We had Rebecca sit down with the main man of Draconian Reign, James Hibberd, have a read of that they spoke about below:
They are on tour now and the new EP Tragedy Eternal is out now!
Hey James, thanks for chatting with me today!
Let’s start with how are you, how are things?
I’m good thank you, excited about the tour.
Since we last spoke I feel like everything has just blown up for you guys, can you talk me through what amazing things you’ve been up to?
Everything has been going well. We have just recently joined Kerosene management who also represent Street Soldier, Party Cannon, She Must Burn, and fantastic bands like that. We have also been announced for Tech-Fest, Fall In The Brawl, and Mangata so we have a few festival appearances over the summer. Hopefully, the third time we speak it will be a bit more.
*I feel like the first time we spoke it was like “We are just starting” and the second time “We are doing a bit better” and I feel like the next time you’ll be telling me you are taking over the world*
I feel like it has been quite quick, hasn’t it? Does that feel weird to you?
Yeah, I guess it is because we try hard to do loads of stuff and we always want to do more. I’m never satisfied (musically I assume) so I try to never stop ever!
That’s good though, that means this time next year you’ll be the fourth album in. You guys are already on your second EP right?
Yeah, so we have only really been in the public eye for a year and 3 months. We started with a little social media presence mainly for our friends to begin with but we started the band ages ago and only released stuff at the beginning of 2022. It’s going very well so far.
Talk us through what we can expect from your new EP Tragedy Eternal?
Oh, that’s a good question, so on the first EP we didn’t know what band we wanted to be so we just wrote four songs. We didn’t have a concise vision because it was just something we were doing over lockdown (war flashbacks) to keep us sane, as now we have a much more clear vision of what we want to sound like and what elements we borrow from other bands. To break it down we are on a more concise journey there are a lot more orchestric passages in there and they sort of drive the songs rather than just being layered on top. That’s one of the main things we have thought about, there is an underlying theme of death, love, and all that good stuff.
How many tracks are there for this one?
There are four tracks again for this one, it’s out Friday 5th May.
We didn’t get sent a track listing
Oh right well there’s The Darkness Below, Before The Gates, the video for that one is out on Thursday (Out now), Infernal Requiem which came out in February, and then finally The Funeral which is a complete power ballad. That’s like some sort of Cradle Of Filth sort of ballad. (So you’ve been stealing from Dani Filth) *laughs* yes for as long as I can remember (You’ve read it here first it’s a C.O.F fan-boy band)
Your first tour started this week, are you looking forward to playing the new stuff in some new cities?
Looking forward to it, we have just been getting our online presence ready because we will be on the road when our new video and EP drop this week. We are normally glued to our phones but we can’t do that this time round, so we are just getting all that prepared in advance. It should be really fun and we are excited, it will be good to see the beautiful sites of Rotheram, we also haven’t played London before so that should be good. I’m excited about that one.
Also, you’ve got your EP release show which is also a hometown show this week, how are you feeling about it? How anxious are you?
*laughs* Oh my god yeah it should be good, I am anxious about it mainly because it’s down to us to bring people in normally we are just supporting but have been lucky enough to have people there. It looks like it’s going to be pretty busy. Hopefully, we will see some familiar faces there. Percy’s was where we played our first-ever show so we know the drill now. I’m nervous but it will be good when the first song starts I’ll be fine. It’s just my voice, I always worry that I’ll wake up before a gig and it will give out.
Which song do you think will be the best received when you play them live?
Oh… it’s going to be Before The Gates, our next single. It’s pretty epic, it’s heavy but also has the deathcore moments, the solos, and the death metal riffs.
What was the best part about making the recent EP?
Hmm, was there a good part? *laughs* (was it easier because you knew what you were doing or where you were going for this one?) I guess it’s been easier to have a vision of what we want so that’s been good but it’s been harder because we have tried hard to make it good so it’s been harder to do but easier to picture. I mean I did have fun making it and I have fun with the lads in the room. That’s the main thing.
Which bands or artists would you say have inspired you for these new tracks?
Septic Flesh, The Black Dahlia Murder, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle Of Filth all of those you would sort of guess. Then keep an eye on deathcore bands that don’t sound like us so we can keep an eye on what’s happening and trying to stay current (something we are all doing now in our 30s) We are trying to not replicate what’s now because you’ll have a shelf life if you copy what’s now so that’s why you copy stuff from 10 years ago *laughs* (To be fair though everyone is coming back from 10 years ago we love the nostalgia)
Can you give us an insight into what’s to come for the rest of the year for Draconian Reign?
Hopefully, people will listen to our EP that’s the main thing, and maybe want to book us and then we are doing all the festivals we spoke about. We also have our little tour run this week. We are also playing with Osiah and loads of great deathcore bands in Derby (you can find any of their tour or show dates on their social media) We are waiting to lock a few more things in hopefully so nothing else I can say at the moment.
You get five words to convince people to listen to Tragedy Eternal. What words are you using?
*I lost him for a bit here, We went through a lot of words I don’t think we should settle on “Need to impress my parents”* I’ll go with Fast, Melodic, Dark, Heavy, and Sad.
What advice would you give to up-and-coming screaming vocalists?
I’m not really in a position to give advice yet so I don’t think what I say holds too much weight, for the screaming part, practice a lot but not too much though if your voice is tired then stop, watch youtube videos because there are lots of other vocalists better than me on there and drink warm water. Also don’t vape/smoke or do drugs the day before a show, actually don’t do drugs at all (we all agree on this)
What is your vocal warm-up routine?
I sort of hum, make weird noises, stretch my neck, sing scales, and slowly warm into a scream. I also drink loads of water and hum for hours and don’t talk to anyone.
Last time we spoke I asked for a favourite quote from a tv show or movie, are you sticking with “Pizza Time” from Spiderman?
*laughs* yeah I am still sticking with Toby
Can you tell us your favourite meme of all time?
Oh god I don’t think I can pick one, there’s no such thing because memes are a thing of the time, they are a reflection of pop culture at that moment so by their very nature they are dated a week later. (what’s your meme of today?) I haven’t posted one today. God, I’m under so much pressure I feel like I should have prepared for this bit of the interview instead of the band section because this is what I care about more. I’ll have to get back to you on that.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
I’ve never actually sung karaoke, I think it would be Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” if I did. I am however always belting some sort of tune when drunk though.
I’ve been asking everyone, would you ever swap out the normal mic for a Britney mic?
100% I’d even get the red outfit, you know the one! I wouldn’t know what to do with my other hand though that’s the thing (You could just do the generic screamer hand movements with both hands) Yeah maybe it’s time I get one maybe that’s the next step (it most definitely is)
Any lasting words?
I was going to tell you what I’ve been listening to (Right I’ll allow it, what have you been listening to?) Denzel Curry, Doja Cat, Spectral Wound, City Morgue, nothing really interesting. I thought I would have a better list for you.
*Lasting conversations were about his dinner plans and the big trip to Rotherham and Norwich he said to say “Up The Millers” to any Rotherham readers and “Big up Delia Smith” to any Norwich readers (We don’t know if she’s from there) He did pre-warn me that he will be wearing a Notts County top in Norwich (Whoever cares about football please bully him for this)*
Band Socials: