Band of the Day: Destroy Planets

Friday is a day to let your hair down (if you have any) and Destroy Planets offer a cracking soundtrack for such hair-loosening…

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

Okie dokie! So, it’s a long story my mum moved and moved when I was a kid to the point where I dubbed her the house gypsy so I’ve lived in many places but the short version is originally I was born in Ashton , living many a moon in Glossop and now I’m a Macc lass! Adam lives in Hyde near Manchester. Aaron, Brad and Nathan all live in Rochdale. If you have never been there Aaron always says to people that you should never go! He tells everyone it’s like a scene out of The Walking Dead in the town centre! whatever that means.

How did you meet?

Aaron and Brad have known each other since they were like 4 or something? Aaron and Nathan then later met in high school where they pretty much became family straight away. Nathan’s parents call Aaron son number 3 which is cute. Brad is son number 4 too. I’ve known Adam for a while we go back a bit. I had known Adam roughly ten years before Destroy Planets. We met at a random festival after losing touch and then even more randomly he asked me to join Destroy Planets. Aaron and Adam then met over a join my band app. Now we are one big family together.

How long have you been playing as a band?

In Destroy Planets? We are not actually sure. It was a slow process to get going. It took us a while to musically click together and we’ve all had a share of ups and downs whilst trying to get things going. I think officially our line-up, as is, has been together for 2 years but we only just started playing shows and officially being a band in February this year!. This is my first real experience in a band so I have had to try and learn the ropes pretty fast but all my bro’s tell me I am doing okay! We have practised hard for the longest time to really figure out our sound and what Destroy Planets is.

Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?

Actually, you are the first person to ask us who is not friends or family to the band! But sadly there is no really amazing story that goes with it. Destroy Planets is something that Adam thought of when he originally started his music projects before it became what it is today. Love or hate the name it’s quirky which is why we went with it. Adam chose the name because the idea is the riffs are supposed to be heavy enough to Destroy Planets! There are so many bands out there now trying to get a name that is not similar to other bands is really hard. Aaron actually did not like the name for such a long time but it just grew on him.

What are your influences?

I think that this is what makes our sound sort of different, I am not fussy when it comes to listening to things, my influences are that broad that I couldn’t really give you one just for the lyric side of things. If I had to pick it would be Motionless in White or Five Finger Death Punch. The guitarists are dead easy to know, Nathan and Aaron love Trivium. Nathan even uses Matt Heafy’s signature guitar so that’s a dead giveaway. Those two just love all that old school 2000 metal core. Trivium Killswitch Bullet and Machine Head are probably the main. Adam likes anything unusual! Adam is the one who is experimental so things like Shikari are his influences. Adam and Aaron are also big fans of Slipknot. Brad is into everything too but he tends to lean towards progressive music like Dream Theatre. Brad also likes Chilli Peppers and Korn amongst a lot of other things.

Describe your music. What makes you unique?

We try to create raw energy. This really comes out in our live performances and is so difficult to capture on a recording. Ask people who come to our live shows and they will tell you that they don’t just listen to our music they really feel the energy which can sometimes be missing in metal these days. There are a lot of good bands out there now but with how the music scene has become, especially metal the diversity seems to have gone. It’s like there is a trend now that people want to follow. We are Destroy Planets and we are just trying to do our own thing. I think (Aaron) Tanya offers something more unique than anything we have come across so far. There are a lot of talented female frontmen in metal that don’t have the recognition that they deserve but then also Tanya gives us cleans, rap, high screams and low screams. She has such a good range that it makes us different. Love it or hate it. It’s different.

Do you have any particular lyrical themes?

At the minute our upcoming EP Mass X Gravity is mainly based on past relationships between family and friends. Even partners that have let me (Tanya) feeling, not good enough or let down. The only current exception to this is Immortal which is based on vampires because, Why not? Once we have a kind of theme to go on for a song Nathan sometimes joins in the lyric writing and that’s how we hash out our ideas.

What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?

Raw energy, throw downs (hopefully mosh pits) sometimes chanting and A LOT of sweating. We have played just over 10 shows since February. It’s been good fun so far and everyone has been really helpful. There are some awesome promoters out there!

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show? Well, we are still a very fresh band so not that much “wild” stuff has happened other than your normal drummer throwing sticks (and sometimes cymbals) at people. accidental of course. people being brutal in mosh pits, in one of our videos on Facebook you can see one of our friends get absolutely chinned. We never promote violence but in this case, it was accidental and he came out ok. I sometimes get that worked up on stage and that into it, I go and start pits along with Aaron. Aaron played two shows with no pick because his hands lubricate with sweat and he can never keep hold of them. He had cut all his hands after the shows but I wouldn’t really say this is wild, just unfortunate.

What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?

Adam uses Gretsch Catalina rock kit and has Paiste and Zildjian cymbals. Adam also uses the Roland SPD-SX for synth work and digital drums. I use the Shure SM58. Nathan use the Matt Heafy Epiphone and Aaron uses ESP/LTD. He has limited equipment choices because he is a lefty. Nathan and Aaron use Blackstar amps. Those two don’t tend to use much before the amps just so it’s easier for live shows. Less things can go wrong. Brad uses an Ibanez 5 string bass and an Ashdown amp.

What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?

We have our debut EP coming out on August 23rd – Mass X Gravity. Adam did everything on this so THANKS ADAM!

What are your plans for 2019?

Outside our Mass X Gravity, we would really like to start writing a full album or maybe produce a music video. We have done more shows than we planned which means we have to start writing new music at some point but trying to plan anything with Adam is a sure way to make sure something doesn’t get done! He has a planning phobia which is why Aaron tends to do all the planning. 2019 we will go wherever the wind takes us!

If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!

This is a hard one. I would either say to have on first would be Above Our Instinct or Clashmute, we are friends with both of these bands and we played our first and second shows with them AOI first and CM second. To open for any band is so hard to answer. especially because we like different things so if Brad could choose it would be Deftones. Aaron and Nathan would obviously pick Trivium, I think. I’m going to say Adam would open for Slipknot but he is not here right now to answer. I love Lesbian Bed Death and would love to open for them!

Destroy Planets: facebook | youtube

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