Dark Hound Heavy metal band presentation + stream

Please introduce yourself.

My name is ET Brown, I am the frontman (bass/vocals) for Nashville, TN-based (USA) heavy metal band Dark Hound.

When your band was created?

Dark Hound was officially formed in 2009, but only recently became seriously active in the summer of 2014 and we released our debut full-length album in August of 2014.

What the style do you play?

In the broad sense, we play ‘heavy metal’. How it gets broken down into subgenres differs depending on who is listening. We’ve had our music described as progressive, thrash, melodic, groove, etc; and we certainly have elements of all of those and more, so we just call it ‘heavy metal’.

How could you describe your music by several words?

Melodically heavy, technical yet soulful, brutally beautiful, catchy yet complex

What is the main theme of your lyrics?

Some of our lyrics are inspired by deeply personal experiences and some are inspired by musing on the macro-scale systems in which the people of this planet operate (and of course there a few less-serious subjects written about every now and then just for fun); but, the over-all theme of our lyrics involve exploring the human condition and how we relate to each other (or, how we should relate to each other) as we try and reconcile our differences while sharing this world.

What would you like to achieve with the band activity?

The ultimate goal is to be able to support ourselves and our families by writing, recording, and performing music that people enjoy; of course, having as many people hear our music as possible is a big part of that and a big goal in-and-of-itself.

How many gigs you have played so far and maybe you visit another countries with concerts?

We’ve played about a dozen gigs in Nashville and the surrounding areas since becoming fully active and releasing our album last year in the last 6 months. We’re looking to expand regionally this year and play of lot of shows in the southeastern United States, growing our fan base organically one city at a time. And we would of course love to tour internationally! It’s a major dream of ours to be able to do that.

Is there anything very important about your band what SHOULD know fans and labels?

We’re incredibly driven and dedicated to constantly improving our songwriting and performing crafts. We are true fans of hard rock and heavy metal, and we hope that the love and reverence for the music that has come before us is properly reflected and respected in what we write and release. And we’re incredibly approachable; we can be reached through our website by anyone who would like to talk to us!

What the formats you would like to see your releases, CD, Vinyl, Tape…? And how do you see future of physical releases?

We obviously have everything distributed digitally through places like iTunes and Spotify, and we also have our full-length album available on CD. I would love to be able to press our releases on vinyl at some point, but at the moment we have not generated enough extra income to make that a practical thing to do (it costs a lot to make those!); I purchase and listen to vinyl records all the time, and always buy the albums I like on CD. I think there is a core group of music fans who always will. But the current declining sales trend seems to lead towards a future where the majority of music releases will only be available for digital download. Which is super lame, but that’s business. As for tape, that’s not a medium I particularly care for, and I don’t think its resurgence in popularity will be as sustainable as vinyl. A lot of indie bands like to make them because they’re cheap. I don’t like to listen to them because they sound cheap (especially after a few listens).

When you will get label deal, would you like to help to the label with promotion from your side, or you want label do all without your help?

Oh, absolutely. I have a day job working in the business side of the music industry, so I have a good idea about how all of this works. With the finances of the industry being what they are, the more a band can do independently and keep bigger pieces of the pie, the better off they are in the long run. Obviously with a record deal I would want the label to have a proper promotions budget for us. But we will always do whatever we can to self-promote. A record label isn’t even really something we’re looking for at the moment. We know how to record and release our music in a professional manner; I would really just look to a label to help with distribution and promotion. The biggest things I think competent indie bands need to aim for are a booking agent and a good PR agent.

What’s your reaction towards negative opinions about your music?

I welcome negative opinions about our music, as long as there is a good reason for it. If someone says that they dislike a song of ours and explains why, that’s wonderful. But unconstructive negative reactions along the lines of “this song sucks because this band sucks because I think it sucks” doesn’t help anyone (we’ve never gotten a response like that, but if we ever do, it will be easy to ignore). Everybody doesn’t have to like something to make it valid; we just appreciate it whenever anyone takes time out of their day to listen to what we’ve created.

And last question, how do you like our webzine, do you have some remarks towards its look or functionality?

I’ve only recently become familiar with your webzine, and I’ve enjoyed looking through the site! Very easy to navigate, and there is a wonderful spread of interesting metal bands to explore! I especially like seeing the posts about lesser-known indie bands included with a lot of the big names in today’s metal world. It reflects your dedication to helping the hungry underdogs, which is becoming a rare quality in publications these days. Much respect!

https://www.facebook.com/darkhoundband

“With the unlikely home base of Nashville, Tennessee, one might wonder just how Dark Hound managed to achieve a heavy metal sound that seems so distinct and distant from the country music heroes spun off of Music Row. “Though we live in the capital of Country music, Nashville really is Music City, USA.  There is such a rich and diverse musical community in this town, you don’t have to go too far off Broadway to escape the honky-tonks filled with tourists in boots and cowboy hats and find amazingly talented musicians from all walks of life playing all sorts of great music.  I think where we’re from is an important factor as to why we don’t sound like your typical modern-day metal group”, says ET Brown, vocalist and bassist of the decidedly different Nashville act.Formed in 2009, Dark Hound is comprised of ET Brown, Elliot Gordon (Clorange), Josh Brown (Enfold Darkness, Nashvillbilly) and Evan Hensley (Nightfall). Both the band and their sound were forged out of mutual friendship and respect for the musicianship and song-craft that define top-tier heavy metal music.

“We’ve all been friends for years”, says guitarists Evan Hensley. “Something special happens when you create music with people you have a real history with – it’s just very natural. I think it’s also safe to say that we’d all love to help put Nashville on the map for metal!”

With a finely-tuned focus and a rock-solid debut record, Dark Hound is poised to become the bright star to watch as it peaks from Nashville’s horizon.”