Austin-based alternative rock trio Dining with Devils return with their latest single ‘The One Below’, a groove-heavy blast of grunge and desert rock that channels the spirit of the 90s while carving out a sound distinctly their own. Built from a spontaneous rehearsal riff and shaped through live jamming, the track captures the band’s raw chemistry and instinctive approach to songwriting.
Driven by thick guitars, pounding rhythms, and a gritty vocal performance, ‘The One Below’ blends the atmospheric weight of Alice in Chains with the swagger and intensity of Queens of the Stone Age. Beneath its heavy exterior lies a sharp lyrical core, exploring morality, perception, and the pressure of always being expected to “take the high road.”
For Dining with Devils, music is an outlet shaped by authenticity, creativity, and a genuine love for rock music in all its forms. As they continue building momentum across Austin’s live circuit with shows at venues like Valhalla ATX and Far Out Lounge, the band are quickly establishing themselves as a rising force within the alternative scene.
We caught up with Dining with Devils to talk about their new material, their creative philosophy, and how they’re shaping their identity both on stage and in the studio.
–
Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got started in music?
All of our stories are a little different.
James: I was never the cool kid. I used to be involved in sports until about the age of seven, when I found my Uncle’s old guitar in a closet in my Grandma’s house. I was taken with it enough for my parents to buy me a cheap acoustic and put me in some classical guitar lessons but I was a small kid too, so the guitar was hard for me to play because it was so big. Coincidentally, the dad of one of my close friends taught guitar. So I started taking lessons from him instead and he was very influential on me. He introduced me to Led Zeppelin, Boston, Black Sabbath. He burned me CDs of virtuosos like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Just a metric ton of foundational rock and metal and unparalleled guitar work. He basically took this kid who thought Ozzy, Tesla and Twisted Sister sounded cool and fanned those flames. He taught me how to play the songs I wanted to learn and encouraged me to make my own. We used that beater electric guitar of my uncle’s until I was ready for my first real one and my teacher went with my dad and I to pick it out.
Andy: I started music when I was younger as a way of filling a gap in free time as well as bonding with my dad. When the opportunity came for me to learn an instrument, I didn’t immediately jump on board. Despite getting my first drum kit around the age of seven, it wasn’t until I was 10 that I truly cared to learn and try at the instrument, but once I did an entire new world of self expression opened up to me. I jumped on learning the entire discography of Led Zeppelin, my favorite band at the time. By the time I was 15 decided I had built enough self-confidence to finally want to start a band. I formed “The Pleasure Principle” with a buddy to help us through COVID, and our two person group of Led Zeppelin and Van Halen covers lasted us until I graduated senior year
Gabs: I was a shy and introverted child, which is when I first found music through the piano. However, I only truly got serious in my twenties when I picked up the bass. I have always listened to a wide variety of music without sticking to one specific genre, though certain trends have defined different chapters of my life. I have fond memories of the 90s; as a teenager then, I began developing my own musical opinions and discovering what I truly liked, specifically grunge and metal. Later, I moved toward very different styles like electronic and funk. Jamiroquai had a major impact on me—it was through them that I realized just how cool the bass guitar could be. Soon after landing my first job, I bought my first bass and, a couple of years later, joined my first small cover band in Paris. Things really started to pick up after I moved to Australia. I spent a decade there involved in multiple bands—mostly covers, but also an original project—and learned a great deal from a fantastic music teacher.
Who are your biggest musical influences and how have they shaped your sound?
Collectively, we pull a lot from the big four of grunge, primarily Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. However, each of us also share an appreciation for groups like Silverchair, Queens of the Stone Age, Rush, Led Zeppelin and many others. Ultimately we’re all big fans of music as an art form. You can hear a lot of the alternative rock and metal influence from early grunge in our work. Sludgy, heavy riffs that incorporate drawling bends of notes. We love that in an environment where metal seems encouraged to be faster and louder and less intelligible, we do our best to put out relatable lyrics that you can understand and rhythms that you can bang your head to.
Was there a specific moment or experience that made you decide to pursue music seriously?
For us as a group, it really comes down to our relationship with each other. We each had our own relationship with music up until the point where we all met but once we did, everything clicked and we knew that together we had something rare. We each had previously attempted our own projects or casually played in cover bands or what have you. But once we found each other, everything almost took off on its own.
Can you walk us through your typical songwriting process?
Usually James will come in with a riff that he’s had recorded on his phone for a while and we’ll jam it out. Sometimes he’ll already have multiple parts arranged, sometimes it’s a loose jam on a less concrete idea. But we all know it when we hear it. Once we hear something that we all like to play together, we know it and we start working it until it becomes what we want it to be.
How do you find inspiration for your music and lyrics?
Life, really. Every day experiences, relationships, things that we all go through. Sometimes someone will say a word or a phrase that gets your mind going on lyrical ideas or it will conjure images and put your imagination to work. But ultimately we find our inspiration in the relatability of being humans and what we all go through.
What themes or messages do you hope listeners take away from your music?
Our chief hope is that our listeners feel heard, which might be a weird thing to say. But since we write so much about our own experiences and reflect a lot of ourselves in our music, we hope that resonates with our listeners as well and that they know they’re not alone in whatever they may be going through.
What challenges have you faced as an emerging artist in the music industry?
What challenges haven’t we faced? We started this group from nothing and we continue to gain momentum from our own hard work and the honing of our songwriting. All of the artists we look up to came from a different era. There was no social media. The ability to make music and distribute it wasn’t as widely available to everyone as it is now, so all of their stories, while very insightful, don’t always apply in the modern day. Our biggest challenge has been our social media presence. Finding a way to bring our authenticity to the biggest tool to reach an audience that we all have at our fingertips while also cutting through the noise of everyone else doing the exact same thing. None of us particularly care for being influencers. We love making music. So mastering social media as a tool to help us be seen and hopefully heard by potential fans across the world is really the foremost challenge for us right now.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of your musical journey so far?
We recently finished our first album, which is a big deal for us. A lot of people are out there pushing albums but we got to partner with our producer, who approached us to collaborate and we’re very proud of that (shoutout to David Southern because we love him). So the most rewarding aspect for us has been to hear our hard work crystallized in recordings that we made together, as a trio of found brothers. We love making music together and spending time together. Getting to do that with the people you’re closest to is a huge reward in and of itself.
How do you stay true to yourself and your artistry in a constantly evolving industry?
That’s all we know. We started this project from the ground up. Each of us is inherently honest and authentic and we answer only to ourselves. The industry may be constantly evolving but our north star is always the power trio, ourselves. We brought ourselves this far in the creation of our art and the belief in ourselves and for all of us, it’s all about being authentic. You won’t see us doing anything that we don’t believe in.
What can fans expect from you in the near future? Any upcoming projects or tours?
Our first album comes out on June 5th of this year, so we’re very excited about that. We have an increasingly busy calendar of shows that folks can find on our website. We’re also excited to say that we’ll be offering a limited vinyl run of the album later this year as well, with a show to promote it.
Where do you see yourself and your music career in the next five years?
We’d all like to see how far this can take us and how much our songwriting and playing skills can continue to improve. The pie-in-the-sky answer of course is international touring and several more releases under our collective belt. We have big dreams for ourselves and why shouldn’t we chase them.
–
Listen to Dining With Devils’ new single ‘The One Below’.
