Student Life interview with John Davis and Daniel Brummel - April 15, 2003
| Print interview with John Davis, Daniel Brummel | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Student Life |
| Published | April 15, 2003 |
| Interviewer | Cody Elam |
| Interviewee | John Davis, Daniel Brummel |
| Title | Glamour, Glory & Monotony |
| Format | |
| Associated concert | Ozma concert: 04/09/2003 |
| External link | Archived on studlife.com |
| References | See where this article is referenced on Weezerpedia |
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Glamour, Glory & Monotony “I don’t know if you realize this, but every Motel 6 across the country has identical furnishings,” starts John Davis, lead singer of Superdrag. Letting the cigarette dangle on his fingers while it slowly burns down, he sits and stares out from the driver’s seat of a large gray van. It is 30 minutes before the Gargoyle doors open for a show featuring power-pop/rock bands Superdrag and Ozma, and Superdrag has a few minutes to relax in their van to drink and smoke before reentering the venue. Davis mentions Motel 6 in reference to the road weariness caused by weeks of touring small clubs and spending nights in cheap motels. “You go to a place so many times you get to know where the dead cases go, where to plug in,” he says. “The touring aspect is more just about the work, day in/day out, the routine, getting your system down, because you do so much of the same thing every day no matter where you are.” Superdrag drummer Don Coffey, Jr., confirms this statement, professing that “one of the hardest things about touring is the monotony of it, the sameness. It’s worse now because every exit looks pretty much the same, you eat pretty much the same food every day.” Behind horn-rimmed glasses Coffey, Jr. wears a straight face and the tone in his voice suggests that he’s not very satisfied. “After three or four weeks,” he says, “the sheer boredom really kicks in and after that it just becomes work.” But all the glamour and glory of living a rock and roll lifestyle has not yet faded for Superdrag. Guitarist Mic Harrison doesn’t hesitate to praise relationships within the band, saying “Oh yeah, we’re tight. Hell, we sit in a van all day, then onstage and at the hotel room all night. The only time I don’t see these guys is when I go to the bathroom.” Davis recognizes that life on the road is “back-breaking work,” but he doesn’t fail to see the fun of it. After the show, he sips on a Red Bull to regain some of the heart he’s just spilled into the crowd. Even with a worn body, sweat-filled head and droopy eyes he’s still ready to leave the band’s backstage safe haven to speak with fans and pose for pictures. “You get up and give it all out and you get tired,” says Davis, “but it’s a good kind of tired, where you feel like you’ve done something.” Wearing threadbare blue jeans and unstylish shirts, it’s hard to tell the the members of Superdrag from a group of truckers inside a highway gas station. Buried deep in guitar-soaked elbow grease from scutwork-labor, they show wear from living out of a beaten van. But beneath the veil of scruffy facial hair, a gut, longish hair, and a raspy voice, Davis hides a deep youthfulness. His voice is still fresh and strong both on Superdrag’s latest record “Last Call for Vitriol” (Arena Rock) and live. Dynamic energy marks Davis’ stage presence as he plays for a crowd of mostly teen and college-age guys, many of whom are singing along with every lyric. Since their first album “Regretfully Yours,” a minor hit single (“Sucked Out”), two videos on MTV, and a major label deal, Superdrag has seen their popularity decrease drastically from what Davis called “a stroke of luck.” Regardless, this doesn’t seem to get them down. “If you attach yourself to that bandwagon it never really lasts long,” says Davis. “We just do the type of music that we like to hear in hopes that some small segment of the population would wanna hear it.” Superdrag is a band that values playing for small audiences because they know true fans when they see them. Davis credits his followers with “being able to think for themselves” for they are “the best fans in the world,” and goes on to mention friends coming all the way from Arkansas for the show. The band’s devotion to their fans becomes obvious as soon as they take the stage. Plugging through songs from all four of their albums, they are intent on playing loud, uproarious rock. Davis screams passionately on beefy songs like “Gimme Animosity” and “Staggering Genius.” Two distorted guitars blare at full volume, or even higher as the song “Baby Goes to Eleven” suggests, in reference to the movie “Spinal Tap.” Fans are also pleased by older hits “Sucked Out” and “Destination Ursa Major.” Meanwhile, scattered throughout Mallinckrodt Center is Ozma, a band described by lead singer/bassist Daniel Brummel as “not emo but rock and roll, hard rock, and power-pop.” This rambunctious group of Southern California kids burn with excitement as they journey across the country with Superdrag as welcome companions. “This is freakin’ excellent, we love Superdrag, and we’re having a blast!” says Brummel. In the six years since their conception as a ragtag group of high school students in Pasadena, the five animated members of Ozma have come a long way. They recorded and released two albums on their own, followed by releasing two albums on Kung Fu records, and touring with the likes of Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, Nada Surf, and Rilo Kiley. But don’t think that playing sold-out arenas with big acts has swelled Ozma’s heads. They are content to be normal young adults except for their nightly rock concerts. Even with relative success, Ozma is far from “sold out.” Their new album, “Spending Time on the Borderline,” showcases a unique brand of beautifully melodic rock, filled with both fist-pumping guitar harmonies, keyboard riffs reminiscent of 80’s video games, and more sensitive, laid-back songs. Evolving from their classic debut “Rock and Roll Pt. 3″ to the more experimental and conceptual “Double Donkey Disc,” they have produced an original 12-track record that stands apart from their peers. Brummel is the first to defend the sui generis sound of “Spending Time on the Borderline.” He prefers smaller venues to larger concert halls and arenas because “you get to concentrate more on being tight as a band, and people pay more attention to the music, whereas at the larger shows its more about how animated you are onstage.” Ozma’s cohesion as a group is instantly recognizable on the Gargoyle’s small stage, where Brummel and lead guitarist Ryen Slegr mix and share lead vocals for dyamic results. Jumping and shaking gleefully, an invisible link connects Jose Galvez to his rhythmic guitar chordings, as if strings fasten his upper body to his fretting fingers. Drops of sweat glimmer in the lights on Brummel’s forehead, laying still above eyes closed with emotion. As they shoot smiles across the stage to each other and crack jokes to the crowd, Ozma portrays a band that truly feels the power of their music, not to mention has fun doing it. They cover songs from a large repertoire of three albums, with the music moving the crowd to dance, sing, and mimic guitar-playing and drumming motions. From “Rock and Roll Pt. 3″ they play the epic “Battlescars,” upbeat “In Search of 1988,” and melodically-flowing “Domino Effect.” New songs sparkle with raw vigor, from the wailing “Eponine” to the electronic-infused title track. The biggest audience reception follows Ozma’s cover of the theme song from the video game Tetris. Their only instrumental of the night, it allows them room to spread out and rock on unison guitar lines, thumping floor toms, and crashing cymbals. The buzz of this energy sets the creative juices flowing, and effectively creates a distinctive sound. “We definitely wanted to branch out and I think we’re proud of the fact that not every song on the record sounds the same. We wanted to do different things-one sorta country style ballad, one kinda jazz harmony in three part vocals,” says Brummel. Galvez agrees that most bands follow such tendencies after five or six years. “Spending Time on the Borderline” certainly establishes Ozma’s place in their ability to compose clever melodies and crunchy riffs. After an hour of entertaining a small crowd, the boys (and girl) of Ozma can’t sit still long enough to stay backstage. During Superdrag’s set, Star and Brummel hold hands and dance like children in the back of the crowd while Edwards and Galvez are visibly amused by tinkering with the house lights. Following the show, Galvez poises himself in mock “emo” fashion for John Davis while Slegr plays with a toy parrot picked up recently at a roadside Cracker Barrel. Davis asks to see the parrot, and with his southern twang utters profanities into the parrot’s face. Everyone laughs as the parrot repeats Davis’ words, and it is clear that an affinity lies deep in these rockers, both young and old. Although the budding team of musicians in Ozma may be quicker to stand in posing for a photo, the men of Superdrag are equally happy to accommodate fan requests. It is almost midnight. The bands need sleep and a change of clothes. The show in St. Louis is the last night of their tour together, so a few words and hugs are exchanged before they part. Warm vibrations reverberate in the thick night air from the sparkling vocals left hanging by Ozma and Superdrag. There are noticeable differences illustrating the variance in sound and type of rock built by these two bands. But at heart, they are just the same. Even though they head separate directions, the spirit of rock and roll remains inside their hearts. |