What are some of the struggles you've had in your years as a band?
shit, where do i begin, we have overcome so many barricades that we decided to name the cd "a cold day in hell" after the expression "when hell freezes over." being from southern california where there a million local bands and ton of elitist kids in this scene it took us a while to earn respect and start being recognized. Pretty much anything that could go wrong for us, has. It took alot of extra effort and a huge deal of work and help from Recorse Records to even have this cd out in time for summer. Through all this shit we have managed to remember this is all about havin fun so we just take the problems with a grain or salt and keep on keepin' on, our friends being able to come out and have fun make it all worth it.
When and how did Winds of Plague come together?
Me and Piunno wanted to start a band, we had some other guys but it wasn't working out. I had seen eash playin bass at school so i asked him if he wanted to come be in our band, we would practice all the time in this guys garage, i had no idea what i was doing, it was really fun. After two drummers we got jeff, and then my brother. We all just found each other at our high school, good times.
You were formerly named bleakdecember -- how did this change to windsofplague?
This other Bleak December copyrighted the name so we had to change, and then we couldn't find shit as far as a name and its just when Unearth's "Endless" EP came out so we got the name "winds of plague" from that.
You're about to release your album A Cold Day in Hell. How was it working with Scott Stilleta at orange crush?
Scott's a weird dude and knows a lot about random shit. He was awesome though, he knew exactly what we wanted and delivered. I really liked just going down to the studio to hang out him.
How was it compared to your other earlier recordings?
It was our first full length so we were in there for a lot longer then we usually are. It was rad though, the studio had a nice relaxing environment even though we still argued about everything, nicks a penis in the studio.
How do you feel you've grown as a band over the years?
This band has truly helped us find ourselves as people which has pretty much made us inseparable, we get home from tour and the next day were hanging out. I can honestly say i was lost when we started this band but now i know who i am and what I'm about.
Planning on doing any music festivals this year?
We have two fests lined up, one in Iowa with xdeathstarx and with dead hands rising, the other one is in Idaho which I'm really excited for because one of my favorite bands is on it, Ramallah.
windsofplague seems to stray from the all too common hardcore or metal sound. That being said, where do your biggest influences come from?
It's weird, we all seem to listen to different styles of hardcore and metal so we have alot of diff influences, i listen to more youth crew and straight up hardcore, then nick listens to a ton of death metal. but i say as a band our main influences are dimmu borgir, hatebreed, prayer for cleansing and unearth, somethin like that, we just make what we want to hear haha.
I hear you were recently signed to life sentence records -- how do you feel about it?
It was rad working with Dan and Allison, even though Dan wouldn't give up any Excessive Force merch. We had all sorts of stuff going on with LSR but then Dan had to take care of some stuff with his other work so he wouldn't be able to put out our CD. Kyle and Recorse Records picked up the slack though and is making everything work out for us, i couldn't be more thankful for Recorse stepping in and helping us out.
Greatest experience as a band?
Being able to play the Glasshouse. Growing up we would always come see our favorite bands at the glasshouse, so since day one a personal goal has been to get on that stage, they gave us a shot at the small stage and it went well, sold out even. The I got glorious e-mail asking if we wanted to play the main stage with Lamb Of God. That night was amazing, We we all nervous and scared shitless but after the first song we fell into our groove and did our thing.
How has it been this past year or so with the addition of a keyboardist?
Its awesome, really gives us that dark full sound we want, not to mention hes my brother so i love having him on the road with us and what not.
So how do you feel about Bros?
Fuck em.
From the shadows of Los Angeles, Winds of Plague has been hitting the West Coast indie music scene for the last three years. They offer up fast and heavy hardcore melodies served with an attitude that gets your attention every time. This young band brings energy, emotion, and mayhem to the stage. Their dark blend of eerie keyboards, insane drumming, and snarling vocals, which flow into slow, brutal breakdowns are their signature sound. Winds of Plague is built on principles, both musically and lyrically. Musically they stretch beyond the boundaries of the cookie-cutter metal found on CD racks today. Their fresh approach to the use of keyboards as the backbone for their songs ensures that they will not be confused with the overwhelming metal-mania emerging lately into the hardcore scene. Lyrically they go beyond complaints of broken hearts and being swallowed by the cold darkness, exploring themes of human nature which transcend the adolescent tales of love lost and mistaken identity, which are found as so many anthems for bands today.