Defocus: Everything In Place

When you’ve mastered a sound, what do you do next? For German metalcore unit DEFOCUS, the answer is simple, you do it all. Their new record there is a place for me on earth is a testament to that. We sat down with vocalist Simon Müller and guitarist Jeffrey Uhlmann to chat about new styles, new tracks, new music videos, and everything else the band has been cooking up.

“Everyone wanted to go in a different direction,” Jeff begins, discussing how an album as thick with style as there is a place for me on earth comes about. It wasn’t an easy road, everyone had their ideas of how DEFOCUS’ sound should evolve. “Simon wanted to have nu metal influences. I wanted it to sound more modern and inspired by other genres, like hip-hop and electronic music.” The solution? Go all in. “In the end, we just said, okay, fine. Why not do everything we want to and see where it goes? We’re very different people with different backgrounds, why not embrace that?”

One of the most unique tracks is the powerful hybrid anthem. “The demo was always one we carried with us, but never confirmed it as a song on the album,” Simon reminisces. “One day I was trying out vocals for some random idea and I thought maybe it might fit that song. Within the same hour, Jonas sent the feature part for Jared, because he’s a friend of his. I was like, hell yeah! Let me match that with what I was trying to do, and it immediately worked out.”

Not every track came easily, though. “The most challenging for me was the title track,” Jeff admits. “When I started writing it I just had this electronic beat and I wrote a melody, put some production behind it and some ambience and thought, this is turning into an electronic song.” The sound was so far from DEFOCUS’ core, he wasn’t sure they could make it work with a full band. Spoiler, this wasn’t the case. “I sent it to the guys and they were like ‘yeah, sick! We can definitely see this turning into an album-closing track!’”

While experimentation plays heavily into the album, there’s still plenty of room for more, Simon hints. “There’s a lot to come, especially when we look at the last few years. All of our music tastes evolved in very different ways. That’s going to continue for the next few years.” And, Jeff is already full of ideas. “We could do a full on electronic dance track! Something like there is a place…, but go even more into that territory. That would be would be pretty cool for me.”

A huge change DEFOCUS felt between writing the first and second album is the live experience under their belt. “That was one thing that was missing on our first record,” Jeff mentions. “We wrote it during the pandemic, we didn’t have any real feedback. It’s different when you write something at home compared with playing it to a live audience. After the first record and experiencing all that, I focus a lot more on what I want the audience to feel.”

crooked mind is a prime example of this, packing all the energy of a hundred border collies and a crate of Red Bull. “This song was in my hard drive for like three or four years before we started using it for the record. When I re-listened to it I was like, this is super energetic. I just wanted people to go crazy,” Jeff laughs. “One of the last things that came was actually the breakdown at the end. We wanted to finish the song with a bang and people to go ‘whoa, what’s going on?!’” It’s a desire that comes from the band’s own experience as metal fans, he explains. “When we listen to extreme metal music we go like ‘what are they doing?!’ I wanted to get the same reaction out of people who listen to our music.”

Talking about DEFOCUS without talking about their music videos is like talking about sandwiches and not mentioning the bread. “When it comes to videos, we have a lot of ideas. Then we sit down to plan and we notice, okay, this is way out of our budget,” Jeff chuckles. The band recently travelled to Iceland to record the aesthetic masterpiece that is the don’t let it hurt me video. “The funny story is the guy that did the video for crooked mind was talking after we shot everything like ‘hey, I listened to your music, I always wanted to travel to Iceland and shoot a music video over there and it would be perfect with you guys!’” There was no hesitation from the band.

The resulting work is perfect for the downbeat, emotional track. Originally, the video planned by Danny Jakov, who directed, filmed, and edited it, had a different vibe entirely. “When we landed in Iceland, he was like ‘Okay, there’s so much snow, I didn’t expect that.’ I was like, dude, it’s February, what did you expect?” Simon laughs. “He thought we could have all of these landscapes in crazy colours and green pastures and whatever. In the end, I don’t think this would have matched the whole idea behind the song. Everything is made to be cold, uncomfortable, and kind of dark.” Ultimately, Simon believes “everything was in place where it had to be.”

DEFOCUS’ final words for their listeners are pretty straightforward “Just enjoy the album. Give us some feedback or write us a message. We’d love to talk to everybody that comes to a concert.” Simon says earnestly. Jeff adds, “watch the music video! It’s probably the video I’m most proud of. And just have fun with the record, I’m stoked to hear stories about people listening to it for the first time.” 

With a record like this, it’ll be hard not to have fun.

there is a place for me on earth is out now via Arising Empire.

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