Interview with DRIVEN UNDER

The Band: Driven Under

Country: Switzerland

https://www.facebook.com/Driven.Under.Official/

http://www.drivenunder.ch/

Interview by Vpower

Driven Under is a Swiss band active since 2009 and with a Heavy/Thrash approach, basically, altough they touch other styles as well. They are young and willing to do many more things. For now they have released and Ep, “Hands in Chains”. But be careful, these guys have opened for the american Doom legend Pentagram, that means something. This is the conversation I had with them

Hello guys, the band was created in 2009 but until last you didn’t release an Ep. Tell us  a little about the formation of the band and its path so far

Due to internal changes it wasn't possible to release an EP earlier. At the beginning, Mario Paun (bass), Bojan Vidak (guitar) and Dario Pontis (drums) started by mainly playing covers of songs by Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Iced Earth, etc. Later another guitarist (Steven Hohl) and a singer (Nicholas Kunz) joined the group until Patric Bouffé grabbed the microphone in 2010 and Fabian Koch the drumsticks in 2011. The last change was at the ending of 2014, when Dani Gebert (bass) joined the band. In the same year we also released our EP Hands in Chains and we supported the Doommetal-legend Pentagram (USA).

I think there has been some changes in the lineup recently, I hope they were for the best…

Of course, every new change throws the band back several months because the new members have to be integrated in the band. This isn't optimal but after each change we gain new inspirations and ideas. Eventually the changes helped us to improve our standards.

How would you define your style?

We are influenced by giants, such as Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica and we are topped off with Iron Maiden like vocals. Our music is a mix of trash and heavy metal with a pinch of NWoBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal). Nevertheless we are a heavy-thrash metal band.

 

From your Ep “Hand in chains” I like very much songs as Firstaid Trash or Alright where your music is more sharp and aggressive. What are your favorite compositions?

It's not just one song. For me as a drummer it's the simple but kick-ass style of True Life or the fast and difficult parts of See You in Hell and Unborn (not on the EP, because it's still a new song).

What are your main influences in Metal?

All of our band members are influenced by many diffrent metal bands. This is what makes us diverse.

How do you see the Metal scene in Switzerland?

It's hard to make it as a metal band in Switzerland. The main reason therefore is that there are many small newcomer bands but the audience isn't big enough. Switzerland hasn't that many inhabitants and metal is not the most common music style.

What are your market goals? In other words, you plan to stay in your country or you have eyes on a broader picture?

For a swiss band to become successfull it is important to be recognized internationally. Therefore we want to broaden our presence in Europe and even further if possible.

In Switzerland you are very lucky because most of the people can speak several languagues very fluently. In terms of music that would mean you could sing in German, for instance, English or French if that could help you to get to a bigger audience in their respective countries...

It's not only an advantage but also has it's downfalls. There are many diffrent languages but not everyone in the country understands them equally well. For an instance a song written in Swissgerman wouldn't be understood in Tessin because they mostly speak Italian. Therefore most metal bands use English in order to achieve a bigger audience.

 

Interesting. Switzerland is a small country but has given big names to the Metal world. Among them one of my favorite bands, Coroner. Also I remember now Krokus, Crystall Ball, etc . have you ever been in touch with any of those big guys?

We haven't had the chance to work with one of those big guys yet. Our EP was mixed and mastered by the singer of GurD but thats the only connection we had until now.

What are your plans for the future?

The next few points are show, openairs and maybe a new album.

Well enough work ahead, for sure. Thank you guys, if you wanna add something…

We want to thank you for this interview and also thank our fans for their incredible support.