● First, I loved your original doom output, well done indeed! Tell me more about the beginning of your musical journey.
Travis (vocals): Well, thank you! Diseased Earth started back in 2014. All of us have been in several bands that didn’t work out for various reasons and we all kinda gravitated towards each other to play something we weren’t seeing in the local scene. Along the way, we lost some members and found some others and now i feel like we are really hitting our stride as a band.
● Actually, I am a bit confused, is that band was formerly called Rasputin?
Haha! No, so my email has been a band email for as long as I can remember, going back to some of my first bands and I never wanted to put in a band name, so I just said Rasputin, because he’s always been one of the most interesting people in history. I even have him tattooed on my leg.
● Sludge isn’t a popular style nowadays. Still, you were keen to deliver the ’80s spirit, aren’t you afraid that may affect the band fanbase?
I don’t think it will hurt us at all,given that the trendy stuff now is deathcore. I think a lot of fans are looking for something refreshing and doesn’t sound like everyone else,but also a tad familiar at the same time. Plus, we aren’t just a straight sludge band,we like to mix in some death metal and even grindy elements,so we can and have fit in with a wide berth of bands.
● Your latest ‘In A Deathless Light’ provides modern creativity blended with a vintage mix. Tell your fans more about the song topic.
That song is written about the death of my father and all the emotions I experienced dealing with that. It doesn’t have to be the death of a family member,it could be the death of a career or even a band. Grief is something that touches us all, but in our memories, whatever we love will live on and if we keep passing those memories on, nothing will truly die.
● Eyehategod, Melvins, among others are a big influence on modern sludge acts. Who inspires your music in general?
Well I think all of us are influenced by various different acts. I know our guitarist paul is heavily influenced by bands like Mastodon and COC, but also Thin Lizzy. Joe (Bass) and I are big into grind, but also bands like Thou. We kinda just take everything we like and make something that we enjoy.
● You’ve got a great activity on your YouTube channel but I am wondering, are you planning to film any other music videos soon?
We actually have talked about it some. We’ve never made any concrete ideas,but we have tossed around a bunch of treatments and what we may want to do,if we decided to make something.
● I noticed that all your 2021 singles followed the rule of short and sweet, unlike other doom acts who prefer long-length singles. Is it on purpose during the songwriting process?
Yes and no. Sometimes we just play the song and let it end where it feels right and sometimes we do keep in mind that most people’s attention spans nowadays aren’t built for super long songs. You look at Tik Tok and things like that, people digest their information in smaller and smaller bits.
● Also, any plans for your second full-length soon?
Honesty, we’ve liked doing a single once every couple months. Going back to the attention span thing, Unless its an amazing album, most of us just skip around songs to listen to the ones we like, so I think least for a little bit, we are just sticking to singles and maybe EP’s.
● Finally, I’d like to thank you for your time, tell me more about your 2022 upcoming plans.
We are gearing up to go back into the studio again sometime soon and record several more songs and just keep playing and writing for as long we can.
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