by Anabel Dflux
– Photojournalist —
Davey Suicide is an industrial rock band from Hollywood, California (or as they like to call it, Unholywood, Killafornia), whose visual image is just as gratifying as their message! Anabel Dflux had the chance to sit down and talk to Davey at the final show of the Wide Awake and Dead Tour about his new album, The Kids of America music video, as well as his personal snippets on art and the fanbase.
You can connect with Davey Suicide online at www.DaveySuicide.com and give em’ a like at www.Facebook.com/DaveySuicide!
Be sure to check out the Kids of America music video at www.youtube.com/DaveySuicideVEVO.
Interview Transcript:
Hardrock Haven: Hey Davey, thank you so much for talking to me today! How is the tour going so far?
Davey Suicide: It’s the last day, so, it’s been great, and my favorite group of bands to tour with so far. It’s just been cool to see all the fans that have been amassing and how the crowds have been growing.
HRH: Sweet! So, congratulations on the drop of your debut self-titled album! Can you tell me a little bit about your inspirations for it?
Davey: I mean, it’s kind of like how I think the world is built on facades and they try to fear you into believing certain things that control the mass population, so that’s some of it. Some of it is about me growing up, some of it is the idea of how manufactured the music industry has become and the idea of destroying all of these people that have taken an art and put it on an assembly line and it’s losing the integrity of what made music in the beginning. I think those are a couple of topics.
HRH: Also, congratulations on the release of your video for Kids of America! How was it like working with renowned filmmaker and photographer Chad Michael Ward?
Davey: It was great, I love Chad. Chad is an amazing visual artist and we’ve gotten to work together so many times, I feel spoiled now because I used to always hit him up and be like “Dude, shoot my band” and he would never return my calls or my emails or anything. Now we get to talk and be friends and it’s cool.
HRH: How was the video conceptualized?
Davey: I think it’s just, well, music for me growing up gave me a place to go when no one else would listen and would kind of like, wanted to show that in our own way. Just how parents sometimes don’t give enough time to their kids, like appreciate what their life is or what they like or just kind of shrug them off. So we wanted to bring in Cameron and make him just kind of show how there are things that parents don’t really pay attention to, and maybe they should.
HRH: I heard you have some new members in your band, how are they fitting in?
Davey: Perfect! The best tour we’ve ever been on, easiest tour we’ve ever been on, we all like each other and there is no drama.
HRH: Sweet!
Davey: We’re a family and we all work really hard. It’s probably the happiest I’ve been in a band in a long time.
HRH: I know that besides music, you are also a tattoo artist and you paint! What is your favorite thing about art and why?
Davey: I just think it doesn’t have to have boundaries, I think it’s kind of cool to think that everything else, like in school or getting a degree or being tested on something or even sports, there are always rules. You know, art and music and stuff doesn’t have to have rules. It’s only going to be there if you put them there. I think that’s the cool thing, it’s endless if you want it to be.
HRH: A lot of fans look up to you, how does that make you feel?
Davey: I think it’s a lot of responsibility sometimes, you gotta figure out what you think is the right thing because when you have influence over people, you obviously want them to be doing what you visualize as the right thing. It’s pressure sometimes, but it’s also like, I had those people in my life too, so I always revert back to how they made me feel and I think it’s good, you need mentors in your life to make yourself stronger and to learn.
HRH: On that token, what is the most interesting thing a fan has ever given you?
Davey: We get necklaces and artwork almost every day now, it’s all special in its own way. I wouldn’t say that one thing is better, but I think that when they pay attention to what they’re into and they show up with the kind of food that we like or they just draw something and it’s just really gnarly or something like that, it just makes you realize how much they pay attention to every little detail and that’s the cool thing. I think it’s all great, I think whenever someone spends time to make you something, it’s special and I don’t think you can measure that on a scale.
HRH: How do you feel you’ve evolved over the years?
Davey: I became fearless to just be myself and, I used to worry about what people thought or worried about trying to please everybody, and at some point you just realize that you’re not going to please everybody and that as long as you feel confident in what you’re doing, it really doesn’t matter. You’re going to get naysayers even if everything you do is perfect. People are always going to have something to say. I think that’s the biggest evolution and I think I’m finally getting to the point now where I’m really happy with how the songs have come out and I love our record. I think reaching that point, a lot of times you go back and you’re really critical about stuff and now I’m looking back and I’ll be like “yeah, we did a good job.”
HRH: Any juicy tour stories?
Davey: Um, do you have a juicer? (laughter)
HRH: (laughter) If only!
Davey: Tour is tour; we’ll leave it at that!
HRH: And last, but certainly not least, what’s next for Davey Suicide?
Davey: We have three months, almost; we gotta start recording our second record. We’re going to go on a headline tour in July which we are announcing very soon. We got a ton of shit going in the fall and the winter. The really exciting thing is that we’re going to be playing our full record and it’s going to be our shows and stuff in July and August. We’ve done three US tours and now we’re getting to the point where we can kind of float on our own and it’s really exciting!
HRH: Thank you so much!
Davey: Thank you!
