Jeremy DePoyster is the rhythm guitarist for the metal-core group The Devil Wears Prada. The band recently released a new full length album titled “Dead Throne” via Ferret Records and is currently on tour supporting the album. Media Mikes caught up with Jeremy to talk about the new album as well as about the bands new iPhone app.
Adam Lawton: What can you tell us about the band’s new album “Dead Throne”?
Jeremy DePoyster: The album is not so much a reinvention of the band but more so a rediscovery. The album still fits in the mold of our previous releases while at the same time being a progression. There are some slower songs on this album which is a different sound for the band. I think the album is fun and heavy.
AL: Did you guys try any different approaches during the recording process of the album?
JDP: Yes. We pretty much did everything differently than we have in the past. A majority of the songs are written by our other guitarist on his lap top and we take them from there and re-work them. However we on occasion do write material together and jam on it as a group. That was what we did more so on the new record. All of the song structure was done ahead of time and by the time we were ready to go into the studio we had demo tracks for every song to use as reference.
AL: How many tracks did you guys go into the studio with?
JDP: The 13 songs that are on the record are what we took in with us. We had one song that wasn’t quite done yet but that was scrapped prior to pre-production. We knew going in that all the songs we brought were going to make it onto the album.
AL: How do you think the band has evolved since your first recordings?
JDP: I think it’s natural for everybody to progress as musicians. When we first started the band I was 18 and I am 24 now. I think we all have become more proficient at our instruments but also at how we approach songs and textures. For me I play a lot differently than I used to.
AL: How do you think this album stands out above those that have been released recently who are in the same genre?
JDP: I think you can see passion and reality over imitation. It is flattering to see a group of bands that have almost carbon copied what we have done as a band but, at the same time it’s not offering anything new to the musical world. I think that’s really the difference. We aren’t writing to sell records or make a career. When we started this band there was none of those things. We started the band to have fun and the other stuff just came along. I think that makes us stand out as well as the maturity of our material.
AL: Do you have a favorite track off the new album?
JDP: It depends on the day. Playing the songs live has also altered things a bit as well. I really like “Born to Lose”. I think that song is a good representation of who we are as a band. I also like “Chicago” because I wrote a majority of the guitar heard on that track. It’s a really personal song and is something we don’t normally have on our albums.
AL: Can you tell us about the “Zombie Slay” app?
JDP: We just released that a few months ago prior to us leaving for Australia. We have talked about doing something like this for a long time. Dan our drummer was really into the idea of having an app and having that communication with other I device users. All the other stuff out there we felt was just dull and boring. We wanted to make a game that would be super rad and could stand alone outside of the band. Over the past few years we have really taken control of what comes out of the band. We really try and have quality control over our products. We didn’t want this to be something a manager got on and tried to sell our fans tickets. We wanted this to be awesome! The guys did a really great job with it and the band was really involved with the testing process. (Laughs)
AL: What are the plans for the band the rest of this year and into 2012?
JDP: This tour that we are on now is really what is left for this year. This is our first big U.S. North American headliner in quite some time. We will be finishing this up soon as we have a lot going on planned for next year. Nothing has really been announced yet but everyone can be looking for those announcements soon.