1.Hello Dave please introduce yourself to the readers?
Hello everyone. I’m Dave, born and raised in Upstate NY. I’m an analyst by day, and a musician by night. I grew up in the local hardcore and metal scene, played in crossover bands in college days and currently play in several solo projects handling all instruments, vocals, mixing, mastering and marketing.
2.When did you first discover black and death metal and what is it about these genres that drew you in?
In early high-school, I got roped into loving Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica and Testament. I soon found Sepultura, Morbid Angel, Deicide and Fear Factory and my metal appetite grew and grew. Once I found bands like Disincarnate, Cathedral, Disharmonic Orchestra and Carcass, it was all downhill from there. College found me working for a radio station, getting to interview and hang with great bands like Morbid Angel and Dream Theater. Fortunate to see amazing shows in the 90’s like Cynic on the Focus tour, Cannibal Corpse a zillion times, Type-O, and pretty much every good HxC band in the Victory golden era. But when I found early Sentenced (North From Here) and Mayhem, Emperor, Bathory and stuff like that – that was really the beginning of the end.
3.Who were the first bands that you discovered?Who are some of the current bands that you are listening too?
I answered a lot of this in the question above, but the roots of it for me started with Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, Testament, Morbid Angel, Sepultura, Carcass, Obituary, and Fear Factory. Currently, I am heavily into all that is atmo-BM, and a ton of doom. Lune, Lord Mountain, Acid Witch, Crone Visions, Fugitive, Obsequiae, Grylles, Faery Ring, Black Curse, Meurtrieres, Skovtage, Paysage d’Hiver, Tour d’Ivoire and One Of Nine are a few of my favorites right now. Also a huge Brant Bjork fan. And a Bjork fan as well, lol.
4.SwordQuest is your new band/project that you started earlier this year what gave you the idea to start this project? How did you choose SwordQuest as the name of the band?
So, I have always been a classic gamer – grew up in the Eighties, loving Atari, Colecovision, Tandy TRS-80, Commodore 64 and then onto NES and SNES. I pretty much spent all my free time (and money) in arcades and the soundtracks and sound effects for the games are core memories. The first time I played Space Invaders at a hockey rink in 1981, that was the end for me. So, the idea of taking these core memories and making them into a current soundtrack for my own enjoyment resulted in this project. Swordquest was the name of a horrific game series at the time of the great video game crash, and seemed like a legit name to roll with. Its tough finding a name that isn’t already taken, and it worked.
5.Who would you say are the bands biggest influences?For those who have never heard the bands music how would you best describe it?
Honestly, the biggest influences are 1980’s classic Nintendo arcade, and a smattering of super old dungeon crawlers like Dungeons Of Daggorath. And of course great Medieval stuff like Bards Tale and Dungeons & Dragons in general. Someone I know described Swordquest’s sound as “The soundtrack to the best bootleg Zelda game mixed with hooked-on Bach” and I think that fits.
6.I believe you are the sole member of the band did you plan to work alone or would you like to add more musicians to work with on future recordings?
For Swordquest, its just me, my Mac, my DAW, and my EP-1320. But I am always happy to collaborate with people if there’s interest.
7.If you could work with any musicians past or present who would you like to work with?
That’s a tough question. Definitely Com Truise, David Gilmour, Larry Lalonde & Les Claypool. Gary “Gaz” Jennings and Lee Dorian for sure, and all of Acid Witch. So many others as well, I can’t even begin to name all of the pro’s I look up to.
8.Wielder Of Draconian Might is the debut 7 Inch that is being released through Mourning Breath Arts when did you first come in contact with this label?
I actually heard from the dude at the label through a Facebook group just recently. He’s a pretty cool dude, and it’s a small label but I hope to see it gain traction and grow. It deserves to. Its so tough now, people are slow to support, a lot of gatekeeping and its rare that people want to pay to support the art. I blame Spotify in general and social media, the mentality is consume quickly and look for the next better thing.
9.How long did it take to write the music for the debut 7Inch?How long would you say it takes to complete one song?
Probably a combined total of 30-40 hours for the 7 inch. On average, I’d say a Swordquest track takes 15-20 hours at minimum to flesh out, perform, sequence, track, mix and master. It’s an arduous process, but a labor of love. Its cool that other people dig the tracks, because in all truth, I’m making them mostly for myself!
10.Where can the readers order your debut 7inch?Do you have any other merchandise coming up in the new year?
The 7-inch is an ultra limited pressing on Mourning Breath Arts Bandcamp page. There are 20 black copies, and 5 white copies and its selling pretty quickly. These are mono square lathe cut, so legit bootleg collectibles. The mono sketched me at first, but when I remastered the tracks from stereo to mono, I was stoked because they sound even better in mono. https://mourningbreatharts.bandcamp.com/album/wielder-of-draconian-might
11.Have you started working on new music for the next release?Have you decided if you would like to do a full length or a 7inch?
There is a full length on preorder at my Bandcamp page, and I would anticipate it will see physical release in the near future as well.
https://swordquest.bandcamp.com/
12.Besides SwordQuest do you currently work with any other solo projects or bands? If yes please tell the readers a little about them?
I have another preorder for a black metal project with a friend of mine singing. Its on Bandcamp as well – Nuit Eternelle. Singer has a unique sound, definitely fits the music and keeps it from sounding like every other BM band out there. https://nuit-eternelle.bandcamp.com/album/lobscurit
13.When you need to take a break from working on new music or band business what do you like to do in your free time?
I spend a lot of time with my dog Atari, and my son. Love being outdoors, on the water, on a hike – in the sun, trying new beers, or home spinning records and playing old school arcade games. I have a few original arcade machines that keep me busy, and thousands of records.
14.Thank you Dave for taking the time to do this interview
Absolutely! Thank you for having me!
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