Struck / Down interview 05.04.23

Interview taken from the view of Tommy Rogers (drummer)

 

MM: Can you tell us about your Band and who your biggest influences

 

TR: We are Struck/Down, a doom/groove band from the UK, specifically Canterbury in Kent. Although we give ourselves a doom/groove tag we have influences from all over the metal genre be that from the thrash side of Sylosis to the more classic side of Black Sabbath and everywhere in between.

 

MM: Where do you draw your inspiration and ideas from lyrically and visually

 

TR: Last release we made a decision to follow a concept and story of Father Bernard, a cursed priest who is chasing havoc on modern day life. This gave us a great direction for lyrical content allowing us to layer our personal experiences within this story. From a visual point of view, our videos follow the narrative. It's all about trusting the process and that has never failed us.

 

MM: What would you say is your Band's favourite song?

 

TR: I think most of us would agree that the new material is our favourite. We dropped The Enforcer 31/03, it's an absolute stomper so we highly recommend you check it out!

 

MM: Plans tour and festival wise for 2023:

 

TR: This year is all about spreading up and down the country to break into the national scene and out of our scene in Kent. We haven't got any tours in place but hitting different cities we hope to get a foot hold in new places.

 

MM: What can we expect from you guys  live

 

TR: Big riffs, high energy and a good amount of humour! We don't take ourselves to seriously live and you'll absolutely see us up there enjoying ourselves.

 

MM: What do you like best and worst about touring

 

TR: The best thing about touring has to be spending time with your best mates and traveling to new regions we wouldn't be going if it wasn't for the band. It's great to meet so many passionate people on our travels and spread the name of Struck/Down.

 

The worst is the long drives and overall cost but it's absolutely worth it for the shows and memories we are making.

 

MM: Which three Bands would be your ultimate touring buddies

 

TR: There's so many bands we would love to go on tour with, obviously there's the dream team so bands like Gojira, Metallica, Trivium etc. From a realistic point of view bands like OHHMS, Famyne, Green Lung etc are a way more realistic goal for where we are right now!

 

MM: What's the most memorable concert you've been to (other than your own) and why

 

TR: I'm going to cheat a touch on this one and say TechFest 2022 and seeing The Ocean live for the first time. They blew my mind and I've never rushed to a merch stand faster.

 

MM: Which are your Two favourite Albums of all time

 

TR: For myself I'm heavily into the progressive side of music so one of them has to be Between The Buried and Me - Coma Ecliptic. The second is an easy one, Sylosis - Edge of The Earth.

 

MM: Can you remember the first time you ever played live and how it felt to have people

watching you?

 

TR: the first time feels like an age ago now but it was part of a local battle of the bands competition. I remember absolutely sh*ting myself, id never been more nervous in my life. After that I feel like I got most of my life's stage freight out in one go!

 

MM: If there was a heavy metal song about yourself what would it be called

 

TR: For those that know me it would likely just be titled "IPA". 

 

MM - Who do you think influenced the world of Metal / Rock more than any other person

 

TR: I don't think you can dispute that as a whole James Hetfield or Ozzy Osbourne. Both of them have paved the way for each of their sub genres and created paths into all the extreme genres.

 

MM - What's the most important thing to the band right now?

 

TR: Right now for us it's to focus on supporting this upcoming release, 'To Witches..' (July 7th) is at the forefront of our efforts! We are super proud of this upcoming release and can't wait for everyone to hear it. Ultimately though it's to carry on having fun and making music as best mates.

 

MM: If you could do a cover of any song which one would it be and why?

 

TR: I'd personally love to cover a Mastodon track, probably Blood and Thunder. It's just an absolute killer of a track and I'd love to put a Struck/Down twist on it!

 

MM: Tell us why we should buy and listen to your Band

 

TR: If you like big riffs, catchy vocals and a band that finds it impossible to sit into one sub genre of metal we are for you! Plus we are all just genuinely nice guys so it's worth just supporting us for that.

 

MM: Final Words for your fans and our readers

 

TR: We recently dropped out latest single 'The Enforcer', check it out now wherever you listen to music!

 

'To Witches..' our new EP comes out July 7th!

 

Keep in touch at - https://www.facebook.com/StruckDownUK