As DEFEATED SANITY gear up to slam their way across America on their upcoming 2025 U.S. tour with SANGUISUGABOGG, DESPISED ICON and CORPSE PILE, the band has recently unleashed a new drum playthrough for what is arguably the most violent track on Chronicles of Lunacy, “Condemned to Vascular Famine.” Fan-voted as the album’s standout and now chosen as the band’s set opener, the song promises absolute chaos when it hits the stage night after night.
Founding drummer Lille Gruber and longtime bassist Jacob Schmidt are no strangers to U.S. roads, but with a new record out, a stronger lineup than ever, and a tour that reads more like a brutal death metal summit than a standard run of dates, this one feels different. Ahead of the shows, we caught up with Lille and Jacob to talk touring life, drumming endurance, jazz influences, family history, and freezing to death inside an RV in Buffalo.
I saw you performing with VITRIOL and SKELETAL REMAINS back in 2023 in Greensboro, NC (and in 2013 in Minsk, Belarus, haha) — what an incredible lineup that was! This time it’s even stronger, and I can’t wait to hear the new material live. You’re planning to focus mainly on songs from Chronicles of Lunacy, right?
Lille: Yessir! We originally intended to play the whole thing and nothing else. But I think we will reserve playing the whole album in its entirety for a later time, cus we don’t have all that much time and thought we need to squeeze some classix in as well.
Lille Gruber and Jacob Schmidt have toured the U.S. before. Did you ever get a chance to explore the country as tourists, not just musicians on the road? What places or cities impressed you the most? And since Josh Welshman and Vaughn Stoffey are American and know the country better — what are your favorite spots or “must-see” attractions in the U.S.?
Lille: We’ve been through the US a few times now so we saw quite a bit of stuff. I always dig New York, LA, Las Vegas… of course we didn’t have full on tourist stuff. I liked hanging at Josh’s place in Washington, too, nice lakes and mountains and stuff. It’s the stuff I like. Haven’t been to a lot of major attractions though to be honest. My fave attractions are the shows itself, haha.
Jacob: We’ve usually hit some stuff that was conveniently located along the way. Natural sites, movie locations and other stuff that we are connected to. We’ve been to the original site of the Morrisound studios, Jimi Hendrix’ grave, “The Exorcist” stairs and regular tourist stuff like the Lincoln Memorial, WTC ground zero, Niagara Falls. Since I’ve moved to the US I have of course been to many more places on my own or with my wife.
Lille, you’re an absolute beast behind the kit — DEFEATED SANITY wouldn’t be what it is without your drumming. You’re over forty now, but there’s zero sign of slowing down; in fact, your playing seems even more brutal than ever. What’s the secret to maintaining such insane physical form? And how long do you see yourself keeping up that level of intensity?
Lille: Hey, I really appreciate that and I gotta agree, I think speed wise I kick 21-year-old Lille’s ass. I am always waiting for some kinda trouble turning up honestly. It’s a lot of work and I grow tired of getting warm for a song like “Accelerating The Rot” or something….. but in general what I do is I practice Mon – Fri every day at 7:30 – 11:00 am. Its like my first job, then I go home cook HEALTHY food, NO drugs, NO alcohol, no excess, no friends lol, just practicing is my only thing during the week. Then weekends I hang with the girlfriend and some friends. Practice is my life’s center.
DEFEATED SANITY started as a family project, and the jazz influences that your father Wolfgang Teske brought in can still be heard in your music. Do you listen to jazz yourselves? And in general — what non-metal artists or genres do you enjoy?
Lille: Hey yeah, I do listen to a fair amount, Vaughn does come from that world completely, played with Chic Corea, Miles Davis, etc…members before he started with DS. Josh also has a lot of experience by having helped engineer some great names. So we’re connected to Jazz manifoldly. Some of my fave releases are Mahavishnu Orchestra Birds of fire, Miles Davis Aura, Gary Thomas The Kold Kage, Herbie Hancock Empyrean Isles, Duke Ellington – Money jungle……
By the way, why did Wolfgang Teske switch from drums to guitar back in the day? And what about Jonas Gruber, Lille’s brother — he was part of DEFEATED SANITY for a while but then left and seemed to disappear from the music scene. Do you still stay in touch with him?
Lille: Yeah, Wolfgang and I were trading instruments first. It came out naturally, cus he didn’t get the blast beat and thrashing rhythms. He was always known for being the super laid back drummer (some people called it California style, dunno why though, lol). At the same time I really got better and better at the extreme drumming thing, so that’s how that happened. Jonas wasn’t a Metal guy at all and was just helping his smaller brother out. He hated having 8 riffs in one song. He was like “WHY THE HELL ANOTHER Riff??? THAT’S IT I QUIT” LOLOL He’s still playing bass but more in a funky jam kinda manner. Recently he’s been playing in our stepfather Ron Spielmann’s band together with my other brother David on drums. Really fantastic stuff!
What does a typical tour look like for you guys — are there wild all-night parties, or are you the type who just play, pack up, and crash early? Are there any “forbidden” things on the tour bus?
Lille: Since I recently started a relationship with a fantastic woman, I tend to do the latter. I don’t like forbidden things. Drugs suck. I do love hanging out with some brothers and sisters after the show though! Being all dumb and shit. I don’t really enjoy going to the hotel right away, but sometimes its the smartest since u gotta get out to the next show….. it can be brutal. But yeah, in general we all enjoy having some drinks (non alcoholic for me haha) in a bar or something.
Jacob: Yeah we’re not your typical hotel room wrecking MOTLEY CRUE party band – but when the circumstances are right we do like to have a good time of course! It’s just that, like Lille says, most times a healthy sleep, so we can continue to crush our shows, is more important to us now.
Out of all the bands you’ve toured with, who were your favorite to share the stage with? Who were the absolute best tourmates?
Lille: Oh puuuuh not gonna choose one. GORGASM, TVV, PUTRID PILE, STABBING, MALIGNANCY, PUTRIDITY, INIQUITOUS SAVAGERY, STRANGLE WIRE, ORIGIN, EXIST, etc. All lovely as fuck guys…. see now I’m afraid I’m forgetting someone…..
Jacob: Same, can’t pick one but touring with GORGASM, MALIGNANCY and TVV (DISGORGE) are for sure some highlights as those were all bands that I loved to listen to before I even started touring.
And finally, could you share a funny or memorable story from the road?
Lille: Man…. the bad ones come to mind. That one time during a snow storm in Buffalo. Our RV didn’t have heat, and we were sleeping in a vehicle that had near freezing temperature INSIDE. I panicked and screamed out loud “Guys I can’t do this anymore we need to get to a hotel goddammit”……
Jacob: Toooooo many to mention. Good and bad. Just on our last tour we almost missed Obscene Extreme because our van had a mechanical problem that would take them days to fix so we booked impromptu plane and train tickets to get from Turin, IT to Trutnov, CZ just in time to play our set. Every tour has a few good and bad stories that stick.
**Pictures © Paul McGuire
Get tickets to see Defeated Sanity at https://defeatedsanity.com/
Defeated Sanity 2025 U.S. Tour Dates
with Sanguisugabogg, Despised Icon and Corpse Pile + special guests
November 2 – Cambridge, MA @ Sonia Live Music Venue [HEADLINE SHOW] [TICKETS]~
November 4 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall [TICKETS]*
November 5 – Chicago, IL @ Metro [TICKETS]**
November 6 – Indianapolis, IN @ Deluxe (Old National Centre) [TICKETS]***
November 7 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada [TICKETS]
November 8 – Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall [TICKETS]
November 9 – Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theater [TICKETS]
November 11 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Nile Theater [TICKETS]#
November 12 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory [TICKETS]#
November 13 – Berkeley, CA @ UC Theatre [TICKETS]#
November 14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater [TICKETS]#
November 15 – Las Vegas, NV @ Fremont Country Club [TICKETS]#
November 17 – Dallas, TX @ Echo Lounge & Music Hall [TICKETS]
November 18 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk [TICKETS]##
November 19 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Downstairs) [TICKETS]##
November 21 – Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum [TICKETS]##
November 22 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade [TICKETS]##
November 23 – Charlotte, NC @ The Underground [TICKETS]##
November 25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre [TICKETS]
November 26 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage [TICKETS]###
November 28 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza [TICKETS]^
November 29 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer [TICKETS]^
November 30 – Columbus, OH @ The King of Clubs [TICKETS]^^
~ only Defeated Sanity
* with Everybody Dies
** with Everybody Dies + Gorgasm
*** with Volcano + Ran Thru
# with Upon Stone
## with Bayway
### with Bludgeoned by Deformity
^ with Skinless
^^ with Ringworm + Anatomize
Chronicles of Lunacy is out now on Season of Mist.
Order the new limited-edition gold with black splatters vinyl variant.
