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Derek and Jason speaking about Defeater |
24.05.2010 |
Ricky: Hello, would you introduce DEFEATER shortly and tell us your position in the band?
Jason: DEFEATER is a band from the US. I’m Jason and I play guitar in defeater.
Ricky: Are you for the first time in Europe? What are your experiences?
Jason: No, we were already in Europe. But it's our first time in Switzerland. This time, it is very very good. The tour has been crazy. We’ve sold out a lot of venues and the crowd reactions has been amazing. We never could have imagined it. It’s the best tour ever so far.
Ricky: DEFEATER seems very uncommon for a hardcore band. Why did you choose that name?
Jason: The real story is that my favourite is FUGAZI. They have a record called “Repeater”. So our band name was for two days REPEATER until we’ve found out that there’s already a band called Repeater. We had like 20 different new ideas and than Derek [vocals] came up with DEFEATER. Because it sounded like REPEATER I was all about it. Somehow, DEFEATER fits. And so I personally ended up liking that name
Ricky: After one album and one EP DEFEATER is often called “the hope of a new hardcore era” (and other terms). How do you deal with such expectations and descriptions?
Jason: I don’t know. We just take it. Everyone things we’re a hardcore band and that’s okay and I understand. I think of us, we’re just a band. I think - and I guess everyone else of the band - don’t really care about where hardcore has been and I don’t care where any genre in particular is going. We purely just try to make the best, most honest music we can – right to the best of our artistic abialities. To answer the question: It’s really nice to be something now and fresh for people. Whatever they wanna call it, when people are enjoying it and they wanna call it “the new hope of hardcore”: that’s fine. But we don’t think about it, we just play music
Derek has joined the table.
Ricky: Let’s talk about lyrics. I was surprised when I actually read your lyrics for the first time. When I listen to your music, I kind of expect to hear something about personal issues and stuff like that. Now, you have narrative lyrics talking about a story. How do you think these lyrics are matching with the soul of hardcore?
Derek: I think they don’t (laughs). Our band is not a hardcore band. They call us aggressive and it’s also a label selling issue, but we aren’t. The lyrics are just something Jason and I came up with. We’re not trying to fit somewhere, so we just want to tell a story that we can all stand behind. The lyrical content reflexes our personal lifes in a way that only we really know. It’s deeply hidden. But I don’t wanna go to deep now.
Ricky: So they story you are telling are part of your personal experiences?
Derek: Yes, the last record has a lot to do with my grandfather. “Travels” has a lot to do with me and Jasons here and there and Jayson’s growing-up a little bit. It’s all hidden behind metamorphs. Everyone of the band can relate to the records. But it’s not like we want to write down our lives.
Jason: I would say, what’s different about the we are able to push things about us into it. We paint a little bit of everybody into each characters. Everybody has it own personal motivation. We’re not gonna do a record about the striking struggle of Derek or anyone in particular. It’s very easy for us to paint these shapes of grey and all the characters and show that everybody is nothing more but working for what they’re thinking is right in the moment. I would like – when the band is done – that someone does not really know who to identify with the most. We honestly want to show how life’s operating.
Ricky: Seems like you really put a lot of work into your lyrics.
Derek: They struggle with the instrumentations and I sit there in my house, thinking about the textes and chainsmoking and drinking. Some of it just falls out and other things take a while. But I don’t that lyrics are the most important thing of our music. Everything that we really do at Defeater. I hate talking about the lyrics. There’s so much that goes into Defeater that we want to stress out.
We’re not really trying to pave the way for anyone, we’re just doing what we want to do and we’re just five friends in a basement at the right time. I didn’t know any of them really before. But we realised that we are the right five people to hang out and play music.
Ricky: I’ve read that you talk about issues like war during the breaks of your set. How important is for you as a band to stand up for the things you believe in?
Jason: Very important. We are all very worried about enviromental issues. Our drummer Andy runs a company called green vans. All of these vans run on wasted vegetable oil. All of our records are printed on 100% recycleable paper. They are a lot more issues we care about individually. We don’t step on any toes and we’re not preaching.
Derek: What I’m saying on stage is more factual and comes from history. But the things I’m saying on the stage, stay on the stage.
Jason: I think it’s more okay to say things on stage because there’s someone looking at us that is interested enough in our music, lyrics and what we have to say. Back home I would never push my deals in anybody elses throat. If someone’s there at a show for defeater, I guess he’s interested in what Defeater has to offer.
Derek: But always mind that we’re just normal guys and that we never want to preach on anybody.
Ricky: You headline this tour. How does this influence your stage presence?
Jason: Dude, this tour is just fucking weird. I don’t really know what’s going on for like the last six months, Defeater has gained a lot of momentum. It’s a mind fuck! We show up in europe, every show has been great, every show has hundreds of kids singing along. It’s great, it makes me really feel good. Maybe we’re doing something right. But right now, we are here, I am here and I’m enjoying it. Next year, we never know what will happen. We may not be a band anymore, people may not care about us anymore. We’re here and just do it. We don’t care whether we got way bigger or way smaller. The reason why I spend 23 hours per day in a small van is that I love to perform. That’s why I am here.
Ricky: What are you – speaking of the band – afraid of. Maybe a member says after a tour: “Okay, I’m done, I don’t enjoy touring any more.”
Jason: The band does not define our life. We’re friends that come together and want to play music. It’s awesome. If we break up tonight: fuck it. We had a awesome time. I’m not scared by that. But I hope we don’t because I’m still having fun. But whatever happens, just happens!
Ricky: How long are you touring per year?
Jason: About two or three months per year. In the first year, we toured like 6 months. But it was always like 2 or 5 weeks on the road and after that 2 weeks at home.
Ricky: Next to the band you’re still working?
Jason: Yes, sure. If we tour all the time, we would break up very soon. We really can’t be on the road all the time. We all have houses/appartments, girlfriend/fiancees and other obligations like paying bills. But at the moment, it's really perfect for us. And we hope we can go on like this.
Thanks to Derek and Jason for their time!
by Ricky |
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