Hailing from Hollywood California is rock n roll new sensation Davey Suicide. The band has garnered attention from critics and fans a like with their theatrical image, intense stage presents and engaging form of metal. Releasing their debut self-title album earlier this year the band is poised to make some noise. Recently we sat down with lead singer and song writer Davey Suicide for a in depth look into the future of a band on the rise.
Crypticrock.com- Davey Suicide is a rock industrial band with a very strong image to go along with the music. Many who don’t know the band would say it’s shocking, but I believe it’s much deeper than that. Tell me briefly what the concept behind the image of the band is?
Davey Suicide- We’re all into horror films and really eccentric, over the top bands. The idea of making the experience as much visual as well as audio is important to us. Personally, I’ve always been into bands that have stage props and moods for different songs. It’s a way to show the listener where the song came from.
Crypticrock.com- Definitely, it’s theatrical and gives something visual with the music. When you assembled Davey Suicide did you have pretty much an idea of what type of musicians you wanted in the band, and now that the band is assembled how is the chemistry?
Davey Suicide- I always wanted to be in a band where you have a star at each position. When you’re that kid growing up, it doesn’t matter what instrument you play because we’d have someone for them to look up to. As far as chemistry, we work really well together and we have a pretty good balance of controlled chaos.
CrypticRock.com- It’s always very important to have good chemistry in the band. The debut self-titled album was released in March. It’s an excellent high energy album. Filled with aggressive ass kicking rock. What was the recording process for the album like?
Davey Suicide- We did it all ourselves and then we sent it out to get mixed. We’d fight for the best idea but we shared the same vision so in the end, when we had the spark, we knew the song was done.
CrypticRock.com- Definitely, and the self-title album is very good. Now your lyrics strike me as something much more than skin deep. Many topics seem to be political and social. Tell me what the concept behind your lyrics are?
Davey Suicide- Corporate America loves to control the masses. Kind of like television is one big commercial, and I feel like it dominates the people that are born to be led. I’ve always skinned the layers off and just looked at it for what it is. That’s where the more political side of the album comes from, in “fear is of god.” A lot of it comes from life experiences in tracks like, “In My Chest Is A Grave” and “I’ll Take A Bullet For You”. I’ll Take A bullet for you is about one of our friends that we basically saw falling apart to drugs, went from being one of our best friends to someone that we don’t even know anymore. We wrote the song when we were trying to get him to turn his life around, hoping that it would be a sign to him. There are songs like “Uncross Your Legs” and “Hustler Queen” where you are in that moment where of sexual tension in the air. We also have songs about shedding your skin, being proud of who you are and raising your middle finger high in the air, like Generation F*ck Star.
CrypticRock.com- It’s a great release of emotions and it’s what it should be about. The band is headlining the “Hide Your Morals tour 2013″with The Bunny The Bear, and The Defiled starting in July. That is an pretty interesting line-up. How did the tour come together and how excited is the band about it?
Davey Suicide- It’s cool, this was more management’s decision. I think there are some things that we have control over, and we heard about the offers and we were digging it. We’re excited because the bands are diverse. Bunny The Bear is a completely different crowd than us. I think The Defiled are a little heavier, but I think our fans are going to like them. Most of all I think that those bands are really high energy and theatrical. We’re pumped to finally be able to do our own set, play longer, not be stuck to a time constraint, and set up the stage how we want. That’s really exciting for us because we’ve been on these tours with Static-x and Orgy. That’s to me the most exciting thing to be able to give our fans the show that they wanted. I want to leave it out on stage every night, just meet everyone, and just fucking kill it.
Crypticrock.com- It should be a really excited tour. The band is getting high praise from various sources. Calling you guys one of the 100 bands people need to know and calling you one of the 50 greatest rock stars in the world. Those are some pretty high praise right there. How do you feel about the positive press you guys are getting?
Davey Suicide- It’s good that people aren’t scared of our band as much as they used to be. It’s interesting I think when you grow up and you’re the kid with all the posters on the wall then you become the poster on the kids wall, it’s an interesting transition. I feel like we’re spot on and were getting recognized, and it’s only up from here.
CrypticRock.com- You guys deserve it. Now you started out on the east coast and eventually moved out to Hollywood. That is definitely culture shock as it’s a completely different world out there. What ignited you to make the move and what was that experience like for you?
Davey Suicide- The desire to want to play music and find like-minded people that had the same drive and intensity is what drove me to moving out of Maryland. I did all I could in Maryland and it wasn’t creating a big enough noise. When I got to LA, I was completely shell shocked. For the first year I was wondering if I made a bad choice. I was overwhelmed by so many people, so many talented artists and everyone is fighting for the same thing. It was going from where you were king of the mountain to somewhere you’re a speck of dust on the beach. After a couple years, I found my groove, and I started getting the right people around me. It kind of felt like I got a little crack of sunlight in the wall, and I was like, “you know what, I can blow this thing open.” Then it got exciting because I was around everyone who wants to do this, and I knew, this is where I needed to be.
Crypticrock.com- It most definitely is paying off for you. Sometimes you have to make those sacrifices in life to achieve what you want to achieve and do what you want to do. You are obviously a passionate music fan I imagine. Tell me what some of your musical influences are?
Davey Suicide- Pantera, Guns N Roses and Metallica were my first three loves but Guns N Roses was the epitome of what ignited me. Then I grew really into Manson and Eminem. As artists, I loved what Manson and Eminem did. Manson got me into the electronic sound and lyrically, Eminem taught me how important every word is. All those bands were taking the industry and just saying you guys have to go where we’re going, and I loved that.
CrypticRock.com- Those are some good bands there. Now my last question for you is pertaining to films. CrypticRock.com covers rock/metal and horror movies so we like to focus on both genres. If you are a horror movie fan what are some of your favorite horror movies?
Davey Suicide- Silence of the Lambs, Devil Rejects, House Of 1,000 Corpses, obviously the original Halloween are some of my favorites. I love the Saw series because of the psychological side. I would say I’m into more toward the psychologic thrillers over the slasher films. I love watching documentaries on murderers like Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, and Jeffery Dahmer. What drives them to get to that point?
CrypticRock.com- There are absolutely quite a few really good horror films that are more psychological than slash them up absolutely. With that said what is your opinion on the direction horror has gone over the past few years? In my opinion it seems like a lot of them are just eye candy and there’s really no substance anymore, what do you think?
Davey Suicide- Before the CGI and special effects, there was a good story and character development. It seems that’s where some of the substance has fallen short, in my eyes.
CrypticRock.com- Yes, now you said it’s sort of like bands, as everything has been done before. You as a musician and as a band, you want to portray the true image of what you want to get across. I wonder how do you feel, do you ever feel sometimes like oh wait I can’t do this because it’s already been done before?
Davey Suicide- You know I think you are always going to get compared to someone, or something. I used to worry about it but at the end of the day, my voice is my voice, and our band looks the way we look. I don’t think you can worry about what people are going to say. I think you worry about if it’s great to you. I know we are all really tough critics in this band, and if we’re happy with something, most likely a lot of other people are going to be happy. We got into music because it gave us a place to go, and it was always there when nobody else was. If we can be that outlet for somebody else, then I think our job as musicians is being validated. Everything has been done, but you can do it in your own way and be BETTER. Critics will always criticize but greatness will prevail.
