1. Hi my friend. Thanks for answering a few questions for us. Can you tell us more about how this project started?
The band started out with just our rhythm guitarist Mike and our previous bassist Ben being friends and playing music together. After a couple of years they decided to go look for people to start a band. They found our vocalist Connor and he had a friend who could play lead guitar, and then we asked our drummer Cole to join. Shortly after, the lead guitarist left and then we contacted our current lead guitarist Hank. When he joined we officially became the band Vestige!
2. Who first came up with the idea to form Vestige, and how did you all meet! Oh, and who came up with the name of course!
Mike and Ben had the idea to search for people to make some original music after getting fed up with not knowing enough people to start one and only playing by themselves. Mike, Ben, and Cole all went to the same schools together for years so we already knew each other and hung out prior to Vestige. Mike and Ben met Hank online looking for local lead guitarists trying to form Vestige when the work in progress name was Archfiend, but as soon as we were about to start doing stuff, Covid happened and we dropped the idea for the time being. Connor met Mike at Aftershock festival seeing Exodus and Testament. In between sets, Connor approached Mike and asked if he went to the school he did and coincidentally they did. 4-6 months later Mike would randomly message Connor "do you want to be in a band?" And he's been in ever since! Our current bassist Ethan met Mike in middle school through a mutual friend and has been in contact ever since. When our previous bassist left the band after our demo was released, Mike messaged Ethan asking to join and now he's a part of the group. And for the name, Mike was the one who came up with it. The word vestige means "a trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists" and he felt that the local scene was kind of like that. Thrash metal blew up and originated from the Bay Area and there aren't a lot of people who are keeping it going. There has been an upcoming resurgence of quality thrash with bands like Frolic, Phantom Witch, and Hatriot, and we hope we can be a part of it and grow with them!
3. Having originated in San Francisco, the epicenter of Bay Area Thrash scene. Can you name some of the bands who you first really admired and helped shape your future in music?
All the Bay Area thrash bands are big influences for most of us! Exodus and Testament are probably the biggest when it comes to the older bands. Who doesn't like fuckin' Exodus man? Our guitarist Mike is very inspired by Machine Head, Testament, and a local band that formed in the 90's called Skinlab. There's a lot of groove in those bands and with our drummer's love for hardcore and breakdowns, when we're done thrashing with songs like Banish Them to Hell, we like to throw down and groove with songs like Reap What You Sow. We all have different influences and genres we love and combining them all to make something unique is amazing!
4. What attributes do you think that a new Metal Band should have in order to gain identity and be unique?
We think that you shouldn't be afraid to experiment with combining genres, ideas, and band influences together to have a unique sound that makes the band happy, because the band should be happy and proud with what they make first. Think of bands like Polyphia who combine trap beats with technical and progressive guitar, or Suicidal Tendencies/D.R.I who combined punk and metal, bands like Pantera, Sepultura, and Machine Head who took thrash and added a slower groove element to it. Just make what you want and don't listen to what other people say if you're confident in your music.
5. Let´s talk about “Fallen From Grace” debut demo. Are there any kind of particular points of inspiration for these tracks that you would like to discuss?
There's a couple of inspirations from the demo that are worth mentioning. The title Fallen From Grace has the same kind of meaning that we have with our band name, in that the metal scene has "fallen from grace" and isn't as big as it used to be. Our first song Blinded By Rage was written by our guitarist Mike and the lyrics he made are about hurting the ones you love from anger, realizing what you've done, and getting angry again because of the self inflicted consequences, restarting the whole cycle. The second song Reap What You Sow is a very groove metal type song and was inspired by Machine Head's Burn My Eyes Album and Testament's Low. Banish Them to Hell was our very first song we created as a band! The drop in that song is so cool, man!
6. Tell us about the recording sessions, how did it go? Was it your first time in the studio? How long did it take you to finish everything?
We recorded the demo at Ben's home studio that had a fully mic'd drumset and some really good vocal microphones and mixing gear. The guitars were recorded at Mike's house using his Peavey 6505+ head into an audio interface and using a cabinet sim. Everything else was recorded at the home studio. None of us really know a lot about production, mixing, and recording so it was a very steep learning curve and definitely a good learning experience for future projects. It took about a month or two to get everything recorded and mixed and released and it sounds pretty good for a couple of beginners!
7. When you sit down together and rehearse, does it go smooth or and you do full songs or do you really have to insist on certain parts all the time?
Yeah we normally breeze through our setlist and only mess up a couple of times if we do, and if we do, we make sure to practice that part. We practice twice a week and it's spaced out pretty evenly so we can spend a couple of days doing whatever each of us need to do.
8. What are the challenges in finding new inspiration or breaking new ground in thrash metal?
The challenge for breaking new ground in thrash is probably finding a way to incorporate other genres into it to give it new life. A good example recently has been Testament and Warbringers newest albums. They've been incorporating black metal elements into their songs like Testaments Night of the Witch and Warbringers Heart of Darkness. Some other examples could be Machine Head's Clenching The Fists Of Dissent which is a 10 minute thrash epic with lots of groovy parts that aren't out of place or Hatriot's The Vale Of Shadows album which has multiple genres blending into one another making every song different and memorable. Finding and implementing stuff like that is a good way to keep thrash relevant and interesting.
9. What can fans expect from your upcoming debut album? Are there any particular themes or influences that you're exploring?
Everyone can expect more of what we've done on our ep to be done on our album. Death metal, groove metal and maybe even some black metal influences in our songs! We hope to release something soon! No real overarching theme in the songs we're writing, but as we get more experienced we will probably have a more consistent sound.
10. Are there any plans for collaboration with other artists or musicians in the future, and if so, what excites you about the potential of those collaborations?
There are no current plans to collaborate with any other artists. Although that sounds like a lot of fun and would definitely help us grow, we are not at a level where it could be viable.
11. How do you feel about different musical formats (vinyl, cassette, digital etc) both for appreciating other music as well as how you want your music to be appreciated?
We think all musical formats are cool! A couple of us collect vinyls and cds. We would love to release our music on every type of media, both physical and digital.
12. Tell us a few things about the Current Metal Scene in San Francisco. (Bands, Fanzines, Webzines, Metal Clubs etc.)
There's a bunch of local bands here in the Bay Area. We mentioned previously Frolic, Phantom Witch, and Hatriot which are all very good bands. There's also Gurschach, Mutate, Vergewaltiger, Yes Devil, Wroht, Malpractice, Dysbelief, Blessed Curse, Incredulous, and a lot more. We don't really know of any zines and there's only really a couple of places for shows. Phoenix Theater, UC Theatre, Stay Gold Deli, DNA Lounge, and Thrillhouse Records are the ones that pop in our heads. We're pretty far away from the other bands in the Bay, being located in the Tri Valley to the east of Castro Valley/Hayward, and there's almost no places for metal in this region. If there's a show going on we have to drive at least 30 minutes, sometimes 2 hours just to see a local band play. There was a place close to here in San Jose under a freeway called The Pillars, but someone burned the dry grass next to it and started a giant fire which had groups of police and firefighters surround the area. No one is allowed to play there anymore…
13. Finally, is there anything else you would like to share with your fans and the readers of this interview?
We hope you enjoyed looking inside the minds of a bunch of knuckleheads and we hope you stay with us and tell everyone you know about Vestige! We're an upcoming metal band on our way to make an impact and can hopefully resonate with all the metalheads from around the world! Our instagram is @Vestige_bayarea and you can also find us on Facebook if you search for Vestige for anyone who wants to follow us on social media. Thank you for having us!
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