Interview with Todd (30 november 2003)

Death By Stereo was part of the big Resistance Tour of 2003. In Brussels they played next to Suicidal Tendencies, Ignite, Madball, Length By Time, Backfire, Sworn Enemy, Convict and Knuckledust. Not an easy job for a punk rock tainted band to play with hardcore bands. Never the less, they managed to win the crowd's confidence during their live performance, to end in full glory. How do they do that? It's simple… they are a solid band. This is what they personally think of it…

Q>> This is your last day in Europe. How was the tour?
A>> This tour has been really good. All the shows have been really big, except maybe for two ones. We got a good response. It was really fun…

Q>> What about those two shows?
A>> One of them was in France, in Marseille, their was like a soccer game going on the same night [Info: it was the Champions League game between Marseille and Real Madrid]. So I guess lots of people went to the game. But never the less every show of the tour was really cool, very smooth. Everyone on the tour has been really cool…

Q>> So you got along well with all the bands…
A>> Yeah, we are good friends with Madball. They are crazy. We had a lot of drinks together. Everyone has been really cool.

Q>> How does it feel to be on tour with the legendary Suicidal Tendencies? Isn't that every hardcore/punk band's influence?
A>> It's great. I watch them every single night. I know most of our band has been into them since like the 7th grade. We never thought we would be on tour with them. And they had some influence on me. They've got like lots of different styles mixed together. I always liked them, also because they skateboarded, and I always wanted to do that so. And they also influenced Death By Stereo. They're definitely one of our favourite bands. And it's been really cool to get to hang out with them and watch them every night and everything.

Q>> Good memories of Belgium? Like the time you played with Good Riddance in Antwerp (HTL) two years ago, and last year in Kontich (Lintfabriek)?
A>> That show with Good Riddance was great, and last year we played here in Kontich with Boy Sets Fire. That was also a great show. Belgium… erhm… Switzerland, …those kind of countries are like the best countries for us. France and Italy are good as well, but it's not like here.

Q>> What's the first thing you think about when you hear 'Belgium'?
A>> Waffles! [Laughter] You know, I like it here in Belgium. I like everyone I meet in Belgium. The shows are good, with lots of energy. And all the cities I get to walk around are very nice. I really like coming here. We'll try to come back in April. We're still looking for a band that'll come tour with us. I don't know who yet.

Q>> Tuesday you'll be on tour again in the States, for a week or so, right? Isn't that too exhausting?
A>> We really love it. Sometimes it can get a bit out of hand if you don't get a day off. Over the summer we did a nine week tour, and we actually didn't have a lot of days off. But tours like this one and the one when we get home, are pretty easy because that's a van's tour. So it means all the drives are really short. It's not like the tour in Arizona. Everything would be easier if we could go home every night to sleep in our own bed. But I wouldn't trade it for a job. I had a lot of jobs, and I just like to be on tour. This is what we like to do!

Q>> But still it is not that easy, is it? What do you do for example during those long hours when you've got to wait before you go on stage? Don't you get bored or tired?
A>> Yeah. Normally, and especially in Europe, we just walk around. We explore the city and take a lot of pictures. I think all the architecture here is great. We don't always have much time, but if we do, we take trains, buses, or subways to explore the places. There is so much here that we don't have in the States, other buildings and everything. In the States, we play pool, check our e-mail, and there's nothing more. It is sometimes hard killing time, but it usually goes by pretty quick. We just get used to it.

Q>> And then you get to go on stage… You're well known for your life performances. Are you a true life band? Or do you think selling records is important as well?
A>> I think the records are important, but we are definitely, like you say yourself, well known for our live shows. We all get so excited when we get up there. We have lots of energy, you know, it's pretty crazy.

Q>> An energy you get from the crowd… Is it mutual?
A>> Yeah. A lot of nights when we are tired, and when the crowd is just standing there, it's very hard to do the set because we definitely feed off the crowd. Our singer likes to jump out into the crowd, and on the ground. That's why we don't like huge places. We like to be more intimate. It's weird. We have just played some shows with AFI in California. There were like 6000 people and this huge barrier and security guards. Where I was sitting, I could only see like the first couple of rows when they started to jump. That felt kind of almost lonely on stage, you know. But that was a pretty good show though.

Q>> What's, according to you, different about your latest album, or in other words, why should people buy (or not buy) this one?
A>> I got in the band right after the previous one was recorded, but I was friends with them, and they told me they wanted me in the band. For the new album we were able to take more time, we practised like six nights a week or something. I think we all kind of put a lot more thought into it. We could go into the direction we wanted to go. The previous one is really rough. I think the new one is a little bit more various.

Q>> Do you think your presence had something to do with it?
A>> I think so. I definitely like a lot of metal stuff. We listen to everything from the Police to Elvis Castello. But I think we definitely all like metal a lot. I think there are more styles mixed together in the new album.

Q>> Some call your music "brutal"? Do you think that's the right word?
A>> [Laughter] I don't know. I don't feel that way. When I hear brutal, I think of Madball or Sepultura or … but I guess parts of it are! Sure! But we're definitely not brutal people. We don't take ourselves too seriously.

Q>> Exactly what I was going to ask you in my next question: only your songs are kind of "brutal". You're very nice and happy guys on the other side, and we see that on stage as well. How do you explain this contrast?
A>> I don't know. Maybe because we're able to reach into our own music. After we played we feel relaxed. We feel really clearheaded and stuff. When we're home sometimes for a couple of months and we're not on tour or we don't play, I get like an anxious feeling. It's kind of weird.

Q>> Is this how it works in general? Do people play what they are?
A>> Sure! That's a good question! I think, for us, we all like Slayer and stuff like that, because we kind of grew up listening to it. And we are like that now. And I don't know why that is, but I do know what you mean. You know, people sometimes really expect us to be brutal, to be that way, and then they're really surprised to find out we're actually not!

Q>> It's the same way with the lyrics, isn't it? When people are in a bad mood, they write dark songs, or when they're feeling emotional, the lyrics will be emotional as well? Do people write lyrics that fit with the music?
A>> Yeah I think so. Especially with our last record. It kind of reflects how the state or the country was. That was a really dark year in the US I think. That's how the record came out, and we all just kind of feel like that, like for example our president screwing everything up. It kind of scared us all, and made us all kind of angry, because we feel we can't really do something about it. The only thing you can do about it, is write songs, and put them out there. And that's how you come to the words 'brutal' and 'death'.

Q>> And in which way do Death By Stereo compose their songs then? How does it work for you guys?
A>> I think we all write something and show it to the others. Then someone will come up with something else, or come up with a guitar part. Someone comes up with an idea first, and than we jam a lot. We listen to a lot of music that influence us, to give us ideas. I go to see a lot of bands. And usually it just starts with me or the guitar player that comes up with an idea: the guitar first, and then the base. After that we write lyrics. Then the other parts are added to it. We kind of built our songs like that.

Q>> What about the 'death' theme you mentioned before? Like in the band's name…
A>> That's just the name of that movie "The last boys". That's really all it is. It's not that we're passionate by death. Not at all. Everything we have, we just call it the 'death'. It's kind of the way it worked out.

Q>> How important is Epitaph to you?
A>> They're great people. We know all the people there, and they're very nice. And they're in the US and Europe. They arrange us lots of interviews, and bring a lot of press. They're really good to work with. It's cool to be on a label like that. It's almost like a major label, but it's not. You know, with all our records on Epitaph, we were able to stay at home to record them. That was great.

Q>> What about Epitaph Europe? Do you think they've got the same mentality and philosophy? I think they're doing a great job…
A>> Yeah! They're almost better! They're very enthusiastic. They're very helpful. The guy from Epitaph who's working here today is very supportive. We get to hang out with him. He's great!

Q>> I've heard about the tragedy where a kid fell out of the window. I'm not gonna talk about that, it's been enough, but the press made a whole other story about it. How does that make you feel that the press always 'invents' stories? Why do they do that?
A>> The press always thinks that when there's a metal show, kids go crazy and hurt each other. It's a stereotype you know. It could have happened anywhere. It was just sad. I didn't even know about the windows. I thought those things before the windows were there for sound check. We really had a hard time with that. We cancelled our show for the next day. We were on tour with Thursday. We drove straight home. We hardly talked to each other for two weeks. We just dealt with it on our own. We even thought about never play anymore, it was that bad. Finally we just decided to keep moving and get over it. We played a big benefit show at home and gave the family all the money. I think it personally helped us a lot to deal with it. It didn't fix it, but it felt right. We did whatever we could for the family to say we're sorry for what happened. We were in the position to do that show, and it was successful. And it made us all feel better. But we will never forget it…

Q>> It's great what you did for the kid's family… I've heard the family is a very important thing to the members of DBS as well…
A>> Yeah. We're very close to our own family. I mean, I live with my sister, and we're very close to mom. And we also have a lot of friends that we consider family as well. We care a lot about friends and family. Sure. They help us lots of time, and we help them if they need us. It's mutual.

Q>> I've seen you've got a new website. How come? The previous one wasn't that bad, was it?
A>> We changed it, because it was a long time ago the site didn't change. We just wanted to have a fresh site that went along with the theme of the art work of the new album. Actually, the old base player of boys Sets Fire did that. It was pretty cool of him to do that. We've been friends for a while so. We just want to keep things new.

Q>> You've got your own online store? Who runs it? Are things going well?
A>> That's going pretty well. It's brand new. I don't even actually know exactly how it works. But I know a group does the merch for the US. They do that for AFI, Offspring, Green Day, and lots of big bands. And now for us. And they're really cool. They asked us to do this for us through our website. Even if we're gone for a while, we're able to sell merch. Our stuff doesn't just pile up. It helps things go for the better. They take care of the selling for the bigger part, but not at our shows.

Q>> What's the deal with your old van anyway? Was it hard to replace it? Or is it still a part of DBS?
A>> We just bought a new van. Right before the summer tour. It's very nice. We were just tired of the old van. During a tour, our transmission blew. We had to buy a new transmission, and we only had it the next day. So we had to miss the Ohio show. But it's just weird, all the things happen at ones. It wasn't such an old van. It was nice and everything. We drove a lot of miles with it, and didn't have to pay much for that van, so. But we do have a new van now.

Q>> I've wanted to ask you this since the moment I saw you. What's that thing on your face? Did that happen on stage or something? What is it?
A>> No no, that's a burn mark [Laughter]. It was just there when I was born. [Laugter]

Q>> I think lots of funny and crazy things happen to Death By Stereo on stage, isn't it?
A>> I don't know why that is. It's usually our singer who does crazy things. He broke his ankle ones during a show…

Q>> Yeah. I read that during another show they threw something at his face or something and a piece of skin was just hanging from his shin …
A>> Yeah! In Germany! That was with Boy Sets Fire. It just happened. He was running around and going crazy. Stuff like that happen.

Q>>You'll probably laugh about these things later?
A>> Yeah. We probably will. But it scares you the moment it happens.

Q>> Do you guys get along well?
A>> Yeah. When we're on tour, it's fun. We're almost like married to each other. We spend that much time together. We really have a good time. It's also cool to meet people and get to see them again. Even over here. We've made some good friends.

Q>> Any last words?
A>> Yeah. Look out for us, because we'll be back in April or something. We hope to see you all there.

I would like to thank Chantal for setting up this interview, and the whole Epitaph crew for taking care of us at the venue.

YVES

<<< previous page