Hailing from Chicago, Illinois (my hometown), thrash metal masters DIAMOND PLATE have been spearheading the new wave of american thrash movement since their true inception in 2007. The band, made up of lead guitarist KONRAD KUPIEC, drummer JIM NICADEMUS, and bassist JON MACAK (and now featuring new guitarist MARIO CIANCI) have undoubtedly set themselves aside as a metal onslaught unlike most. Blending thrash metal, technicality, and progressive elements into their sound, they have earned themselves a rank in EARCACHE RECORDS ever-growing roster. Here I have interview my friend and fellow rager Konrad, a virtuoso who explains the state of the metal scene, the meaning behind "Generation Why?" and what makes Diamond Plate the unique metal band they have grown to become.
You guys have been around for a short time, but in that short time you've not only helped put Chicago on the map as a growing thrash scene, but you've also presented yourselves as one of the more diverse young acts to come out in the metal scene recently... You guys are a lot more technical and progressive than most thrash metal bands around. What drives you guys to pursue that over the top style?
From the beginning we never set out to be a part of any particular scene or stereotype. We just wanted to make the best music possible, and since we were just a bunch of pissed off 15 year old kids, that music came out fast and heavy. So us becoming a 'thrash' band was a natural thing rather than a decision. As a band, we found that perfect mix of technicality, heaviness, and catchiness to set us apart from other bands that just focus on one of those aspects. For us, it has always been about the energy of the songs we write. The only thing that drives us is just being able to outdo ourselves with every song we write. With every song we want to get better at what we do, whether that means improving in playing or just songwriting itself; it all depends on the kind of song we want to write. That's the way we've progressed from day one.
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| The early years, circa "At The Mountains of Madness". |
There definitely is progression. My first experience was watching you guys tear apart Cafe Duvall in Chicago, along side the once mighty Infinite Missiles, and I was blown away. You guys have since moved on to supporting legendary acts such as Destruction, Exodus, Behemoth, and even performing your own headlining shows. With that ambitious mentality, what's in store for us album-wise? Your last offering, "Relativity", was ape shit compared to what was presented to us on "At the Mountains of Madness".
With the debut album, our main goal is to really capture the energy from our live show on record. It is something that we've never been able to do with a release before. This time around, our playing is better, the songs are better, and the production will be WAY better. The recording for our two E.P.s was done in my basement, so obviously there wasn't a lot that we could have done sonically for our music; we were very limited. This time around, being in an actual studio with an amazing producer will completely change what we can accomplish. I can't say anything yet about our studio/producer choice, except that this will be huge and we all can't wait to show everyone was we are really capable of.
Nice! I've been huge on your live performances, there's a lot of energy about for just 3 guys. How many thrasherpieces can we expect for the full length? And when does the touring Madness begin for you guys?
We're currently hard at work at perfecting around 10 songs for the debut album. We all want the songs to be as best as possible and for the entire album to adhere to our philosophy of 'all killer, no filler.' If all goes as planned, we'll be hitting the road and spreading the madness across the U.S. by this summer! After we've conquered the States we'll be moving onto the rest of the world.
That's very, very promising to hear. I really dislike buying an album to find that there's a bunch of songs that don't seem to have any real feeling or energy put into them. Can we expect a killer touring package on behalf of the Earache Roster? Possibly some Waste, some Gama? Ha ha!
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| Konrad Kupiec |
We have no definite tours lined up as of yet, but rest assured you'll be seeing us out on the road A LOT! Haha
I very much agree, man. It's good to know you guys are getting real picky and thoughtful on the songwriting and recording process. Quality or quantity. You guys better set up a killer good bye show here in Chicago too! Ha!
Since we've been stuck inside writing and getting ready for the record, we're all dying to play a show in Chicago. The headlining show we're putting together for the record release in the summer is going to be huge, no doubt!
Nice! Something as rad as the Windy City Thrash Fest you guys threw last summer?
We're actually planning for the record release show to be the equivalent of a second Windy City Thrash fest. I think this time around we'll try and include some other great bands from Chicago playing hardcore/crossover, true heavy metal, and death metal to really showcase the Chicago scene in general. And obviously there will be plenty of thrash bands as well haha, but I think if we can pull together all those different genres of metal and make one huge show out of it, we can do something really fucking powerful for the Chicago scene.
That sounds fucking awesome, Chicago really needs more shows! Sometimes it seems like there's an absence in the term "local metal" when compared to other states. Any idea for a date?
Yeah the absence of a local metal scene always bothered me when we were starting up. Thats why we've tried to support and grow the scene as much as we possibly could, and I'd like to think we've done our part. It's only going to keep growing!
We have a date scheduled for June/July when the record comes out, but I can't announce anything YET. Soon my friend!
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| Live |
You guys have definitely plated in a role in Chicagoland's metal scene, and helped put the midwest on the map in comparison to the east or westcoast. At the time of this interview, you recently announced the title of your debut: "Generation Why?", any story behind its meaning?
We wanted the title and theme of the album to be extremely relevant to the world today, especially to people our age. I think over these next few years the world is going to be changing a shitload. Our generation is the one that will determine if that change will be for the better or worse. The song "Generation Why?" makes a statement against how people our age don't seem to strive for greatness anymore; all most of us seem to do is make excuses for why everything we're about is not how it should be. Politics are bullshit. The education system makes us dumber. The monetary system makes us broke, while the media keeps us blind. Music, art, and everything else seems to be losing quality. We can't just settle with those things or try and avoid them. Lets stop asking why, and start asking how we can achieve greatness and go beyond an average life of mediocrity.
I couldn't agree more. I can safely assume that when bands like Nuclear Assault or Megadeth released records, especially towards the end of the 80s, there always seemed to be a deeper theme than most bands would opt for. Social commentary and metal seem to go together pretty damn well, I think it's nice to see band reaching back for that instead of channeling gore or fantasy into their lyrics. Not that it's bad, but I feel more of a connection when the lyrical content and message is relevant to current issues.
Thanks Chris. I've always felt that it's time to give metal back to the 'thinking man'. Music is real and should reflect the world around it. That's what makes it so fucking powerful. Plus as artists, that gives us an endless source of inspiration. We don't have to create themes and lyrics from fantasy; there are so many fucked up things in the world that all we have to do is look around and get inspired from reality. And at the same time, a lot of people can connect to the music like you said, because everyone can relate to the real world. It's just up to us to project our inner vision of that world into music.
Well said man. Can older fans expect some of the Lovecraft themes you guys touched upon early in DP?
Well, "At the Mountains of Madness" is on the full length and after the fourth time recording it for a release we finally have the song as tight and heavy as we always wanted haha. Although the song is inspired by Lovecraft, there is a hidden social commentary in there as well. It's just a little deeper and harder to figure out
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| Sophomore effort, the "Relativity" EP |
Oh shit. Will lyrics be provided this time around? I've always had trouble figuring out the chorus to "Relativity". Anything else explored on this album?
All lyrics will be included in the booklet this time around, no worries. And Jon's voice/pronunciation has gotten a lot better as well so you'll be able to figure out what he's screaming haha. There's a whole variety of topics that we chose to tackle this time around; the media, the music industry, post-traumatic stress disorder, transcendentalism, and a lot of other issues/ideas. It's all across the board for the full length haha
That's a very unique range of subjects, I'm really liking where this his heading. Do any of these apply to the album cover concept wise? Not sure if you're really allowed to say much on that at this point haha.
Well, I can't say too much about what the album cover will be yet. However, the main thing we wanted to accomplish with the album cover is for it to be 100% real. We didn't want it to be a graphic design or Photoshop job, or a painting. We wanted to just capture the cover with a photograph, which is something I haven't seen in metal in a while. The concept for the photo is actually really simple and minimalistic, but the challenge was to capture it without using graphic design and taking an easy way out. We're all about challenges and the end result was killer.
Wow man, never really heard of that... I'm very interested in the release of that. Pretty unique, I don't recall any other cover being a legit photo other than Exodus' "Fabulous Disaster", but regardless, it sounds like you're really shooting to stand out in the new wave of metal coming out. Any future press releases we can expect in the coming weeks?
Haha funny you mention "Fabulous Disaster" because the guy that shot that cover, Gene Ambo, did all the photos for "Generation Why?" as well! Go figure!
And actually, yes we'll be announcing a lot of big news fairly soon! It's just a matter of when Earache will send out the press releases, but it should be within the next week or two
You guys just don't stop being metal, do you?
Haha nah man that is not possible!
Awesome interview bro, thank you very much for you time. Any last words?
No, thank you for the great questions! I think we covered pretty much everything, thanks to any fans reading this, and look for the album in stores and online in August!
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Haha, I just interviewed these guys for my blog, too! Keep it underground!
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