Their gigs are dark and dirty and full of energy, and are more of a ‘performance’ than a standard gig, writes a fan about The Defiled. Band, instruments and crowd members have been known to receive a battering; but Stitch seemed such a nice chap when we emailed him a few questions.

THE DEFILED Q&A

Q: Tell us about The Defiled sound?
STITCH: We basically make stuff we wanna listen to rather than follow trends and make what the industry wants us to make. We play angry downtuned music with an electronic twist.

Q: What’s the story behind your stage name?
STITCH:It used to be a tag that I used when I was a kid - it kinda just stuck I guess.

Q: Tell me how you all met?
STITCH:I moved to London in search of members to make up a band that could play and also have a certain look. I met Curse and Drex (our original bass player) working in a shop in Camden, then AvD through a mutual friend - although he was enlisted as our drummer originally; but he then switched to doing the electronics, as he’s a bit of a genius when it comes to making electronic music.
We then went through a lot of drummers until JC answered an ad we put out.
After a few years Drex left the band and in came Vincent to fill his shoes.

Q: What’s your current favourite song you like to perform live and why?

STITCH:I guess Black Death which is gonna be our next single. It’s quite a tough one to play technically; but I really enjoying singing it. The lyrical content is just as the title suggests - it is about the bubonic plague.

Q: What on stage antics will the audience experience from you guys at this year’s Sonisphere Festival?
STITCH: Our live show is pretty unpredictable so they can expect anything from instruments being smashed or us generally killing ourselves by accident or otherwise. Things can sometimes get a bit out of hand.

Q: Tell me about your fans, what are they like?
STITCH: We’re incredibly lucky to have such a dedicated fanbase. Kids come from all over the world to see us and some have also taken it to the next level and tattooed our logo on themselves. I guess they can just relate to what we’re doing.

Q: Do you have any bizarre fan moments you can share?
STITCH: A kid once had a heart attack while watching us at a show at the end of last year. He got taken off into an ambulance and then he arrived at the after party two hours later with the drip still in his arm and he was enjoying a drink with us. Pretty Terrifying!

Q:Is there a musician who inspired you to become a musician?
STITCH: Kurt Cobain would have been the main influence to me. Like many young kids around the world I guess he just touched a nerve in me. He made me wanna pick up a guitar and scream into a microphone.

Q: What inspires your music?
STITCH: Everything really, we draw in so many influences: be it our own experiences, our moral standing or historic events.

Q: What was your inspiration for writing 1888 Explicit?

STITCH:That EP was all about Jack The Ripper. We obviously can’t help but be drawn into our capitol's heritage and who’s better to write about that the greatest London villain of all time.

Q: How do you write your songs?
STITCH:It all starts with a riff to be honest. I write the basics of all the guitars, bass and drums; then I take it to The AvD to work his electronic magic. We both then get together the singing lines and then write the lyrics.

Q: What do you think about the state of metal music at the moment?
STITCH:I think in the UK we have an extremely strong metal scene with a lot of huge breakthrough artists.
I think it’s about time we showed our US counterparts what we’re made of - as their scene seems to be stagnating quite a lot at the moment.

Q: When you were starting out what kind of job did you have to do to make ends meet
STITCH: I made beds in a holiday camp, worked as a carpenter, and worked in various sex shops and tattoo parlours - not the most glamourous jobs that's for sure.

Q: Do you have a partner or family; has following you’re dream as a musician had an impact on them?
STITCH: I’m happily married and I have a very supportive family which really helps when you have to miss birthdays, weddings because I'm out on the road!
It does get hard on my wife at times, being left alone, but she understands that this is what I have to do and is what I’ve always wanted to do since the age of nine when I first picked up a guitar. (Thank God she does!)

Q: Can you tell me some background information about yourself – what’s your hometown like that you grew up in?
STITCH: I grew up in a town called Ryde on the Isle of Wight. It’s a really nice quiet place but I needed to move off the island in an attempt to carve some kind of musical career. So as soon as I turned 18 I jumped ship and moved to London. I still go back all the time to see my family. It is quite nice to have a few days away in the countryside there.

Q: Where do you like to “hang out”?
STITCH: I live in Crouch End; so I tend to just stay there. There's pretty much everything I need there. There's loads of cool pubs and places to eat and a guitar shop and record store. I always end up in the Big Red along Holloway Road.

Q: What did you learn at school outside the classroom?
STITCH: I played in loads of bands when I was in school, so I guess just learning the ins and outs of the music industry. That and how to smoke alot of weed!

Q: What music did your parents listen to when you were growing up?
STITCH: My Dad has always put me on to good music. He listened to a lot of Rolling stones, Tom Petty, The Cult, Big Country and used to take me to the Reading Festival as a kid.
I guess without his input I wouldn’t be the person that I am today. From there my music taste did get a lot heavier but I always revert back to listening to the same stuff he used to play me.

Q: Did you have any musical instruments growing up at home?
STITCH: I started playing guitar when I was nine so there was always a few hanging around.

Q: Did your music teachers have any influence on your style?
STITCH:Nah! My music teacher in school didn’t really appreciate me and my friends thrashing out Nirvana and Metallica songs in class.

Q: What was the first metal album you ever bought?
STITCH:The first album I brought was Nirvana's Incestide. I guess my first metal album was Deftones' Around The Fur. I was always a grunge kid

Q: Who’s got the worst habit in the band?
STITCH: We all have terrible habits. As un-rock 'n' roll as it is, it's the little things like snoring that drive us crazy. The Avd is a terrible snorer.

Q: Tell me about your beauty regime: do you favour a particular hair or make up brand?
STITCH:(Haha) We use the cheapest hairspray we can get our hands on and Mac make up. Kinda classy, I guess?

Q: What’s on The Defiled’s rider for Sonisphere Festival?
STITCH: Jagermeister, beer, cider, water and crisps. Nothing special to be honest. Not sure if we’re at the point of requesting crazy stuff yet. Clean socks is normally asked for halfway around a tour. All we need is booze to be honest!

Q: What’s your favourite drink?
STITCH: Jagermeister!

Q: What is the most rock and roll thing you’d like to buy or do?
STITCH: I want a 51 Mercury car more than you could imagine. That and an original 1961 Gibson Les Paul/SG custom. First off I just wanna be able to afford a house in Crouch End!

Q: After Sonisphere Festival what’s next for The Defiled?
STITCH: We’re just gonna tour as much as possible. Go to the USA, Europe, Japan, China, India, Australia. Then we’ll start working on our second album.