1. We’re excited to be speaking today with acclaimed NY-based rock trio extraordinaire The Dionysus Effect; greetings and salutations, gang! Before we dive into the proverbial Q&A mosh-pit, could you each say ‘hi’ and introduce yourselves to our ever-inquisitive readers?

Hey, I’m Christoph Paul and I’m the lead singer and bass player of the Band. Thanks for having us.

Hello, I’m Brett Petersen and I play drums.

And I’m Sean Quinn Hanley, head of the guitar department and all string related grievances.

2. Major congratulations on the freshly-minted new single Everything the Darkness Eats which is set to make its auspicious and anticipated debut this October 13! Christoph, what inspired this mesmerizing and haunting tune?

I feel like I have had two loves since I was kid: horror and rock music. This Song really is a fun celebration of both. Reading Eric LaRocca’s novel which inspired the song just floored me. It reminded me of reading Clive Barker for the first time and that tile came to me to start the verse. I wanted to capture the vicious and lyrical darkness of the novel and my own struggles with Depression. 

3. Sean, who was the producer on Everything the Darkness Eats and what did the collaboration between band and producer look like in the studio?

Well, you’re actually talking to him! I run a studio an hour outside of NYC as one of my hustles, so I record, engineer, and produce everything pro bono for this project. However, I wouldn’t say that means we run with reckless abandon in the studio. I try my darndest to turn off my bandmate brain when it comes to production and I make sure we churn out as universally palatable of a product as possible (even if it means shorter guitar solos for yours truly).

4. Brett, what differentiates Everything the Darkness Eats from the Distinguished Competition on the 2023 music scene?

Well, I haven’t heard a lot of bands incorporate flamenco guitar into the verses of a song for one…and then follow it up with some of the heaviest goth-tinged rock choruses I’ve heard from a modern band that is not metal. As far as my drumming goes on this song, I tried to channel heavier bands like Acid Bath, and you can hear that sort of gothic doominess in Christoph’s vocals as well, so I think fans of 90s and early 2000s gothic hard rock and metal will find this song to be a refreshing blast of grave miasma wrapped in a new skin. If that makes sense haha. 

5. Christoph, how is Everything the Darkness Eats similar to some of the past music from The Dionysus Effect? How is it different?

It has that soft to loud grunge-alt rock Pixies style of songwriting we used on songs like Heroin but this one is more western-Gothic in the verse with the flamenco guitar and aggressive and metal in the chorus. I feel like verse has energy of The National being Goth and the chorus is very Metallica and System of a Down. This song shows us going in a darker and even goth direction which really excites me.

6. Sean, with the release of the new single, can fans look forward to catching The Dionysus Effect on the touring/performing circuit in the coming weeks and months?

We’ve got the Voidcon after party concert and a winter show in Troy at No Fun, which, contrary to the name of the venue, will be quite fun to play.

7. Brett, The Dionysus Effect is based out of NY. How do those roots inform the sound of the band?

We’re based out of Upstate NY, Troy to be specific, but to be honest, our location doesn’t really inform the sound of our band all that much. Our local scene is mostly either super heavy hardcore or indie and we don’t fit into either of those camps. We just take the varied influences we’ve picked up along the way and pour them into the cauldron with which we brew our distinctive sound.  

8. A question for everyone: Who inspires you musically?

Christoph: I’m inspired by a mix of things, I love 60s Motown and 90s alt-rock and 2000s indie sleaze. Even pop songwriters, I really appreciate. I love a good catchy hook but I need to have some edge. 

Brett: my drumming influences include but are not limited to Dave Grohl, Dale Crover (Melvins), John Stanier (Helmet), John Bonham, Jimmy Chamberlin, Chad Smith, Atsuo (Boris) and Bill Ward.

Sean: In general, my main influences tend to be Eddie Van Halen, Slash, George Lynch (Dokken), Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hendrix and Kurt Cobain, but I’m finding my creative voice in this band leaning more so on the likes of Keith Richards, early era Andy Summers (The Police), Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), and even The Edge (U2).

9. Christoph, on the heels of the release of Everything the Darkness Eats, can fans look forward to an EP or LP release from The Dionysus Effect in late 2023 or sometime in 2024?

Yeah, we’ve gotten a lot songs written the past 3 years and loved recording this one. 2024 could be a big year for us. We want to do an EP titled Horror Novel with horror themed music including this song and an LP titled Partying with Ghosts which like a Party Goth Rock album that I’m so excited about. We are a rock band first are foremost but we are adding some flavors to the genre with the EP and LP. I feel like we are starting to hit or stride live and with recording. 

10. Sean, when the band comes together to create and record new music, what does the creative process generally look like? 

It’s changed a lot over the years in this project. It started out with Christoph and I woodshedding material and then recording after some careful sculpting, but now with Brett in the mix, it now goes: Christoph writes the bass, Brett decides the energy level when he lays down the beat, and then I write my guitar melodies over the blueprint they started. I also tend to produce and tweak the song structures if they need so we get it all polished up before it reaches the studio.

11. Brett, at the end of the day what do you hope listeners walk away with after giving may-a-spin to the new single Everything the Darkness Eats?

I sincerely hope the earworm verses Christoph came up with do their job and burrow their way into listeners’ psyches just like the book after which we named this song. We wrote it specifically to be both dark and infectious, and we hope you’ll walk away singing it to yourself day and night like a mantra designed to exorcise the darkness within your heart. 

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