By Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal
Diamond Plate is a Chicago-based thrash band that started out in 2004, and through their “Mountains Of Madness” and “Relativity” EP releases in 2008 and 2009 respectively, as well as their ferocious live performances, they showed great promise. In the last couple of years, they have delivered on that promise, releasing their debut full-length album “Generation Why?” in 2011, and touring non-stop ever since. They capped off their touring cycle with Overkill’s “Electric Age” tour, impressing one and all as they opened up the shows every night. On May 15th 2012, just after the tour had ended, I spoke to guitarist Mario Cianci to discuss this Overkill tour, future plans, guitar lessons and other topics. Read the conversation below, and order the band’s debut full-length or check them out on facebook and twitter by using the links posted at the bottom.
You just finished touring with Overkill all across the US. What was that experience like?
The Overkill tour was great, man. We just finished it on Saturday, in New York, and it was just a really good experience. It was our best tour so far, and we couldn’t have asked for anything better.
I think that final show in New York also had D.R.I. on the bill. That must have made the show even better, right?
Oh yeah, definitely. It was just so packed. I don’t think it was sold out, but it was definitely a packed show and D.R.I. really drew a people. It was great show overall.
I’ve been talking to people who’ve gone to these Overkill shows, and I’ve heard nothing but great things about your set. In general, people who did not know about you ended up enjoying your set. In that sense, you would call the tour a success.
I would say so. We did what we could at the moment. We tried our best. We went out there on stage every night and just gave it a 100 per cent, you know. It was the most we could physically do, and I think we did well.
Right, but of course your vocalist had to leave this tour towards the end because of personal reasons. How did you cope with that for the shows that you had to play after he left?
Well, when we were discussing about what was going to happen when we found out that our singer Jon had to leave, it was a really tough spot we were all in. It was a hard time for us. Those few days we were figuring out what to do, but in the end the choice we made was for the best. Our tour manager Dan Valente actually filled in for Jon. He played bass and did vocals too, which was great, you know. But it was weird to be on stage and not have Jon with us, but it is what it is. I think Dan did a great job. He learnt all the songs in a day, so he did a good job I think (laughs).
You guys have been on tour pretty much non-stop since last year. You toured with Kittie and straight after that you did the Warbringer tour. During these tours, did you try to change up your set list or have you been kind of used to the same songs?
Yeah we usually we try to change up the set lists as much as we can, but we don’t really have much to pick at the moment since we’re on the first album. We’re pretty much limited to play all the stuff from the first album, so we play what we feel are the strongest songs in general. Usually, if it’s a crowd that we know is going to be a certain way, we play a song that we know would go well with that crowd. So we do stuff like that every so often.
Yeah, that’s what I was also going to ask you about. You said that you can pick only from one album. The album has been out for almost a year now. Are you tired of playing those songs yet?
Yeah, it’s going to be a year this August. See, the thing about these songs in particular is not that we’re bored of them, I mean, personally I listen to them in a new way now, specially after this tour. Since we’re playing big, nicer venues, we get to hear the songs more. A good sound system makes a big difference also, you know. It’s a really big difference from playing in a small club and playing the same song in a venue with a thousand people in it. It’s the same song, but it sounds different and feels different. So yeah, every so often you get bored of it but we’re not to the point where we’re super-bored of them. We still happy to keep playing them.
It’s interesting that you said that it’s nice for you to be able to hear what you’re playing on stage. When you don’t hear it, what difference does that make to you as a musician? Do you still play the same way, or does anything change?
Yeah, that’s a really big difference. I mean, a lot of times you’ll have shows where your monitor is on stage which is what you hear the whole band with. When you’re on stage, you automatically hear the stage volume of the guitar amp, the drums, the other guitar amp and the bass. In my opinion, monitors are really important, specially for vocalists. All they need to hear is their own vocals. But even as a guitar player myself, I like to hear the other guitar, as well as my guitar in front of me and behind me. You just feel it more. It’s weird, and it’s not just playing as a rehearsal. It feels more like a show with all the monitors and all the sound system and everything.
Yeah exactly, man. Another show that you played on this tour was the New England Metal & Hardcore Fest. That’s such an insane festival. Was that one of the biggest shows you’ve ever been part of?
It was a really cool experience. It was the first festival I’ve done in the US I would say, that was of that scale. There were a lot of bands, and it was cool man. We played really early in the day so there weren’t many people for us, but the few people that were there seemed to like it. It was a good time.
I also read that you were giving some guitar lessons on this tour. How did that go for you?
Yeah, I do guitar lessons on tour just as a way to make any extra cash that I can. I like teaching, so it’s always fun to have somebody in front of me with a guitar. I enjoy teaching, that’s the whole thing for me.
That’s cool, man. Do you teach through Skype or in-person?
I teach both ways. I have people email me or message me through facebook or whatever it is, telling me what show they’re going to attend, and we meet up before the show, sit down and have a good time. That’s the whole thing with me. Yeah I do understand that I’m young, but I try to do as much as I can for the time being. I know I’m as smart as I could be, honestly. I have my limitations. But I just try to do the best I can.
It seems that things are going in the right direction for Diamond Plate. I saw that you guys were given signature guitar picks for this tour. Have you started feeling like a rockstar yet?
No, not at all (laughs). It’s funny though. The signature guitar picks is just .. nothing crazy or anything. It’s just us being little kids, that’s all it is. But it is cool to have my signature on a guitar pick.
Yeah, I like that. It makes you legit. Anyway, this tour is done. What else do you guys have on your list in terms of touring and stuff?
Right now, since the whole thing with our singer happened, we’re going to take a break for a month maybe, and let everything settle down. For now, we don’t really have anything confirmed yet, unfortunately. We have some dates in the works for later this year and hopefully we go back to Europe in the summer which would be great. So nothing confirmed as now, but we’re not going to be laying down, sitting on a couch and doing nothing. We’re constantly doing stuff. We’re going to be writing a lot too, which is good.
Did you get a chance to write any new material while you were on this touring run after the album came out?
Oh yeah, on this tour in particular. The way we work is, we don’t really write a whole song on the road. We just kind of have ideas on the road and then we bring them together once we’re rehearsing. But after we released the first album, it was funny because the day we received the actual CDs in the mail, the day after we went into a friend’s studio to record five brand new songs for demos and stuff. So, we’re constantly writing.
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Related: LA gig review
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