PHOTOGRAPHY BY J.K FROM YWAM MINISTRIES
WEBSITE: www.facebook.com/ThisDyingWorld
COUNTRY: South Africa  l  STYLE: Christian Metal / Hardcore

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MAKING MUSIC AND HOW DID IT ALL BUILD UP TO WHAT WE SEE AS “THIS DYING WORLD” TODAY?

Well as a band we’ve been making music since January 2009, we started in small practices room at a place called Pneumatix, it is an arts and ministry training school, Wimpie finished his theological and music studies with them. From there the band went through quite a long period of getting sorted out with members before hitting the stage and ever since we got on the scene we’ve just started growing and playing shows on a regular basis.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU GUYS TO LABEL YOUR BAND AS A “CHRISTIAN METAL/HARDCORE” BAND INSTEAD OF JUST A METAL/HARDCORE BAND IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

We don’t care much for labels, people can call us whatever they like, but we feel that it is important for people to know where we stand: we are five guys who have committed ourselves to serving God and living for Him in every way possible, including music. We will never force our beliefs on anyone, but we are always open to discussions or questions relating to our faith.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR FAITH INFLUENCE THE MUSIC THE BAND WRITES?

It definitely influences the music in a more positive way in terms of lyrics but otherwise our faith can only make us want to push our music further to progress in our instruments we play and to not go our talents go to “waste” and get better at what we do, whether it is musically or lyrically.

DO YOU GUYS HAVE LIKE THESE ONE OR TWO SUPER SONGWRITERS IN THE BAND THAT COMES UP WITH MOST OF THE SONG IDEAS OR IS THE WRITING PROCESS ALWAYS A GROUP EFFORT?

Christian writes most of the lyrics himself. Otherwise we do sometimes get together for the writing of the music and work on it but there is often a group effort in general. Don or Ryan would come up with a tab, they will then send it to Paul to add a drum track to it, Wimpie then adds the bass line and the tab makes its way to Christian to incorporate the lyrics. When all of us are satisfied with the complete tab, we will start learning our individual parts and begin working on it together when we get together for practice, which normally happens on Saturdays.

ARE YOU GUYS ALWAYS WORKING ON SOMETHING NEW AND HOW MANY SONGS DO YOU CURRENTLY HAVE IN YOUR SET LIST AND WHICH ONES STAND OUT AS YOUR FAVOURITES?

Currently we play 5 songs in our set with some random improvisation lately, we are generally always writing new things, our favourites is most definitely: Revival, The Final Chapter and Judgement with a chance.

WILL THE BAND RELEASE AN EP OR AN ALBUM ANY TIME SOON AND WHERE CAN PEOPLE HAVE A LISTEN TO YOUR SONGS?

We will not be officially releasing any albums/EPs soon, since we are very limited in resources at the moment and still got a lot of writing to do for it. We do have one song which can be listened to and downloaded on our Facebook page, we are also preparing a Myspace.

WHAT DO YOU GUYS HAVE ON ROTATION IN YOUR CD PLAYERS / IPOD’S / MOBILE PHONES OR ANY OTHER MUSIC PLAYING DEVICE AT THE MOMENT?

All inclusive that we all tend to listen would be bands like: A plea for purging, Veil of Maya, Born of Osiris, August Burns Red, The Chariot, The Crimson Armada, As I Lay Dying and Earth From Above.

WHICH LIVE SHOW WOULD YOU PUT AT THE TOP OF YOUR LIST OF BEST SO FAR AND WHY?

We played a gig at Muzone in Brackenfell awhile ago, was quite a nice crowd, we had a pretty decent wall of death going during our set with some random moshing, that was truly a show we will never forget.

HAVE YOU GUYS EVER REGRETTED PLAYING AT A CERTAIN SHOW OR IS EVERY SHOW A BAND PLAYS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REACH A HIGHER LEVEL IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER IN YOUR OPINION?

We do not regret any shows, even though we have had some terrible gigs in the past. We see every gig as an opportunity to grow as band and to have some sort of impact on people’s lives, even if it is just one person.

ALL ONE EVER HEARS IS THAT THE LOCAL SOUTH AFRICAN SCENE IS SO SMALL AND THIS AND THAT, BUT DO YOU FIND THAT GREAT OPPORTUNITIES ARE AROUND IF YOU WORK HARD ENOUGH?

The scene isn’t that big, especially with the hardcore/metal genre but it is most definitely true that if you work hard and have a good relationship with the people that supports you and like what they see at the shows you can go to great heights achieving your goals. Great opportunities can arise regardless of the size of the scene, you just need to keep at it and never give up. “South Africa is ALIVE with POSSIBLITIES” just keep looking for opportunities to grow and you will find it.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR ANYTHING ELSE FANS SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR?

BE sure to come to our next gig if you have not yet seen us. September we are playing a festival in Robertson, so bring your tents and do the road trip. But most insane news thus far is Becoming The Archetype is coming to South Africa, we’re stoked to be sharing the stage with them and we most definitely recommend you come see them whilst they’re here in South Africa!

INTERVIEW BY NEIL VAN ZYL