Getting to Know… Divinex | Interview 🎤

In the 351^st Q&A in our Getting to Know… series, we get the inside scoop from Rochester, NY instrumental progressive metal band, Divinex.

“We’re an instrumental progressive metal band. There’s no vocalist so our job is to keep the music exciting and interesting using only our instruments..” That’s awesome, 🎙 Divinex! In response to our first burning question, the band expounds, asserting, “Our music is in your face and exciting, but also rewards listeners that spin whole records front-to-back.” Like our many other Getting to Know Q&As, we get the inside scoop on the instrumental progressive metal band based in Rochester, NY: the genesis, goals, musical influences, and of course, current, and future musical endeavors. So, without further ado, let’s jump right into 🎤 Getting to Know… Divinex: Interview No. 351!

For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes Divinex distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

**Salesman voice** HEY! Do you like riffs? Soaring guitar solos, fast riffs and experimentation with uncommon time signatures and rhythms? Tired of diva vocalists? Well, Divinex is for you! haha

We’re an instrumental progressive metal band. There’s no vocalist so our job is to keep the music exciting and interesting using only our instruments. Our songs are exciting in their own right, but we’ve also always had a focus on creating long rich experiences over the course of a record. Our music is in your face and exciting, but also rewards listeners that spin whole records front-to-back. If you’re the type of listener that loves listening to albums all the way through and appreciates memorable moments and great riffs, I think you’ll find yourself right at home listening to our tunes.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Divinex form and what were some of the goals or visions you had early on?

Haha, I don’t know how juicy ours is, but things essentially grew from a group of band geeks that started making rock music together. There were various iterations of rock and metal bands with singers until we eventually found our stride making instrumental music that played into our strengths and what we enjoyed most about music.

At one point we realized that we were different from a lot of other local bands in that we would geek out on music that explored uncommon time signatures, melodic patterns that were new and unique, and technical riffs, so we decided to make music that leveraged that. It was something that came naturally to us and something we could do that was different from what every other rock band was doing, so we tried it out and here we are now, way down that road.

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

Yeah things definitely changed since we started out. At the beginning there was a lot of hustle and frankly misplaced energy trying to “make it” and turn music into a full-time career, along with of course just making the coolest music we could and make a name for ourselves. Over the years though those goals have kind of changed to just focus on that later part. I think we’ve all found there are other more lucrative and less stressful ways of making a living, so now the band is just a creative outlet and passion project with no rules.

It’s not everything and we won’t go hungry or homeless if it suddenly disappears, and all the pressure on making money from it is gone. No pressure to roll out a merch campaign or hit the road again for a tour when the finances start to need funds. No pressure to make songs that are more marketable, and no need to sell your house when a pandemic suddenly makes concert opportunities dry up, haha. We just make awesome music that is entirely motivated by creativity and continuing the relationship we have with our fans. Our goal is just to get our music into as many ears as possible and to reach the people that enjoy it =).

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Whom would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

Oh man, where to begin! Protest the hero, Unearth, Underoath, BTBAM were all influences starting out. Bands like Animals as Leaders, Intervals, Scale the Summit, and Polyphia of course for showing what’s possible as an instrumental act. Experimental solo guitar like Plini and David Maxim Micic, Jakub Zyteki. Born of Osiris, Periphery, Vola, Meshuggah I think in general, the overall sound is kind of trying to capture the sort of epic long-form experience of a BTBAM or Dream Theater record, but instrumental and less chaotic, with catchier and more metalcore inspired riffs and occasional electronic elements fleshing things out.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

Haha, oh man. There have been so many funny little moments. Realizing our guitar cabs didn’t make it into the trailer 30 mins before we were supposed to open for Angel Vivaldi (and planning to ask him if he would do the guest solo he ended up recording for 🎵 “Collide” later), a speaker falling on our old guitarist, Jon, one year at Finger Lakes Metal Fest, and a light tree falling on him at that same festival the next year, telling Lucas Magyar from Veil of Maya he couldn’t have a free CD when he asked, before we knew who he was (oops!). Having to spend a night in a dark hallway of a practice space building in Ohio, haha

But the one that takes the cake is probably Revolution Music Fest back in probably 2016 or 2017. We stopped for directions when we lost GPS signal probably 10 miles from the venue, and the guy we asked kindly let us know our trailer was open, and then we realized all of our merch and one of our cabs had flown out somewhere on the way. Then when we get to the gig we were setting up to play our set and one of our Axe-Fxs went missing as soon as it was unloaded by the stage. We couldn’t really play without it, but after the MC announced we needed it to play, it mysteriously showed up. We are convinced someone tried to steal it but changed their mind once they realized the entire festival would be looking for it, haha.

Then on the way back, we actually found all three merch boxes untouched in the road still. No luck on the lost guitar cab but we’ll take that as a win. There was tons of other expensive and priceless stuff in there we could have lost.

Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?

🎵 “Immortalize”! At least as of writing. Just recently we announced the release of our new full-length 💿 Dreamscapes,  and that album has a finale track that just might top it but “Immortalize” is definitely our apex track thus far. That’s the massive, 12-minute epic that culminates the end of our last full length, 💿 Create. Affect Repeat.. It’s such an experience from front to back with a ton of texture and mood changes, and a little “surprise” when you reach the climax of the song, followed by one of the coolest and most extensive solo sections we’ve ever written. Some might say 🎵 “Event Horizon” which was the 15 minute finale of our first record, but I think Immortalize has a more intense ending, and just feels better as the finale to an entire full-length as opposed to “Event Horizon” which was the last song on a 4-track record that was more of an EP.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

💿 DREAMSCAPES 06-16-2023!!!!! We have an incredible new full length coming soon, ending almost a 6-year new music drought and it’s our absolute best work. Look for the first single 🎵 “CTRL+Z” to drop on 4/28, followed by a music video and the full album shortly after.

And by the way as mentioned before, this is entirely a passion project for us so we don’t do nearly the amount of marketing and promotion we should, so if anyone reading this could give us a follow on Spotify and your social media of choice, it would really mean a lot! Tag is “DivinexOfficial” on just about everything.

Closing out, what is Divinex currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

Well, here’s a little secret tip – We haven’t announced the title of our second single that will drop in advance of the record yet, but that track may or may not have a pretty sick guest solo on it, from a guitarist in a band that’s been on the rise recently, and did a national tour with one of the most legendary progressive metal bands last year.

Thank you so much for sharing and taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.

Thanks for having us and same to you!

Getting to Know… Divinex: Interview No. 351 [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Divinex; Tumisu via Pixabay]