Interview with The Opportunist!

Band: The Opportunist

Facebook / Merch
Genre: Melodic Hardcore / Beatdown

Q: Where did you get the band name "The Opportunist" from?

Myself (Danny) and our ex-guitarist Jacob are huge wrestling fans. Jim Ross would always call heels(bad guys for you non wrestling fans) Opportunists, especially two of our favorites Edge and Chris Jericho, so that's generally where we got the name from.

Q: You're working on a new EP, Drifter, that is set to release this year. When can we expect this EP?

Yes, we are currently working on the EP, Drifter, with our good friend Dustin "Huss" Miller, couldn't be happier to be working with such an awesome dude, as well as someone who is really good at what he does! He has done work with some amazing bands on their records and live stuff for Animals as Leaders, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Faceless, It Prevails, The HAARP Machine, and a ton of others.  So excited to have a sweet engineer, that's for sure!

Otherwise it is turning out amazing. We have roughly three or four sessions left all together.  Really excited to have new songs out. We recently had a few line up changes, which is why the record was delayed a bit but with the new guys on board, we think we have the strongest line up in T.O. to date. We are really stoked on getting this EP out. Look for a release date in May when we kick off our tour with our good friends Ballet and Senseless Beauty May 24 - June 12!

Q: What are some of the bands that grew you listening to, and does any of those bands influence your music now?

Oh yes for sure, everyone in the band has a huge variety when it comes to taste in music, so we listen to a large amount of different styles of music, but bands we are really influenced by that we still like to listen to would be like, Shai Hulud (can't wait for there new album!), Pantera, Hatebreed, Poison The Well, With Dead Hands Rising, At The Throne of Judgment, Modern Life is War, Too Pure To Die, Bury Your Dead, and Comeback Kid.  Then newer bands like The Ghost Inside, Hundredth, Counterparts, Structures, Liferuiner and rock bands like Foo Fighters, and Alice in Chains. We are all HUGE Deftones fans as well. We get down on country all kinds of shit, man hahaha!

Q: How is the underground metal scene in Des Moines, Iowa?

Well, some of our members have been in multiple bands that were partly based out of Des Moines or just played there a lot.  Our new drummer, Miles McClintock, and guitar player, Nick Kelly, live in Des Moines.  Espy and Danny live in Waterloo, which is where the band started and is pretty much based at. Flynn, our other guitarist, lives in Cedar Rapids. So we pretty spread out among Iowa, but the underground metal scene in Des Moines is great. 

They have some amazing bands coming out of there right now.  We are somewhat the different band of the area.  A lot of bands in Des Moines are doing the deathcore or djent-ish stuff, but we are more like a metal infused hardcore band. That's what we get told a lot so we get looked at a little differently I think, but not in a bad way.  It's just different for the area, but Des Moines and all the other cities in Iowa that host most of the local shows are all about the same where ever you go.  It's pretty awesome that we all try to support each other all over the state!

Q: What are your plans between now and when your EP, Drifter, releases?

We were supposed to be on tour in February but we had a few member changes and didn't want to go out without our ep, and we had a ton of shows fall through which is the unfortunate part of booking your own shows.  It gets hard out there sometimes trying to do it all on your own. But we have shows throughout February and March all over the Midwest, taking April off to get ready for our tour in May/June with Ballet and Senseless Beauty. The EP should be available by our May tour kick-off show!

Q: What band has been your favorite to play with live thus far?

By far, our dudes in Reaping Asmodeia. Those guys are ridiculous! We toured with them in November and it was probably one of the best times we have ever had in our lives. Those guys are so good!  They are like a machine every night, just perfect. Probably the best unsigned band out there right now! And just generally some of the best people you will ever meet. A lot of us have known Dan and Alex for a long time, so it is always a good time when the Reapers are around. Check them out if you haven't!

Q: Any shout outs to give?

Oh yeah plenty, we have had so many bands in the Midwest be nothing but awesome to us since we started! So bare with us.

Shout out to our Iowa homies: They Will Repent, Amass The Grave, The Curse of Hail, Crusader, Buster Casey, The Impact of Reason, Eddie Buzzard, Black Ice, Dividing The Masses, Greg The Hero, Senseless Beauty, Orson Welles, Kings, A Past Unknown, A Casual Affair, Undisclosed, Dustin Miller and Audio Aggregate Studios, Zombie Burger, Pablo's Mexican Grill, and our other friends you should all check out: Reaping Asmodeia, Ballet, Our Judgment, Conveyer, Clocks, Colossus, Superior, Of Glaciers, and all of our other friends and family! There are too many to list but most of all shout out to you guys at Pig Squeals And Breakdowns! What you guys do for bands is awesome and really hard to come by. Thanks so much!