We had a chance to sit down with Francesco Artusato from Devil You Know. He gave us a lot of insight into their sound, their process of writing all of their killer music, and a little taste of what is to come, according to the Devil You Know, in the world of metal music.
How did you guys decide on your band name, Devil You Know?
That was Howard’s idea. Yeah, it was just one of those things. This was still in the beginning when we had just started creating this whole thing as a band. When we started, we just wrote some songs, and the whole thing started like…”OH, some labels are interested”…”OH, let’s do a record”… “You guys need a band name.” And, we started thinking about band names, and right away, Howard had this idea. It’s like…cool, we all liked it.
In 2012, you and John went looking for a vocalist; you didn’t have anything set up yet, right?
Yeah, we were just kinda still working on demos, fun stuff because we were both without a band at the time. So, for us this was just a side project. We thought the material was getting better and better, and we thought, “Well, now we should look for a singer.” And, it was one of those things. We had to try to find a singer who has a really unique voice. And Howard’s got that. So, why not? We said, “We should try to get in touch with him.”
Yeah, he’s got an iconic voice
Absolutely. That’s exactly the thing that made me so excited to work with him. To me, it’s like, being the guitar player, I can be very unique as a guitar player, but the voice is always going to be more unique. When you DO have a voice like his, that was the whole point, yeah.
Were there other vocalists you guys considered?
No. Literally, he was the first guy we e-mailed, and I mean, obviously it was not just a random e-mail like, “Hey dude…” It was through management and all that, so he knew it was a legit thing. Right away, he was like, “I really like the music. Let’s think about working together.” And then a few months later, he came to L.A., and we started working those demos.
Howard left Killswitch Engage due to health issues. Was it difficult to get him back in the game?
Well, yeah, he was like obviously saying in interviews it was a health thing, but it was both mentally and physically. It was like one of those things where he was done, needed a break from everything. And, when we got in touch with him, I think it had been a year and a half, two years later, and from what we’ve heard from him, those were the years that he needed to get better and start taking care of himself. With all the touring he was doing, it was just impossible to focus on getting better. And I think that time helped him. And even when we started working, he was still in the process of figuring out what he wants to do. And, even when we started talking about the first tour, he was like, “Ah, okay. I guess we’ll figure it out when we do it”. And we’re still doing it. It’s been a few years, and we’re having fun.
The new album is titled They Bleed Red. Who is “they”?
It’s one of those ideas that, of course, comes from Howard. Obviously, he’s the lyric guy, and he is the guy that comes up with the themes and everything. If you look at the artwork, that was like the whole concept of they bleed red. It’s us; it’s everybody. It’s all of us. All human beings and whole concept of how you can hurt people, they get hurt, and we all bleed the same way.
So, almost a message of unification?
Yes, absolutely.
It sounds like from what you’re saying is that a lot of the band direction comes from Howard, is that true, or is it more of a collaborative effort?
Lyrically, and all that, yeah. The way this band works is that usually I write with John, write music, and then we get the music kinda finished in terms of ideas and solid demos, and then we start the whole pre-production thing where Howard gets involved, and he starts thinking about ideas. Sometimes we have lyric ideas, but the actual lyrics, writing lyrics, he’s the right guy to do it. I wouldn’t want him to be like, “Here, let me write your part in this.”
Like, you wouldn’t want him to write guitar parts for you, right?
Exactly. And, that’s his thing. I’m gonna let him do it cause he’s great at it.
Obviously They Bleed Red isn’t a concept album, but is there an underlying theme behind each of the songs?
You could say that. Since so much of it comes from like Howard’s life and struggle, it does have a lot of things in common. But, yeah, it’s definitely not a concept album. We’ve even talked about at some point making one. That would be fun.
DEVIL YOU KNOW – The Way We Die (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
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In another interview, Howard said he wanted They Bleed Red to be heavier. Do you guys think you accomplished that?
Oh yeah. The first record was a total experiment. With this one, we were like, “Let’s write a record. Let’s not just write songs. Let’s really think about a record.” Right away, when we sat down, even before we started writing, everyone was like, “How do we want the next record to sound?” And everybody was like, “Heavier”. And heavier is not only a matter of faster or just more brutal…any of that. Even the themes and atmosphere, in terms of harmonies, melodies, everything gets just a darker vibe, and you hear songs like “Consumed the Damned” that are simpler, but definitely more…probably like more of the hardcore influence comes from all our backgrounds, but you get that.
The current tour, make America Metal Again, obviously a play on the Donald Trump slogan, but there’s this underlying implication that America has lost the love for metal. Do you think that’s true?
Well, it was kinda our way to joke with the whole Trump thing. The whole thing is a joke. And, yeah, no great meaning after that in terms of the music. I do see…I feel like heavy music is getting more popular and around again. People you’d see two years ago would be like no, no, but now, they’re into it. They think it’s cool. Like, heavy music’s cool again, which is a nice thing for us because we do it. And, I think it’s a good moment for that.
So, we’re moving in the right direction to make metal cool again?
And this is just my personal opinion, but I feel like bands really work mainly on trying to get a sound that has some kind of unique element. And that can be done with the vocalist, if he or she is really unique. I still feel like there’s a lot of bands going with a formula, and they all sound kinda the same. But, not all obviously, like the great bands are all doing very unique things, and THOSE are the great bands, the bands where the fans are like, “Go check out Gojira!” Those are the bands that are unique because they do have that sound. I see a lot of newer bands not really trying to find that cool element; they just go with the trend. For me, it’s like, to make it cool, you have to push forward, and eventually, the fans will realize that the band is always moving forward and doing that.
Devil You Know is categorized as Metalcore. Do you think that’s a fair categorization?
Not really. With the first record, I guess there are a few songs that have the metalcore kind of structure you’d expect. Some people just think it’s metalcore because you have the heavy vocals and the clean vocals. To me, it’s not really how I see metalcore. It does have a certain sound, even in terms of riffs, and I feel like our record is not a metalcore record at all. But, so many people say it and just because Killswitch and Howard, there’s always going to be people that are like, “That totally sounds like Killswitch”, and there will be others that will be like, “That sounds nothing like Killswitch”.
So, if it’s not metalcore, what category would you put Devil You Know into?
I don’t know; I guess just heavy metal with variations.
So, for my last question, what do you feel are the best and worst parts of press interviews?
The only negative one I see is when someone is not prepared, or they come like just asking things. It can be rude for the person you’re interviewing if the guy shows up and the guy would be like, “This record is better than the one before…”, and I’m like, “This is the first record; you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Other than that, I think it’s awesome that people do it, and people can read it or listen to the audio interview from home. I’m not awesome to listen to, but I think it’s really cool that you get to share that.
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Interview and photographs by RockRevolt Photojournalist – Terry White
