Interview: Jeremy DePoyster of The Devil Wears Prada

Known for their innovative blend of metalcore, post-hardcore, and melodic elements, The Devil Wears Prada has been a powerhouse in the metal scene for over a decade.

As the anticipation builds for The Devil Wears Prada‘s much-awaited August tour Down Under, we are thrilled to sit down for a chat with the band’s guitarist and vocalist Jeremy DePoyster.

SR: Aside from the shows, of course, what are you most excited about?

JD: I think just the culture in general. I like the people in Australia. It’s just such a fun place. I like the attitude of everybody and the food’s awesome. I’m just excited to be there.

SR: Fantastic! And obviously we’re pretty excited to have you here! All your shows have pretty much sold out already.

JD: Yeah, that’s insane.

SR: I think it’s pretty safe to say it’s going to have a really good energy!

JD: Yeah, I was saying earlier, I don’t think I’ve ever played a bad sold out show in my life. I don’t plan on starting now.

SR: I don’t think it’s possible [to have a bad sold out show]. I mean, if it’s selling out, obviously everyone wants to be there and will be loving it.

JD: Yeah, it’s hyped. It’s awesome.

SR: What do you love the most about touring?

JD: I think it’s really just the shows. Obviously, I’ve been doing that for almost 20 years now, so there’s parts of it that are fatiguing. You know, I hate being away from my house and my family and stuff, but I just really like playing shows and it’s nice to meet other people in bands, usually for the most part they’re really awesome. So you kind of make these lifelong friends that do the same thing you do. It’s pretty fun.

SR: That’s lovely! And you’ve kind of answered this but what would you skip about touring? I think you’d probably like to skip how long it takes to get back home [laughs].

JD: Yeah … the travelling part is fun. It’s just, you know, like the better you’re doing, the busier you are. But you know, I think when I was younger I couldn’t wait to get away from home, and now I’m just like, man, I love being at my house, but it’s all good. Good problem to have.

SR: Yeah, that is true. Do you have any plans for places that you’d like to visit while you’re on the tour?

JD: There’s some good food I’d like to try. Melbourne has a pretty cool scene for food. Uh, in general, I want to go to the beach. I know it’s gonna be cold, but I’m a big beach guy, so I’ll probably try and hit some of the beaches, but other than that, I’m kind of just along for the ride, where we have the spirit of adventure. So we’re always just looking up cool stuff to do every day.

SR: Sounds good! I would probably recommend doing the beach in Sydney rather than in Melbourne if you can. It’s slightly warmer.

JD: Yeah, it seems so … I was looking at the weather. That’s what it looks like.

SR: And it’s usually the best in the middle of the day, so if you get a chance later in the day, that’s what I recommend. It can be nice and almost warm enough in the middle of the day.

JD: Okay, fair.

SR: You mentioned before that you’ve been doing this for almost 20 years now and you really are almost at that major milestone. Does it feel like it’s been that long to you? Because it definitely doesn’t for me. I remember when I first heard about the band and it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long [laughs].

JD: Yeah, I guess it does and it doesn’t. I’ve been doing this for more of my life than I haven’t, but, you know, it still feels fresh and new and exciting in a lot of ways. So yeah, it definitely feels like maybe 10 years. I can feel 10 years.

SR: Yeah, I’m the same. It just doesn’t feel like that second decade has happened yet.

JD: Yeah, it’s terrifying.

SR: But it’s good that it still feels fresh, I mean there are probably some bands out there who are exhausted at the 20 year mark.

JD: Yeah. I feel like just having the pandemic and having everything taken away was kind of a reset on priorities and I just really don’t know what my life looks like without this type of an outlet creatively and playing shows and stuff like that. So that kind of gave us a new lease on it, of like “man, we really need this” … It’s awesome!

SR: So you wouldn’t change anything?

JD: Oh I’d change a few things, but you know, I’m not in control, so I’m just here for the ride.

SR: That’s a good answer! And what does 2024 hold for you? Because it’s been a big year for you guys already and we’re only halfway through. I mean, your 2 new singles “Ritual” and the reworking of “Reasons” … they’re blowing up on Spotify and they are really good songs! So yeah, what does 2024 hold for you?

JD: Thank you. We’re working on even more new music we’ve been writing like a lot of stuff, just on the little bits of off time we’ve gotten over the last couple of years and so we’ve kind of just been formulating those into, like real songs, you know, taking them out of the session mindset and trying to finish them. So we’ll probably, I would imagine at least release one new song before the end of the year and then it’s … we’re kind of like it’s a little bit too early to be putting a record together. It feels like [that] just because we’ve been so busy touring the last one, but maybe next year. But we just have a lot of touring … we’re going to Australia; we’re going to play a bunch of festivals in the [United] States. We’re probably gonna do another tour in the States, and then we’re going back to Europe early 2025. And I wanna come back to Australia and do a headline tour next year. So just staying busy, I guess.

SR: That’s a good problem to have: staying busy with touring.

JD: Yeah, it’s great.

SR: And speaking of touring, you guys are playing When We Were Young [festival].

JD: Yes.

SR: I’m so jealous of everyone going. It’s one of like the most amazing festival lineups I’ve ever seen. I love to be there. Are you excited to be playing with all these bands that kind of grew up alongside yours?

JD: Yeah. I am very excited. It feels like a class reunion, kind of, like as they were announcing all from, you know, it’s like A Day to Remember and Motionless in White and August Burns Red and you know we really all grew up together kind of on the Warped Tour thing and touring together throughout all that stuff. So it’s gonna be a fun backstage hang for sure.

SR: Oh, I can imagine! I should probably wrap this up, even though I could probably sit here asking you question after question for hours [laughs], so I’d just like to know if there’s anything you’d like to say to your fans in Australia ahead of the tour?

JD: Um … I wanna apologise for taking so long to come back. We will not do that again! I’d like to come once a year if we can. And I’m just really excited to be playing all these new songs that we’ve never had the chance to play there. You know, I think we’re really proud of the last couple records that we’ve made. And we’re excited to play that and a bunch of old stuff, and it’s going to be a big party, so we’re pumped!

SR: That’s awesome! Oh, I did want to know what could expect from the set list, so you’ve answered that for me. Thanks!

JD: Career spanning I think they call it. Yeah.

SR: It really sounds awesome and it would be so good if you could come here every year. I know we are far away, though. It can be hard to squeeze us in that often.

JD: Yeah. It is, but there’s such a good scene there and there’s so many great bands from there. And yeah, I just, I’d like to make it more regular.

SR: Fingers crossed. It would be really great if we could see you more often. And thank you so much for 20 years!

JD: Thank you. Thank you very much.

You can catch The Devil Wears Prada at one of the shows below, but be quick as most are already sold out!