By Kreig Marks, July 2024

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TRR: Could you tell us about how your band formed and what inspired you to start making music together?

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ANTIGONE: We are a 5 piece band comprised of musicians that have all have some success in other bands in the past. Dave (guitar) and Tommy (bass) have been playing together since 2001 and sought out to form a new band around 2018. That’s when they found like-minded musicians Carsten (guitar) and Lars (drums). There were two previous vocalists before we found Kris, who moved to Raleigh from CT in 2020. Once Kris filled out the front man position, Antigone solidified it’s sound and direction. Music is a shared passion with each member of the band, and our collective love for creativity and expression is what drives us at every rehearsal, live performance, and studio session.

 

TRR: What would you say sets your music apart from other emerging rock bands today?

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ANTIGONE: We all come from somewhat different styles and backgrounds in music. Dave and Tommy enjoy the thrashy Slayer style, Carsten and Lars have been in more Alt-Rock and Nu-metal style bands, and Kris comes from a traditional hardcore/metalcore background. We all come together and bring a piece of everyone’s textures into our music. We’re not trying to be ground breaking, just put ourselves into the genre’s that we’ve loved.

 

TRR: How would you describe your band’s sound and style? Are there any specific artists or bands that have influenced your music?

 

ANTIGONE: It’s always difficult to describe our sound to someone who hasn’t heard us. There is a good amount of diversity as we focus on doing our own thing, and that translates into a style that kind of stands out a bit. We’ve been described as Alt-Metal which I guess fits. You will hear elements of Killswitch Engage, Tool, Pantera, Deftones, Soundgarden, etc. The blend gives us a sound sort of like I Prevail or Of Mice and Men…ish.

 

TRR: What has been the biggest challenge your band has faced so far, and how did you overcome it?

 

ANTIGONE: The hardest thing by far has been that our drummer has faced cancer twice now. Both times he has had to go through treatment were very stressful both on a personal and professional level. The first time was during Covid and we couldn’t even have any communication with him while he was in the hospital. That was very intense. Once he recovered, we got things rolling again while starting to put out new music and play a ton of shows. All the momentum we were carrying went out the door when he got his second diagnosis, which was not a good one. But he battled as hard as he could and pulled through again! So here we are trying to gain the momentum back up. ROCK N ROLL WILL NEVER DIE!

 

TRR: Can you share a memorable moment from one of your performances or recording sessions that stands out to you?

 

ANTIGONE: Our friends in Defending Cain invited us up to their 100th show in VA (near where Dave and Tommy are from). It was an amazing night for us. We played in front of a sold our crowd at the venue, the entire place was jumping and moshing and just going all out for a band they’ve never heard of before. It absolutely blew our minds, we had so much fun and can’t thank Defending Cain enough for that.

 

TRR: What are your short-term and long-term goals as a band? Where do you see yourselves in the next few years?

 

ANTIGONE: We’re compiling all of our EP’s into one album which we will start selling soon and then we’ll be working on new music. We just started playing shows again in March (after Lars’s last recovery) and we’ve been getting more shows for the end of the year. We really just want to be a go-to band to play massive shows for the national acts, while also being able to play hometown crowds with our friends. We just like having a good time and try not to put any pressure on what’s happening next.

 

TRR: How do you approach songwriting as a band? Is it a collaborative process, or does each member contribute individually?

 

ANTIGONE: Dave and Tommy came in with a ton of songs that they’ve written in the past. Carsten comes in with what we like to call “riff salad”. We’ll take some riffs or structures from past songs and mix them up with Carsten’s ingredients and try to put a little of the “collaborative flavor” on the whole thing. Dave and Tommy throw the speedy stuff in, Carsten adds the ambiance, Lars holds the whole thing together, and Kris always wants everything heavier with breakdowns everywhere. It works out pretty well. We just released a couple cover songs which we enjoyed putting our own spin on and we are just starting to get our own new stuff into the works and can’t wait to get it into everyone’s ears!