Descendsion

Interview with Descendsion 

February 12, 2016

Describe your band, telling a little about it.
Descendsion is a Hard Rock band based in Weirton, WV

What are your names? / Who plays what?
Vocals- James Keller
Lead Guitar- Brian Davies
Rhythm Guitar- TJ McDevitt
Bass- Aaron Glosser
Drums- Brock Birkhimer

Have members played with any other bands?
Yes, members have played in other bands, however we focus on the present and the future.  We don't look back to our past.

Do you write your own music or perform covers?  Has it always been this way?
We do write our own music.  We may play a cover here and there, but we decided at the very beginning to stay all original.

What year did the band form?  Descendsion formed in 2005 and has had many through the years.

Where are you from?  The band is based in Weirton, WV.   4 out of 5 of us actually live in Weirton, and 1 of us lives in Steubenville, OH.

What's your style of genre?  Hard Rock

What inspires you?  Music inspires us.  We love looking into the crowd and seeing people come together.  When someone that's less fortunate or dealing with an illness comes up to us, thanking us and telling us that our music has inspired them.  I believe it's times like that to light the fire under our asses.

How often do you rehearse?  Most often twice per week.

What gear do you guys use?  Our gear changes through time.  We changed our lead guitar from Marshall to the Mesa, which has enhanced our sound.

Do you utilize a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that?  We have not used a booking agency.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?  We are not looking for a label, but we can not wait for people to sign us.  We are being told that there are labels looking into us.  But until that day comes, we are just working on getting our music heard and connecting with as many people as we can.

What are your songs about?  Our songs are, simply put, about life.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics?  Guitarist Brian Davies and Bassist Aaron Glosser compose the music.  Vocalist James Keller composes the lyrics, and we all work together.  If I (James) puts too many words in, Aaron and I will rearrange them to fit better.  As long as the message is still there, I find that to be most important.

Do you start with the music or the lyrics?  We start with which ever comes first.  If there is a guitar introduced first, we will go with that.  Sometimes, I (James) will come up with lyrics that absolutely needs music so we compose to that.

Have you done any covers live?  We have done covers live.  There is a video of us on youtube doing "My Own Prison" by Creed.

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs?  We don't really pay attention to the number of people that show up at our shows.  We are just blessed to have them enjoy our music.  To put a number on the audience isn't what's important to us.  Putting the faces to the names and having them return is what's important to us.

What ages are most of your concert attendants?   We have had people at an all ages show from 5-65.  There is no age limit to live music our audience varies.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary?  We vary our set lists.

Do you have a regular place you play live often?  We play a lot of our shows at the Altar Bar on Penn Avenue in the Strip District Pittsburgh, PA

What was your first gig like?  Our 1st show was to a packed house at a bar in Follansbee, WV.  Back then it was a great show, but looking back at it now it was terrible.  We were inexperienced kids trying to find our sound.

What was your latest gig?  Our last show was Jan 27th, we opened for Scott Stapp the Voice of Creed.

Have you had to cancel a gig?  We cancelled 1 show in 10 years.  The band disbanded about 4 hours before load in time.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale?  When it comes to merchandise we have fallen short in that department but we are currently working to get merchandise to our fans.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days?
Listen, when it comes to downloading or purchasing, it boils down to this.  Do we hope they will purchase our music? Yes, but as long as they are wanting to hear our music, that matters more to us.

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this?  The industry has changes a lot because of downloads.  It's harder to make money theses days.  LOL.

Do you have any role models or idols?  We all have our influences it varies.  Randy Rhodes for Brian,  Tool for TJ, Pearl Jam for Aaron, Lars from Metallica for Brock, and Scott Stapp from Creed for me (James).

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today?  I believe it's easier to grow inspiration from either, really.  Whatever music speaks to you that's where you grow your inspiration from.

What have been your biggest obstacles?  That would be replacing members, and in 2011, James underwent brain surgery, and in 2015 James had 34% of his stomach removed due to cancer.  So the health has given us a pretty good fight.

What advice would you give other bands or artists?  Just be yourself and write what you know!  Stay honest on that stage, the audience can smell a lie like a fart in the car.

How do you get psyched for a gig?  Just getting lots of rest and rehearsing before our gigs is how we get pumped up!  Talking to fans and hearing their excitement for shows always helps!!

Do you have any new material?  We are always working on new material!!! Currently it's a song called "Ignore".

What are your web sites/ social media?
www.facebook.com/Descendsion
@descendsion2014
www.reverbnation.com/Descendsion

What are your plans for the future?  Our plan is to make the best music as we can.  We want to connect with a lot more people.  Working on a new album and hopefully working on a tour.

What is one thing even your biggest fans don't know about the band?   Our fans take out of our music what they need to.  The people who are our biggest supporters have told us it's our message of hope and belief in yourself that they get out of more.

Do you have something to add?  We are very thankful for everyone that supports us and we look forward to seeing you all very soon.