StreetWave Media presents an exclusive interview with hard rock band, Destroy the Planet, located in Minneapolis, MN. After our interview, check out the music linked below…
1. What made you decide to jump into the music industry or music business?
The love of music and the desire to create. My goal from the start was to write my own songs, even before I owned a guitar.
2. What do you think makes you stand out from all the other aspiring and upcoming artists in your genre of music?
I think what we have to offer is familiar enough yet unique enough to stand out. Our playing style will appeal to fans of the crazy-fast drums and guitar solos found in heavier music, but our writing style makes us more accessible. We try to be clever with our lyrics and our hooks, while bringing the “shred” in our guitar and drum fills. We want our songs to be a “wow” from several points of view.
We’ve been compared to so many other bands, I think that different people just hear things differently.
3. If you could collaborate with ANY artist/band… Who would you choose and why?
Dave Mustaine, he does it all. He finds room for the riffs, the hooks, and the story in his music. I’d love to see how he builds a song and where his starting point is. He gets a lot of credit for his guitar work and his legendary influence, but I think he is criminally overlooked as a songwriter.
4. What do you think is your biggest Advantage and your biggest Disadvantage about being an Indie artist?
The biggest advantage is having no expectations with content or schedule, we can do what we want, when we want.
The disadvantage is having to be DIY and hands-on with most things that are outside of our skillset. We’ve learned more about advertising, contracts, royalties, and playlist curators in the past year than a sane person should.
5. Do you prefer the Independent route or would you rather sign to a major record label, and why?
We would sign with a label if they did the work for us! I spend more time finding ways to get our music out there than I do playing the music we’re trying to promote. We like being in control of our project, but getting some help would be something to consider.
6. Out of all the songs you’ve released, what do you think is your Best song and why?
While it’s cliche to say that’s a tough question, it really is. We have a ton of songs that aren’t our favorite, so we don’t plan on releasing those ones.
As a band I think we’d all agree on “Crawl” because it showcases each of us and has a lot going on within the music and the lyrics.
7. Do you miss the era of CD sales OR do you prefer the new wave of music streaming? Explain…
CD sales is what I grew up with, I love the idea of the physical product being in your hands and having the artwork & lyrics to look at while you listen. I remember standing in line to buy new albums on release day, it was what separated the die-hard fans from everyone else.
Though the streaming age allows independent music like ours to have a chance to be heard, so I’d side with streaming.
8. Between creating in the studio OR performing live on stage, which is your most enjoyable one and why?
Playing live. I love the task of building the songs and can be fun making changes and tinkering until it’s finished, but playing in front of an audience is where it all pays off. The goal with our music is people enjoying it, getting to perform the songs you’ve poured your whole life into and getting immediate reactions makes everything worth it.
9. During your entire journey through the music business, what would you consider your Worst experience?
We’ve had some bumps in the road for sure, it’s all part of what keeps you focused on your goals. We had a ton of issues with the first two studios we tried to work with; we could have quit or let these people ruin our music, but we knew that what we had was worth the headaches and kept moving forward until we found people we can work with.
10. What would you consider your most successful or proudest moment in your music career, so far?
Our album makes me proud. We put a lot of work, time, and money into it and it came out great. The response has been amazing and has completely exceeded what we had thought with this being our first record.
There’s a lot of little victories in these songs with what went into creating and then recording them. I couldn’t really ask for better results than what we got. It’s super fun and flattering to have people complimenting our work.
11. If any, what discourages you the Most about the music industry these days?
We are not discouraged at all, with our style of music, you just hope that you can get a few hundred people to listen and like it. If we were trying to be more mainstream, we would probably lose our identity a bit.
12. What inspires you the Most about the music industry these days?
I think it’s awesome that a band like ours can release music and get a nice following within a year’s time. There’s a lot of music out there, to be able to find your niche audience without extensive touring and promotion would be impossible. Music blogs, social media, youtube, and streaming are great platforms to match your music to your audience.
13. If you weren’t in the music business or industry, what do you think you would be doing with your life instead?
Eccentric billionaire? Never thought about it. Music has been my life since I can remember. I rarely go a day without playing guitar or working on a song, so not having that would be surreal.
I like to be creative and enjoy drawing, painting, or building stuff. So if I wasn’t a musician, I’d probably have gotten better at those things by now.
14. In your own opinion, What is the current music scene like in your local area?
The Minneapolis scene is awesome, there’s a lot going on here. I love that the original music here is so diverse, yet everyone is so supportive of each other. There’s so much talent here, it’s really inspiring.
15. What is your latest release and where fans can find it?
Our debut album “Episode 1: Hungry for the Science” is widely available. Physical copies can be purchased through our website, Amazon, etc. and can be streamed from all the major services like Spotify, Itunes, etc.
16. What is on your agenda or what can fans expect to see from you in 2022?
We just released a new music video last month for our song “Crawl” and have another video in the works. We plan to start working on our follow-up album this fall to be released in 2023!