Interview with Damn Dice

Damn Dice is a somewhat new hard & heavy quartet from London that has slowly, but surely made the move from hometown heroes to national treasures. This rock-steady four-piece cites bands as diverse as Mötley Crüe and Judas Priest as it's influences and just last week I covered the group's excellent full-length album, "The Great Unknown". Now it is my extreme pleasure to post a interview that I recently conducted with Damn Dice's front-man (and all-around cool guy!) Alex! If you haven't had a chance to scan over my review of this up-and-coming band's stellar debut then be sure to head that way after checking out this interview and as always I'd like to remind all of you out there to support your own local scene. It's up to each and everyone of us to keep the indie and underground scenes going and when you go out and watch these local bands play live you're telling these acts that you believe in them and that what they are doing matters!
Andy-Could you please introduce yourselves and tell us who's who these days in Damn Dice?

Alex-Hi! Yeah, so we have Fransoa on drums, Wallis on guitar, Marco on bass and Alex (that's me) on vocals.

Andy-"The Great Unknown" seems to signal a change in direction for the band. Would that be a correct assumption?

Alex-Yes. Kind of, I mean we make the music we want to make, it's not like we sit down and decide, 'ok, we're gonna change direction here'. The music is what we want it to be. This is our first album, so despite having released an EP, this is the one that says what we are about more than anything else. It is what it is, and it's not as if we've gone electro or any weird shit like that! This is a hard rock/metal album. I think it's obvious to anyone who heard the EP that this is a different animal. I grew up listening to Sabbath, Dio, Priest and the like, and I'm not saying that that's what the album is like or what you can expect, but it's in the spirit of Metal.

Andy-Could you tell us about the new album? Who produced it and whose responsible for the majority of the songwriting?

Alex-We recorded the album in London with the same producer who did our EP, Akis Kollaros. He really helped us out because we were in a bit of a situation. We were supposed to have a big name producer on board, but it turns out it was all a bit of a swindle. You live and learn, I suppose, but anyway, he was able to come in at short notice and do the album. Unfortunately, just over a week after the last sessions, he lost his life in a road accident. We are so thankful to have known him, he was an awesome guy; the album is dedicated to him. The music is a collaborative effort with Wallis and Fransoa contributing the main body of the songs. We work on getting everything right in terms of overall sound, arrangement, vocal ideas and lyrics. There is nobody that puts anything in without everyone being happy with it, which means sometimes things change and get adapted, but we all have very similar ideas of what we want, and we're not afraid to put in ideas or give criticism. When I do the words for the songs, I would never just say 'this is it, get used to it', I always ask for input, ideas etc... The writing is actually a really fun process.

Andy-It's been two year since we last heard from the band. What have you guys been up to?

Alex-The making of this album has taken over our lives for the last year; things were put on hold and so it may seem that we've been inactive, but behind the scenes we've been beavering away, constantly working on everything. I think our experience of the whole time is reflected in this record. We've shot some vids, played some shows, but for the release of the album we're looking to get out there as much as we can.

Andy-I've got to say that your new album surprised me. I certainly did not see it coming! I mean "No Fear" is BOMBASTIC!

Damn Dice-Haha! Yeah, I love that song. It's a big gut-punch when that riff comes in. I have to say I'm glad to hear that it surprised you. I don't think it'd be as cool if you already knew what you were getting. The whole album in a heavier vein, but it's still Damn Dice. As I said before, we are very happy for this album to set down what Damn Dice is all about, but you'd really have to see us live to really understand. For this reason we are planning to get out and about and we're sure to be heading somewhere near you soon!

Andy-Where can fans find out more about Damn Dice? 

Alex-Anyone can find out about us on pretty much all social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Insta, all /damndice or @damndice, and of course our website www.damndice.com  

Andy-Do you have a link for the new album? Will fans be able to pre-order it? 

Alex-Yeah, the album will be available to pre-order very soon, perhaps by the time you are reading this. So go check it out!  

Andy-I agree with that 100%! Go check this album out people!!! So, what does the rest of 2015 have in store for Damn Dice? 

Alex-Well, until the album comes out we will be concentrating on making sure everyone knows it's coming. Then we are looking into organizing a tour and and generally playing as much as possible. We're eager to get out and play these songs and we're sure the live show is going to be intense!  

Andy-I always let bands have the last word. Any parting shots Alex? 

Alex-I would give a message to anyone reading that if you like hard rock and metal music, high energy live shows and having a good time, then check out this album and come to see us live. We want you to be a part of this crazy journey we've been on for the last couple of years. 'The Great Unknown", our first album is out this year, 2015, so why not have a blast and be part of it while it's happening, because it's happening right now! So lets be cool to one another as we head into the great unknown!

Andy-Thanks Alex!