The pace of change within the music business has been so frantic in recent times that even the most ambitious of bands are being forced to adapt in order to survive. The Defiled have been among the UK’s brightest metal hopes for a few years now, and yet despite a rising profile and tons of goodwill from fans and media alike, Stitch D and the boys are about to take a major career times that even the most ambitious of bands are being forced to adapt in order to survive.
The Defiled have been among the UK’s brightest metal hopes for a few years now, and yet despite a rising profile and detour. Their next release will be an EP of new songs, recorded at Dave Grohl’s prestigious Studio 606 in California, and as Stitch explains, the likelihood of them ever making a full studio album again is diminishing by the day. /o:p
“There is the possibility that we’ve already made our last full-length album,” he tells Hammer. “This started because we had the opportunity to go and record at 606 and with the legendary desk they have there, but we only had five songs ready to put to tape. We didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to go there, so we just went for it. Since then we’ve thought more and more about how we put out music in the future, and the more we look at it, the more putting out songs or EPs makes sense over putting out albums.”
While most of us have a strong sentimental attachment to the album as a format, not to mention as an object of desire, it is undeniable that downloading and streaming have had a huge effect on the efficacy and profitability of full-length records. With CD sales in terminal decline and the ubiquity of iTunes and its equivalents permanently altering the way music is bought and consumed, The Defiled’s decision to embrace a new business model for the dissemination of their songs makes perfect sense.
“As a band, we sell 50 times as many songs as we do full albums,” says Stitch. “Even if you take into account that there are 10 songs on an album, that’s still five times as many people buying songs individually, and that’s before you take into account the hundreds of thousands of streams our songs get. The industry is obsessed with ‘product’ and ‘album cycles’ and lots of other bullshit that becomes necessary once there’s a chain of people trying to make money from what you do. If we are releasing songs, or smaller collections of songs, then we can start a ‘cycle’ whenever we want.”
While the means of distribution may be changing, The Defiled are still focused on musical endeavours above all else. The future may be uncertain, but you can’t keep a great band down.
“The newer stuff is a lot more rock, with more emphasis on writing good songs rather than just screaming all the time and trying to make the most brutal breakdowns we can,” declares Stitch. “It’s still very much metal but the songs are more concise. I think we’re just evolving into a much better band.”
THE DEFILED’S NEW EP WILL BE RELEASED LATER IN 2015. THEY ARE CURRENTLY TOURING THE UK WITH COAL CHAMBER/o:p
