Can you give me an introduction to everyone in the band?
Ryan: The bald one is Chris, he’s our systematic battery. The short one is Dustin, pentatonic resonator and backing vox. Eric is the lead vox and M.C., I’m the dread head laying down pentatonic resonation and vociferation. David is the subsonic discombobulation.
Chris: Ryan, how much coffee have you had today?
How did The Ascendicate come together as a band?
Chris: Eric and I had been working together for awhile, then we found Ryan singing in a prog metal group…we didn’t even know he played guitar, we just knew we wanted him in the band. We found Dustin when he got ahold of one of our old cd’s while out in Missouri. He called us up, flew in to North Carolina, knew every song and played his first show with us 2 days after we met. David had been a long time friend of the band, and we needed a guy who could drive long nights…as it turned out, he also plays bass which worked out killer…
Ryan: Yeah, I had this out of the blue urge to call and see if they needed an secondary guitarist, keep in mind, I wasn’t a guitar player I was a vocalist but I felt God leading me to ask them to play guitar for them. Believe it or not, they actually had me in mind as well, and the week that I was going to give Chris a call about it he actually called me first! From there we reformed the band from what they used to be, and never really looked back.
You guys have a unique sound, how would you describe it?
Ryan: You know when you wake up in the morning and have your first cup of coffee, and it’s so good, and you’re on your way to what seems like a regular day at work, and them WHAM!,
EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA kicks you right in the tail and the rest of your day is shot. Well, we’re kinda like that. You think our CD is gonna be same ‘ol same ‘ol, and then you put it in the CD player and instantly you know something is different about our music, and you can’t get it our music out of your system for about 4 to 6 days. See, just like explosive diarrhea.
Eric: We just set out to make heavy music while incorporating all the different sounds that
inspire us. We consider our music metal, but not just metal. There are lots of other
elements to our sound that we hope fans of all music can appreciate.
Chris: Beauty as it kills…just a sound that lures you in with melody and then kicks your face in with something nasty.
What are some of the band’s influences?
Chris: I’m the old school metal guy…Pantera, Sepultura, Fear Factory, but I’ve been known to crank up some Hank and David Allen Coe from time to time…
Ryan: Living Sacrifice, Fear Factory, Stabbing Westward, As I Lay Dying
Eric: We just write about the things we’ve been through and the way we see things. We’re not
extremely deep or abstract, just honest.
Ryan: Most of them for me are just personal issues that I have been through. I never try to have a resolution to every song because that’s just unrealistic in life. Instead, I try to at least pass on something didactic, or something I am in the process of learning. I know that Eric also writes the same way sort of.
What are plans for the future?
Chris: Play as much as possible and keep writing for our next record.
What has the Lord been showing you in the last year or two?
Eric: That he’s still in control of things. We were on the brink of calling it quits when we were
given the chance to record with Travis Wyrick which led to the Solid State deal.
Chris: And also that people want to know about a God that loves them, that accepts them, and wants to help them. Not hear a bunch of hypocritical church goers who only talk a good game and show no love to those who are hurting. No offense to any of them out there,,,
Ryan: You know, over the last two years there has been several big incidents that have happened to us that made us wonder if we were going to be able to keep doing this for much longer. We would pray and pray until we got to the point where would all just kinda looked at each other and agreed that if nothing “big” happened by a certain time then maybe it was time to move on. That’s not what any of us wanted but we knew that we had to keep moving forward in life, regardless of what our occupation was. And I tell you what, every time that we all were in agreement about it, at the very last minute something huge would spring up, and God would just blow our minds every time. God keeps showing me every day that I can’t force things in life. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work hard for what you want out of life, just that forcing things never accomplishes anything. Most of the time I find that when you do force things in life you end up missing the best opportunity God had for you
What was the most encouraging thing to happen to you guys as a band?
Chris: I would say when a good friend called us up and said he wanted to pay for us to go record with Travis Wyrick, and that Travis might shop it to some labels….that was a pretty good day. It’s also encouraging to us to hear from people that something about our music or meeting us at a show helped them in some way. That’s what its all about to me.
What do you hope a listener comes away with after hearing your latest CD titled “To Die As Kings”?
Eric: Hopefully people will be able to appreciate our music for what it is. We realize that we
aren’t doing anything innovative but we are trying to do something original. Our personal
music tastes aren’t limited to metal, we just like good music. We think we’ve made a
good record.
RYAN: Pure unadulterated Love, and maybe some Pepto-Bismol…just in case.