“I even [remember] a point,” he continued, “where Henry and I both agreed that there was this one vocal line should be sung cleaner, and it was on one of [bassist] Matt [Bachand]’s demos, and we tried it both ways. We agreed — Henry and I were, like, ‘Yeah, it should be sung clean,’ so we recorded it clean. Then when it came to do finals, Shawn and Matt were like, ‘No, that’s got to be sung heavy.’ I didn’t agree with that, but ultimately, because it was Matt‘s song, I was like, ‘Matt gets the say’, so we sang it heavy.”
“Compromise is important in any band or group,” Derek added. “If one person doesn’t feel like they have input, or if one person doesn’t feel like they’re being respected in terms of what their vision is, and they’re writing the song, there’s a problem. You really have to respect someone’s musicianship and their contribution in a band. I think a lot of people, they try to kind of pick things apart when sometimes compromise is the best thing you can do.”
ACT OF DEFIANCE will embark on a headlining tour in March with support from SHATTERED SUN.
“Old Scars, New Wounds” was released last September via Metal Blade Records. The disc was mixed by Dave Otero, who has previously worked with CEPHALIC CARNAGE and CATTLE DECAPITATION, among others. The cover artwork was created by Travis Smith (KING DIAMOND, OPETH, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD).