There’s a big buzz going around San Diego about progressive metal band Despite the Wolves. Although the band has been together since late 2006, they’ve taken their time in developing not only their unique sound but their fan base as well by playing a slew of shows around the county. Their music is not for those who enjoy easy listening by any means. Theirs is a sound chock full of angst, frustration, anger and soul searching, and it comes out loud. But for every loud and heart-wrenching scream, a beautiful melodic voice escapes and the combination of screaming and singing flows extremely well.
This is the tone that fans of Despite the Wolves have come to love. I got the chance to briefly catch up with front man/guitarist Nolan Davis and the band has some interesting things on the horizon. “We’re really excited right now because we’re getting ready to set a date for the release party for our debut CD called “Throwing Knives at Mirrors,” Davis said. “Once we get that done, we’re planning on putting together a West Coast tour and then possibly an East Coast one as well. We just need to find out what bands we want to take with us.”
Despite the Wolves began recording “Throwing Knives at Mirrors” in January and recently wrapped up the all mastering of their self-produced debut. The band is currently an unsigned talent in North County but for how long remains unseen. “It’s been really fun doing it on our own,” Davis said. “We had to travel to Fallbrook every week to lay down new tracks and that was a lot of work. But it’s really rewarding to put everything like we did into making this record and now that it’s finally done and ready to be released, we couldn’t be more excited about it.”
The band recently added a new member to the lineup, guitarist Ryan Fawley. Up until the addition of Fawley, the band had been writing and performing as an extremely powerful three-piece. Original members Davis (vocals/guitar) and Sebastian Wynn (drums) began writing songs years ago before finally coming together with current bassist Marco Savioa in late 2003 to form the band.
All of the boys are locals from Carlsbad and Oceanside and are all four very good friends. “We all come from similar backgrounds and are all into the same stuff like movies and music, so that really helps,” Davis said. “We had been auditioning guitarists for the last seven months and we’ve known Ryan for a long time so when we decided to have him try out, it was just perfect.”
The band has been making it’s way into many conversations around the county, which is how I came upon them. It’s this kind of word-of-mouth that gives the band the ability to add new and loyal fans every day, increasing their turnout at shows and their popularity in the local scene. They’ve opened for bands like Veins of Jenna and metal act Into Eternity, and have performed at infamous locations like The Knitting Factory in Hollywood, Brick by Brick, Club Vodka, and of course, The Jumping Turtle in San Marcos.
Although the date for their new release hasn’t been set, you can keep informed on all of the band’s goings-on at www.myspace.com/despitethewolves. They have a couple of shows coming up, one in Corona on Oct. 11 and another at the Jumping Turtle Oct. 25 with Canadian prog metal band Into Eternity. Once they set the date of the release, the band will post the information on the release party and where to get the CD.
In the meantime, the band is just focusing on turning out more killer shows and the release of their debut. What does the future hold for Despite the Wolves? “We want to make this our job,” Davis said. “We’re living our dreams just being able to play shows every night and that’s what we love doing. We’ll keep doing it as long as we can too.”
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