Written by: Sonya Whitley
Side Stage Magazine: What’s the name of your band? What’s the origin of that name? Have you changed the band’s name before?
David: Heat of Damage has always been the name of our band since the time Julian and David began playing music together. Initially the phrase ‘Heat Damage’ had a rock/metal band quality ring to us, but the random addition of ‘of’ in the middle seemed right. Bottom line, it just sounded cool and we stuck
Where does the band call home? How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
David: Home to Heat of Damage has to be where the drums are, and that’s Julian’s residence. We helped build our own rehearsal space within his garage. Julian and David met in middle school when Julian moved from Ohio, and the two of them bonded over music and started jamming together. Nick joined in 2013 after impressing the original two members with his guitar abilities. Heat of Damage began performing shows as a trio, missing a bass player. Jared was picked up in the summer of 2014, and he provided the final touches of stellar bass playing and hardcore vocals.
What genre of music do you consider your work to be?
David: Hard Rock/Metal
Who are your major influences?
David: I owe my interest in hard rock/metal to Metallica and Iron Maiden, for sure. In terms of specifics, vocally I’ve always looked up to guys like James Hetfield and Ivan Moody for their aggressive, powerful rock vocals.
Jared: My main influence on my writing is life. Everything I write about is grounded in my personal life experiences. Musically I am influenced by bands such as the Deftones, Avenged Sevenfold, and Oldcodex.
When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
Nick: We started playing music together in late 2012. It all began for the purpose of having fun – plain and simple.
What label are you on?
David: As of now, Heat of Damage is operating independently.
Who writes your songs?
David: By the end of the process, each member has contributed a creative input to songs that are written. While some members may be more heavily responsible than others, no member is ever uninvolved.
What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge, If so, how?
Nick: The biggest challenges we face as a band are mainly issues such as scheduling around school and dealing with the fact that we are a young band and can’t do it all on our own quite yet. Other than that, it’s all been a fantastic and very enjoyable experience and I can’t wait to see what we have coming next in our future.
What’s your ultimate direction for your band? What would you like to accomplish as a band?
David: I would like to see the band go as far as we can go in this fantastic world of music. I want to see Heat of Damage take the whole world by storm, like the bands before us that we idolize.
Julian: Heat of Damage as of right now is just in the beginning stages. We have so much planned for the future and we all love what we do. I would love to be able to support my family from the work I put into this band. That’s always been a dream of mine.
If you could do any cover song by any artist, in any genre, what would it be and why?
David: Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’ because it’s the anthem of metal as we know it today.
Julian: “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley. Because why not?
What would be the ultimate show/fest you would want to play as a band?
David: Monster Energy’s Aftershock festival here in Sacramento is one we’ve dreamed of playing since it was first created. Playing there would be unreal.
Nick: Main stage at Download Festival in England for sure.
Julian: There is three that I can name off the top of my head: Knotfest, Download Festival, Rock On The Range. Rock am Ring and Graspop Metal Meeting would be amazing too.
Jared: Rock im Park.
Do you have any tours planned?
David: In the coming year we’re hoping to tour around California and other Western states to promote our 2015 CD ‘Open Fire’. Ideally, we would like to cultivate a large enough following to go nationwide, and tour all around the states as well!
Nick: Hopefully soon we plan on doing a small tour of the West Coast states.
Where can someone find your music? Do you have a CD out?
David: Physical copies of our two releases, the “Lifestyle” EP, and our debut album “Open Fire” are available on our website heatofdamage.com under the merch section. Digitally, “Open Fire” is available on most reputable online distributors, like iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, etc.
What’s one question you have never been asked but always wanted to answer?
Nick: I’ve always wanted to explain my guitar rig. That would be a lot of fun for me.
What advice would you give someone wanting to start their own band?
Nick: Make smart decisions in every aspect of the band. Don’t act like you’re entitled to great things at first. Great things come with incredible hard work.
Julian: Be as professional as you can be. Take pride in your work. But never forget to enjoy doing it.
Do you have anything you want to say to your fans? Do you have a message you want to send out?
David: Fans, you really do make it happen. We in Heat of Damage love making music, but we love delivering it to all of you just as much. Whether you’re a loyal show-goer, someone who has bought a song or two on iTunes, or someone who is only just discovering us, you’re a part of our dream. Thank you!
Nick: If you’ve been with us for a while now, we can’t thank you enough. You guys are the reason we’re able to do what we do. And for all of you who are just finding out about Heat of Damage, we’re always happy to have new members of the HOD family.
Jared: Go do something you love. Life’s too short to be bothered by arbitrary expectations.
Any last words?
Nick: Death to all but metal.
Julian: You can’t eat a snack without a snack.
