah. So people can put a, of, voice and names can we get a quick intro yes sir well i'm uh nur yetgen i'm the guitar player of distance i am alan grnia and i do vocals hi i'm jan matto and i'm playing drums sick congrats on the uh yep wave congrats on the shows i'm there's the shows are packed dude oh yeah it's awesome it's awesome i saw it was sacramento Sold out. Yeah, sold out.

Then yesterday we had Fresno, which was full as fuck. I don't know, like, what was the cap on that one? But there was like 200 people there. Yeah. On a weekday, it's pretty dope. People are crazy. I love it. Weekday, too?

Yeah, yeah. I think, like, you came from clear across the world. Yeah. And also, you guys were just here, too. Yeah, yeah. We've been back here throughout March. in April yeah you say fuck it coming right back oh hell yeah same venue too uh in fresno yes and chain today yeah yeah yeah yeah same venue yeah when you mentioned oh yeah we're gonna be back here uh so and so and

i'd expect this soon at seen venue and people and people don't care they well we didn't expect it as well like this holts work are booked so quickly it was during that time we've been here really and we've been like okay let's do this it was just a week it just took a week it just took a week like to get every band and like all the bookers as well like said like oh wait let's go a week just a week like the routing and the bands confirmed like within two days like the whole idea sparked and in two days the package was done how do you do that well we have jonathan jonathan we just had a launch with him and we're like talking about what to do next and we didn't like feel like to do like a headline alone so it was like you know what we should just get a band like

this equal size and just do a co-headline and just make a like a special package like all bands from all of the world because I think this like I want to say it's one of the first words but like I don't see this happen like in Defcore in general in the US like having you one US a band on the bill so I think that's as well like everyone was excited about it yeah who's I What do you was that? Basically like me in Ellen. That's a great concept. I didn't even think about that. You only have one U.S. band. Just one U.S. band. Then Justice is from Australia.

Kabbal is from Denmark. We're from Slovakia and Netherlands. So it's all over the world. Yeah. Yeah. And there's always demand here for like foreign bands. So we wanted to do this because when will Kabal be back here again? When will Justice be back here again? to be back here again. So let's make that happen.

Wow. Do you think it goes the other way around? Like can the, because I've always struggled with this. Can U.S. bands go to another country? Is there, is there a demand there? Yes. I think it is. I think it is. Like, I mean, for Death Corps in general, the biggest market is over here. You know, like, this is the cradle of Death Corps. like is it yeah I mean yeah like I mean look at you guys suicide silence carn effects everything sparked in America like everything started in America so the scene is

really strong here compared to to Europe in my eyes so maybe Asia maybe maybe Asia but that's like still uncharted territory in general but yeah this is definitely the biggest market for death core and death metal i would say i didn't yeah i never thought about that because i because you mentioned the word demand so i was like okay is where where is the most demand is it here is it uh where you're from like around like the european territories is it australia because uh that i had that was murders out there killing it if we're speaking numbers like 80 percent of our fanbases from the u.s no yeah it is yeah it is really is it's crazy How that happened?

Internet. Internet. And I don't know. People enjoy it here more. Like, that's what I know is like... Also with our orders. Like, we have an online web shop and we just like run it from out of Europe, like out of the Netherlands. And like most of it are just the USA orders.

Most of them are... We ship worldwide. Like, there are definitely a different country. But I would say it's safe to say like 80% is definitely USA. Is there a certain state that you notice is a little bit more higher? Hard to say. Hard to say, to be honest. It's pretty all over the US.

It's pretty all over, yes. Interesting. Yeah. It's wild. It's crazy. It's so crazy and wild because, you know, it wasn't like that always. Yeah. No, yeah.

I think it all happened like after COVID. Yeah. Post-COVID. Yeah. Definitely everything like went higher. Like people start to appreciate the shows more. I remember like when Chaos in Carnage sold out the year we play together. Mm-hmm.

And that was first Death Corps tour I saw sold out. Like in 2010, 20, 15 years. It's like when there was a single show sold out on some tour, on DefCore tour in the last 15 years. Like there's, there may be like instance of like five shows throughout the whole thing and throughout the whole scene. And now you come back first tour out. of COVID chaos and carnage boom all sold out and other tours follow so you so you think at the year 2020 helped

that i think so yeah it's like a fresh restart people like people started people realize that hey this might not happen again for another two years we don't know let's go yeah let's buy tickets let's go to a show it's like a really sick video game And you just press the reset button. And then, oh, it works. Yeah. Maybe even better. And then there's no more glitches.

Yeah. That might be a terrible analogy, I don't know. That's weird. To admit, yeah, I never really kind of put two and two together like that. I don't know. Because, you know, you're so like your mind and your vision so kind of like just. Yeah, focused. And when things happen, it.

in front of your face, you miss it sometimes. Yeah. Or it's going on like around you. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't really even know. I knew it was special when this one was, when the turn-offs were pretty insane. Yeah.

I mean, but look the lineup. Yeah, I mean. I know. The lineup is insane. Best way to come back, you know? I know. Yeah, Lorner Shore was doing their pop off there. Definitely.

Us and Carnifax party never toured together for ego reasons. and you guys came from across the world Yeah And all these bands are also Except for Angel Maker But you can argue that they're from the same continent That you guys were the only band that came from That flew down

Yeah And now you're back And you're completely The flyer is upside down Yeah It's weird Your band should be very proud That's a huge

accomplishment thank you very much to come back and there's actually a demand there literally flipped upside down that's sick yeah congrats thank you thank you did you ever think this would happen no no no really we like we always had the mindset like we put in the work and we like aim for it but that actually what happened is a different thing because it has to do like with manufacturers you know what i mean like people being motivated or surrounding you with the right people and it's still it's like a lot of hard work you have to put in, but at the same time,

you must be a little bit lucky as well. A lot of luck. It's involved a lot of hard work and luck. Yeah. But that's a brutal. Because like it's weird. Like even sitting here like a crossover view, like I would never thought it would happen ever.

Yeah. Because like when I was like 16 years old, like that year back. Like I, when like you had like the cleansing and stuff like that and one, yeah, you know, I followed that music like from across the world i was like in a town in the middle of nowhere and just watching youtube videos from you playing guitar oh just on the seventh string like you and mark like motivated to like pick up my guitar and actually make deafcore that's the whole reason like i started out really and just like

years later to sit there like across over you is like mind blowing it is it's mind blowing for me that i'm still here and able to hang out with you guys hell yeah it goes it goes both both ways every time you know I'm old so it's like oh man I'm still here I'm hanging out with these bands this is weird holy crap

because uh because you uh so you're a suza's sound's fan I put weird saying that because I'm because I'm in the band but I only get your story out there

so I heard you're a fan of of us but also corn as well oh yeah it's this crazy how like that happened because we were fans of corn you know

yeah and now it's like I guess time has passed where yeah i guess there's a people are listening to our generation but also can go to the late 90s as well and combine those oh yeah you know and also you did your own your own thing with it because i can't tell which is what which is what you want yeah you know it's like hey i'm like a big fan of these bands but yeah but but but but you can't tell you you put like you put your own spin on it you know yeah thank you yeah that's that's what we try to do with like we always love to experiment and I don't want anything to sound the same.

So YouTube are technically the same. Yeah. Both the corn fans and suicide talent fans. True. And guitarists. Yeah. I tell people, I think I'm the biggest Suissons fan on the planet, because I've been listening to it forever.

It's like, I think I might be the biggest, like, fan out there. Because you listen to your own band so much. If you think about it, all those times you're jamming. and writing ribs and songs you're listening to your own band a lot yeah that's weird it's crazy but yeah you guys you guys love it man oh yeah so so tory it's been going well for you guys oh absolutely yeah besides of the breakdowns that are not on stage yeah besides today huh where are you from from the netherlands yeah okay and they are from slovakia okay wow so how did you guys link up uh we met on the tour it's it's it's it's

this is actually this is gonna be fun yeah i like this question okay so the thing is like uh we already like had a singer like in the past but uh it wasn't like really working out and and we just did the tour but we already know like we're gonna part ways anyway but we just did the tour but it's actually supposed to be a tour with his band it's called like shrill whispers had the band together and we were supposed to do a co-head line with distant oh wow yeah but they didn't do the tour so he came along as a tour manager but you have to explain like you like you why why why why didn't you go i just finished high school back then and uh i was like okay uh well we can go on a tour i uh me and elmer booked the tour and two weeks before the tour this guy decides he

He doesn't want to play drums anymore because he likes cars. So he sold his kid and said, fuck it. So we broke up and we couldn't do the tour anymore. Elmer asked me like, hey, do you want to TM this tour? And I was like, okay, like, I just finished high school. Like, let's go. So yeah, and towards the end of the tour, Nuri and Homer came by. I was like, hey, like, we don't have a vocalist not right now.

like you don't have a band do you want to join I was like okay Netherlands it's like two hours flight I mean let's try it and here we are and a couple years forward I asked him like hey you feel like playing drums again and it's like okay I can try and he's back in in totally different band yeah yeah but together playing together so again so you sold your drum set yeah I bought an old BMW and spent four years to put the to the shit like on cars but yeah I learned something but I noticed like yeah this this is not for me so you learned that it's not it's not for you yeah but but but so I started again to play on runs so because

Alan asked you yeah okay I mean not because yeah he he he pushed me a bit Like, you know, you should try it again. So you were always thinking about it, kind of. Kind of, yeah. You're probably getting like an inch. Yeah, like, you're like, oh, I got it. Like, I met him on a party, like a couple years after we broke up, and we already released stuff with Distant.

And he, and we covered our old band. And he was like, yeah, that sounds good, but the drums could be better. Dang, talking smack, dude. And, yeah, like, we're like, We needed a filling drummer, and we couldn't find anything because drummers are a rare breed in Europe. Yeah, so. I hit him up like, hey, do you feel like doing this? Like, it's just a feeling, like no commitment.

Like, let's try it for a week. And then he was like, oh, okay, shit, I missed this. Yeah. So I felt right for you. What? So I felt right for you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, of course.

So that was a stretch of four years. where you're like, okay, I'm not playing drums. Yeah. Did you, when you first initially stopped, or you sold your drum set, correct? Basically. Basically. Yeah, I had two drum sets and I sold one, so, yeah.

But I still had like a practice space, but that was basically just the storage for the drums. Okay. And I was renting the space. So I still had the drums. I mean, I still have them. but I didn't play at all. Did you think I'm done with it?

Do you think, okay, I might come back at some point. Actually, I didn't even think about it. Like, I just, I just wanted to do like more technical stuff, like to make something, not the music, because the music is like, it's just to listen. It's, you are not making, I don't know, this. Oh, yeah. You know. Craft.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I just wanted to try it. And yeah. Didn't work out. No, not really. Did it make you love the drums more when he came back? You know, it's like he had a ton of miss it and like, man, I missed it.

Yeah. I love it. I mean, it's... I love Alan. Wait, I hate him. I mean... I love him. No, he's the best.

Yeah. Like for real. He's the best. Oh Oh my goodness Were you pissed when you stopped playing drums? Oh, hell yeah It's like there's one drummer

And a tune-in-out radius It was our first tour outside of the country And we've been doing well back at the back at that time And I was like, dude Because we started the band together And we've been working like Ever since I was like 15 on that band

working in every day every day fucking jamming doing something and this came like out of the blue out of the blue yeah that's fucked up no communication

how old are you when you set down 19 19 yeah but I mean I'm grateful for that yeah that did happen because this wouldn't happen

interesting huh this wouldn't happen true so what so what kept it intact what did you mean okay so I mean okay but you know the way

he stopped playing yeah it kind of brought it back together you know I think it was just luck that's supposed to be like that it was meant to be it was destiny

when did this didn't actually come up because you guys formed in 2014 was so was it how did that officially come about? Like, I played with Elmer like in a local band before. And that band's like quit it. And me and Elmer just kept being in touch. And we tried to put a band together.

But like it didn't really work out. Then when I was like on high school, like, I met someone and he was like, oh yeah, I'm a singer. And we have a drummer. with a guitar player but i just need like uh another guitar player and a bassist i was like well uh if we're gonna do this like i want to put like everything in this like one more time i just want to give it all all yeah i just want to give it our all and then i invited elmer and we just started

writing music and booking shows and just doing our thing but like i'm at ummmy a base place yeah Elmer's the base player. At the moment, he's not here, but yeah, he's still in the band. Hi, Elmer. Our lovely bass player. So, dude. Cheers. We love you. We love you, man. We have monsters that you like. Oh, he would have loved that. Yeah, yeah.

Your RV's fucked up. Yeah. But, like, during the way, I mean, everyone wants to play in a band and, like, playing cool shows, but actually, no, I want to put in the effort. So that's why me and Elmer were the last man standing, like the OGs. and now we're these guys and yeah we're still like growing we're still going

no you haven't even like started yet it's crazy huh I feel like I've been there I feel like I should say it I should retire not like since 2014

so that's nine years nine years nine years yeah nine years like been grinding flew by huh yeah it's like crazy how fast it went

it's like where do those nine here's go yeah yeah and then uh i i assume you're blessed and lucky oh wait i'm i'm more fun now than i did back when the first started you know because you guys are still like this is you know it's trying it way we have that new mountain it climbs it's fun you know yeah and then your rbri breaks down you know what still still having fun like at the moment it's shit but like when you look at it back like later if more time passes you you you think like oh it was fun Because you still remember, like, oh, you know, the RFB broke down before you went to the podcast.

It's still a good story. You know what I mean? Like, yeah. Yeah. Isn't that fuck up the way like the human brain works? It's like you look back more at any challenging or bad time more than like a positive. Yeah, but I feel like that's because, you know, you overcame something that's kind of hard or some people could break down as well. Of course.

Or stuff like that. I've done both. Yeah. So, so I think that's why you reflect. on it because hey I survived this I did this I came through this and that so I'm proud yeah yeah you're you're you're building your character yeah you're building you you know yeah it's cool to man we like like got through that you know it sucks now but yeah we got something like look back on man I learn this we learn that we learn this we did this you

you expanded your emotional capacity and then those things hopefully you guys don't break up it brings you closer yeah you know i seem like i'm gonna break up today i mean if it would have happened it already should have happened i think yeah yeah i think we've been like in our lowest places like during like covid and writing albums and record deals and yeah yeah what were what were some of your low times not playing chaos and the carnage yeah that was like really hard for me like i almost considered like quitting because it's just it was just mentally too draining because like i worked for this nine years like with this goal like even to be able to tour with you guys for me that's it was like the highest thing on my bucket list and the moment the moment i knew i couldn't go i was like

where did i do this for you know what i mean but i just had to change my mind and I actually finished like our album heritage I just started writing I was like all right so day tour I make a record and then we go on the road again when the record is released but it was like yeah that was hard for me do you regret not going um I mean I couldn't go because I didn't get my visas oh yeah yeah it's it's it's like Yeah, it's like a whole long complicated story and I think also like for some political reasons I better cannot like mention like what actually was going down, but it's just like we should have got some help or like for us was all new and we just kept in touch with someone that said like yeah

I'm gonna pay for it. We're gonna fix this and like every month we're like oh what do we need to do and it's like now it's gonna be all right and then And actually, one week before the tour started, we got all our documents and then we still had to apply it at the embassy. I was like, how do you think we're even going to make this? Like, those guys were lucky because he knew someone inside the embassy. But I already sent my passport to the embassy in the Netherlands because if I didn't do that, and we knew that, for example, up front, I even could have gone to Slovakia and it

would have been like one or two weeks later maybe because he knew the guy. but like if you get into the process and your passport is already sent out it's it's like hell man it's it's like so difficult and so much money it's like ridiculous but i but i'm like how can you even like think like how we're gonna make it like one week before our flight and we still have to file it in like what are you thinking you know what i mean but like we didn't know we didn't know any better because like we didn't know how we've never done it before so we we trusted like people around is that said they have done it for multiple bands and they've done it multiple times but then i'm like well why did it take so long because like from our part what i've what we have could have done was just

mailing every month like yo how does this work like can we do something do already uh start applying for something because we don't know how this works no it's going to be all right no it's going to be fine and yeah if you trust someone you know what i mean and they have the strings in their hands yeah because also like money wise yeah that was difficult to deal with but i just stepped over it finished the album and i think it's supposed to be like that because like they killed the tour we got our name out there we finished another record we signed a new record deal uh which was amazing and yeah we're still going yeah it might have been that uh uh necessary step yeah i think so because i see the growth we made after playing the tour and releasing

the album and it's it's like four or five times the size what we used to be really yeah so i definitely like recognize like it should have been the way yeah well you don't really know until it's kind of past yeah yeah yeah your mind just goes yeah to like that place you're like oh it sucks dude because like to be fair like if you look at the tour flyer you cannot deny it's like a legendary tour because a lineup like that that's not going to happen that fast again with all those bands like all those bands at hype they never tour together basically like in like such a lineup i mean i think honestly that's one of the sickest chaos and carnage tours that took place in my opinion definitely wow it's oh it's nice to hear a fresh perspective when i'm

line up because it's also like Lorna Shore popped up you guys the OGs Carn effects you know what I mean science is on there angel makers yeah like I mean everyone in the past also like me oh geez that you know like also on a burning body you know like everyone listen to that I listen to that he listened to that so it's like it's a stacked lineup it's hard to help that yeah I think it's hard to tell that so yeah like yeah the Lorner Shore is yeah crazy yeah They're on the top. I mean, this is like an old generations of Def Corps, basically.

That's what, yeah, remember like when we've, right before there's, I was like, dang, this is like a multi-generational tour. It's very, that, I think that was like the rarity that was going on. You had so many, so many different things happening in once. I mean, this is like a, this crosses different eras. I mean, perfect example of, like, how, how this was a generational tour is like, like, when we've been doing the Redding show where Eddie couldn't perform and everybody knew everything because we grew up listening to you guys so we everybody on the package was able to step in

and help out appreciate that oh yeah it was a big moment for for me it was like damn look what we did like people just know the songs and they yeah very i mean spent time out of your and you're all tired and shit from a fucking seven-band packing just still came up and did a song like damn it's like it's like one of those weird things i was pissed at eddie it's like that sucks why we can cancel but then like you have like a other wave of like support it was it was very humbling it's cool it was it gave uh it gave some light yeah it was definitely dope once in a lifetime thing yeah it was yeah because hopefully whenever i could do that again I was secretly pissed

I don't think you even told it yet I was all pissed I was like what the fuck Stop talking You fucking blabber mouth Stop fucking talking man But I know I know how it is

It's funny because that tour for us It was like When it was done We got like shit for it It was a That wasn't there tour It was like the Lorner Shore tour That's what we did again

Next year which I regret too But it's just funny You get just a different perspective Like you talk about that tour Then we have our perspective Yeah yeah It was also a cool tour for the fans Which is the most important

But I had no one Yeah I guess a lot of I can't even speak of But I'm glad you're on it And then That directed you guys to hear Now

You know It's this It's so weird Because I remember I met you The last time you were here Yeah And I was like Oh yeah

You weren't on the Other tour I really didn't know and understand like the like what exactly happened. So now that you explain a little bit okay else you know I wish I was more uh what's the word I wish I was more aware what was going on. Oh it's totally fine. Yeah. It's cool.

Yeah. Cause I was a man. I was a little bit in my head on that. When was that? Alan was the, it was fucking, what March, April? Right? Uh, May. May?

May? May. Yeah, throughout April May. End of April, like last two days of April or something. On the headline, though? No, on the Kazan Carnage. It was throughout the whole May, that's for sure. Yeah, oh, there is it.

Oh, yeah, I remember my... Oh, yeah. May to June. Okay, May to June. Wow, way off. This shit goes so fast, dude. You guys know. With so many tours.

I don't even know what day it is today. Well, today is Thursday Right Yeah Hell yeah Every day It feels like a Friday

Friday Friday every night baby Yeah So sometimes you get hit up by friends Like hey, It's go out It's like dude It's Monday night

Yeah It's Monday But it feels like Friday Yeah It's cool But dude So So

What given Like the circumstance You still wrote You still wrote You still wrote The record Yeah You know

And I mean Kind of took you guys To like Another level Yeah You know I mean I mean

Look where you're out now Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's weird. He was so pissed, he wore out the best record. It's a, oops, it's a kind of, I mean, it's green yet where you have to kind of be pissed. Kind of, yeah. And then you start writing his pissed riffs.

Yeah, it's true. It's true. And what I was curious, like, what's, like, what your upbringing was, like, because you're from a part of the world that not a lot of people from here really are aware of. You know, what was, like, the scene? like out there? It's different. To be fair, like the Netherlands is actually great now. Because even if you're banks now.

Even if you know, but like if there are like tours across most of the time the Dutch shows are one of the first shows that actually sell out like metal, dead metal shows. Really? Yeah, it's most of the time it's one of the first or like the highest selling. But like yeah, after COVID like there is a scene. again yeah yeah it started thriving yeah it's yeah yeah but yes you have some good local bands as well like first there wasn't like any bands we still don't have like very much bands but there are some good ones out there so when so when distance first going like how yeah how is that

coming up because i assume you don't only have like the like the like the local scene right so how do you make it you make it you make it yourself that's the thing because like when you're we started out like in 2014 2015 there were like only hardcore shows and they only wanted to book hardcore shows because those were big and i get it at the same time because it makes sense if if that's the demand like you book those kind of shows but it was like really hard to get in there so we just booked our own shows or we just tried to set up stuff like outside of the netherlands and to be honest like the first time i felt there was a scene was our release show we did like for our album uh we played some duchos before obviously we also had like a sick uh ducho uh with uh shadow of intent and angel

maker that was like crazy or like 1500 people or something yeah it was huge it was like huge i've i've never played like such a big dutch show that's like not a festival just just a show that was crazy it was like in january it was recent too yeah yeah it was three times yeah three times yeah three times that tour moved yeah three times the tour moved yeah because it was announced before covid it was uh shout of intent uh album release tour and by the time it actually happened it was album release tour for the other album after yeah yeah well that's sick yeah But like that's where like one of the big shows like oh whoa so there are people that like this music because there are 1500 people like where do they come from? You know what I mean? I've never seen that

like for just deathcore and then we did like our album release and we sold out like it's like for us it's like a legendary venue it's like Behrouh in Rotterdam. I think you guys played there as well like back in the days. I think it was the biggest show on the tour what oh the network one yeah yeah yeah yeah he's talking about oh yeah yeah but like when we did like our album release uh we just uh wanted to like to sell out that venue and like we sold 350 tickets or they say there was a capacity like for 400 but we still wanted space for merge and like if if you wanted to get a beer yeah if you wanted to get a beer it took you like 30 minutes to get a beer. It was packed. It was packed. The line was like crazy and it was like the first time I was like

damn so people really like want to support us or like see us and it was like weird it was like wild it's kind of a trip to like you like the band starting and then there isn't a scene no and we just now to see where it's gone yeah so we just always focused like playing outside of the country and like there were like some Dutch people that support us like close friends like buying merch like listening to our music but no really cared or bothered and now if we play

like people actually like turn up and it's like really weird to see like I'm grateful for that but like it's just weird because I even like I guess you have that anyway when you get bigger but like even people like would talk shit about it's like back in the days like

make fun of a band and they're now just all buddies and want to play shows and I'm like what's going on i do nothing different than i did before and now you're all here it's crazy yeah you made it that's that's that's uh that's like for far we haven't not made it like once once uh once once you have people that run your area that you talk shit then there's now they're at the shows it's kind it's actually what it's kind of what happens it's weird that's weird it's weird it's really weird we do it for the people who talk shit to come to the shows oh yeah bro i want to see them cry that that like you should have not given up you know what i mean it seems like the death course scene

and mexican food has been coming up around your area remember uh i went in amsterdam and a of a shock there i saw a taco bell there oh yeah holy crap do you be honest do you like it there or no not really so if you're from the area that when the taco bill came in that you're like It's not. I'm not a really big fan of Taco Bell, to be honest. Really? Yeah. Hmm.

Yeah. But this is just me. I think that I like Taekabelle. But the European one is better than the US one. The US one is instant diarrhea. Wait, the European Taco Bell is better than the US one. Are you serious? Yeah.

Like even McDonald's, man straight up. McDonald's. McDonald's. McDonald's is five stars back home. That's restaurant. Here it's like, here it's like, I don't want to be rude, but like here it's like red food or something yeah here i get a quarter pounder with cheese and i get grease in a bun okay that's that's why i get here and i i can i can poop for some time after eating this and back home i can

eat macdonald's daily and still feel good it's okay i always water another level what exactly is different because i know it i we notice that too we go over there we haven't McDonald's, we don't want to, we don't want to McDonald's and you go, like, this is, yeah, it's, this is good, man. It's, like, the food, and especially, like, within fast food chains, it's strictly regulated. Like, what goes in, what goes into food, how fresh is the food, and all that. Especially McDonald's, they're super strict about everything possible. Like, no salads, no nothing is there for longer than today.

and yeah it's just there are so many laws that they have to go by while here they can slide between the laws and just cheap out on some stuff and make

produced food basically that is shit so it's it's the regulations really and you can taste the difference even within Europe like if you get McDonald's in Netherlands or in Slovakia or in Germany, all tastes different.

There is a slight difference, huh? Yeah, yeah. Just slight differences, but a huge jump between the American one. It is a massive jump because when we go over there, like, oh, you know what, let's go to McDonald's because, you know, and they're also ahead. You remember we had some vegan chicken nuggets? Yeah.

And then we wanted them when he came back here, but they weren't there. Yeah. I don't even think they're still, I don't think they still don't have them. Yeah. Not even the vegan burger in McDonald's. The what? You don't have it. Like the beyond meat.

Beyond meat burger? In McDonald's, yeah. Yeah. Can we get that on the screen, Jay? Does McDonald's in USA have the Beyond Meat hamburger? I think that's one. McDonald's had everything. Yeah, yeah.

Because McDonald's had everything. It had, yeah, it had the vegan chicken nuggets. You had a plant-based burger. We had a, believe, a Beyond Meat hamburger. Yeah, there it is. I love how we talk of hamburgers here. That's going straight to your biceps. If you have two of those for each bicep,

yeah. Real heavy riffs there, dude. So this isn't, this isn't here? No, that's the UK. Okay. So not in the States? Is that? Mr. Charlies.

What the, dang. Yeah, is that, Zach, you would know. Yeah, they don't have it. Oh yeah, they don't got it. Why is that? It tastes good. I remember having the plant-based one and it was pretty good. I feel like they don't need to do it, so they don't do it.

So, yeah, all these fat fucks are eating everything. We don't got to change. Every time, like, we were on tour in Europe with American band and we say, like, yeah, we go to McDonald's and they look at us like, why would you eat homeless people food? Like, this is bad. McDonald's shit. And then we're like, no. it's good hey jake go up

a little bit okay uh unfortunately not vegan at main donalds in the u.s why you're a bigger country

it doesn't make any sense that makes yeah because we're all fucking fat and dumb we're just we're just eating anything we could buy it for 99 cents you know

and then we get hammered at Monday night and we buy a bunch of french fries that's unfortunate but I guess it's the what I guess they call that supply and demand, right?

Yeah, I guess so. What about Taco Bell? Is Taco Bo really better out there? Like, throughout Europe, there's not much Taco Bell franchises. In Netherlands, there's like two. In Slovakia, there's none. But when I had, first time I had Taco Bell here was in Minnesota,

and I immediately needed to run to the toilet. And that happened every time I had Taco Bell here. Outside the caboose, right? Yeah. Yeah. The dangerous one. That was dangerous. There's a bugging homeless people in there.

I'm like, do I'm not going to risk my life for a bean cheese burrito? I mean, yeah. They've been protected, like bulletproof Taco Bell, bro. Yeah. That's hard. But yeah, when I had Taco Bell over in Europe or in the UK, it's a whole different story. But it's not, Taco Bell is still like not really good. Like, it's better than Europe, but McDonald's, bro.

Yeah, it's, uh, it's, uh, it's, um, it's, it's, um, it's, it's, It's up there. I'm so used to, I guess it's the, it's the cheese that's weird out where you're at. Really? Yeah, like the cheese and like a burrito. Oh, okay. It's still very new. Like, once like Chipotle hit, like, London.

Oh, okay. I didn't even know that there are. That was a big deal. Then, like, the Mexican food is harder to branch out. Like, you know, it's, like, you know, you're here and there. That's what I like here, like, Mexican food. Because that's somewhat healthy. You know what you're at now?

You're in the mecca right now. Yeah. Like, food trucks. and the worst the food truck looks the better all my burritos and tacos and everything is that's that's the rule yeah like it's like it's like an album cover yeah like a nastyer and scarier looks like this can be great yeah yeah the more shadier it looks the better like and that's that's been that's a good if you if I see that at 2 a.m. oh this I'm horned up right now best bariott

tacos, I'll tell you now. Yeah, those tacos blew up the, uh, how do you say that, Brea? Baria. Yeah, they blew up around here the past fucking year. It's insane. They're everywhere. I'm hungry. Oh, my, what is?

I'm hungry. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. What the fuck? Anyway, was. Whose idea was it to have, how many singers were on that one song? 17. 17 singers.

Yeah. And what's the song title? Argent justice Argent justice Okay so explain to me the concept of that Okay so we made A previous single That was Argentin' death which had

5 or 6 vocalists on So I always Like the Collaborations and stuff like that When somebody from other band Jump on a track features in general I find it like a fun crossover episode Like back in early 2000

when before the Spider-Worse thing that's happening now in animated series Spider-Man, there were Spider-Man from different dimensions, and I found it really cool. So that was like the thing like, hey, let's just, let's bring your friends on. So we did that with the five vocalists, and then like, hey, like, let's kick it up a little. So the first idea was let's do 10, and I was like, huh, like, why don't we do? Like, it's a pretty long song. Like, why won't we do more? so we had all of Angel Maker's vocalists

so which is Casey Johnny three or four right yeah and even Colton who's doing backup vocals sometimes he killed it on there as well yeah so that alone is four people from Angel Maker then Andrew Bina from Carcos

we got Andrus from Cabal basically all our friends that we toured it or being friends friends with for a while we just been like hey let's do this thing and I it's like a huge megazort of a song basically it is a megazore yeah that's a good analogy it's a total and I mean yeah I mean your your list is great hell yeah I mean it's it's fun it's a lot of people being like yeah why do you need that I mean it's like I don't know why not like why do you make music you do what you want to do you you make fun you just have a good time so you got you got

pushback for that oh some people been like oh too many vocalists i can't tell them apart and i'm like bro oh like every single vocal is on that track is really distinct like it's not like i've i've made a compilation of slamming vocalists which everybody sounds like a toilet bowl i mean no offense to that slam is hard but there i can't distinguish like who's doing the vocals yeah but over here like I'm like dude like you can tell that me and Eddie sound like or me and Sally from pale face sound like like you can tell who who is who everyone has his own style yeah exactly on a on pattern own phrasing yeah yeah it's very that's also what we did like

the song was written that way that it would fit each and every vocalist style. So more beat down or down tempo part for Kyle from Baize, Natchel and Sully from Paleface, more riffage for Eddie, more blackened stuff from the other dudes and stuff like that. So it was really thought out, it wasn't like, hey, this is your part, do this, do that. We wrote the parts for each and everyone and all I said was like hey you do your thing free for all and this happened it's a crazy concept so so are you writing were you writing riffs just just just just everything apart like everything was like scheduled out we just make a list what he said like someone

wants to have this so on like for example like oh like okay it has to be beat be down and go on go on you know like we had an idea like of the lineup yeah and basically based on that we sketched out and sketched out the song yeah this is like that this is like the mega sort of dead core because like as long as the song like sounds fluent it's fine it doesn't have to make like any sense like writing wise it doesn't it doesn't yeah because it meant what there's there's no rules there are no rules exactly exactly but you make the rules but also like as long as always like the atmosphere fits It always sounds like it's like one thing.

And especially with all the different vocalists, like people are going to pay attention to the vocalist. True. Yeah. So like that's why it was, it was just went really fast and it worked out. It was really fun too. The other thing is like how we're going to do the next one? Because by by now we probably have everybody on our songs already. so that's the that's the that's the that's the challenge you get creative yeah yeah it's always like

what do we doing for the next one probably need a lot of money for the next one we need jonathan davis scory taylor yeah yeah so shout out you guys do it be fucking sick that will be dope met heffy yeah oh you what you love trivium huh oh i love trivium what is it about trivium that you love everything I breathe, eat, sleep, Trivium. Okay. Now, it's the riffs. I love the riffs.

Yeah. Like, everything there is ruthless. The songwriting is perfect. I started listening to Trivium back in fucking elementary school. And ever since then, like, ever since Excendancy dropped, every album is perfect. Every album is perfect. I love it. It has, I don't know, like a big spirit, like the music wise.

I just enjoy the shit out of it. And one of the best riffs in general. I like the grooves. I love the vocals and everything about it. So, yeah. And Matt Heafy, man, man can scream, man can sing, man can fucking play guitar. I'm here for it. And I really sat down and talked to you like a trivia man.

before so I'm so I'm learning dude cool yeah I'm a Trivium fan and a lot of people are surprised when like outside right now like yeah I listen to metal but I don't listen to metal that much anymore and when somebody asking me about some new band or something like that I'm like I don't know what you're talking about like I'm home I'm listening to AC sound on a loop or fucking C wave or K-pop. EDM. Yeah. Yeah. That stuff. Just to, you know, like, as you said, like, when you're focused on your stuff, and that's especially like with music, I listen to a lot of distant.

And I want to focus on that and do, you know, don't have my mind clouded creatively from other bands. That's it would happen that, oh shit, I realize. now that I accidentally copied someone flow or something because I've been listening to something for so long. So I listened to non-metal stuff, especially when

we are in the writing cycle of the album, no metal. Just distant and EDM. That's it. Even I don't listen to Trivium at that time even. You're not even listening to Trivium? Oh, yeah. I thought you were

a real fan. Only one song. Shattering the skies above is the best song on Earth. And I stand by it. So that's your favorite song all the time? That riff is ruthless. What's called again? I'm sorry. Shattering the skies above.

Okay. That's on what record? It's Invaeves Deluxe. It's like a B-Side. It's a B-side. Yeah, yeah. It was coming out when God of War III was coming out, and they released it as a single.

I think it was like in a, yeah, it was for the God of War III soundtrack. Oh. And I'm a huge nerd in game, so. Obviously. It goes hand in hand. Yep. Interesting. Kill Switch is on there, Trivium, Dream Theater.

Yeah. Taking Don or rid of that band. Opet and Mutiny. That's a band name. Mutiny Within. Okay. Yeah. Best for you.

So what is God at War? It's a video game. It's about a guy who kills all gods in ancient Greece. That's sick. Because of revenge. That is sick. Hell yeah. It's just a man that is too angry to die.

All right, cool. I get it. Yeah. So I know you guys got to take off because we're way past schedule. But what do you see like the death court scene? going from here. Resurrection. Yeah.

It's like ever since ever since chaos and carnage and after COVID with chaos and carnage, Lord and Archer blowing up, you guys getting back with Century Media and a new album and everything

is just all the way up. The tide rises all the ships. And I think it's great. I see new bands popping up. and bands that haven't been playing for a while getting back like Job for a Cowboy or any other bands that haven't been playing for 10 plus years

are getting back. So I think like this is that the resurrection, the Renaissance of Death Corps. I never heard that before. Okay. Yeah. Renaissance of Death Corps. Wow. I also feel like it's bigger than it was way before than it used to be. I don't know

Like how do you think about it Because like you've experienced both errors now Yeah You've been We're just riding the second wave You've been on the first wave Now you're again Actually you created the first wave

Oh my goodness Well that bands Wouldn't agree with that But it's cool I really appreciate you guys saying that Out in public But yeah It feels

Bigger but in a different way Like it's like There's now there's There's like real numbers, like a band headlines. Even you guys, like, you know, you have dissing here and left to suffer. Great tour. You guys are packing rooms. Yeah.

You were still, it was still like, an hour day. It was like getting big, but like the, it wasn't so cross the country yet. Where you have like, obviously, L.A. is big. Texas, big. New York, like the obvious ones. But now it's just like, it might have where you're going. You're in draw a proud, even on a, you know, a Wednesday. Yeah, yeah.

that's been a trip to see you know you guys and you have bands like uh Warner Shore getting the tours that they're all they're doing like the arena stuff

you know it's crazy it's crazy man it's crazy what deathcore has become yeah yeah oh yeah

and still going yeah oh yeah never stop it that's a crazy a case you train or oh geez man oh yeah

at them as well like They've been in the first wave and now they're they're on top again. It's crazy to see. Okay, so it's awesome. I'll leave you guys with this. Okay. So what is a, what would you, what's in the lineup, you would be like, wow, that's a sick lineup.

That's a great tour. You mean in general, also including? Both, yeah. Yeah, yeah. How many bands? let's cap it yeah four bands four bands

yeah okay 3Vium 3Vium hey okay is your it's your tour not mine

you do it dude I would say we will open we have like Trivium on there we would have like corn on there and we would have

suicide silence on there yeah I would say Trivium for sure you guys all like Trivium, huh? Suicide silence for sure, because thanks to you guys, you're here.

Bro, if you're a record. I wouldn't have started. I wouldn't have started. I really appreciate that. Because I suck a guitar. I do too. It's fine. And that was my first band that I was like, I was listening to like, I don't know

if it's metalcore or stuff like that, but screaming stuff was like, oh, that's too hard for me. But then I remember I saw a music video for Unanswered because I found you about you guys in a magazine. And I was like, damn, this is bit extreme. And then I played it again, but I kind of like it. And that's how that opened a whole new floodgay of deathcore for me. Wow. Back in the days when it was the most heaviest disgusting thing ever.

I couldn't name something heavier than unanswered. Yeah. I've watched this video like, video like millions of times wow and like when i saw that and then like the like you and mark playing guitar i was like yo i want to make this like kind of music but i think it's it's safe to say like if you guys didn't do that a lot of bands would not exist to these day like vocalist i'm 100 percent sure you guys were like one of the biggest things i mean still but like yeah you're the biggest influence you're you're the pioneers that's how i see it uh i'm humbled appreciate it's it's

it's always new i hear that because behind the scenes we're pretty beat down by the industry and bands trying to you know they they want they want the pioneer spot yeah it's weird so i've heard i'm so used of that so when you guys people say it in public i really i think honestly uh you're welcome like and i want to thank you like for making that kind of music because it's the part of my life and what i also like i want to ask you like that like how do you feel like from that generation and like this generation do you feel like uh this generation is like uh more forgiving like people like to work more together was it like i feel like it's what was more like a red race against each other like back in the days it's like a battle just a battle that's how i how i feel like

i've not experienced it from close by but it's like how it seemed sometimes yeah it looks more like like a rat race back then you know a lot of massive tours couldn't have happened where now you know like you have us counterfex horn ashore you guys run the same package when like back in the day that just wasn't going to happen because yeah because even when i saw the tour that just got announced like the soissed silence chelsea green was like yo that's fucking sick Yeah. You wouldn't see that back in the day. No.

No, it took Mitch dying for a Chelsea Grand to even tour with us. It was like a, it was a black dollar murder. Obviously when Trevor was still alive, Eddie's first U.S. tour. And then Chelsea Grant hopped on. I was very surprised. I'm like, they're going to be one to work with us. Dude, I'm like, I've heard the emails I've seen throughout my whole career. It's just like, really?

Yeah. It's like they, everybody wants to go headline or put their logo up. millimeter bigger and put it in a corner a little bit higher than it's just like it's all stupid and in the end we lost. In the end we were playing the same room. Yeah we all

everybody lost in the end but now it's definitely it's starting to come around slowly where you know you got I mean your what your package got booked in a week that is that is I can't even fathom that that is amazing and a package is sick

and it looks like a lot of people are coming out to these shows Yeah. You guys should be very proud of that. Right now it feels like there's more unity within the scene, like within the bands in general, because people probably finally found out like, hey, like, why be assholes at each other

when we're kicking for the same team technically, you know? Yeah, but this, I mean, if you do this, like, you do this because you love this, so like, why would you make it more miserable for yourself and other people around you? Well, you can just enjoy your day. I mean, from everything you could do, doing a day you're playing a show and you're selling marriage and you're getting a guarantee and you're

you see like different places so why why be a dick about it like you can be arrogant it's good to have like a goal in mind but still at the same time you're doing it with everyone it's true it doesn't make any sense our lives are pretty insane they're blessed what so grateful to live this life yeah you guys are on tour right now oh yeah it's crazy in the united states in the u s away from home You know, being in Slovenia and Netherlands and now you're in California, like that's crazy.

That's so crazy. Yeah, back in the days I put in my bio on Facebook that I'm from California because Deaf Metal baby. Oh my goodness. And now I'm actually in California. Now you're actually here.

Yeah. Now you got your visas. Oh, yeah. Three years. Three years now. Three years. And then we have to do it again. yeah

but you give yourself some ample time right exactly yeah yeah everything in timely manner yeah because things always fuck up dude

there's always something it's always like but the process bro it's like a pain in the ass yeah I don't wish that for anyone else man it's like just just filling in all those forms and you just like

fill in like one small thing wrong and you just you're fucked it's so good for you guys like Americans that All you need is a passport to go to Europe. Yeah. All you need.

I mean, we have it like for three years now, but we had to like to pay 10 grand for it. Yeah. Yeah. And like we can come and go as much as we want now. We can even like live here like for a certain amount of time if you want as well. But it's, but we were just like in the right time frame we did it because now even got actually more expensive. Yeah. Every year the visas go more and more expensive.

No. yeah oh fuck why is because because yeah because yeah i'm i'm trying so hard not to get into politics but it's just like invading my life it's like trying to get out of it i forgot what someone told me like like you uh like wait until uh like you uh like you can't get into politics but in politics but politics will get involved with you or something like i was like dang yeah i'm just trying to I'm just trying to play guitar, dude. Trying to have a fucking podcast and hang on with bands, you. And then still, it's just fucking so weird, man.

It will get you. It will. It will. They will haunt you, bro. Well, let's leave on a high note. Where can people find you guys? Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, at the show. YouTube, distantofficial.com.

You can grab our merch there. You can see where we tour. you can see our affiliated stores you can see all the sick merch it's all there are these flags yes sir

you gotta have people people are I mean you see you see this room it's full of flags yeah people like flags man yeah yeah people like a big ass logo and the wall hell it wait what the fuck is that purse oh yeah it's a sport bag

no that's a gym back yeah went a gym bag yeah oh man I haven't seen a gym bag yet we have it all well if almost everything you haven't seen a lot of things we have that's true that's very true

it was actually your band that got me into the what are those jackets called the windbreakers yeah hell yeah you guys got me to that hell yeah I wore to gym a long time yeah well cool I even know given like the circumstances what happened to your band this morning you guys still made it and we

we made it happen gotta get you guys out of here So yeah, I thank you for the kind words, you know. When people say things publicly, it always means a lot to me. And I appreciate it. And I appreciate you guys taking time to hang out on me. For sure. Thank you. And talk the world. Hell yeah.

Thank you for having us. Thank you for having us. Anytime. Thank you for waiting for us. That as well. Anytime. Anytime. All right, I want, that's it.

Later.