The Voice of the Voiceless: Radiodrone Speaks the Truth

To be honest, it takes some balls to label yourself nu-metal in 2015. Well, it’s clear that Orange County products Radiodrone certainly have a pair because that’s exactly what the metallers have done. Their recently released LP, The Truth Syndicate Diaries, houses all of the hallmarks of releases from the bygone nu-metal heyday, a sound that plays well in this day and age.

Ethan Hedayat, Radiodrone’s lead vocalist, spent a few minutes with us to express the bands love to nu-metal, the legacy of heavy bands from Orange County, what fans can expect from The Truth Syndicate Diaries and the meaning behind the album, as well as the idea of downloading an album as opposed to purchasing a physical copy.

Get eXposed Music: You describe your music as nu-metal despite the many, many negative connotations surrounding the much-maligned genre. Were/are you guys nu-metal fans? If so, who were/are some of your favorite bands from the time period? 

Ethan Hedayat: The genre of nu-metal I believe is become a much more broad category then in the past when it was first coined "maligned" or dark/evil, though many of the initial bands that were stamped as nu-metal did have a heavy and darker overtone, this was just exemplary of the current state of society in their reality. Music tends to be the voice of the people, especially in the rock categories, driving all the way back to punk rock. Nu-metal to me is modern punk rock or the voice of anarchy. I am very proud to stamp the voice of anarchy or nu-metal on RadioDrone. I make a point to speak the truth and look through the haze created by entities with agendas to facilitate their pocketbooks and power. All four of us in the band have influence and initial liking of the nu-metal genre; obviously Korn is one of the staples of this time period, not to mention Avatar, Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, Hellyeah, Tool and I could go on but I would like to state that to call us a ‘nu-metal’ band in today’s description puts this in a much larger category of bands reaching a much larger demographic of society.

Radiodrone hails from music hotbed Orange County, which has spawned a number of highly successful heavy bands such as Atreyu, Ignite and Avenged Sevenfold. Do you consider yourselves the next big heavy band to come out of the OC? Is that a thought that doesn’t even enter your mind?

Well it's definitely not something that we dwell upon and actually is never even come up in conversation. I will say that we poured our hearts and souls into this band. We have all done many projects and so much music in so many facets that this album along with Cameron Webb as our producer is the essence of Orange County at its finest right now. If this parlays into us being the next big thing you certainly won't find us complaining about it.

Speaking of the OC, you worked with famed producer Cameron Webb, who worked with fellow OC products Social Distortion, on The Truth Syndicate Diaries. Tell me, what did he bring to the recording process? 

Cameron was a big part of this album, not just as a producer and engineer, he also is a friend. He really went the extra mile with this album. I like to say he really sunk his teeth into it personally, not just as a producer, but adding his insight and/or suggestions and changes. I have done many recording projects but none like this one; the combination of this band as individuals along with Cameron’s talent and excitement made for a magic time in the studio. He has the ability to push you to your limits and beyond what you thought you had inside of you without being an asshole about it. I think it's very safe to say that any future Radiodrone albums will have Cameron Webb's name on it.

Aside from Webb, how was the recording process of this record? Tell me how things went for the band.

Well in regards to the band we went from a place where we were writing and practicing and working as a band together, to individually tracking with Cameron. So it shifted from being together playing a song to coming in and supporting each other as individuals, then coming back to hear what the outcome was and in every case we blew each other away. It was again really amazing to hear the individual growth and development per song as it got tracked. It brought us together on yet another level. And then to all come together to hear the mix was like a Roman orgy in your ears, well not necessarily the sounds of a Roman orgy - it wasn't all grunting and groaning and sloshing, but I think you know what I mean! It was a quite euphoric group experience! Also I have to mention our stage manager Jason Walker or Jwalker as we call him. Jason was a part of the entire recording process, there with us helping and supporting. I personally look forward to doing it all again on the next album.

What can fans expect from The Truth Syndicate Diaries? If you had to describe the record, how would you do so?

Well the name says a lot about the album. We speak the truth and personify that throughout the entire album. It's a theme album, the theme being that we are speaking for the people rather than the corporations and politicians and leaders that are running on their own agenda. There are 10 songs on the album and 21 tracks. Each song has been touted as a single and within the song the lyrical content as a viable and pertinent meaning for each there is a little introduction to go with it. It doesn't so much tell a story, but more so provides an educational walkthrough of our current status in the world. It’s very pro USA or at least what our Constitution initially stood for before recent political parties got their hands and pens on it. Most importantly, the music is just damn good regardless of the message and that was our goal, to make an album of singles rather than a couple singles and a bunch of fillers. I believe we accomplish that goal.

With a name like The Truth Syndicate Diaries, is it safe to assume that the album is rife with political/government themes? 

Fuck yes! Not just political and government themes, but also world issues, environmental and otherwise.

What comes after the record release for Radiodrone?

A world tour and more videos would be the ultimate goal for Radiodrone, then another album and another tour and more videos and then another album another tour and more videos. Personally, I would like to throw a couple movies in there, not to mention more interviews so we can continue to spread the word through music and art.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I think that an incredibly important to bring up is purchasing a CD/vinyl over a digital download, being that the digital download is not only shit quality but also it is shitting on the artist. We need to turn the tables back to where artists can make a living off of producing arts. This is not possible because the artists are making money for companies that have nothing to do with them or music so as they grow, artists suffer. This will end up in a very sad state of affairs. Well, it already is a very sad state of affairs. I should say it will continue to make the lifestyle of a musician look like a lifeless desolate barren desert.