Interviewed: Death Becomes You Originally posted 02.01.03 By: Gurl 76 |
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I am surprised at how seemingly normal my first conversation with Christopher Lee, the outspoken, unofficial spokesperson for Death Becomes You, is. I expect the phone call to mirror his emails, with salutations praising bats and blood. But he sounds normal, complaining about a crashed computer, talking about the recording process, even admitting to liking some of the music his parents listen to. Then, he suggests we meet up to do the interview at a morgue. When I originally thought of doing interviews for this site, I wanted to do something different. I thought it would be interesting, at least for me, if we took a band and did the interview at a cheesy South Florida locale. I propose that we do the Death Becomes You interview at the Swap Shop, but I am having my doubts that Lee is really feeling that. I'm not sure I can make it through an entire day on an autopsy tour, but if it means getting the interview, so be it. So, I'm amazed when he agrees to meet me there. No stops at morgue. No meeting up at the cemetery. I was getting my Swap Shop interview. The band, which consists of Lee, John Janos, Nicodemus, and Gory, formed in South Florida in 1998. Lee makes it no secret he's not impressed with many aspects of the local scene. "There's no clubs left and the scene sucks." "These bands, they've all got these egos, for what, I don't know. They don't even work it. They don't even try to get their name out there. They don't bleed for it and they just expect everything to be handed to themThey don't have any business sense. I hate people who are quiet and reserved in bands. You're taking up my space. Get out of my way." "I have to compete with lesser life forms to get a show. Are you going to promote it? Are you going to go out and get everyone you know to promote it? No. You're going to send your friends an email and say, hey, we're playing here, be there. And it's like, the job's done. Not at all. It's a full time job. We live and breathe and sleep [the band]." DBY has strong 'do it yourself' principles, which many local bands lack. "The Misfits were totally DIY. We're the same way and we'll be like that when we have a record deal. It's our vision. How do you know what we want to do? How do you know what works for us? We know." Going through the band's press kit proves they are a promoting machine. They've received a ton of press, ranging from interviews in 'zines to write ups in the local press to reviews in national magazines. There are many comparisons to Marilyn Manson (blame that on the stage makeup) and the band is often lumped into the metal genre. As for the makeup, Lee says, "There's a lot more to a band who has a more visual side to it than just the music. You can do so much more with that. We just want to create the kind of show we'd want to go see. We want to be the most sinister band in the worldtotally confrontational." People jump to a Manson comparison because "we're from their birthplace. [People think] been there, done that. No, you haven't because they're nothing like us." The band has found some assume they're a death metal band, purely because of the band name. Others assume they're goth because of the makeup. Lee originated the term "grave-wave" to define it, but he'd rather not have the music labeled at all. "Some of the best bands of all time, nobody ever knew how to classify them. I'd rather not be pigeonholed." And, Lee feels, that most people get stuck in that genre mentality. "They aren't fans of the music, they're fans of a genre. Like hardcore people, they are fans of the music, they are fans of a genre. They won't listen to a band that doesn't wear wife beaters, have shaved heads and talk about getting stabbed in the back. They aren't music fans to me. I want to appeal to people who like music, not genre fans. If you want to be entertained, we'll entertain you." And much of that entertainment comes from their now infamous live shows. "We're going to entertain you so much, you'll want to stand back ten feet while we play. You'll be afraid of getting your face burned off by our bass player. You'll be afraid that blood will spray on you." The live show reputation didn't phase bookers of a recent show at the Coral Springs Sportsplex (DBY shared the bill with the likes of Rocking Horse Winner and friends A New Found Glory). They did warn the band, however, that cursing was not allowed. "If you're going to put restrictions on us, expect the worse. We made that show as vicious as possible. We just wanted the cops to be ready to go. We were challenging the kids to go off." Lee accounts another show, where, strangely enough, they were allowed to curse. A band booked DBY for a show up in Lakeland, forgetting to mention that it would be at Christian youth center. "We get to Lakeland, which is in the middle of nowhere. We didn't know what to expect. We go in the club and ask where we can get ready. This little old Southern lady tells us there's a dressing room in the back. It's a fucking makeshift kitchen and she's cooking chili. We're putting makeup and here comes this lady, while I'm half naked, and she's like, 'you boys hungry? I have some food in the refrigerator.' She pulls out a plastic tray with a cover on it. It's all pieces of cheese with toothpicks in themWe played and it was really good. There was this cop patrolling the parking lot over and over. We go to play and there's the stage. There's a florescent cross on the floor next to the stage. The cop came in to watch us play and we just went off. Screaming, cursing, bloodshed, fire. I think he was totally intimidated by us. He just kept his distance from us for the rest of the night but you could tell he couldn't wait for us to get out of town." At the end of the night, the chili-cooking lady told the band they could stay at her house that night, offering to take them to church the next morning. Those live show antics helped, in part, the band become involved with Fear Films, a Pompano Beach based production company that specializes in independent horror films. Founder and owner Robert Massetti went to see a DBY show to see if they were the band he was looking for. "The show was fucking amazing, until the end." Seems someone in the audience egged the band on until they retaliated. Lee was especially angry. "[I was] screaming profanities, swinging on people. Robert was sitting at the bar, watching the whole thing, watching me drag this kid out by the neck and beat him up in the parking lot." Massetti had liked what he saw during the show but the impromptu fight sold him. "He said, 'these guys are out of their minds, I have to work with them.'" Their song "The Dead Don't Die" was used for the opening credits for the movie Blackout. "Scratch the World is also on the re-cut of When Shadows Lie Darkest. Both will be released and available everywhere in April on a 2-on-1 DVD entitled Phobias. Massetti also made their video for "And Crows Will Dig Your Grave." The band is currently working on a new CD. "Once all the vocals are done for all ten songs, we're going to discuss what covers to do. I want to do songs that are totally obscure, that people don't know. Like old New York Dolls songs, Lords of the New Church. They just have to fit what the band's all about." Lee promises a mix of styles on the new CD, with songs ranging from "evil pop punk" to "goth-rock." "We'll have it out by April. We're spending every waking moment we have on it. This will be the be all and end all of what any local band has ever done." According to Lee, most local bands have a shelf life of "about two years, because they assume it's easy to get signed." DBY has learned from obstacles it has faced in the past and realistically knows there will be more in the future, but they're willing to do whatever it takes. "Rock and roll is life. If you're going to be casual a bout rock and roll, you're hurting." "I look back at everything we've done and whether it could have been better, we were learning as we went and developing. We had no place to learn from. There was no blueprint. I have no regrets but where we're at now musically is just unbelievable. I couldn't be more content with what we're doing now." |
Pics from the DBY interview Interviewed Archive |
Interviewed: Death Becomes You Originally posted 02.01.03 By: Gurl 76 |
