Desert Lord Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

1. Desert Lord was born in Helsinki, Finland in summer 2010 as a side project. The master plan was just to jam and see if it would lead to something worth to continue and start a real band. Soon we had a solid line-up and we were heading to record our first release.

2.So far you have released an ep and one full length album, can you tell us a little bit more about your musical sound?

2. Our sound and style came by itself, it was never meant to sound something "specified". We all have quite heavy musical background so the sound came up pretty heavy.

3.The first release came out in 2011 and the new one came out 3 years later, can you tell us a little bit more about the gap between releases?

3. After the 7" Salvation record we had to get a new bassist. It slowed us a bit, but quite soon we were writing new material, touring and getting ready for the recordings of new album. We started recording spring 2013, and it took almost a year to get that album finished.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

4. The lyrics are written by our singer Sampo. Most of the lyrics deal with his life and thoughts, the situations he has encountered and has to manage in everyday life and so on. Some of the lyrics are about of expanding your reality, some are about being against authority - finding your own way.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Desert Lord'?

5. Desert Lord came up while we were together thinking about a name for the band. We wanted something to visualize the music - you can find solitude in the desert, it's pretty vast as is our music too. Lord is something to master the universe - something we're up to!

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

6. One of the most interesting was early 2014 with Swedish band Goatess in Tampere - it was mayhem down there and the audience was just as pissed as the band! Our shows are always unpredictable - almost anything can happen!

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

7. We are playing some shows over Finland this summer. Later this year we're planning to head out to Scandinavia - and maybe further.

8.So far all of the music has been self released through the band's own label 'Under A Serpent Records' are you open to working with a record label in the future?

8. We've been releasing DIY because it has been the most comfortable way to us. We can manage the whole supply chain and the timetables are easy to set up. But yes, we are open-minded and if a suitable record label would want to work with us - why not work with a label.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of stoner and doom metal?

9. Feedback has been very supportive and on a worldwide level we have more fans abroad than in Finland.

10.Are any of the band members involved with any other musical projects these days?

10. All of us have had or are currently involved in other musical projects. The variety of these genres is quite broad, from pop music to black metal. Listeners of Desert Lord should check out our guitarist’s other band called Stone Ship, they play progressive doom metal, and have just released their debut full length digitally via Bandcamp. Even though we have other musical interests, we treat Desert Lord as our priority number one and put all our energy on it.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

11. We're just playing and the way the music turns out is unpredictable. We've just starting to write some new material so it won't be 3 years until the next album. The interesting twist to the music comes from the songwriting - all 4 of us have started as guitarists and still use it as primary songwriting instrument, so there comes pretty much riffs with different nuances and it all wraps up when we jam together.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

12. Of course heavy metal itself has had a huge influence - 70's bands to 90's stoner bands to modern doom. We all listen to different styles - doom, stoner, progressive metal, punk, hardcore, sludge, grunge... You name it, we listen to it.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

13. We all have different kind of interests aside from music. Some like to use their own private time with family, friends, sports, partying, etc. We all like to read books and watch movies, and maybe we have sucked out influences to our songwriting from those as well.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

14. Keep your eye on our Facebook page for news updates, there might be some cool gigs coming up ;) https://www.facebook.com/desertlorddoom