Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 11/17/09 Section: Arts & Society

Media Credit: Brian Milo Heart-Set Self-Destruct would like to produce "radio hits", but won't compromise their artistic integrity to do so

I know my usual music genre seems to be pop/punk or something of that sort, but for this week, I went a little different.  Meet Heart-Set Self-Destruct: a hard rock, metal and alternative band from Chicago.  These four guys are incredibly talented with Dave on the vocals/guitar, Chris also on the guitar, Daniel on the bass and Nick on the drums.  I had the chance to talk to Dave about the band and how they work.

Meghan Hole:  How long have you guys been a band?
Dave Naruszewicz:  For about five years.  Heart-Set Self-Destruct was established in 2005 after looking for the right members for over six months. 

MH:  Where are you all from?
DN:  We are from all over the Chicagoland area. 

MH:  What genre do you place yourselves under?
DN:  Hard rock, metal [and] alternative.

MH:  Why do you guys play the type of music you do?
DN:  We play the music we play because that is the product that comes out.  There is no set idea of how things should sound.  I donít think we have ever written a song that has come out exactly how one person expected it to, but we are proud of our results so far. 

MH:  What makes you different from other bands out there?
DN:  We are doing our own thing in the hard rock/metal/alternative genre.  We definitely want the ìradioî hits without compromising our artistic integrity, although I am not really sure what that means yet.  All of us have such different influences, and all those influences come out when we are writing music ñ which is a good thing when we are all on the same page and [is] at times a bad thing because our influences will clash.

MH:  The song ìSkinî seems to have a very danceable beat.  Was that on purpose?
DN:  Again, it just happened that way.  ìSkinî is a song that has hard rock/hardcore elements with a rock chorus that delivers the hook.

MH:  Did you guys get chosen to play SXSW?  How did that happen?
DN:  A promoter we know has had his bands play down in Austin for the last two or three years and had mentioned bringing us [for] this year.  He came through so far.  Although all the dates aren't confirmed just yet, we are booked to appear at SXSW 2010.

Continued...

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