I had told you last month about a great new Metal band, Righteous Vendetta. I love Metal with clean vocals and a lot of kick ass double bass. My prayers were answered as I discovered Righteous Vendetta! These guys completely deliver everything you want in Metal and more! Check them out here on their latest video for their new single The Fire Inside:
What did you think of that double bass? Kick ass right??? Ya, I thought so! and those vocals, HOLY SHIT! We need more clean metal vocals like that. They just finished putting together their full length album which is set to release this fall. Even those these guys are relatively young, they are delivering music wiser than their years and know what we want! Their song “This Pain” spent 15 weeks on the Billboard charts.
Well, we had a chance to catch up with Justin Olmstead, guitarist and we are pleased to bring you that interview:
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Music Junkie Press: Thank you for taking the time out to talk with us here at Music Junkie Press. We are excited to hear that you are working on your album, how is that going and do you have any update as to release?
Justin Olmstead: Thank you so much for having us! The album is coming together VERY well. The tracking is completely done for the new record and we are preparing for a September/October release. It will contain full re-recordings of our latest EP “Vol. 1” plus four brand new songs, and possibly a few bonus tracks. We are very excited with how the new material is turning out and we can’t wait to share it with everyone!
Music Junkie Press: We are just as excited and can’t wait for it! How did you guys all form Righteous Vendetta?
Justin Olmstead: Ryan and I formed the band at a small community college in Powell, WY with a few friends and our piano professor actually. We started playing locally and regionally just to have some fun, but after our first national tour that next summer we realized that we all wanted to pursue music as a career.
Music Junkie Press: You definitely have a great blend of rock and metal, what are some of the most influential artists for you?
Justin Olmstead: Thank you! That is our goal, to mesh the best of both worlds! We started off as a metalcore band, so the influences that stuck with us from the earlier days are Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, For Today, August Burns Red, All That Remains, etc. A few of our influences that are more apparent in our latest work are Alter Bridge, Norma Jean, Papa Roach, Spoken, Disturbed, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Skillet. We try to find elements of artists that made us enjoy listening to them, and take that a step further. There is a reason why certain bands and artists are successful and have mass appeal, and their fans want to hear the things they already love, just evolved.
Music Junkie Press: Your song “This Pain” is KICK ASS! Can you tell us the story behind the song?
Justin Olmstead: Well shucks! There is actually an interesting story behind how the song came about. We finished our 2011 release “Lawless” and started thinking what we were going to do next. After some ideas were tossed around, we decided to try something that would really challenge our songwriting skills and push us to our creative limits. So we took the intensity and high-energy of our older metalcore sound and tried to take it in a more appealing direction. So we went to our producer Joel Wanasek (JTW Studios) in Huburtous, WI, and we told him we wanted to give a test run at writing a hit anthem. We came in with the song, and he guided us along in polishing it up and giving us some pointers for active rock writing and radio formats as it was next to foreign for us. The result was better than we could have imagined. We loved the sound, we loved writing it, we loved playing it, and it ended up spending 15 weeks on the Christian Rock Billboard Charts. Needless to say, that settled it for what direction we were going to take. So that song was actually foundation of what became our new sound.
Music Junkie Press: That is incredible how that song evolved, truly a work of art that you all put together! I understand that you had completed an extensive tour with Hurt and we enjoy watching your Vlogs/studio updates, what might have been the craziest thing that happened on tour?
Justin Olmstead: That tour was absolutely amazing. It was a little over 2 months, and the first month was with Smile Empty Soul. It was truly a blessing touring with such professional acts, and we learned a lot from them. There were some crazy things that happened to Hurt, but I’ll keep those stories confined to the road. The most fun thing for us had to be our final-show prank on them. Rek (bass player) burns a single stick of incense every night. Not the cheap crap, the good stuff. Yoga quality. Well we went and found a 40 pack of Clean Linen scented incense at Walmart. If you’ve ever smelled any incense from Walmart burning, you’ll know exactly the intensity of this prank. We taped up about 20 incense at various points around the back of the stage and lit all of them at the same time. The room was instantly filled with a THICK fog of absolute stench. Pwnd.
Music Junkie Press: OH, I can only imagine what that would have smelled like! I would be running for the doors! How old were you when you started playing music ?
Justin Olmstead: I was 14 when I first seriously started focusing on guitar. Ryan actually started out on drums at about 17, then moved to vocals at 18. Carl started when he was 16, two years before he joined the band. Isaiah was the only one raised in music and his Dad was training him around 3 or 4.
Music Junkie Press: Can you remember what is the first song you learned how to play in its entirety?
Justin Olmstead: The first song I learned in its entirety was You Shook Me All Night Long by ACDC. I have always been an ACDC fanatic, and by the time I was 17, I had learned at least one riff from every song I had from them. Angus Young is the man.
Music Junkie Press: That is a KICK ASS first song to learn! If you could put together your dream lineup for a tour, what three bands (living or dead, broken up, etc) would you put on the bill with you?
Justin Olmstead: This answer is a serious answer. Nickelback, Led Zeppelin w/ Bonham, and ACDC.
Music Junkie Press: That would be a hell of a lineup! If Righteous Vendetta was to be a comic book and you were all superheroes, what would you be called and what would your super powers be?
Justin Olmstead: Ryan already is a superhero. His name is Fecus and he has the most insane butt noises in the entire world. Carl would be Narcolepsy, and he can outsleep any challengers. I think I would just be called Superdad, because it literally takes super powers to keep these idiots quiet in hotel rooms and host homes. Lastly, Isaiah would be Los Loco. And his super power is being Hispanic.
Music Junkie Press: I think that could be quite a fun and interesting comic book!! If you could take any song from another genre (pop,country, etc) and remake it into your own style, what would it be?
Justin Olmstead: St. Elmo’s Fire by John Parr. Best chorus of all time.
Music Junkie Press: I loved that song! I just might have to find my old soundtrack and play that one tonight. That would be great to totally make it into your own style. If we could peak into your iPod/mp3 player what artist or song, might we be most surprised at seeing?
Justin Olmstead: A fan of our music would be completely disappointed stealing my iPod. It is completely filled with country music. I like listening to just about everything, but the only music I own is country music. The most surprising would probably be the entire Brad Paisley discography. He’s my guitar idol, and I have every song he’s ever released.
Music Junkie Press: Country music has such passion in it though and I too am a Brad Paisley fan…. Lastly, we will share all your social media links. Is there anything you would like to share with our audience?
Justin Olmstead: Thank you for having us and letting us share our updates! Thank you to everyone who is supporting us and has or will be checking us out online or coming out to a show! Check our tour dates with 10 Years, and be on the lookout for our record dropping in September/October!
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This band is definitely one you want to catch when they come to your town! I am excited for the new album as well and will keep you updated when we get a confirmed release date so we can all be cranking up some Righteous Vendetta! Make sure to check out all their social media sites so you can stay up to date!
~ Enjoy and raise those horns, Marisol
Upcoming Tour Dates:
Information & Links:
- Website: www.righteousvendetta.com/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/righteousvendetta
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/rvmusiconline
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/righteousvendetta
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/righteousvendetta
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