DEFOCUS

Q1. For readers for whom this is their introduction to Defocus, would you be so kind as to fill them in on your background—where you’re from, when you formed, etc.?

Hey Guys, we are Defocus and we’re from Stuttgart, Germany. Defocus was formed in 2019 but we are making music together for about almost 10 years. The Band consists of 4 Members: Simon (Vocals), Jeff (Guitars), Jonas (Drums), Bambam (Bass). Fun fact, Simon and I (Jeff) first met while I was working in a music store. -Jeff

Q2. Your second album There Is a Place for Me on Earth just dropped and it is sick! I’d like to talk about that for a bit. What was your mindset going in to album number two?

Thank you! At first we didn’t really know what to do on our next project because everyone had different visions for us as a band. After brainstorming for a while we really wanted to push every aspect of our music to the next level and embrace the diverse creative influences. We thought that it wouldn’t be fair if someone is holding back just because it may be something that doesn’t fit into our sound, so we really tried to commit to all ideas and be open minded. -Jeff

Q3. How did the album take shape in terms of writing it? What was the recording process like?

I mean we already had a lot of demos laying around, “crooked mind” for example was first written after we shot the music video for “diverge” from our first record. We really wanted to try a few things out and be more creative with this record, so we just wrote a lot of songs and then decided which ones have potential for our second album. And after that we just made them as perfect as they can be and made them fit together on the album. Regarding the recording process, we really did everything ourselves from home. It’s funny because during the recording process, we were never together in one room, usually it was just one or maybe two of us. For that we have our own discord where we can send all the files to each other. -Jeff

Q4. For people who haven’t heard it yet, what can they expect?

A very heavy album with very emotional lyrics. -Simon

Yes, it’s very heavy with a few twists and surprises here and there. You can expect fast and aggressive songs, and maybe some electronic and hip hop influences. -Jeff

Q5. Are there any tracks you’d identify as highlights or ones you are particularly proud of?

I would say since we experimented a lot, basically all of them are pretty unique but as we all have our own favorites I’d go with “don't let it hurt me”, “watch me bleed” and “hybrid anthem”. -Simon

It changes all the time for me, but right now I’d say “consumed by you” because I love all the production we did on that song and the riff is so much fun to play. -Jeff

Q6. Do you have any plans to tour in support of the record?

We are currently working on that in the background and right now we're focusing on playing a lot of festivals this spring and summer which we are super excited for. -Simon

Q7. Both of your albums have been released through Arising Empire. How did that relationship form?

We’ve known the guys for a very long time to be honest, long before the label even existed. I think we first met them a few years ago when we were playing a show in Stuttgart. We talked a little and instantly knew that we have the same interests. Since then we met up every time there was a local band playing in our Area. After they founded “arising empire” and saw that they had super cool bands on their label, we knew that we had to become part of that. Since then we worked hard to achieve that and the rest is history I guess. -Jeff

Q8. Who are some current artists we should be paying attention to? Who are some past or present who have influenced or shaped your sound?

Definitely go check out Fromjoy, Moodring and Avralize! It's probably hard to tell which bands really had their influences on the defocus sound but those are definitely bands we are obsessed with right now. -Simon

Q9. Any last messages for readers or anything else on the horizon you want to tell us about?

Thank you all for listening to our new record, we are so thankful for the amazing feedback we received so far and hope to see lots of you people very soon! -Simon