Interview with Conlin from Diecast by Jenn

How long has Diecast been together?
We have been a band for a little under 4 years now.
How did the band form?
I had been trying to form a band since moving to Boston for college. After trying for 2 years with no success I handed out flyers at shows and Jeremy and Nassim our old guitarist got one of them. I came down to their practice space and tried out against a few different singers and I guess I won. At that point it was myself (Colin) on vocals, Jeremy on Bass, Jason on drums and Nassim on guitar. Since then we have gone through 17 guitarists which has to be a new record of some kind, but I think we have finally solidified a great line up with the additions of Jon and Kirk on guitar.
When did you record the new album, Day of Reckoning?
We recorded it this past summer in Miami at the Dungeon Recording studio.
How did you hook up with Now or Never Records?
We sent out 5 song sampler CD's out to scores of labels and he got one of them. Upon advice from a friend to come check us out he did and I guess he just liked what he saw. Signing to his label has been the best move we have made as a band, Mat who owns and runs the label is a great guy and he works really work hard for us.
Paul Trust produced the album. How was it working with him?
Paul is an excellent producer he really knew how to get the sounds we wanted. He was great to work with for the most part, there was a little confusion over money and a little bit of personality conflict in the studio between a few people, but I guess when your stuck in a studio for a month with the same 5 people that is to be expected. He definitely knows his stuff though.
Overall, are you happy with the CD?
Yes we are all extremely proud of the CD and happy with how it came out. We all worked very hard on it and we mixed it 3 times and mastered 3 times to make sure it was as perfect as we could make it so after all that work I can happily say we are very pleased with the way it came out.
Have you had a chance to read any reviews of the CD yet? What do you think of them?
So far the ones I have read have been great so I'm pretty happy that people are enjoying it. This CD is a little different from our previous releases so of course there was that pre release anxiety but so far it has all turned out great so I am pretty happy.
You were on Samson Records. How many CD's did you put out with them? How did they treat you?
Well when we put out our EP "Undo the Wicked" on Samson we were very young as a band and so was Samson. We were their first release so neither of us really knew what was going on. John at Samson definitely did for us what we needed at the time and he's a great guy and we are forever indebted to him for giving us a chance and taking a risk with us. We just put out the one CD on Samson and John has really expanded the label since it is now called strike force records and has since released stuff from Pitboss 2000, Undying, Unearth, not to mention a bunch of other great bands.
What other releases do you have out?
We have a demo out that we self released entitled "Perpetual War" it has 5 very old songs, We released the EP "Undo the Wicked" on Samson, we have also released 2 different sampler CD's one on our own to generate interest from labels and one on Now or Never records as a precursor to our LP "Day of Reckoning" which is now out everywhere. We have also had songs appear on many various compilations.
What bigger shows/festivals/tours have you done?
Well we have played the New England Metal fest every year and we played NJ Metal Meltdown last year, we also played the Superbowl of Hardcore last year as well as this year. As for tours we have gone out with One King Down, Stretch Armstrong, All Out War, Dying Fetus, God Forbid and a few others, we are still trying to get onto the opening slot of a bigger metal tour if we can.
What is your favorite show you have played and why?
Definitely last years New England Metal fest just because it was in front of 4 thousand people and it was our home crowd which made it a lot of fun, it was so big and we had never done anything like that before so it was a great experience. I will never forget it.
Are you playing any big festivals or do you have any tours coming up in the near future?
We are gonna continue to play any and every tour we get, we love to play shows all the time. We are gonna do all the same festivals we have been doing, we will be hitting the NJ fest, the New England fest and Mac Rock in Virginia. Look for us all over for the next year.
What are some CD's you are listening to currently?
I love the new CD's by Cannae and Unearth, but I stick to a lot of older metal, classics like Slayer, Metallica, Sepultura stuff like that.
Tell us a little about the Boston scene. Are their places to play? How are the bands? How is the crowd/draw for shows?
Boston is a great city there are a ton of bands here. Places to play are tough because a lot of clubs won't do all ages shows so when they happen it's a rare commodity. For a while our bass player Jeremy was doing them but then the club stopped letting it happen. When all ages shows do happen in happen in Boston though they are huge, the smallest shows Jeremy did had 400 kids at them if that's any indication.
Do you say "wicked" a lot? (hee hee)
Haha naw, I don't say wicked too too much, I grew up in CT so I was spared the Boston accent.
Anything else you would like to add?
Just check out our new CD and check out the bands Cannae and Unearth because they rule. Thanks for the interview we really appreciate the opportunity.
http://www.diecast1.net/
http://www.myspace.com/diecast
http://www.centurymedia.com/