Southern California rock band, Dark Station, are gearing up for the Fall release of their debut album, which will feature popular first single "Heroes" and new track "Obvious."
The 5-piece band is gaining fans with their ever evolving sound and their ability to transition easily between heavy riffs to memorable haunting melodies.
This week, the band entered into a management deal with FM Music Management, joining the likes of Nonpoint, Through Fire, Kataklysm, Royal Bliss and The Black Moods.
Rock Life got a chance to chat with Dark Station vocalist Nathan Spade, who was happy to share the process of making their new album and how happy they've been with the feedback they are getting on the music.
Q: How are you doing today?
Nathan Spade: I'm doing really good. I've had a really productive day so far!
Q: Well you have your debut album getting ready to come out. Can you tell us a bit about what the process was like going into the making of the album?
NS: Yeah, it kind of flew by to be honest. I mean when you look at the length of time that it actually took us to finish it, it was really crazy to just sit back and look at everything we did. It was interesting to look at the songs that didn't make the cut because they were mostly stuff that we worked on first. It was one of those things where the more we worked together the songs just kept getting better and better so we ended up having to cut the ones that started it all.
But yeah, it was a really grueling process and there were times where we just didn't know what direction to take it in. We didn't really have a set direction in the first place, we were just kind of making things and seeing where it went. For me personally, it was one of my biggest challenges, because I really put a lot into this lyrically, but it took a bit to figure it all out. Working with our producer Gus [Cryns] had a lot to do with that because he's a great producer in terms of really bringing out every kind of emotion and really pushing you past what you think you are really capable of doing. It was fun and we learned a lot from it and I think we're definitely ready to really get in there and make the next album.
Q: What do you want people to know about your music?
NS: For people who haven't heard us, I would basically just ask that they go into it with zero expectations because we honestly made the kind of music that we wanted to hear. It's very rock-based, but at the same time we don't really sound like anyone else. We have people who say we remind them of this or that band, but we have so many different elements and so many different songs that appeal to so many different demographics that I think there will be songs that you may not like, but there will definitely be ones that you will like. So I just ask that you stick it out.
Q: How did the "Heroes" track come together?
NS: That one I think was like the third song that we made. It came about from Kyle [Ort, guitarist] working with Gus on that song. They created that instrumental and then they brought me in and were like hey, what can you do with this off the top of your head? I just got on the mic and started saying stuff at that time and once I started writing to it I began to develop a concept of what I thought it should be about. It all just came together lyrically and we threw in some melodies and it just all came together into that song.
Q: The video is doing well. Had any of you worked on any videos like that before?
NS: I hadn't done anything on that scale. It was one of the more expensive things that I got to be a part of. So yeah, I think we've all experienced making videos, but never anything like that so it was a really cool experience, for sure.
Q: Have you been happy with the response to the song so far?
NS: Oh, totally and completely. I have no doubts for the future and it makes me really excited! Especially when you look at the numbers on Spotify. We just keep jumping and we've already stopped advertisements, but the numbers keep growing by the thousands. It's really awesome to see. I think it has a lot to do with the Release Radar as well. We got put on that and that was a huge help.
Q: And what do you have coming up?
NS: So we have another video and single coming out. We've been teasing it a bit already on social media, but it's called "Obvious." It's coming out on July 5 and it's going to be really neat. It's a different side to us and a lot of people are going to start to realize, especially when it comes to our third and fourth release, just how diverse the album is really going to be. I'm really excited for that. I'm really stoked for this next one.
Q: And I know that you've said the album will be out in the Fall, but is there a release date yet?
NS: We are aiming for October, but there is no official date yet.
Q: And is there any plans for a live show?
NS: I think right now we are really just trying to maintain a presence online and just kind of tell and show people who we are and give them some time to figure out whether they like what they hear and whether they want to see us. We definitely plan to do some shows in the Fall.
Q: What is it about the five of you together that is working so well?
NS: I think this is one of the biggest things that we've all been a part of. We actually all had the talk a couple of nights ago. We're all putting a lot into this and just seeing this reaction to our first release was way above the bar that we had set for ourselves. I think that pushed us even harder to just get out there and just keep pushing this. We're all at a 100 miles per hour now.
Q: What is the biggest goal after the album release?
NS: I think the biggest goal is just to tour as much as we can next year. Just keep playing as many shows and doing as many tours as we possibly can. We want to just keep meeting people and going around and spreading the word about who we are and showing them first hand. That's the next phase of what we need to do.