How do you as a group and individuals keep inspired/motivated in a constantly evolving environment? Can you describe what your creative process looks like?
Damon Tate: We have had the fortune of being able to travel to many different places across the globe, meet so many wonderful people, immerse ourselves in different cultures all while doing what we love. None of this is ever lost on us and this inspires us to keep going with everything this band stands for. It is a privilege, not a right, to do what bands are able to do at any scale. Creatively, our surroundings and experiences shape who we are and how our art comes to exist. For Omen specifically, we all went back to basics. Got into a room with our instruments, no preconceived ideas… just working off one another and accenting the strongest parts of everyone’s background.
Tyler Ennis: It’s important to not compare yourselves as the industry is ever changing. Our creative process has a few different looks. Before we started writing Omen, it was just us writing the music beforehand and taking those demos into the studio and we only worked with our producer Josh Schroeder. Damon would write songs and ideas (occasionally he had a full song idea already) and then he sent them to me and I wrote lyrics, melodies and would send back and forth until we liked where the song was headed. What Defines You holds a special place in my heart, but when we started writing Omen we worked with 4 different producers and wrote songs with other people. I think it shows you how much better songwriting can be when you collab on it together!
Omen feels like it includes some of the latest trends in metalcore, making [the genre] as popular as it’s ever been. How do you like this sound for Of Virtue, and how do you see it evolving for you/the scene?
DT: Our sound does have some modern influences as well as a wide variety of things we haven’t tried in the past! The break during COVID allowed us to really hone the strengths of each of us individually. By looking to the past in some ways (songs that we love growing up, get that goosebump feeling anytime we hear them) that shaped what we want people to hear from our band. All of us are unique and we feel our sound is indicative of those qualities now/moving forward.
TE: Experimenting has always been something we wanted to incorporate into our music but we didn’t know how. After WDY, we all talked and brainstormed in where we wanted to see the direction of our band go and everything that we came up with, we put it in this last album in some way, shape or form! The path that we’d like to keep going on is exciting because we don’t want to be tied down to the genre. We will always be a heavy band and have heavier style songs but for us, we want to explore and try different things and have a batch of songs for all sorts of different people.
Is there any song or songs on Omen that stand out to you just a little more than others or that you hope your fans really latch on to?
DT: One of my personal favorites to listen to/play live is “Cold Blooded.” The idea of this song came about because of an old love for wrestling and quite simply, us wanting to make our own entrance theme! Most musicians I know have always daydreamed about pyro, big festivals, sing alongs and just having those once-in-a-life moments and this song is starting to do that for us in spades.
TE: Personally “Holy” will always mean a lot to me because we wrote it about holding ourselves accountable and being honest with ourselves about why a relationship didn’t work out. Someone else saw the best in you, was there for you through everything good and/or bad but you got caught up in your head and let your insecurities get the best of you. I went through a break up and I felt guilty for moving on and felt like I didn’t deserve to be happy, but writing this song was very therapeutic because I got to go through my feelings again and tell myself that everything will be alright. Writing this was an apology not only to my past relationship, but also to myself for being too harsh and punishing myself for doing what was best for both us. I hope others can latch onto it and connect with it in a similar way to help them cope with whatever they’re feeling or going through.
I’m sure touring, performing and the pressure to create art that is fresh and new can be stressful. What are some of your favorite ways to destress?
DT: A variety of things! When we’re home or on the road, going to the gym/bike riding/fitness are ways for me to let out some extra steam and also get myself into the creative mindset for other things. We all love sports so going to a sporting event, hanging out with friends and just connecting with our loved ones is very important to keeping ourselves level and grounded.
TE: Running, working out, playing video games and most of all, silence. I am very weird In the sense that I like to drive in silence. Sometimes I just drive and don’t have any music playing. If we’re on tour, when it’s my turn to drive I just like to focus on driving because we just listened to music all night and it’s a nice break from all the noise!
At the time of this interview, we’ve just come out of a typical midwestern winter. With that can come seasonal depression, among other things. I know you are all very big mental health advocates, can you share any advice on how you all keep above water?
DT: Do our best to check in on one another/communicate how we are feeling more than usual. It’s easy to shut down and hide when things are not going the way you think. Some of the exercises that we work on are reaching out to others when we are not feeling our Sundays best. Some other basics – drink water, eat (mostly) healthy, exercise or get outside if you can. Movement does wonders for the mood and sometimes, we just have to move for the sake of motion. You may not realize how far you can go until you just put one foot in front of the other.
TE: I try not to be too hard on myself. I always gain a lot of weight during winter because the seasonal depression hits very hard, so what I try my best to do is to workout whenever I can even though it’s usually one of the busier seasons for me. I also like to make sure I’m talking about my feelings. Therapy is huge and I think everyone should go! Even if you don’t think you need it, it helps in so many ways that you couldn’t have ever imagined. I have been off of it for a while but will be getting back into it soon and I highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you deal with seasonal depression. It has helped me and many many others! The last thing that I want to say is that you’re not alone in the battles that you’re facing or the demons that you’re fighting. We in Of Virtue are here for you and if anyone ever needs to talk to someone, you can message us! We are big mental health advocates because we are human just like everyone else and we knowhow it feels to be alone or feel like everything around you is crashing down firsthand.
Sobriety is a very important subject for the band, as it is for me and a lot of others in the music industry. Would you like to share any advice for those who could be battling it themselves?
DT: My main piece of advice is to not think so “big picture” in the beginning. Set a series of small goals and hold yourself accountable for accomplishing them. A lot of the time, we can miss/want to skip steps on our own roads to recovery. Saying a big number becomes more popular than addressing the real issue of why you are in that situation. Be honest with yourself and everything else will fall into its rightful place.
TE: Currently, I am not sober but I have spouts where I practice sobriety to ground myself and remind myself of my priorities. I used to drink a lot on tour and at home, but after I took a few months off drinking to get my head clear, I saw how important sobriety is. Being around someone and in a band with someone that has been sober for, gosh, I think 15/16 years at this point, you really see the benefits and struggle they deal with everyday. It is not easy, and having a hard day or going through something (I went through a bad breakup) and instead of letting drinking help me cope with that, I stopped drinking and got my head straight and it was the best thing I ever did for myself. I don’t drink a lot on tour anymore and I barely drink at home unless it’s a special occasion, and it’s allowed me to enjoy having a drink instead of drinking just to cope or not feel anything. Having a support system is important and letting those closest to you know that you aren’t drinking helps those triggers and lets them know to not ask you for a drink or put you in that environment!
Tyler, I hear you’re a big video game nerd. What are some of your favorites to play on and off the road? Are there any you’re excited for to be released this year?
TE: I love Rocket League and Apex! Those are my two main games but I do like single player games like The Last Of Us (1&2), Spiderman, Red Dead Redemption, Hogwarts Legacy, Pokemon, Mario, etc. I have a wide range of games I love playing but I usually stick with RL and Apex as it’s the way to “hang out” with friends since a lot of my friends live out of state. I haven’t had a lot of time to see what’s coming out this year but I’m sure once I get some downtime there will definitely be some games I will pick up!
DT: I’m not a big gamer, but if you want to mess around with DDR or some kind of old school video game (Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, etc.) then we can potentially work something out!
This is my favorite question to end interviews with, because usually no one expects it. I work in Film/TV music and am a big film score lover. Do you have a favorite film/television composer? If so, do you find any inspiration in what they create for Of Virtue’s evolution?
DT: Hans Zimmer is always a great choice! Atticus Ross over the years has been incredible, and as of late Ludwig Goransson is a personal favorite. Our friend Randy Slaugh, who worked on Omen as well, is amazingly talented with everything he touches so he has to get a shout out from us! We’ve always wanted to make our music larger than life and because of some of the works of these people, we can unlock a new element and side of our sound that we didn’t know was possible.
TE: I work at a movie theater back at home, so I love this question! I’ve seen a lot of movies and heard many scores but I would have to say Hans Zimmer, hands down. We definitely talked about bringing a more cinematic feel into our music on the production side because we love the way that it’s composed and I think we’ve done a good job of that. Having a huge composition to compliment the film is a big reason why I love movies/TV and respect anyone that can create a sound or composition that makes a scene even bigger. I absolutely would love to continue exploring more cinematic sounds/ideas into our songwriting, because I really feel like we could create even more impactful music when we have songs that speak to you instrumentally without the vocals or lyrics!
