South
Florida duo Dathomirror Doors blend gothic rock, metal, dark electronics, and
cinematic atmospheres. We talk with Joey Depp and Ant Demico about darkness,
creativity, “Abandon Love,” and their uncompromising artistic vision.
1. Dathomirror
Doors is a duo consisting of Joey Depp and Ant Demico, coming from South
Florida. How did the two of you come together and decide to create music as
Dathomirror Doors?
We have
been friends since we were young kids and have always made some form of music
together, we see (and hear) things from a very similar perspective since we
have been so close for so long.
2. Your
music combines a mystic goth rock atmosphere with metal undercurrents and
driving electronic percussion. How would you describe the Dathomirror Doors
sound to someone discovering the band for the first time?
The first
words that come to mind.. dark, atmospheric metal dipped gothic rock, our
original sound leaned more on psychedelic progression but has evolved due to
the trials of life so to speak.
3. Your
latest release, “Abandon Love,” has an extremely dark atmosphere and intense
vocal delivery. What inspired the song, and what does the title mean to you?
I feel like
the song is the message of the album presented like the ending of a movie put
in the beginning of the film to make you wonder how it all fell apart; that’s
what we wanted to do with that song more or less describe the emotional state
beginning with the sadness eventually boiling to anger then nothingness.
4.
Joey’s vocals on “Abandon Love” have a particularly scathing and aggressive
character. What were you trying to express through the vocal performance, and
how important are the vocals in creating the band's atmosphere?
Honestly the vocals are always the most challenging part for me personally, I have learned to let go and let the feeling of the content tell me how to approach the delivery instead of deciding on a particular vocal sound so you may hear something way different in the future, but for this project I wanted classic soft baritone with a unique tinge of metal anger which I believe came through.
5. Metal
is an influence on your music, but Dathomirror Doors clearly goes beyond a
traditional metal formula. Which aspects of metal attract you most as
musicians?
So funny
answer here, Ant doesn’t enjoy listening to metal at all but can still play it
very effectively. I was personally heavily inspired by thrash metal bands such
as Kreator, Slayer, Exodus and some black metal like Venom and Merciful Fate.
Ants outside perspective actually helped us keep our true goth sound intact
while bringing in a new element that matched my emotions at the time of writing
the EP.
6. The
combination of goth rock textures, dark electronics, heavy percussion, and
metal elements creates a very cinematic feeling. When writing a song, do you
begin with an atmosphere, a riff, a rhythm, vocals, or something else?
We usually target the atmosphere first of the song, we believe without a proper moody atmosphere the riffs won’t come so the darkness exists first usually taking form as a percussive line with a synth rhythm. Once we have the mood set that’s where the guitar riffs come in and finally the bass is usually last before the final polish but these things can vary from song to song of course.
7. There
is a strong sense of darkness and mystery surrounding Dathomirror Doors. Is
that mystery something you deliberately build into the band's identity, or does
it simply reflect the way you prefer to create and present your music?
The thing
about us as a band is we truly are expressing our actual auras, we aren’t huge
fans of the social media era and the cheapening of music. Maybe we are old
souls who have a distaste for bubblegum bullshit because we have seen too much
but we are unapologetic when it comes to not hiding our disdain for society and
sometimes life. We want the music to stand on its own like it’s supposed to so
we refuse to try to fit in and clout chase for views or attention; art is all
that matters.
8. You
have mentioned that you're not particularly interested in being heavily
involved with social media. In an era where musicians are often expected to
constantly promote themselves online, why have you chosen to take a different
approach?
We refuse
to play the pay to win game or beg for attention, we make music for the souls
who despise people like this so we will not succumb to it ourselves for
success. We care more about the right people listening rather than the most
people listening.
We are
super passionate about sharing other great gothic rock, metal and even darkwave
acts so please check out my personal playlists I have shared on our Spotify
profile!
10.
Finally, without giving away too much of the mystery, what can listeners expect
from Dathomirror Doors next? Are there more releases, collaborations, or darker
musical territories waiting ahead?
Expect the unexpected! We are very capable and this is just a taste of what’s to come. There will be another EP coming within six months and it will still be very dark but with a whole new concept! We are committed to never losing our dark edge like some bands have and left us searching for old feelings of despair they use to bring, Dathomirror Doors are here to take over by force; not attention.
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