“Predator” is a successful heavy metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We had the privilege to interview the founder and Guitarist Damien, a friendly guy with lot of talents and a philosopher as well. He also own his own recording label and the founder of Damien Guitars.
Greetings from Metalheads Forever Magazine, how are you guys doing?
Damien Lee Thorr: Doing well. Thank you.
Predator the Heavy metal band from Florida, USA, might be new to many of our readers, would you please introduce yourselves for us?
DLT: Predator is me on guitar, Keltic Hammer on guitar, Mike Heremana on Bass and Darrin McNair on drums. We are currently holding auditions for a lead singer.
You have released two full length albums “Predator” your debut in 2009 and “Born in Blood” In 2011, how successful has these albums been?
DLT: We have worldwide distribution through MVD. Sales have been ok. It’s just a matter of time before the band catches on. We are on I-tunes, Amazon and just about every E-store out there as well as record stores around the world. The industry isn’t what it used to be.
You signed your debut album with Arctic Music group and later you founded your own label “God of Thunder”, what made you take this decision of having an Independent Label?
DLT: Independence and freedom. When you are on a label, they own you and your music and you get a small cut. With our own label we get the big cut and the distribution company gets a commission for each sale. Many bands have done this, start up their own label and just have a good distributor. Fine examples of that are the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. I have signed other bands to the label as well.
Since you are on an Independent label, what are the plans to promote your band, do you face any obstacles in this?
DLT: As I said, the industry has changed with the access of internet use and file sharing. Young fans never take into consideration the hardships musicians go through and all they care about is getting free music and never think about the band getting screwed. If this was the 80’s Predator would be mega rich by now. We do all we can from online networking and we also have a good strong publicity team. It’s just a matter of time before Predator catches on. Everyone who is exposed to Predator loves the band.
Predator sounds more of Power Metal, do you call yourselves a Power Metal band or you fall under Heavy Metal?
DLT: I never understood all the sub genres that have been coming out. I always thought we were just metal but some people call us power metal and some call us a thrash band. I am just glad they are calling us something!
Is Predator a theme based band, Are your songs based on something common?
DLT: Our songs reflect a socio-political view and criticize organized religion. We are quite active in the atheist circles and involved with political activism. Our songs are about freedom from mythology (what many call religion) and making changes in the world where theist politicians do not sneak their beliefs into our laws and schools.
As an example, many politicians want prayer back in schools as well as the teaching of creationism as a science. That is quite ridiculous since creationism is not a science, but a religious misrepresentation of nature, based on flawed scriptures, and there are no scientific studies, research nor observations to support it. Their claim is that it should be taught alongside evolution (scientific fact) and to let students decide what to believe. To even suggest that is crazy. That’s like teaching about human reproduction from a medical point of view, which is correct, and also teaching about the stork bringing home a baby and to let the student decide where babies come from.
If they are allowed to sneak their mythology unchallenged, we will all be forced to live in a fascist theocracy and there is no way I will ever accept that. Which is why I urge everyone to vote, to let your voice be heard, to stand up and be counted.
I really don’t care if they want to believe that an imaginary deity made man from dirt or if they reject evolution. But I do have a problem when they start bringing all that nonsense into our laws and schools and they should pay taxes. The fact that they mislead people with false hopes on our dime is ridiculous!
Do you have any plans of another album soon, if so how soon you are planning for it?
DLT: I wrote our third album, Castles in the Sky, a while ago but we’ve had several problems in the band with the lineup so it has been delayed. We also want to showcase the old songs with our new lineup (because we sound so much better now) so we thought a live album before the third studio album might be a good idea. Either way, we have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us. We will start cracking as soon as we have a new lead singer.
Tell us about your touring experience in US and outside, how was the fan reaction towards Predator?
DLT: Everyone who has seen Predator loves the band. We have very devoted fans from South America all the way out to Russia and everywhere in between. I think Predator fans are the greatest people on the planet!
Are you a full-time band or do you guys work in other fields for a living?
DLT: We are not yet that successful so we all do different things. I, for one, am a full time music teacher at a private school and I own Damien Guitars, where I build custom guitars for people.
How successful do you feel about the band? Are you known well in Fort Lauderdale, your home city?
DLT: I think the scene is pretty dead in Florida and the few places to play are shit holes who rip off bands, they never want to pay anyone. We opened for Iced Earth and sold a great number of tickets in our name and that club fucked us over and refused to pay us.
What is the future of the band, what are your plans?
DLT: The plan is to move on ahead. It has been quite difficult and no one helps us. We are hard working guys and we will not let anything stop us and we will not let our fans down.
Thanks very much for your time, a Pleasure talking to you, do you have a message for the fans and readers around the World?
DLT: Thank you for your time and for your support. This means a lot to us. Thank you!
Website : www.predatortheband.com
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/damienguitars
Keith Clements / Metalheads Forever Magazine
