BAND INTERVIEW: "Designer Disguise"

Interview Written / Conducted by Jesse Smith

Nu Metal has been having a huge rebirth with bands integrating rap style vocals and 808’s with breakdowns and downtuned guitars. In a genre that is quickly rising, it can be extremely hard to stand out, but not for Designer Disguise. From Metalcore to Nu Metalcore, the band has really developed a unique sound and has really hit their stride. Now, incorporating a more sci-fi theme, Designer Disguise has found their way to stand out. With the recent release of “Destroyer” we had the chance to have them answer some questions for us! 

Let’s get into it!

What’s up guys! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer some questions for us! Let’s just jump right in! The name “Designer Disguise” how did you come up with it? 

Hey!  It’s always a pleasure.  We’ve had a relationship with GKE for a long time.  

So we came up with the name during the inception of the band and there is this long winded explanation on the inside sleeve of our first cd ‘Hearts and Minds.’  The name is in reference to one’s ability to create (or design) one’s own identity.  We have the power to choose who we are and how we express that.

Another influence of the name may have been that I (Jackson) am non binary and have had to design my disguise in different social situations to fit in.  For example, in male hetero groups I would have a masculine disguise where I would accentuate the masc parts of myself.  I guess in that sense Designer Disguise is sort of a synonym for codeswitching.

In any case, here is a little bit of the blurb from ‘Hearts and Minds.’:

We often hide behind the disguises we create.  Not giving ourselves credit for who we are.  However, once we realize that we have the power to design such an intricate disguise, we [realize we can design] any part of our reality…

Your new song ‘Destroyer’ was also just released with a music video where it’s got a spaceship and space theme, who came up with that concept? 

The entire album is actually a concept album.  It is for sure sci fi and owes a lot of its roots to Star Wars, Raised by Wolves, and Mistborn.  We all love stories in the band, from tv and movies to books.  We had been writing and organizing our demos into themes for a while and Josh then started the Space folder.  With that we soon decided to write a space concept record.  That was 2 ish years ago and a lot of work ago haha.

You guys have really strong and solid Spotify numbers with listeners and streams, for  many people starting bands, getting streams is one of the hardest things to do. Was there a secret tactic you guys had to gain some exposure or was it having good songs and timing? 

We have worked extremely hard to get to where we are now, including multiple years with less than 100 monthly listeners.  I would say the key is persistence, quality, and connection.  Don’t give up because nothing has happened yet, it just takes time for 99% of people.  Always try and up the quality of your releases each time in terms of production, mixing, etc.  Hire people to help if you need help, and be willing to work and save to pay for the service.  And finally, make sure you are connected to your music.  If your heart is truly connected with your music it is going to be a lot easier to connect with fans and to market yourself because you believe in what you are doing.

Also, our spotify numbers didn’t take off until after we released 2 EPs and 2 singles.  The one that actually popped off for us was Chandelier (ft. Alex Pasibe) and we released that video with GKE!  If you look at our spotify graph of streams its essentially 0 for 2 years then after that cover things began to go up.

This is your 2nd release with InVogue Records, how has it been working with that team?

InVogue is awesome!  They really believe in us and have pushed us to work really hard beyond the creation of the music.  We have never been very good at marketing and pushing releases and they have helped us to really keep at it.  It feels really cool to have a team behind you that is keeping you sharp and reminding you what needs to be done on the audience facing side of things.

So the band started more in the traditional metalcore side of things, what caused the addition of trap beats and rap vocals?

I have always been a pop, edm, and trap producer and it took us a while to really hone the fusion of the metalcore elements with my production.  Also, we added Hoosti (Justin White) in 2017 ish and basically mandated to him that he was going to be our second vocalist.  We had heard Hoosti freestyle and do vocal stuff before and we were like ya you gotta do more, you rip.  Stronger was the first release where we added that kind of vibe.  We are also huge Linkin Park fans so ya know, it felt right haha.

Now for some fun questions, Was there a secret guilty pleasure song or band that was an influence writing this new material? Do you personally have any? 

Haha love it!  Well I think Attila is a guilty pleasure (lehl cuz that’s an album by them ;p) for all of us.  Hoosti can scream rap super duper well and is often likened to Fronz in terms of his scream rapping.  Scream rapping was def one of the things that got us to be like “You HOOST you gotta do vocals!” haha 

Your band is pretty crafty with the TikTok/Reels. What is your favorite ‘skit’ or video that you’ve made? 

We have really been goin balls to the wall trying to get creative with TikToks and what not.  I think my favorite one is the one where Hoosti proposes to me because it is really silly.  Or more recently the Star Wars Core one.  We actually just archived our TikTok and are trying to make it more directly album related so we are going to try and make the vibe more low budget sci fi.  We also just started another tiktok exclusively for covers so follow @designer.disguise =]

Since ‘Destroyer’ is sci fi themed, which Star Wars movie is your favorite, and which one can’t you stand? 

YES, we LOVE a Star Wars question here.  So Empire is my favorite.  And I can’t stand The Last Jedi.  I know there are reasons why that movie is subversive and interesting in a canonical sense, but it just feels so bad to watch haha.

Thank you so much for taking the time again, anything you guys want to plug? 

Of course!  Always a pleasure.  Just follow us on Spotify, there is a new single, ‘Lifeline,’ coming next month as well!  Really appreciate y’all, thanks a bunch!

As you can tell, Designer Disguise has a clear vision on who they are as musicians as well as people, and staying true to what they like. Personally, I'm eager to see the concept album unfold and see what they bring next! All the Star Wars and Metal lovers, be ready for this one, and if you aren't on the Designer Disguise bandwagon, now is the time to do it!