Meet Thourn | Musicians/Metal Band

We had the good fortune of connecting with Thourn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Thourn, why did you pursue a creative career?
The short answer is as an outlet for both ourselves and our listeners. Life in general has its share of hardships whether they be the normal day to day stresses, or the more severe moments that take a heavier toll. Having a way to help cope with these moments is something that we have found essential. As kids it started as going out to concerts with friends to see our favorite bands and just have a moment where we could escape these problems for a few hours. We all at some point realized that as much as we enjoyed being able to have this we wanted to help provide that for others and be a part of that escape.

Beyond the escape for others it is just an all around amazing way to express ourselves. Being able to take a piece of yourself or an experience and put it in a tangible piece of art is an extremely fulfilling thing. Then that circling back around to having that escape for others in our music creates a strange sense of community. Seeing people sing along to your music or listening to it because they can relate helps you and the listener know that other people understand whatever it is they are feeling and thats a truly indescribable feeling.

Beyond that though it is just something that we all love to do. As the saying goes “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Which is a huge driving force in us trying to move forward with a career in the creative arts. We have all had the normal 9 to 5 and most of us still do but stepping out of the day to day rat race even for just a night is a rush that can not be beat.

It is almost like getting on a roller coaster. You are waiting for your turn to be called up and sit down. The entire time you are simultaneously excited, and nervous, and even have moments where you aren’t even sure why you are doing this. Then that time finally comes and the bars go down and things start moving. The cart starts going up and up and your heart starts to race until you have finally made it to the top. There is a brief moment of clarity where time slows down then you plunge down and all the adrenaline that has built up gets released in a loud scream.

Performing, creating, and expressing ourselves in this artistic form is like this, and so much more and it is something that none of us would trade for the world.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
We have always felt what sets us apart is being willing to step out of the box. In our industry there are some generally necessary cliches that everyone takes a part in just like any other industry. We try to evaluate though where this can be changed on either the surface level, behind the scene works, or both even.

When we write music we like to write music that means something to us first. It is usually very easy to tell when a band is writing music that is just not genuine to them as people. That is a huge element that if missing makes it just another song or band. If that is the case you really limit yourselves as an artist and have put a glass ceiling on yourselves. We are not a band who is afraid to take risks and that opens up either the possibility of you being set apart from others and cutting through the generic market or it could fail but even then it becomes a learning experience and we take something away from that as well.

For example we have two music videos out. One if for our song Identify and while we are still happy with the overall project itself we tried a few things that in the end did not translate as well as we had hoped they would. On average many bands spend anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars on a music video. We were able to keep that down to a budget of around $250 for the days we spent working on this. After that came out we realized we needed to reevaluate what we were doing on how we did it.

When we went back into recording our music video for Two Faces we stripped the idea of what is needed for a music video down to the essentials and what the most economical way of doing this way be as well as a way to give a good performance during the music video without pulling away from the music itself. By the end of the music video the budget for the day while still creating an amazing product came out to about $80 and the final product was one we were much happier with and got a better response from our fans.

It is all trial and error really. If you do something and it goes well then remember that and find ways to improve on it. If you fail though do not let it be something that discourages you let it just be another lesson that you can learn from so you can take the next step with a better knowledge of how to not have it happen again.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The easiest way to do this would be creating an actual Itinerary. Our vocalist Niko considers himself somewhat is a planner when it comes to travel so this is the “Itinerary” that he would create.

Monday – Take it easy, traveling is exhausting and it is going to be a long week. Best way to go about this is taking them to one os San Diego’s amazing taco shops for a California burrito. San Diego truly does have the best Mexican Food in the states and something we take a great deal of pride in

Tuesday – For arguments sake let’s just say that the Tuesday they are in town happen to be the third one of the month Balboa park is a perfect option at that point. Residents get into many of the museums for free and while they may not be applied to this you can just split the cost of the admission. Even if your friend doesn’t like museums though Balboa park in general is one of the most beautiful parts of San Diego. From there you could take them to the San Diego Zoo, it is world famous for a reason. Then end the night by heading out to North Park or Hillcrest for some of the amazing breweries or one of our personal favorite bars Polite Provisions.

Wednesday – San Diego has some amazing beaches, one of my personal favorites is La Jolla. Scenic cliffs, great surfing if they are looking to give that a try, as well as great food and the best Gelato Spot in San Diego, Bobboi Gelato Natural Gelato. Once that is done move down south to Ocean Beach to wrap the day up Sunset Cliffs for one of the most picturesque sunsets you could imagine.

Thursday – By now the feelings of being in the city start to set in and can be a little exhausting. The weekend is coming and you will likely have a lot of plans for this so escape the population for a day and head east out to Mount Laguna and Julian. There are a multitude of trails that take you through the rural parts of San Diego and help show you that it is not all Beaches and Breweries and is a great “pallet cleanser.” From there you can head into Julian for the best pie in San Diego (or in the world depending in who you ask.) Then some visiting some of the small towns for some fun trinkets to take home with you. On your way back into town be sure to stop off at Grand Ole BBQ in Flinn Springs for the best beef ribs in town.

Friday – There is an incredible nightlife here and Friday night is one of the best nights to do it. Looking for a good club to go dance at, head downtown for the night. Something a little more simple head to North Park for some of the more hip trendy bars. Looking for something even simpler than that find a fun Karaoke bar. The options are limitless when it comes to a night out in San Diego night life.

Saturday – Head down to Mission Beach for the day and get some brunch then see Belmont Park or give paddle boarding a try on Mission Bay. Maybe you can even luck out and find a concert happening at Soma San Diego or Pachenga Arena that you can head to.

Sunday – The last night I would keep it simple, assuming they fly home Monday morning just have a day to recoup and enjoy the company of your best friend. Catch up on everything you haven’t had a chance to through the week. Invite some other friends over and have a few beers from one of the amazing local breweries here. Then end it with a personal favorite, heading out to Clairemont for one of the amazing Korean BBQ spots and out them into a food coma so they can get a good night sleep for their trip home the next morning.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The list of people that deserve a shoutout could not be summed up in a simple answer. We have all had family and friends show support by things as small as some kind words and sharing our music with others to attending an event we are performing at. I think that is part of what keeps us going is looking out into the crowd and seeing the people we care about most taking time out of their day to come see you do what you love.

A more specific shoutout though would be to our friends Chris and Colton at Stone Blind Media. They have done all of our music videos as well as majority of our promotional photos and our content we have put out would be nowhere near the quality that it is without their help and support through all of this. For this we will always be eternally grateful

This paired with bands we grew up listening to that just inspired us. It is almost every band any of us have seen live. There have been times where we felt discouraged about what we are doing until we see a band we love perform live and it just relights that fire. The earliest experience that can be recalled is when a few of the members were in high school and we went to a concert at Soma San Diego to see a couple of our favorite bands Miss may I and Attack Attack! After the show we all were hanging out and everyone was on the same page, “This is it, this is what we should be doing.”

Other bands such as A Day To Remember, Emmure, The Plot in You, Amity Affliction, Bring Me the Horizon, and so many more that if all of us listed them we wouldn’t have room to say anything else so I will just sum it up as any band that came through and San Diego to play SOMA or Warped Tour from 2008 and on you have made an impact on one of us at one time or another.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thournsound/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thournsound?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thournsound

Other: Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/6LMck9FnTVNmj7ybAXjlRd?si=zEJFrzxdQd-PDFm2Ayep1Q&dl_branch=1

Image Credits
Photography – Chris Echols