Hailing from the beautiful city of Thessaloniki in Greece, Dope Default has been around since 2015. They took a gradual way to grow into the form they are in today and bring us a “combination of heavy, groove, doom and southern metal with a melodic touch”. With the release of their third album named Division the time is right to have a talk with this awesome five-some!
Hey, thanks for taking the time for an interview with Maizter Underground!
How are you doing?
Thanks for having us! We’re doing OK, all things considered! We’re very excited for our new album ‘Division’. It’s been almost a month since its release and we’re very happy with how it’s going so far!
How did the band came to exist?
We started back in late 2015. We were initially a studio project, just writing songs and recording them. This resulted in our first EP ‘Nuclear Honeymoon’. It was received quite positively so we decided to take things a bit further and become a more proper group. After several line-up changes, the five of us have been together since the summer of 2018.
Can you introduce the band-members one by one?
We have the founding members George (guitars) and Makis (bass). Then there is Dimitris (guitars) and Thodoris (drums), and finally our vocalist, and newest member, John.
You guys call yourself Dope Default. How did you come up with this name and what does it mean?
We wanted to find something short, catchy and unique. We thought the word ‘dope’ was pretty fitting for a stoner metal band! And the word ‘default’ was a very trendy word back in 2015, when we were in the midst of the Greek economic crisis. So, it sounded very fitting to us, calling ourselves Dope Default, it sort of described both our sound and where we come from. And nobody else called themselves that, so it was unique!
Can you tell me something about the journey this far? Where did the creativity came from for your first “own work” and who (if any) did inspire you?
We were initially inspired by the Greek rock scene, by bands such as Planet of Zeus. The scene was quite vibrant at the time, and still is to this day. Later on, starting from our debut album ‘Ofrenda’ and especially after John’s arrival, with whom we released ‘Imprisoned’ in 2019, we started moving towards modern and groove metal.
We like to write stuff, we like to play together, we like to put out records, that’s why we’ve been releasing material so often. Every release has been a big lesson for us, we’re learning new things along the way. And we’re still trying to get where we want, as artists, still developing and trying to write and produce our best material.
What are the (longtime) goals with Dope Default?
We’d love to be able to play big festivals and book worldwide tours. And of course we’d love to work with a big label. This can mean so much to a metal band! And also to be able to make this our full-time job. Heavy music is a tough business and it would be great if we could do this full-time!
Are there are singles or an album coming up?
We’ve been pretty busy since our album’s release, trying to promote it, so we haven’t started working on new stuff just yet. However, this is only a matter of time. We’ll definitely be releasing a single in the near future. Whether this is a music video from our new album or a whole new song, that remains to be seen!
Do you have any festivals/gigs/shows planned?
We’re now planning our live shows for ‘Division’s’ (2022 album release.) live presentation. Make sure to follow us on social media so you can find out more about future gigs!
That sound promising! We sure will keep an eye out for your socials. Would be nice to meet you guys on the road and see you perform! For now, on behalf of everyone at Maizter Underground I want to wish Dope Default all the best with all you guys take on in the future!
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IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DOPE DEFAULT, PLEASE CLICK THE FOLLOWING PLAYLIST!