Summon: How did the band get started?
Justus: Jerry, Slug and I have been playing in different metal projects together for over 10 years and three states. The addition of Justinian on rhythm guitar brings new blood and fervor to the already insane music writing. Medicine Fox came in to do a song for a werewolf movie (predatory moon) and we all agreed that we needed him.
Justinian: This band only exists, because Jerry had the balls to step away from guitar and start blast beating on drums.
Jerry: I pretty much just started playing drums out of spite for lazy drummers, its fun and I enjoy jamming with my buddies.
Justus. Awwwwwww..
Summon: What kind of music do you play?
Jerry: Metal.
Justus: Progressive-Dexedrine-fueled-circus-dirges.
Medicine Fox: #METAL.
Justinian: A whirlpool of progressive, blackened death funk.
Slug: Well, I wear sandals at practice, so Beach Metal.
Summon: How has the fan response been?
Justinian: Positive.
Medicine Fox: I like it.
Justus: Vertically Oscillating.
Summon: Where did the band name come from?
Justus: We sat down and argued for a while then I said, “Damn Thy Name”. As in Damn this band name crap. It’s nothing religious, just King James English or something.
Slug: When we were trying to think of a band name, nothing was working for us. So we said fuck a band name; we are Damn Thy Name. A lot of people think it has something to do with religion, but we just didn’t want to keep arguing about band names. So, that’s the story behind our name- hahaha.
Jerry: We played the band name game for months. What a waste of time.
Summon: Introduce the band members and what they do in the band.
Justus: Bass \m/
Jerry: Drums
Justinian: RIFF! (Rhythm guitar)
Slug: Lead guitar, backing vocals
Medicine Fox/Ol’Cracker: Lead vocals\,,/
Summon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Justus: Justinian, Slug and I write all the strings, and then we pass it on to the Fox for lyrics and vocal phrasing.
Jerry: They write the songs then I put the drums on them.
Summon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Jerry: That’s Medicine Fox’s department.
Medicine Fox: My lyrics are based in storytelling with real feelings. Some high, some low. I enjoy telling stories, and these guys inspire me to tell them through their #METAL.
Summon: What is your view in Satanism and Occultism?
Justinian: In metal they’re used overtly. Pop music uses them covertly. I don’t use them at all.
Jerry: I don’t know enough about either to have a viewpoint, but I do know I like my metal as evil and satanic as possible. Let’s keep rock and roll evil, like it should be.
Justus: They have good bean dip and the good albums. Other than that, I just don’t care.
Slug: I have no view on any organized spiritual group, or religion.
Summon: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
In Unison: Currently recording album 1.
Justinian: You’ll know as soon as our drummer/sound engineer finishes recording us.
Summon: Tell me about some of the songs on the latest CD?
Fox: I was approached by Slug, with the second song the band wrote. I based the lyrics on a werewolf movie, called “Predatory Moon,” that I have a cameo appearance in. The song is called Sinister Initiation, and is being featured on the soundtrack.
Justinian: Most of our debut material, borderlines on the ridiculously complicated. It’s concentrated more on note-cramming than groove.
Slug: Our music has many layers and dynamics. We weave melodic death, with thrash, black, and epic; often in one song. We don’t sound like any other band.
Justus: Shadow Porn is a track on the upcoming album. It’s a track that rocks like gold GTO. Steady and smooth at 130 mph.
Summon: Do you have any side projects?
Justus: We’re all musicians doing different things. I do bass tracks for a band called ‘’The cult of Marsupial;’’ sick stuff.
Jerry: This is my side project, bwahahahah. It’s more of a main project now. Slug and I have a band together, called Pergatory. There are like 100k bands named purgatory or some variation thereof.
Slug: Yeah we’re like Pergatory number 57 or something. We should have a two day festival of just bands named some different spelling of Purgatory.
Fox: Medicine Fox is Ol’ Cracker.
Summon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Justus: Anything Patton, Helmet, Chili Peppers, Death, One Minute Silence, Gwar.
Justinian: Mayhem, Darkthrone, Leviathan, Electric Wizard, (the) MELVINS, The Sword, Danzig, Anthrax, Alice In Chains, Black Flag, Bad Brains.
Medicine Fox: Ol’Cracker, Iron Maiden, old Motley Crue, Tool, KillSwitch Engage, StaticX, CASH, Hank III, Cory Smith.
Slug: Megadeth, Lamb Of God, Cannibal Corpse, Lynard Skynard, Death, Carcass, Morbid Angel, GG Allin.
Summon: Which current bands?
Jerry: Justin Bieber.
Justus: Between the buried and me, Beyond creation.
Justinian: Dredger, Hollow Leg, hot graves.
Medicine Fox: Armageddon III, HollowLeg, Whisky face.
Summon: What is the band like when you play live?
Justus: On fire, literally.
Jerry: Sweet, sweet, unpredictable chaos.
Fox: It’s why I do this shit.
Summon: Have you guys ever played in another country?
Damn Thy Name: N/A.
Summon: How big of crowd shows up at shows usually?
Justinian: 30+ heads.
Jerry: We play in a metal band… Sounds like loaded question to me.
Summon: How is the crowd response when you play?
Jerry: Sometimes they get into it, sometimes they’re banging their heads, but there are always people out in the audience playing on their smart phones.
Justinian: What we’re doing, is unusual, so we see a lot of dropped jaws in the audience.
Summon: What do you think of the US Black Metal/Death Metal scene?
Justinian: I am a big fan of USBM. Leviathan, Xasther, and Twilight are some of my favorite bands. The St Augustine metal scene is historically partial to doom metal though. Bands like Dark Castle, Tower, and Thunderer had a big following here, but have all since dissolved, or moved away.
Jerry: I’ve always enjoyed Death Metal bands like Obituary, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Nile and Death. Shows like that don’t seem to come around my neck of the woods very often. I live in Saint Augustine Fl; home of the acoustic cover bands. Obituary did come to St. Augustine once, which was awesome.
Summon: What do you think of the overseas scenes?
Justus: I’ve never been to a metal show overseas.
Justinian: The frequency of festivals, featuring all of my favorite bands, makes me jealous.
Jerry: It would be cool to go to that Wacken metal fest.
Medicine Fox: They own it! I wish America would step up.
Summon: What are some of your favorite new black metal/death metal bands?
Justinian: Hooded Eagle, from Charleston SC, Aren’t really death or black metal, but they are heavy, with a pronounced aggressive element. Fans of metal should be paying attention to them.
Jerry: I don’t keep up with new stuff very well, I pretty much stick to the classics.
Summon: When do you guys plan on writing any new material?
Slug: We’re always writing new material.
Justinian: I’m experiencing the most creative period of my life, thus far. I’ll keep going with it, as long as it lasts.
Justus: At the beginning of the New Year.
Fox: I write consistently.
Summon: What does the future hold for the band??
Jerry: If we don’t kill each other in the process of making our current album, there should be a follow up to it. I might have just foreshadowed our demise- hahaha. Na, if we leave space for each one of us to express ourselves along with leave space for disagreement we will be alright.
Justinian: We’ve played less than ten shows together, so we still have to plan our first tour. I already have ideas for a second album as well.
Medicine Fox: Sky’s the limit. We are five very creative people.
Damn Thy Name: We have high expectations for the future of Damn thy name, and we’ll keep doing what we’re doing, with the support of fans and organizations like Blackened Horde Radio and Zine. Thank you for your interest and this opportunity.
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/DamnThyName
