Crimson Moon: How did the band get started?
Donny: The band started when I was hanging out with Mike and he showed me some of his songs he had been working on. I thought his lyrics and melodies were really cool, so we worked on writing a song together called The Ants’ Demise. We then started to write more songs and recorded them in my basement on my 8-track studio. So it really started just writing songs and recording them, which eventually turned into our demo CD, the pre-cursor for our debut album.
Crimson Moon: What kind of music do you play?
Donny: We play a mix of modern hard rock and classic rock, all with a Christian basis.
Crimson Moon: How has the band response been?
Donny: The reviews of the album have been very positive. A lot of people like our music, especially locally. I think people appreciate the fact that we have made the album basically all ourselves.
Crimson Moon: Where did the band name come from?
Donny: We had some names floating around, but none of them really stood out to us. We eventually really like the word “Beings”, but it wasn’t enough. My fiance recommended that we call ourselves The Finite Beings. We loved this because it reflected our beliefs and sounded really cool. I think it’s a humble name.
Crimson Moon: Introduce the band members
Donny: Mike Nicholas is the drummer, lyricist and vocalist. I play guitar, bass guitar, and vocalist as well.
Crimson Moon: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Donny: Mike writes the majority of the lyrics. Together we write the music. This is most heard in the bass guitar. We sit down together and shape the bass to tie into the drums and guitar. Our first album really shows the collaboration between us.
Crimson Moon: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Donny: I know for Mike, he gets his lyrical ideas from personal experiences and biblical truths. He likes to portray his ideas in a creative visionary type of way. I really don’t know where my lyrical ideas come from. If you listen to the songs that I write the lyrics for, you’ll understand. I write what’s on my mind, and what I’m going through at the time I write them. But Mike writes most of the lyrics anyway.
Crimson Moon: How many albums/CDs have you released?
Donny: We have released one album, The Finite Beings (debut). We have each released a number of demos in other bands or solo, but this is our first real release.
Crimson Moon: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Donny: I’ll tell you about two of my favorite songs on the album.
The Adversary: This song is about the devil, and how he is the god of this world. Many people follow him and don’t even know it. Musically, it has a very classic rock vibe to it. There are cool solos in it, especially from my Father, Don DePaola. Mike and I take turns singing vocals in this song, which creates a cool call and response occurrence. It’s also a bit of a nutty song, a great representation of the humor and theatrical side of The Finite Beings. The Way: This is the last track, and the response to the entire album. It is the light at the end of the tunnel. After so many questions and philosophical struggles, we reveal “The Way”. The way is Jesus, who is also The Truth, and The Life (John 14:6). This is an uplifting track, with a catchy chorus. There’s also a great Metal breakdown, and an erie ending that leaves you in wonder. “It’s because we are who we are.”
Crimson Moon: Do you have any side projects?
Donny: Mike and I play on the worship team at our local church.
Crimson Moon: Who are some of your musical influences?
Donny: My biggest influences have to be The Beatles and Pink Floyd. Mike has also been influenced by Pink Floyd, but also a lot of modern music as well.
Crimson Moon: Which current bands?
Donny: My favorite band right now is Metric. They are probably the only modern band I truly follow. Mike has been listening to a band 10 Years that he likes a lot.
Crimson Moon: What is the band like when you play live?
Donny: There have been limited live shows. But we have a lot of fun, and interact with the audience. It’s very hard to play shows with only two guys in the band.
Crimson Moon: What was the best band you played with?
Donny: Mike’s old band Stillhaven opened up for Anthrax, which is really cool. As for us, we unfortunately haven’t yet.
Crimson Moon: Have you guys ever played in another country?
Donny: No, not yet.
Crimson Moon: How big of crowd shows up at shows usually?
Donny: At our CD release party we had an audience of about 70 people.
Crimson Moon: How is the crowd response when you play?
Donny: Very excited and into the music.
Crimson Moon: What is the scene like over in your country?
Donny: Not a big scene over here right now in Mahwah, NJ. At least from what I can tell.
Crimson Moon: What made you want to be in this band? And if you weren’t in this band what would you being doing now?
Donny: We want to do this band to spread the truth about Jesus Christ. We have found a worldview that fits this reality, and we care about the rest of the world enough to share it. We want to support it with pretty awesome music too. If I weren’t in this band, I would probably be doing the same thing I do now, going to school for Music Education.
Crimson Moon: What does the future hold for the band??
Donny: Another album eventually, and hopefully some more band members so we can play live shows. We have some new material in the works, and we are planning to start producing some of the tracks soon.
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/thefinitebeings
http://www.reverbnation.com/thefinitebeings
http://www.reverbnation.com/thefinitebeings
