The Inquisition - DEFEATER

I saw Defeater play in the basement of a show house in DC called the Girl Cave in January. They were quite clearly the biggest band I've seen play in a house, and I'm not talking about popularity or height(although truth be told Derick is pretty tall.) They controlled the floor like pros on a national stage. With blistering riffs, screamed vocals (despite the PA problems), and quite possibly the tightest, most proficient (and goddamn interesting) drummer I've seen in a punk or hardcore band for a long time. They have a large label sponsored tour coming up, but Mike still took the time to have his flesh torn to shreds under the rusty knives of the inquisition. - Mr. Mogul

History in Their Words:
We are a bunch of guys that have all played in a lot of bands. This is the band we play in now, I think most of us would say it's our favorite.








The Inquisition:

1. Why are you in a band?
To make art. To try and quell my creative yearning. To be able to share good experiences with the people closest to me. To leave a mark.

2. Do you consider your band successful?
Yes. We came up with a goal which was to make a record we are all very proud of and that's not an easy thing to do. We get emails from people saying they love the record, a kid at our last show said we were his favorite band. That kind of thing just never gets old, I can't think of a better way to define success.

3. What are you currently listening to?
Like right right now? I'm listening to Attack in Black hoping that third time is also a charm. In general I've been on a huge Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil kick recently. I went to get a Jawbreaker tattoo last week, and I passed out in the middle of it and cracked my head on the floor. Probably should have mentioned that I am a touch needle phobic. That's life.

4. Who are your primary musical influences and do you think they are obvious?
At the Drive In, Botch, Converge, Fugazi, Rival Schools.

5. What other band(s) are out there that we should be listening to?
It's crazy, everyone in the band listens to some of the same core of bands but I don't think any of us share a favorite band. In the hardcore genre Blacklisted, Modern Life is War, Verse, and Narrows are all awesome bands. On tour it's a whole different story, I know we are all hooked on The Hold Steady, Radiohead, Russian Circles, Elliott, Rocky Votolato, The Exit, Cancer Conspiracy. I guess it's probably not all super obvious stuff. I just like honest music done well.

6. As a band, what was your best show/experience yet?
Our 2nd show was in Burlington Vt, It was with I Rise who are good friends of ours and there weren't tons of kids there so we didn't really know what to expect. But then we started playing and every kid there went mental.

7. What was your worst show/experience?
No Idea. Not every show is a winner, but I'm never going to shit on a show that would have us play even if it ended up sucking.

8. What's your writing process like?
Usually a song starts forming in my head and I try to write the whole thing in my mind before I touch my guitar. The finished product usually varies greatly from what originally conceptualized but it's a good way to know what you want out of the song before you just start hammering out random riffs and linking them together.

9. Do you see yourselves still doing this in 10 years? Why?
Yes and No. I assume I will be very involved with music 10 years from now. It would be awesome to think that Defeater will still be around, but that's to say we are all wanting the same things. Just like I try to see the end of a song before I write the beginning I feel the same way about the life of the band. I have really big things planned, but when it's time to go it's time to go.

10. Are there any shows or releases you want to pimp? Make Do And Mend's Bodies Of Water EP is awesome, and their drummer Matt is a decent podcast interviewer.