Downstait

Downstait

Downstait

If you’ve ever watched any WWE programming, MTV’s “Bully Beatdown,” or ESPN, chances are you’ve heard Downstait, though you may not have known it.

The Fort Wayne, Ind., heavy and melodic metal band, which shares similar style to fellow rock bands like Sevendust and Breaking Benjamin, has been appearing everywhere, from high school sports games to being the theme music for wrestlers such as The Miz and Dolph Ziggler.

“At the time (we were on WWE) I was 19 or 20 or something like that, so it was mind-blowing to hear myself on TV. It’s funny because we’ve heard it so many times, it’s like ‘Oh yeah, that’s me,’” bassist and vocalist Sean Arata says, with a laugh.

Touring the Midwest until late December, the band will make its second appearance in St. Joseph at Tremors Downtown Nightclub Dec. 1 in support of its new single, “Bad” and upcoming album to be released in January 2013.

Living in different cities in Indiana, Arata and guitarist/vocalist Justin Call found writing the new songs four hours apart, with music and lyrics traveling through e-mails, a difficult, yet rewarding for the new album.

“This new album ... is really the first album where we’re like, ‘This is what we want to sound like,’” Arata says.

Fans of the band may get a longer preview of the album, as its touring partner, Viasava, had to drop off due to traveling issues.

“We’re now the headliner on this tour ... So we have a longer set now, and we get to play more songs than we thought we were able to, which is really exciting,” Arata says.