Dead Rhetoric: Where did your interest in sci-fi begin, as I’ve heard that you like the classics just as music as newer fare? Are there particular preferences as far as sci-fi consumption through books, television series, and movies?
DiSanto: I am mostly a movie guy. It all started for me with my dad. He let me watch a lot of movies when I was a very small kid that many parents wouldn’t let their kids go near. There’s this really weird 70’s animated film called L’Enfant Sauvage, a weird alien world, strange film. That and The Thing or horror movies like The Howling, my dad would show me all that stuff. He was big into that- he didn’t give me a filter as far as that. Movies to this day are my favorite format- I find it hard to find the time to read a book. I do like reading science magazines, science articles, and I keep up with the NASA news. A lot of my sci-fi is science-based, a lot of documentaries and shows like Cosmos or Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman.
Dead Rhetoric: What have been some of your favorite tour/show memories through the years- and if given the chance to pull together and ideal four band package tour with Vektor, who would you like to get together with?
DiSanto: I think hands down- the best show ever we played was Hellfest in France. A sea of people and we were accepted so warmly, everyone there was super nice, including the people who worked there and the fans. It was one of the best receptions, being on a stage that large and seeing a crowd that was very happy to see us. The favorite tour is still our first tour that we ever did with Exmortus. It was our first, Exmortus are like our best friends, just being in a van with those dudes for a month, it was a cool experience. Super DIY tour, Mario from Exmortus did all the booking, we only got paid $200 a night, sometimes less but it was fun man.
I think a four band package… I don’t know if I can name off a package, but the bands I would love to tour with would be Destruction, Kreator, Slayer would be a dream come true. And… who else. Maybe like, if Emperor ever got back together I would love to do a tour with them.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do you stand on technique versus feel when it comes to the band? Is there ever a point where you could go too far left-field, or too technical in a particular song or part?
DiSanto: Yeah, I try to be aware of that- I don’t like overly technical music. For me it’s always got to be rockin’, it’s really about finding the balance of making music that’s technical in an interesting way but also something that doesn’t lose your attention and is just a bunch of notes flying by that don’t really mean anything. I try to keep that in mind. I don’t really practice guitar a lot, I just sort of write songs- maybe the fact that I don’t practice a whole bunch always keeps our music at bay as far as not getting too technical.
Dead Rhetoric: Now that you’ve settled into Philadelphia, PA from your Arizona roots, do you believe this was the best career move to better touring opportunities and improve relationships within the band?
DiSanto: I don’t know. It definitely helped us out growing our East Coast fan base – prior to this move we had only played on the East Coast twice. Once we moved here we’ve been able to play New York a few times and other gigs on the East Coast. The other reason we moved is we were super bored in Arizona. It’s like a big suburban sprawl and there’s not a lot to do. We had been to the West Coast a bunch and already been used to it, we just wanted a change. Unfortunately though, Erik has since moved to Salt Lake City, Utah because he’s having a kid and his wife has some family there – so no more local shows for the Philly people, sad to say. We will still get together with Erik for touring, though.
Dead Rhetoric: What is the band’s practice regiment like before going on tour? Have you ever had to worry about any particular hand/foot injuries because of the demanding physical nature of this material?
DiSanto: I actually was a skateboarder for 20 years and I kept hurting my wrists so I had to quit skateboarding. I do things a little bit, once every couple of weeks, but I take it easy and don’t go as crazy with the rails anymore. I stick to transitions. We are all good about practicing on our own. We play along to the recordings a month or two in advance. Before we leave for tour we will pack in as much practice as we can two weeks before the tour, maybe get six practices in as a band before the tour. That’s pretty much all we need.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you feel about the metal scene in 2016?
DiSanto: As far as turnouts, we’ve had some excellent turnouts. I think metal will never die. Even when we played in Europe in 2015, metal is huge over there. That was our first headlining tour, we had some sold out shows and the crowds were awesome- stage diving, moshpits, the works. I don’t think metal is slowing down at all, it’s as strong as ever.
Dead Rhetoric: What worries you the most about the world that we live in today?
DiSanto: Definitely the actions of humans. Deforestation is probably one of my main concerns, all over the world palm plantations are replacing old growth forests. We are on like an extinction scale that rivals that of the dinosaurs right now, and I don’t think a lot of people are aware of that. Amphibians especially, horrible things (are) happening to them and they are just disappearing. Also (I worry) about the state of terror. I know there is a lot going on in the Middle East but for me I wish all religion would disappear and go away, people need to think for themselves because of the conflict and fear doesn’t really do anybody any good. Being well-educated would serve people a lot better than following religions. Therein lies the problem- how do we educate all these people in the world.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you see the next 12 months going for Vektor in terms of live performances and promotional activities in support of Terminal Redux?
DiSanto: Tour, tour, tour! We have a month long tour in Europe in August, we’ve got another tour that we are working on for the United States in November- and for that we are going to emphasize more the West Coast because we totally skipped that on the Voivod tour. For 2017 our same booking agent in Europe is going to be working on a lot more shows there, and we will do another full US tour – we will see what offers come our way. At this point we are probably going to be doing some headlining tours, if some awesome band wants us to tag along though, that would be great.