Interview to Dark Measure

Interview by Luis Landeo
Welcome Jason to Arsenal del Metalero, nice to meet you. Well, the first question to cross my mind is.... is the band working on a new album? and  How many albums has Dark Measure released? 
Jason Lenhard (Bass/Vocals): Thank you very much Luis for the opportunity to speak with you and Arsenal del Metalero about Dark Measure. We are four tracks away from completing our first album. We have written a tremendous batch of songs...taking the time to perfect the music. 
Brad Struble (Guitars): Along the way, we have released two four track demos. The third and final demo will complete the album. All demos and the final album will have their own title and artwork. We will release a full album which will contain all previously released songs.

The sound of the band is really interesting. I have listened to some songs of the band this week. It is a great mix of metal influences... I found some brutal death metal, thrash metal, some groove, and black death in your music. What bands influence you? 
Jon Pont (Guitars): For myself, I am very influenced by Kreator, Slayer, Dissection, Death, and Megadeth for metal. As far as my style of playing... I am also influenced by David Gilmour, Tool, Marty Friedman, and Joe Satriani. 
Brad: Each member of Dark Measure has broad musical tastes and interests. Personally, I have been influenced by the greats of classical music, rock music, and of metal in general. I would say that as for specific metal bands: Slayer, Pantera, Morbid Angel, Metallica, Megadeth, Sepultura, Dimmu Borgir, and Cradle of Filth have heavily influenced me. 
Jason: Early thrash sparked me to play guitar...I devoured Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, DRI, Meliah Rage, Biohazard, and Sepultura. The bands I've listened to lately are Gojira, Cannibal Corpse, and Lamb of God.

Well, this is an interesting question of how the band started... why this name for the band? What is the line up of the band? Have you changed some members in the band? 
Jason: The idea to form my own band stemmed from being in multiple projects....always playing someone else's ideas and music. I'm a songwriter above all else... through well over two decades of development and adaption we now have a vision of metal that I'd like to play and listen to. Brad and I knew each other from an earlier project...he was already an accomplished guitarist. After focusing on guitar I began writing what would become the idea for a serious metal project. I called on Brad to play leads over my rhythms and we began collaborating. We went through several drummers with both of us on guitar....vocals here and there....no bass guitar. They couldn't see the vision further down the road. With no drummer we turned to computer software....programming drums. Brad spearheaded learning the software immediately....at that point we really began producing metal music that any metalhead would appreciate. I met Jon, our other guitarist, through a roommate situation and Brad and I both saw how talented he was when he would play his guitar. We've been developing and crafting as a team ever since recording the premiere album and setting plans for the future. We came across great luck when we made a friend through www.reverbnation.com. Our friend Sam from Hitherside is a cousin to professional metal drummer Dirk Verbeuren. Dirk is his own beast working on this album with us from a satellite location as a studio artist. Dirk's drumming is exactly the energy we need and require a drummer of his caliber. The actual name of the band comes from an artist named Phantom Monk that we're friends with who had a track entitled Dark Measure...he agreed it was a great fit for us as a band. 
Brad Struble: If you think about the name "Dark Measure", there is of course a musical reference, or perhaps a second meaning would be a connotation of sinister methods to be employed. Take it as you will. This is our original lineup. We work well together.

Well, when the band releases an album, does the band work with a recording producer? 
Brad: Dark Measure, through Dark Measure Sound Recording, produces, mixes, and masters all of our music. We have our own recording equipment. The learning curve was steep, took a few years, and was fraught with setbacks. The investment of time and effort in ourselves has been well worth it and we feel we are getting a quality recording that we can be proud to offer to our fans. In addition, we are beholden to no person or entity concerning our music. 
Jason: Dark Measure is a self-contained metal outfit as far as sound recordings go. Do everthing yourself...

Tell me about, and I bet Latin readers of Arsenal del Metalero will want to know this, how is a show of Dark Measure on stage? 
Jason: We'll leave it for you and your subscribers to be the judge....we would accept an invitation to play for you when the opportunity presents itself. We are band working to deliver pure metal to the world! In the meantime we can offer videos of tracks soon to be released... 
Brad: At the current time, we are without a live drummer. Any viable drummers in the San Diego area?

About music and lyrics... how is the time for composing music and lyrics? In what take inpiration?
Jason: The majority of my songs are written on an acoustic guitar. If it sounds great on an acoustic it'll sound like a beast electrified! Lyrics can come at any point in time during the process. Dark Measure is a guitar and lyric driven band for the most part. As far as inspiration we reflect in our music exactly what is needed to be done to express... purge... dwell...satirize... loathe... define... laugh. Music as a whole is cathartic for me. The true face of the world can be ugly... within pure metal lies a collective healing. 
Brad: For most of the songs I have composed, the music is primary, and the lyrics come later. I will typically record a few ideas on guitar to a click track, rearrange them as needed, and then layer to flesh out the ideas. Then, I will program drum tracks, and Jason and Jon will record their ideas. Most of my inspiration comes from wanting to make music that I can produce and enjoy myself, and I would hope that others do as well! 
Jon: When I write music, it just comes to me while I play. I'll start a riff and if it sounds good I will build off it and eventually have the intro and beginning riffs down. Play the whole thing to figure out what should go next or if I should play a variation. Lyrics are not my specialty, but I have written some good ones that will be on future albums to come when they find their place. I can't just sit down and write lyrics, usually they come to me and I have to write them down in the moment or I lose them.

For ending this interview Jason...do you have a last message? 
Jason Lenhard: Hails and Cheers to Arsenal del Metalero for your interest and time....enjoy pure metal! Brad Struble: Thank you Luis for your interview. We appreciate your interest, and will keep making music! Many thanks to those that have supported us - we love you all! 
Jon Pont: Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this interview and I hope to be on tour down there as soon as we can. 

To know more about Dark Measure: 
http://www.facebook.com/DarkMeasure