Interview: Gorethrone

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What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
I got into music listening to radio. Some of the first bands I listened to were Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Korn. I probably would be skating before I picked up an instrument. I used to skate a ton but fell off when I started playing guitar.

What do you like to do when you're not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
We like to game. We all get together on games of Apex, and COD. We watch horror movies that really influence our lyrics in songs, like in Acid Bath and Necropolis.
 

How long has your band been around?
Altogether about a year, but the drummer and I have known each other for about two and a half years doing other projects together before this one.

 

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
We are based out of Grand Rapids Michigan. We have a HUGE metal scene here, with a lot of local heavy bands to play with and give us pointers.
 

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?
We thought of the name after we changed some members. We decided to go with a heavier name than the one we were using, and we wanted something that when you hear it, you would think of just the most twisted things and I think we succeeded.

 

Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played?
The best show we played was a local house show we did. There were a couple times that the crowd was moshing, and that is always a good feeling. The worst was our first show, we didn't have enough material written so we were going to play slower which didn't work out. The bass player's bass stopped working so we had to stand there waiting for him to figure it out.
 

Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you haven't already?
Our favorite venue was our first show at Smiths Downtown in Indiana even though it wasn't the best performance from us. We would just like to play more in our city of Grand Rapids, but because of the pandemic, we haven't been able to.

 

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?
That's a tough one. We have so many bands we like... but it would have to be Slipknot as the headliner with Veil of Maya and Chelsea Grin supporting. That would be insane!

 

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band?
Talent isn't that much of a factor. If you can find people you can gel with, that will make your band go further than just talent alone. You have to want to be there and grow with your instrument as well as with your band.

 

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?
It would probably be at the beginning of the old band that became this band. I would have gotten rid of the members that didn't fit faster.
 

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?
Grim because it is our vocalist's real story dealing with domestic violence in his family and all the emotions that come with that. You can see he goes pretty hard for the breakdown in that one, like he still feels it.

 

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
They would be Acid Bath, people love that song and it's a really fun one to play. The other would be Celestial Noose, because there's a lot of fun stuff you can do with that one live.

 

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?
Me or the other guitarist will think of riffs and bring them to the jam. We will work on them together, and our inspirations are pretty much anything from wolves in Alpha or Orcs in Big High War God.
 

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
Instrument wise we want to be melodic but yet heavy not just straight heavy and lyric-wise we try to just get crazy and have fun and paint an image for the audience.

 

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?
If we have a disagreement we will put it to a vote and if it doesn't win then we think of something else. That has worked pretty well so far. We all get along so the vote is like.... never to single anyone out.



What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that's coming up?
We are currently writing our full-length album, which we hope to have out late this year, and practicing for shows this summer. If there is anybody in the Detroit area reading this, we are playing the Hot Rocks Bar on August 7th with ten other bands. It's going to slam, be there!