Divine Betrayal

Interview with Divine Betrayal

Feb 27, 2016

Describe your band, telling a little about it. 

We are Divine Betrayal.  We are a 4 person rock band based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  We put a lot of soul and emotion into our music and love having the opportunity to write and share it with others!

What are your names? / Who plays what? 

Matthew (Reuben) Marcinik -Guitar

Kaitlyn Washko- Vocals

Vince Berardini- Bass

Ronnie Stillwagon- Drums

Have members played with any other bands?  Reuben, Vince, and Ronnie have all played in original and cover bands  over the years.  This is actually my first band, so I am a bit of a newbie! 

Do you write your own music or perform covers?  Has it always been this way?  Since forming, we have written our own music.  Creating and developing music has always been a rewarding experience for us.  We are also working to incorporate some covers into our live show. 

What year did the band form?  

Technically, we formed in 2013, under the name of Inceptum.  After about a year and a half of playing with different drummers, we solidified our lineup with Ronnie as our drummer.  We made the decision to move forward as Divine Betrayal.  As our direction and tone of the music developed, we felt the name change was necessary.

Where is bands home? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

What's your style or genre?  

Hmmm, now that is a good question!  We consider it Alternative Rock, but have a hard time describing the exact genre.  You will have to give it a listen;-).  We are definitely open to all opinions.

What inspires your music?  

We have a lot of inspiration, ranging from life experiences to the possibility of creating an impact on someone’s life. It’s very important to us to develop music that people can connect to; and music that people will want to listen to.

How often do you rehearse?  

We practice between once and twice a week, depending on what we have coming up.

What gear do you guys use?  Fractal Audio, Gibson Guitars, Yamaha Drums, Sabian Symbols, Heil Mic

Do you utilize a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that?  We currently book our own shows, but we would definitely be open to utilizing a booking agency.  It would be nice not to have to worry about that sort of thing!

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?  We aren't currently looking for a label.  At this moment, we are trying to see where our music could go independently.

What are your songs about? 

Many of our songs stem from personal experiences, but also feature this overall concept of the duality of life; the good and bad, love and hate, joy and sorrow.  Many of our songs express despair over things that have happened in the past, but also implement hope for the future.    

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? 

Our music is pretty much written collectively. We all work on our own parts, but offer suggestions to each other to try to make it the best it can be. (And we don’t even fight as often as you may think!)

Do you start with the music or the lyrics?  We have been pretty consistent with beginning with the music and then adding the lyrics.

  

Do you compose in a certain environment? 

We usually write on our own and bring everything together once we practice.  It’s always an exciting experience when we start working on a new song.

Have you done any covers live? 

We are currently working on that!

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs?  The least amount of attendees has probably been around 15 or 20.  We would say at the most people we have played for as of yet has been several hundred.

What ages are most of your concert attendants? 

We would say all ages.  It doesn’t seem that we have played for a specific age demographic. We have had played for teens in high school, as well as to adults in their 50’s and 60’s.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary?  We usually vary our set list depending on what type of show we are playing.  Sometimes, we consider how much time we have, and what songs might gain the best reception.  Other times, we see what might fit best for the crowd we are playing for.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? 

Not yet, but we would love to find that!

What was your first gig like? 

Not as great as we had imagined. it had its pro's and con's just like any first show. It was definitely a learning experience… haha.

What was your latest gig?  We played at Mr. Smalls Theater at the end of January.  We had an absolute blast.  Also, a great time getting to know the other bands we played with. 

Have you had to cancel a gig?  We haven’t. We definitely pride ourselves on being professional when it comes to shows and how we work as a band. When we decide whether or not to play a show, we make sure everyone is able to commit and, we usually can’t wait till the day of. 

Where have you played live this year?  In the last year, we have played live at Mr. Smalls, The Rex Theatre, The Deadhorse Cantina, and Club Diesel. 

Where do you plan to gig the coming year? 

We would love to play some shows outside of the Pittsburgh area, but we are very open to playing wherever we are welcome.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale?  We are actually currently working on some really good designs for merchandise, so hopefully we can make that available soon.  We are in the process of changing our logo, so keep an eye out!

Where can people buy your merchandise? 

We will let everyone know as soon as it is available.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days?  Well, It gives people another means of discovering artists and music that they can connect with. If that artist could be us, then we definitely don’t discourage it :-)

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? We feel it has been critically affected. It’s sort of a double edged sword. As a result, artists have suffered, but at the same, time some artists are able to be heard when they may have not had the chance before.

Do you have any role models or idols?  Some of our influences include Pink Floyd, Rage Against the Machine, A Perfect Circle, Flyleaf

Why do you think they exist? 

These bands were successful.  They made music that people wanted to hear. 

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today?  A lot of our inspiration has come from older bands, although It’s always great to see people trying something new!

What have been your biggest obstacles?  Hmmm… probably not killing each other (haha, jk ).  We had a really tough time finding a solid drummer.  We were so grateful to have found Ronnie when we did. 

What advice would you give other bands or artists?Our biggest advice to other bands would be to not give up.  It’s very easy to become frustrated, discouraged, and discontent with where you are sometimes.   It’s pushing through moments and moving forward that lands you on the other side. 

How do you get psyched for a gig?  We usually partake in a few cocktails.  Also, the thought of some people in the audience hearing our music for the first time is a huge motivator to perform the best show that we can.

Do you have any new material?  Yes, we have several songs written that we have yet to play live. Also, we have been re-working a lot of the music we have already written, so if you have heard us play before, you may notice some changes!

What are your websites?

 https://www.reverbnation.com/DivineBetrayal

How can people reach you?

  DivineBetrayalBand@gmail.com 

Social media addresses? 

 https://m.facebook.com/pages/Divine-Betrayal/421637717948148

What are your plans for the future?  Our plan is to keep writing and playing music.  In addition, we are working on releasing some recorded material.

What do you think of my work?  We think it’s great! It's great to see that there are people who genuinely care about local music and spreading the word. 

How do you think that this interview could help you in the local music scene and beyond?  We think this interview is a great opportunity for people to get to know us better.  We hope that we will gain some new fans and friends.

What is one thing even your biggest fans don't know about the band?  We have a studio cat named Hank, who is really a female... and runs our sound...

Do you have anything to add?  You guys rock!!