Brett Deadly 
Thank you for taking some time to be interviewed for Trap Metal Arsenal Magazine. Can you please introduce us to you and your band plus tell us a little bit about what kinda music you make?
My name is Franccesca De Struct, and I am the vocalist for a Los Angeles-based band called FDS (formerly Fate DeStroyed). Defining our music is always the first, and most difficult question to answer in any interview. I want to call it trapmetal – but really it’s a lot more metal than it is trap. I would call it numetal, but its modernized and way different than the 90’s/00’s bands that paved the way for the genre. The songs have hard hitting trap beats, insane guitar driven break downs, I rap, I sing, I do deathcore gutturals, it’s kind of all over the place, but that’s what I like about it. I feel like genres, at this point, are quickly becoming a thing of the past. I make music for chaotic people with angry, aggressive, hard emotions. That’s probably the best way to sum it up. Its weird because our early music is so different. We started as a generic melodic metalcore band back in 2018. I was making music I thought other people would like back then. Now I am making music that I like – so our overall catalog is kind of… erratic haha. We are spending this year updating everything with a bunch of releases to showcase the new direction of the band. I’m stoked on it tbh.
Who are the rest of your band members? What roles do they play? And how did it all come together?
Right now the band is me as the vocalist, Chris Kennedy on Guitar and TJ on bass. We are looking for a drummer, but who isn’t these days? ha. This band actually started out with a completely different line up…. but they way it all came together was kind of backwards. When I first started this project, i had the hardest time finding members. People in LA only want to join a band that is already established and doing stuff – the demand for fledgling bands is basically none. So – I wrote our debut single, spent like 5 bands on our first video and it took OFF. The first song we ever released “break Free” was featured in AP magazine, and got picked up by multiple editorial spotify playlists. Then finding members was easy – but in the end it seems like they came around for the wrong reasons. We all want to “make it” but I feel there is a difference who are doing this because they are passionate about it and those who are just trying to make a name for themselves. After we switched the name and went through the rebranding, Chris was the only one who stuck around. Its good though, because now I get to put out the word that I am looking for hungry, hard working, motivated musicians who are ready to tour and play shows.
Enter
Awesome origin story here. What are your plans for the band this year? Next year? And what is your end game?
This year has been all about writing. Since we made the switch and rebranded, we need to make sure that our existing catalogue matches our new sound, so this year has mostly been about writing, meeting with new producers, and really honing in on developing a signature sound and collabing with established artists to really earn that badge of authenticity. Last year was full of tours and festivals, this year its more about lateral movement. I want people to come to our shows and be blown away – and that takes a lot of work and planning and production to make the entire show a memorable experience. We have a couple LA shows on the books, one festival this summer, and honestly the push is for releasing new music as much as possible. Next year I am ready to hit the festival circuit again, and hopefully the music we put out will perk up the right ears and get us onto some tours that are more aligned with our genre. End game? Personally? To put out the heaviest, most unique music that I can… to put out music that I would bump in my own car – music that I love. Professionally? I want to be in a position where we are on the road 6-8 months out of the year. I have a wandering spirit. I crave the open road. Bigger shows, bigger tours, bigger festivals. I want people to whisper “Yo! have you seen that FDS band live? You should go the shows are nuts”
With an interest in who your influences are, if you could go on tour with anyone in the world, who would be on the bill with you?
The answer to that question depends on whether or not the tour would have to make sense. What i mean by that is that there are a ton of artists and projects i would dream of touring with; but it wouldn’t make sense from a sonic perspective. Then there are also bands i would love to tour with because they are my friends – even if those shows wouldn’t be the biggest possible. If you mean the “dream tour”, it would be a 4 band package with us as early openers, and somehow knocked loose, BMTH, and Korn as headliners. If i were to build a tour based on my influences that would definitely fit that bill. If i got to build a tour that i think would be an absolute blast, it would be us, Weight of Silence, Jynx, and Dropout Kings
What advice do you have for aspiring artists trying to break into the industry? Is there anything you learned that you wish you knew sooner?
Treat it like a job, and be an active consumer of content. I know it seems counterintuitive because we’re all doing this because it’s fun and we don’t want to work, but think of it this way- You know that in order to pay your bills, you have to go to work. Or get money in some form. No one has to tell you to get up every day and clock in and do what you need to do – regardless if you’re tired, or you don’t feel like it you handle your business because you like having a roof over your head. when you can start to look at making music, in that same light , you’re gonna be so much more productive, you’re going to take it more seriously and everyone around you will notice. You can’t get career level results from hobby level effort . All opportunity is consistency plus timing. So stay consistent and put in the work. A lot of times I ask people how much time they actually spend a week on their music. You’d be shocked at how many people talk about working on their music maybe 4 to 6 hours a week. Jo that’s less than a part-time job. How are you ever gonna be successful with that? If it’s the most important thing in the world to you, there won’t be a single day that goes by without it. I’m a little extra and I actually keep track of my hours with my music, but when I decided to make that shift and really look at it as a necessity and look at it as my job , it changed everything.
being an active consumer of constant is so important. We are follow whoever, but every piece of content is an opportunity to learn how to grow your brand. Make sure you’re following people in your industry, and your niche, and really make an effort to not just mindlessly scroll as we all do. Your content will be better and you’ll say I ahead of the game that way.
Lets show some love to the affiliates! Who are some of your favorite promoters/producers/audio engineers/ or videographers that you have worked with thus far?
oh man! I love that you ask this. I’ve done probably 100 interviews and no one ever thinks to spotlight the people who ACTUALLY make the music good. Truly, no band you’ve ever liked would be shit without their team. Nick Scott – incredible producer and such an amazing sound engineer. He takes our turds and polishes them into bangers Riff Grimez – If you like trapmetal (i have a guess that you do) then you’ve definitely heard a song produced by him. From Scarlxrd to Sid from Slipknot, dude is on fire. King Zabb – Making waves as a videographer. he has such a unique vision and a killer work ethic. I’m not gunna be able to afford him soon. Love that for him Babyflex – Another videographer making his mark in LA. He’s done two of our videos and i hope he does more! Chillpanic- he is producing our next single. An example of a dude who undersells his work. He should be famous already so many people come together to make a band work. I’m grateful for all of them
Awesome! And lastly. As we wrap this up. Is there anything else you would like our readers to know! And thank you for your time.
Parting words? Man – now i have to choose between being selfish and plugging our upcoming appearance at Summit fest, new single dropping July 27th, and our show opening for Attila October 8th….. and leaving your readers who may or may not be emerging artists themselves with a nifty and helpful bit of advice. Pro-tip: The era of “follower ratios” is coming to an end. Esp on tiktok, if you follow people back, you’re more likely to show up on their feed. By replying to all your comments, and replying to comments on artists who are similar to you, you can grow by 20 followers a day. there – see? i did both thank you so much for this opportunity! I had fun! xoxo -Franccesca De Struct
