Hailing from Ohio, The Theos Variant are an emerging force in modern rock. They debuted last year with a cracking single called ‘Wait’ and have since unleashed another four new tunes, each as good as the last.
Their most recent, ‘Mechanical Organism’, has quickly become one of my standout tracks of the year, and I am honoured to have had the opportunity to talk with The Theos Variant’s frontman Dan Lentz.
Discussing all things ‘Mechanical Organism’, his passion for all music from the view of a trained opera singer, and his current thoughts on the music industry and its oversaturation, please give a big welcome to our new friend Dan Lentz of The Theos Variant!
Hi Dan! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us! I’m stoked to introduce you to our audience! Before we get into the nitty-gritty, could you tell us about The Theos Variant and how you would describe your sound for those who have yet to discover it?
The Theos Variant started out as a project for Geoff and me to get the music we wrote 20 years ago as Sullen Aura out to the public. The name “Theos” is Greek for God and variant has that sci-fi element. So we are combining spiritual/ghostly afterlife elements with sci-fi elements, and that is the sound we are going for. A fusion of electronic and rock elements or post-grunge 2000s rock with nü metal and alternative metal.
I’ve fallen deeply in love with the band’s most recent single ‘Mechanical Organism’. It’s such a powerful, immersive, and hard-hitting offering. What does the song mean to you and how did the creative process unfold?
Thank you! We are so flattered that you think that about this song. We are incredibly humbled and proud of how it turned out and thankful for Benedikt and Thomas who engineered and mixed it and mastered it. I’d also like to thank Ben Fowler at Jefferson Street Studios here in Bloomington Indiana who recorded my vocals.
To me, this song means the duality and collision between humanity/the natural world and artificial intelligence. It’s also a metaphor for the collision between the unknown and the known. It means we are headed in a new direction and to adapt to the new we must be okay with change, but we must remain healthy in our minds at the same time. The song came together by Geoff sharing an instrumental track with me several months ago and a few words with a theme and a title and then just told me to come up with ideas for that. After repeatedly listening and singing along to it, I organically came up with a story or lyrics that was revised over time between the two of us.
Now, I’m sorry to pose such a tough question so early on, but what song of The Theos Variant are you most proud of and why?
Right now I am most proud of this latest single just because it sounds the most professional and huge out of all of our songs. But I will say that ‘Future Ghosts’ from our first album is an incredible achievement from the two of us that still surprises me.
Who are some of your biggest musical influences? Who did you grow up listening to? And would you say that your tastes have changed over the years?
There are so many musical influences for me that the answer to this question would probably be a short story. I guess it depends on the genre. For example, my favourite rock band right now is Sleep Token just because you can’t put a label on them. They combine so many different genres of music, which I think Geoff and I are also trying to do.
I am also a trained opera singer, so I grew up listening to a lot of classical music. In that realm, my favourite composer would be Johann Sebastian Bach, and I have sung a lot of his repertoire. I’ve also sung a lot of Mozart. In the musical realm, I really enjoy Stephen Sondheim.
For electronic music, my favourite artist has to be Nine Inch Nails. Yes, my tastes have changed a lot over the years and are continually changing and will continue to change. I feel like I have moods of music that I go through every season. Actually, some of my favourite types of music to listen to are jazz and ambient meditative music.
If you (or the band) were allowed to “steal” one song in the world and claim it as your own, what would it be and why?
That is a tough question because I really wouldn’t like to do that since it makes me feel weird thinking of someone else stealing our music. The best answer for that that I can give is that Geoff and I would write a song in the style of a band we are thinking of to honour them.
A lot of people have told us that there are certain songs from our first album that sound a lot like Alice in Chains. I think they hear that because I heard them in my head when I wrote the songs and I also like to add several vocal harmonies (this probably comes from my barbershop quartet background. I was in a quartet for nine years).
So, in a sense, we are borrowing/honouring the spirit of Alice in Chains a lot in our music along with several other artists which you can hear in our songs. Hypothetically though, if I’m just fantasizing here, then I am wondering how big our band would be if we wrote ‘Take Me Back To Eden’ by Sleep Token. That is a song unlike any I’ve ever heard and a freaking masterpiece.
What are your thoughts regarding the music industry of today? And, if you could, what changes would you make to it?
The music industry today is oversaturated and it is a lot like the streaming film industry. I think the pandemic really hurt the live show industry and we are starting to bounce back but we haven’t fully recovered. The content is so overwhelming for what is new. The music industry is an investment of time and money that hopefully pays off in the end. I will say that I think it is easier to get your name out there today than it was 15 years ago but I don’t know if there’s anything I would change. It’s always been highly competitive. I know that even in the opera world.
What would “being successful” in the music industry look like for you? And do you see it as an imperative or more of a cherry on top?
Being successful in the music industry looks like our band touring and our songs being streamed so much that they are being monetized. The only reason I care about that is because money provides us the opportunity to write more music and share it with the world and that is the most fun thing to do. Also performing live shows. I am passionate about performing and my goal is to do both; as The Theos Variant and as an opera singer. I think it’s imperative that I keep working to do this. The cherry on top is that if this actually happens.
Thanks again for taking the time Dan! It’s been great getting to know you a bit better! Before we say farewell, what comes next for you musically, and do you have any words of wisdom you’d like to leave us with?
What comes next for me musically is I am going to New York in November to get some feedback from professional coaches and agent(s) about how to market myself in the opera industry. Also, I am going to learn the role of Figaro in Rossini’s Barber of Seville because I’m going to cover that role at Druid City Opera in May 2025 in Alabama.
I know it sounds cliché to say but if you can’t see yourself doing anything else then perhaps music isn’t for you. You have to live it and breathe it. It has to be like you forget everything else sometimes, almost an obsession. That being said, you have to take breaks for your mental health. The road to a career is long and arduous. You have to be patient and you never know if or when you will be successful, but the investment is worth it and the journey is what it’s all about, not the destination.
