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Conducted by Kylee Thompson Recently I had the chance to ask Louis Tentsos of Diamond Weapon a few questions about their new album "All Heart, No Sleeve". Diamond Weapon are a Post-Hardcore Band based out of Toronto, Ontario consisting of Louis Tentsos, Jason Bradfield, and Marco Vani and Stephen Maclean.  What inspiration did you have for the name of the new album? LT: It almost started as a joke – we were debating album titles, and Stephen recommended “All Heart, No Sleeve” as a twist on the “wear your heart on your sleeve” expression, but he chose it because he rarely ever wears a t-shirt with sleeves, so the title would be a nice little ode to himself. And at first, we were like “that’s dumb,” but after a few days and thinking about it further, we were all like “no, that’s brilliant” and went with it! How would you describe the sound of your new album to a potential new fan? LT: We’re very much a throwback post-hardcore band, to era of the late 90s and early 2000s. Bands like Refused, At the Drive-In, Thursday, Thrice, but with a bit of a punk ethos of being messy and chaotic and a lot of DIY philosophy. Could you tell us the backstory behind “Who Survives The End Of The World”? LT: It’s actually funny hearing how “Who Survives” has touched so many people who have heard the record so far, because I wrote it as a response to the proceeding track “Only the Cowards.” “Cowards” is a song about a person who abandoned his life and all his relationships in one place to live alone off-the- grid. At first he is happy, but after being alone quite some time, he can’t cope with it anymore. He starts to look back on some of relationships he had before he left and thinks that they may not have been as bad as he thought – certainly better than being alone. While I don’t think that’s universally true in real life – there are certainly some relationships that are so toxic, being alone would be much better – I do think that’s a very human feeling that people feel when they are lonely. So, “Who Survives” was supposed to represent the other side of that – the abandoned friend, the lost lover. The person on the other side of the phone call who says “we didn’t have a future together, but I still wish for the best future for you.” Do you have a personal favorite song off the new album? LT: Like all things music, it’ll probably change in a week, but to answer it right now, I would say “Heaven in the Cold Clouds.” Our bassist Marco wrote the bulk of the guitar parts for that song, and we amassed them together as a band, and not only is it probably the best musical representation of this album, but it’s also just super fun to perform! What are your favorite lyrics off All Heart, No Sleeve? LT: If I had to choose, I would say “A Harsh Lesson in Vulnerability,” just because it touches on so many themes in society. It’s about a couple that does anything to survive, including one person getting a job overseas and having to be away from the person they love so much, but knowing that they will be in a better position in life because of it. So, it touches on themes of romance and loneliness, but also on broader themes like capitalism and the cost of living. How long did this album take to make from start to finish? LT: In terms of strict recording, 2 months – mid-April to mid-June of this year, and then another month to edit and mix it. But writing process took a long time. Songs like “Cowards” and “Cold Clouds” started being written in early 2021, even before our last album was even released. Since then, it was about workshopping the songs, performing them in front of crowds, and getting them ready for the recording process. You just released the video for your single “Science Fiction at the Edge of Existence”. Can you tell us your favorite moments from the video shoot? LT: Yeah, because of some changes in our personal schedules, that was actually the first time in about a month all 4 of us were in a room together, so it was actually just a whole bunch of fun – we got a case of beers, and got to hang out and shoot a music video in my living room, which was great. Plus, getting to act like the Gatekeeper was super fun. I grew up playing the Nightmare board game, so acting this out brought back a lot of great memories. Can we expect any more videos coming our way soon? LT: Oh yes – in fact, we’re in the middle of a 12 videos in 12 months YouTube challenge. With November and December on the horizon, I think it’s safe to say that there will be at least 2 more videos coming! You have a tour starting in just a few days, what are your favorite and least favorite parts about being on tour? LT: Least favourite part would be the stress on the body. I remember going on our first tour – and it wasn’t much, it was 6 cities in 9 days. But I just remember how exhausted I was as it was happening – I couldn’t sleep, I was driving all day, I was sore, and then when it was showtime, you had to get amped up and perform at your best. I was wondering how bands could do that for 2 to 3 months at a time, and realizing the answer was probably typically drugs. Best part, though, it just meeting and performing in front of new people. There’s just a cool feeling about watching people experience something that you made in their own way that really makes me happy, so I’m super stoked for our upcoming run! Do you have any plans to come out west on tour in Canada? LT: I don’t think I’m allowed to say too much about it right now, but let’s say if all goes well – Summer 2024 is a strong possibility! Are there any bands you would like to go on tour with? LT: I’m not sure if it’ll even happen, as I don’t think they have another tour in them, but the dream would be to open up for At the Drive-In, as I grew up listening to them, and just being able to watch them perform their craft on a nightly basis would be incredible. What do you feel are Diamond Weapons’ biggest achievements? LT: I don’t know if it would be characterized as a “big” achievement, but just helping people work through their negative emotions with our music is what I’m proudest of. So much of the music I listened to growing up was dark and emotional, and helped me through a lot of the dark times of my own, so we wanted to make sure that with this band and with this music, that we’re paying that forward. That people aren’t alone when they feel sad and lonely. We’ve been there too, and we’ve made it through it, and you can share in that with us. Lastly, what is the best advice someone has given you? LT: He didn’t give it to me directly, but Wade MacNeil from alexisonfire once said in an interview that the money in the music industry isn’t there as much today as it used to be, so artists today need to take up skills external to music. Back in the day, you could just focus on the music, and you would hire producers, music video directors, tour managers, and all that stuff. Today, with a third of a cent coming in per stream, artists need to focus on what they can do themselves to save money. It helps that we have a very DIY ethos, so we produced this album ourselves, we did the video for “Science Fiction” ourselves, we booked our own tour. So, my advice would be the same as Wade’s - take up a skill related to music outside of writing and performing music. Take up producing, take up film production, take up graphic design. That way, you have something more to contribute to the band and less things you need to worry about filling externally. LISTEN / PURCHASE "ALL HEART, NO SLEEVE HERE DIAMOND WEAPON 'ALL HEART, NO SLEEVE' ONTARIO DATES:
11.09.23 London, ON @ Palasad Socialbowl 11.10.23 Toronto, ON @ Tail of the Junction 11.11.23 Hamilton, ON @ Corktown Pub 11.16.23 Peterborough, ON @ The Historic Red Dog 11.17.23 Ottawa, ON @ Avant Garde Bar 11.18.23 Oshawa, ON @ The Atria
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 Photos and Interview by Sabrina Citta Who are you? And What is your background in the arts? My name is Mac Downey, I guess you could say I wear many hats. My dream is to be a movie producer, but before that happens I have worked in props, locations, the coordinating side of film whether that be Netflix, The Sci-Fi Channel, Hallmark Christmas film, etc. I used to photograph for a whole bunch of publications as a concert photographer, most notably “The Come Up Show” which is currently on hiatus due to Covid, but I am looking forward to when they come back. I'm the producer with a personal production company me and partners created called “SECODO; Creating video content, mainly music videos. And now for the main topic at hand I am the festival director for The Toronto International Music Video Festival. 
What does TIMV fest stand for? What is the Toronto International Music Video Festival? The Toronto International Music Video Festival. Taking Place November 12th at The Fox Theatre, located in the East end of Toronto in the Beaches. The festival will showcase many music videos from around the world. Awards will be given to the top of each category. We also plan to have an educational panel on the creative process of making a large scale studio music video led by an industry professional. For those also seeking knowledge on how to get into the industry of music videos, we are also having a round table between industry professionals on how each got into the music video scene. Can you go into any further detail about the proposed panel/round table? There isn’t really any guidebook or manual for music videos. And by that I mean not just the creative process of thinking of the idea. But how to approach getting the client (whether small or a large record label artist, creating a professional budget, paperwork, among other aspects. It can be scary if not intimating being young and speaking with a highly established label. We hope the panel will bring a lot of guidance from writing that first email to the final product. We will also have a Q/A where anyone can ask any question about the process. Myself and partners know what it feels like to be flying blind early in your career and we completely understand there no dumb questions to be asked.
What made you and your team wanna make this a reality? And how did this become a reality? What are your goals for this festival? We wanted to make this a reality to not only bring a spotlight to the talented creatives often not being recognized. But also open the doors for these creatives to help be discovered. I’m sure we’ve all seen a music video at one point in your life that showed great talent, creativity and artistry. But somehow sits at a small view count. We hope this festival will bridge the gap between small budgeted music videos and television/features. Our goal is to give recognition to these creatives to the point they can be discovered by larger studios and lead to large projects and larger opportunities for them. What do you hope this festival will do for young creatives, musicians & filmmakers? We hope that the festival beyond giving recognition to music videos, will also work as a networking opportunity for folks young in their careers. Young filmmakers will have the chance to meet young musicians, which will create relationships leading to creations of new music videos. As many filmmakers will tell you, it's hard finding someone to take a chance on you with creating visuals for their music. The festival will allow young filmmakers, creatives and musicians a chance to mingle and see if they connect. Forming long term creative relationships.  What awards will the festival be giving out? Best Music Video, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editor, Best Colour Grading, Best Performance by an Artist, Best Narrative, Best Experimental, Audience Favourite Award. Where do you see the festival in a few years? In a few years we hope to see the festival expand into a multi-day experience. Evolving into not only showing music videos but creative visual media around music; i.e Music Documentaries, music photography, concert photography, among others. Speaking on music photography, we hope to create a photo gallery through TIMVF this coming year. How will this film festival differ from other film festivals? Beyond mainly focusing on music videos. Our festival will have a deep focus on educating young creatives, as well creating networking opportunities for them. WEBSITE
https://www.timvf.ca/ Filmfreeway link: https://filmfreeway.com/timvf Social Media: https://twitter.com/timvfest https://www.instagram.com/timvfest/ https://www.facebook.com/timvfest  Photo by Dirk "The Pixeleye" Behlau How We End is a crossover metal band from the EU. Established in 2022, featuring Jen Majura (Ex-Evanescence) on guitar, Diva Satanica (Ex-Nervosa) on vocals, Jake E (Cyhra, Ex-Amaranthe) on vocals, Tom Naumann (Primal Fear) on guitar, Mitch Kunz (bass) and Adde Larsson (drums). On March 30th they dropped their Video for their first single My Fighting Heart. Check out the video below! Interview by Kylee Thompson
I recently had the pleasure of asking Jen Majura and Mitch Kunz of How We End a few questions about the beginnings of the band, and what we can expect coming up. What inspired the six of you to start a band together? Can you tell me the story behind the band name? MITCH: Basically me and Tom are friends for a lifetime, we are buddies well over 25 years now but we never managed to play together in a band. Tom produced the first record back in 2003 of my former band Godiva but that’s it. So about 2 years ago we just started to write some songs together for fun. We wanted to create something completely different than ordinary power metal like we both did for years and then realized that this stuff is really cool, so we decided to look for singers. First we’ve got in touch with Diva but all agreed on that we’d need also a more melodic element, so that’s when Jake joined. Finally the band really started when Jen and Adde joined. And that’s where we are right now. A friend of Tom came up with the idea “How it ends” and we liked it, but there were already bands related to that name, so we changed it to “How We End” et voilà! You just released the song Official Video for your first single My Fighting Heart. Could you tell me a littleabout the making of the video. Was it a lengthy process? Have any of you worked with Dirk Behlau in the past? JEN: Funny enough, I knew Dirk’s name because he has worked plenty in the business for years and when I called him, also he was convinced that him and I knew each other from a former life. I have never worked with him before, but his professionalism and lovely fun personality convinced us immediately. He did a fantastic job and it’s fun working with him. He brings so much creativity to the table that it almost feels as if he is the 5th Beatle. MITCH: I personally didn’t know Dirk, but he did an awesome job. The whole process was driven by Jen “the machine” Majura, she basically organized the whole thing, wrote the story, took care of the video- permission on location etc. Without her experience and knowhow this video would had never happened. When can we expect your debut album to be finished? MITCH: First of all, we stick to our plan to release three singles. As “My Fighting Heart” is out now since March 30, there are two more to go. So there is still some work to do. But of course we’re working on further material for the album and hope, we can provide more news soon. Do any of you get nervous before you play? Either live or in studio. JEN: That’s easy to answer. Haha. No. MITCH: Live – always a little bit but two glasses of red wine help. In the studio never. With Rockharz Open Air 2023 being the first time the band will play together live. When was the last time each of you played in front of a large audience? JEN: End of 2021/early 2022 during the US stadium tour with my former band, average venue capacity 40.000 people… With booking up coming shows and festivals, does the band have any plans on coming to North America? JEN: During 2015-2022 I’ve spent so much time all over the states that it already feels like my second home and I can’t wait to come back and play for my "homies“ For those of you that currently play in multiple groups, do you ever find it difficult to balance time between them? JEN: I have dedicated to HOW WE END… You Mitch? MITCH: Me too! What else? As a photographer I’m alway curious about musicians' thoughts on having photographers at shows. Do you mind having photographers take your photo? Have any of you ever had a bad experience with a photographer you would be willing to share? JEN: To be really honest, I know most of the photographers in front of the stages and call them friends. So that probably answers your question. We’re friends from now on too if you ever come out to a show of ours :) Of course there are unfortunate coincidences, still to this very day I find it humorous that the picture of my wikipedia page is a picture that shows me playing the bass during a festival show with a former band. And last question what is the best advice you’ve been given? MITCH: From my grandfather (R.I.P.): “Don’t get married before 30 but the wiser decision is, never get married. ☺” JEN: hahaha. That’s a good one. Thanks again for taking the time to answer these questions. I can’t wait to hear more music and hopefully see How We End live someday. I’ve already listened to My Fighting Heart at least 50 times already, no lie haha. JEN: Thank you so much for having us. Find How We End online at https://www.instagram.com/how_we_end/ https://www.facebook.com/HOWENDOFFICIAL https://www.tiktok.com/@how_we_end https://www.twitter.com/@how_we_end_band |
