Welcome, music enthusiasts, to another deep dive into the unique stories that shape the indie music scene. Today, we pull back the curtain on Death Pigeon, a band that's been carving its own path in the diverse and dynamic world of indie music. With their distinctive blend of technical extreme metal, gothic, and death metal influences, they've caught the attention of many listeners, including myself.
In this conversation, they generously offer a glimpse into their journey, detailing their creative process, the formation of their band, their inspirations, and the challenges they've faced along the way. So sit back, relax, and join us as we journey into the vibrant and intricate world of Death Pigeon. Whether you're a dedicated fan or a curious newcomer, there's something in this conversation for everyone. Let's get started!
Our Conversation
Q: How did you come up with the name of your band, and does it hold any special significance?
A: The name really comes from two places, the first that I tell people is the ‘Death’ is to do with one style of music we play and the ‘Pigeon’ is a very underrated bird. Over the years I have lost count of how many I have seen with one leg, one foot, half a face, they just keep on going, they are absolute troopers and with my diagnosed mental health conditions I feel like that sometimes, wounded, scarred but still keeping on going no matter how much I dont feel like three quarters of the time. The slightly darker side of the name is, I am fascinated with death, the rituals around it, and peoples/societies perceptions of it.
Q: How did the band members meet and decide to create music together?
A: I joined a new company as IT Manager in 2018 and saw a long haired beard chap sitting in the development team, we started talking and really struck up a friendship.
Q: How would you describe your band’s music to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
A: I think we’re an older style technical extreme metal band mixed with a slightly cleaner sound. There are definite influences from gothic metal, black metal and of course death metal. We are somewhere in the middle.
Q: What are your biggest musical influences, and how have they shaped your sound?
A: We have loads of influences from across the genres really. Some of the metal influences would be Cradle of Filth, Type O Negative, Dark Funeral, Cannibal Corpse, Meshuggah, Van Halen, Slayer, Woods of Ypres, Dethklok, and then pop influences, Lady Gaga, Billie Ellish, Michael Jackson, New Order and big beat and rave influences, Nero, Prodigy, Massive Attack and from a composer perspective John Williams is a huge one along with Vangelis to name but a few. Even though we play extreme metal we really appreciate the different genres and styles of music. In deviation from classic black/death metal, which of course we love, we had to take a cleaner approach to the production side of things to ensure the weirder instruments we added, as well as the orchestra were all present.
Q: Can you share the creative process behind writing your songs? Who contributes what to the process?
A: As we are currently a two man band it was important to me to split the roles and responsibilities up as equally as we possibly could. JD (myself) writes the songs, lyrics and short horror stories, plays bass and is the vocalist. Neil plays guitar, mixes, masters and produces the EPs and albums.
Q: Is there a theme or story behind your most recent album/EP/single?
A: Our EPs are more of a creative experiment, but our albums follow a story created and written by myself. Once the story is complete then the music and lyrics are written directly from the short story. Our first story “The Rewiring of Humanity” which accompanies our album is set in a Victorian-esq city called ’The City’ where a person referred to as ’The Specimen’ lives, they get kidnapped, starved, sold and turned into a cybernetic being having to live with their hideous form.
Q: What are your band's goals for the future? Any new projects, tours, or collaborations on the horizon?
A: Yes, There is an EP due to be released this year, a single will be coming out very very soon, gigs next year but can’t go into any collaborations right now.
Q: If you could collaborate with any musician, living or dead, who would it be and why?
A: Neil - Jon Bonham & James Hetfield. JD - Peter Steele & Dani Filth.
Q: What's been the most rewarding part of being in this band?
A: JD - Working with Neil and releasing the album and short story. Neil - I have nothing positive to say about this process.
Q: How do you navigate the balance between creating music and promoting it?
A: Promoting your music can take up a long time, but its important, and you need to find a good balance between promoting and creating music. For myself the balance I like is 30 mins to 1 hour on social media in the morning while I have my tea and wake up properly where I answer questions from the night before and share out any new singles or music that has dropped from other indie bands. Then working on music (and my other businesses) throughout the day, and heading back to social media after the wife goes to bed for a few hours.
Q: How important has networking been in your journey as an indie artist/band?
A: Networking is so important within the indie scene, it helps you grow and you meet new friends along the way. In our short time here we have met so many wonderful bands as well as podcasters, and loads of other members of this great indie community, many of which we speak to on a near daily basis and are now friends. For instance: Talwarl, Anger Overdose, Superposition, AGBAT, Shovel Monster, Lenax, Encircled Throne, MelanyNYX, Pronghorn LA, Nelios, Matt Geiser, Vox + Stix and The Fourth Watch to name but a very few of this wonderful community.
Q: What is your perspective on indie music's place in the larger music industry?
A: I believe Indie music plays a huge part in the overall music industry although I don't believe it is respected as much as it should be. There are many bands out there that are signed but so many more that are unsigned and independent. Independent artists are incredible as they are free to do whatever they want to musically, experiment by mixing genres, they aren’t tied to any time based contracts in order to get your music released, and they create new genres and new styles of music not seen in the mainstream. Yes, touring is much more expensive as an indie artist but you have to weigh that up with the freedom and time you have to create. My wish is that more mainstream artists go back to the days where they take indie artists with them on the road, I know this does happen but at one point in time (around 20 years ago) almost every mainstream band you saw would have an indie artist/band with them.
Q: How do you handle criticism and how has it influenced your music?
A: There will always be criticism, and where as some like constructive criticism can help you and push you forward there is also criticism that won’t help you and may be given to you as a way to try and hinder your progress. Its important to distinguish between the criticism that will help you and enable you to grow as an artist and to blank out the criticism intended to hurt you. It's something I'm still learning myself, one way I find that helps me is make music for yourself, something that appeals to you and is authentically you.
Q: Lastly, what's one piece of advice you would give to a new indie artist/band starting their journey today?
A: The indie road can be lonely but it doesn’t have to be. Go out of your way to meet other indie artists/bands, team up, support each other and lift each other up, have each others backs and never give up on your musical journey. There will be times when you will want to give up when things don't go your way repeatedly, but always remember why you got into music in the first place. If something doesn’t work, change it up until it does, don't fear failure no matter how small or big use it to help you grow, get stronger and face your issues head on.
After diving deep into this conversation with Death Pigeon, I find myself walking away with fresh perspectives and an enriched understanding of their journey in the indie music world. Their candidness in sharing the highs, lows, inspirations, and influences that have shaped their musical path is something I truly appreciate. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the members of Death Pigeon for providing such an intimate look into their experience. I sincerely hope that this dialogue has been as enlightening for you as it has been for me. There's a lot we can learn from the perseverance, creativity, and indomitable spirit of indie artists like Death Pigeon.
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