It’s been ten years since metalcore heavyweights The Devil Wears Prada first came together.
It’s been ten years since metalcore heavyweights The Devil Wears Prada first came together. In that time, they’ve established themselves as one of the most recognizable and in-demand acts of the scene thanks in part to their strong work ethic and hard-work that now has them busier than ever.
To kick off their second decade as a band, the Ohio natives are ready to unleash one of their most ambitious works to date: the six song Space EP which comes out on August 21st. This Monday, July 27th, the band returns to Richmond for a show at The National where the audience will get previews of the EP, a work the band is beaming with pride over.
The Space EP can trace its origin back to the first short concept work the band did back in 2010: the Zombie EP. Centered on the idea of a zombie apocalypse, this five song collection resonated strongly with critics and fans alike, something guitarist and singer Jeremy DePoyster was almost floored by.
“We had a lot of fun with the Zombie EP and it turned out to be a bigger success than we could have ever anticipated. It was probably the heaviest thing we had ever done up to that point and I don’t know that we were necessarily known as a very heavy band, even though we certainly tried to be. We thought it would flop, but it ended up being a great success for us. Because of that, we always wanted to come back to that process again. We had a few different concepts, but by the time we decided to start writing for the EP, space was the one Mike [Hranica] really wanted to go for.”
It’s the absolute perfect time for a concept record on the vast medium too. Thanks to New Horizons’ pictures of Pluto and the announcement yesterday of Kepler-452b, space has people’s attention more than ever these days and this new EP should be a perfect companion piece to that consciousness. DePoyster admits that the timing was beneficial too considering last year’s blockbuster Interstellar. “We got lucky that a couple of months after we decided to start the Space EP, Interstellar came out. It was very similar to the last time when we wrote Zombie and the whole Walking Dead phenomenon took off. There was just inspiration everywhere for us.”
The EP came together quickly for the band with Hranica able to swiftly identify themes for each songs that let the band really begin to tackle space themes and concepts within the music.
“We’re a very cinematic group anyway thanks to our keyboard sound,” explained DePoyster. “We’re actually harder on certain riffs and songs than a lot of stuff we’ve done in recent history too. The single out now, “Supernova,” is amongst the least heavy on the record so it will be fun to see how people react to it when they hear the end product.”
When discussing the process and any obstacles the band encountered, DePoyster was quick to downplay it. “It’s all we do at this point in our life,” he stated. “We make records and then we go play them. Is it hard? Sure, but who cares – everything is hard.”
He’s not kidding when he says it’s hard. You can almost feel yourself growing tired as he describes a typical swing the band goes through around this time in a release cycle. “In January, we went and wrote the rest of the EP,” DePoyster listed. “We then went right into the studio, came home for two days, went to Australia, came home for three days, did a US tour, came home for a week, and did another US tour.” When asked about it being overwhelming, he admitted it could be at times, but “it’s still always fun and a great job. All jobs are tiring and this one is the best one.”
Like any rock star entering his second decade, DePoyster is almost used to it now, even if he wishes he could be home a bit more. “We love home so much and we miss it, but the stage is also just another one of our homes. Touring is just an unfortunate thing that comes along with playing shows. I think that’s something that you learn as you get older. When you’re young, you just want to be on tour, be part of the experience, and do this and that. Once you’ve been doing it for ten years, you want to play shows. Just play shows and meet people. A lot of the day you spend just sitting around and that can be exhausting, but it is still the most incredible job that I could have. I see my parents and wife and everybody I know work so hard at their job and anybody who tells you that our job is harder than that is straight up lying to you.”
That awareness of the reality of his job versus others affords DePoyster a view that most stars tend to lose as time goes on, but it’s one he’s aware of whether it’s his close friends and family or just the fans who come to his shows. “As you get older, you have real bills and real responsibilities and real budgets. With that, I just have a lot more respect for the people who work hard, save up, and come out to our show. They spend their hard-earned money on the tickets, merchandise, and maybe some beer so we really appreciate them above anything.”
That appreciation is an active two-way street for the band, especially as they prepare to drop the Space EP in less than a month. They also have a lot more planned for this year as well. “We just shot a video for one of the songs on the Space EP,” DePoyster divulged. “We’re going to do a ton more videos too. That’s something we didn’t do with Zombie that we wanted to so we’re going to make sure we do that this time. Really, we’ve just worked so hard on it and we’re so proud of it that we can’t wait for people to hear it and experience it live. I hope Richmond loves it like we do.”
The Devil Wears Prada perform at The National this Monday, July 27th alongside Whitechapel, Thy Art Is Murder, and Wake the Captive. For more information on the show and where to buy tickets, click here.
