Of Virtue At Welcome To Rockville

Moments after playing at Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, Of Virtue guitarist, vocalist Damon Tate and drummer Ryan Trinh spoke of a new album, how playing at a festival is different than a standard gig, and opened up regarding mental health issues.

Though this was their first appearance at Welcome to Rockville, Of Virtue is not new to festival life.  

Damon Tate, guitar, vocals, has been with Of Virtue from the beginning.

"Were starting to pop up in the Danny Wimmer ecosystem," Mr. Tate commented. "We did Inkcarceration in '23 that was the first time we did that. We're doing it again this year."

The Daytona Beach-based Welcome to Rockville is a Danny Wimmer Production, as is Inkcarceration, a music and tattoo festival that runs July 18-20 at the Ohio State Reformatory.  

The band has performed at numerous festivals both in the States and Europe. Being vets of festival playing, how does one prepare to perform?

"It's just balls to the wall the entire time," Mr. Tate explained. "You figure a festival, you're probably going to play 25 minutes, 30 minutes...So you're like, I'm coming out there swinging."

He said Of Virtue focuses on "the headline stuff" while throwing in some oldies, but the down and dirty of their setlist is "whatever people know, whatever the bangers are, whatever the singles (are)."

Hailing from Lansing, Michigan, the metalcore band  Of Virtue formed in 2008. "I'm the newest member of the band," said drummer Ryan Trinh. He joined in 2021.

There have been various line-ups. The current band, in addition to Mr. Trinh and Mr. Tate, includes Tyler Ennis on vocals and Michael Valdez on guitar. It is this version that Mr. Tate described as more serious, "a business per se" as opposed to simply playing for kicks.

Their most recent LP, Omen, was released in October 2023. "Streaming wise, it hit 50 million on Spotify. That was an incredible milestone. Like, I never would of thought, I'd be a part of something like that," Mr. Tate said. The 12-track disc is the band's fourth studio album. They also have three EPs.

Ryan Trinh joined Of Virtue in 2021 after some work as a solo artist.

A fifth studio record is on the horizon. "Things are definitely on the road to getting to the next LP," Mr. Trinh informed.

Currently, they are off the road and in the studio. The writing process is collaborative, often incorporating nonbandmates as well. Squeezed for the title of the LP, they said that no title has been picked yet.

Mr. Tate joked that life is his influence when he writes, but then mentioned Deftones, Korn, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Sevendust and Slipknot among many, before mentioning Dallas Green from Alexisonfire, "He's the reason I sing the way that I do."

Mr. Trinh explained that various genres have driven his drumming style, "I listen to a lot of, like, modern music. A lot of the modern metalcore that you hear nowadays are pretty big influences. But also, I love pop music, radio pop, catchy melodies, is what I'm about."

The band is open to writing about their mental issues, as this chorus from "A.N.X.I.E.T.Y "demonstrates.

A.N.X.I.E.T.Y

Why can't I breathe?

I'm tired of suffocating

A.N.X.I.E.T.Y

Why can't I see?

I'm losing my grip on reality

The song is from the  record "Omen."

They willingly speak about mental issues that have affected them and others in their lives.

Mr. Tate, "I just have, like, an addictive personality so that can manifest itself in a bunch of different ways, impulse control, self-esteem issues, how I view myself. And the thing that's most important for me is positive self-talk, if you're having those down moments, even today, a festival is never gonna go completely perfect. Or the way you think it's going to. And it's like you can allow yourself to kind of sink into that place where, oh, everything's just going to do do. Or keep talking, keep realizing, hey, nope, just get through it. Fix this. Just do that. And eventually you kind of come out on the other end and you're like, okay, nice."  Before self-talk was a part of his salve, Mr. Tate would turn to drugs.

He said communicating is key, no matter what one is dealing with. "Allowing people to take some of that burden from me and realize that there are people that care about me that will do that, and I shouldn't feel guilty or feel some type of way about that."

For Mr. Trinh, it's been his family and friends who have been affected by mental health issues. "So I've been around it a lot, and then you learn to empathize and sympathize with them a lot, and it kind of reinstates the fact that you have to take care of each other. Where someone might look like they're the happiest they've ever been. But when you kind of dig a little bit deeper, some of the most unhappy of my friends, I thought were the happiest they'd ever been." What he found out by diggi dngeeper is "it turns out they were at their lowest point." Mr. Trinh focuses on sympathy, empathy and "being ready to help… I'm more than happy to do that."

Mr. Tate added, "Sometimes you don't even have to say anything. You just listen. Just be intent…. a lot of times, people, they just don't feel heard.

At every show, Mr. Tate asks the audience to,  "Show love, show kindness, show mercy, (give) second chances." Because "those, to me, those are like the building blocks of establishing that humanity with people."

Expounding on giving second chances, he said, "If I have wronged you, if I have done something actively, that's like, Oh, hey, I've jeopardized our friendship, our relationship, whatever the case may be. Allow me the chance to make it up and show you that I can change, that I can correct this behavior."  He said give the person grace yet hold them accountable, "because, you know, a second chance without accountability is a wasted chance."

Of Virtue goes back on tour in July. It's a good bet that they'll add millions more to that 50 million streaming mark and, as Mr. Tate commented, they will continue doing things with the band that "We never thought…we would have been able to do."

Of Virtue

Of Virtue L-R foreground Damon Tate, Tyler. L-R background Ryan Trinh, Michael Valadez

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Photo credits: Of Virtue

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