Project Description
Interview with
JOHN BARRETT
from
BASS DRUM OF DEATH
Interviewer – Mirrin Gray
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For any new fans, how did it all begin? How did Bass Drum of Death come together?
I was in a high school band that was pretty good, but we weren’t necessarily all on the same page musically, so I decided to start recording myself and layering all the tracks as needed. It startedas a one-man-band project (bass drum, vox, guitar) and grew to a two-piece and then a three-piece (2 guitars and drums) which is our setup currently.
What kind of music did you grow up on? Which artists inspired you?
Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkinsand Sonic Youth were huge for me, but also the Black Keys and some of those early Fat Possum bands and blues guy. I got into some of the punk shit I love like The Saints and Buzzcocks a bit later.
What makes Bass Drum of Death unique? Why do people resonate with your music?
I’ve always tried to make tunes that stoke me out and get me excited. I feel like if I can do that honestly, it will resonate with people.
Last years album Just Business has a different sound to your early work. How have you developed your musical style?
I wanted to take the production and song crafting a bit further than I had in the past, while still capturing that energy that’s there in the early records.
How do you go about creating an album? What are the best and worst parts?
The hardest part is getting started, because it can feel like such a difficult mountain to climb. The best part is when you get that first listen when it’s finally complete; it’s always such a good feeling. I try to just take it one song at a time and do the best Ican.
Tell us about collaborating with Royal Blood. How was that different to working alone?
It was crazy because I had never really done that before, especially for someone else’s project. Mike and Ben and I get along super well musically, in addition to being big buds. It came about very naturally, and we got some really good shit out of those sessions. I even ended up writing a couple of my own songs while I was working with them.
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What do you think it takes to get that lo-fi garage rock sound you’re known for?
Garageband and a USBmic. Not that complicated!
The band is coming to Australia for a tour this October. What are you most excited to see or do?
This will be my 3rd time in Australia, but it’ll be my bandmates first time. I’m excited to just kinda show them around and also be able to see some friends that I haven’t seen in awhile. Also I wanna go to the beach and eat meat pies.
What’s the best part about performing live? Are there anymemories of performances that come to mind?
It’s still crazy to me that I’m able to play my own music in front of people all over the world. Definitely very thankful. There have been moments where i’ll step back sometimes and just be like “Shit. This is wild”.
You’ll also be at Yours & Owls…How do you find the festival scene? Is it very different to your own shows?
I love it. I grew up going to festival shows so its always fun to be ableto play loud as fuck outside.
If you could pick absolutely anyone to bring on tour with you, whom would you pick and why? (Dead or Alive)
I’d probably have the Rolling Stones open for us.
What does the future hold for Bass Drum of Death? What are you hoping to achieve?
Working on a new record, and keeping the tour train rolling!
Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – “In Utero”Nirvana
Artist – The Saints
Movie – any James Bond movie
Place to visit – Amalfi Coast
Venue to play – Bowery Ballroom
Food – Steak fries
Drink – Bud Light
Person in History – John Wayne
Tattoo – My only one; it says “bye” and it’s on the back of my neck.
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Premier Artists & Out Of The Loop Presents…
BASS DRUM OF DEATH
Australian Tour 2019
Thursday 3rd October 2019 – The Curtin, Melbourne VIC – Tickets
Friday 4th October 2019 – The Lansdowne, Sydney NSW – Tickets
Saturday 5th October 2019 – Yours & Owls Festival, Wollongong NSW – Tickets
Sunday 6th October 2019 – Crowbar, Brisbane QLD – Tickets
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Check out BASS DRUM OF DEATH below
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
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Bass Drum of Death
Australian Tour
October 2019
Bass Drum of Death are heading back to Australia for the first time in over four years this October to bring their primordial garage quicksand to Yours & Owls Festival in Wollongong, along with exclusive intimate headline shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
Since their now legendary Australian tour in 2015 on a heavyweight triple bill with DZ Deathrays and Hockey Dad, which saw them packing out venues over multiple night stands, the band have solidified their lineup, overcome personal issues and made themselves at home in New York City as one of the leading lights of the city’s feedback soaked lo-fi garage scene. It’s no surprise either, that as US tour mates of Royal Blood after a chance meeting at a Hollywood strip bar, the likeminded groups collaborated on the single, Lights Out which led off the Blood’s 2017 album, How Did We Get So Dark.
Starting with a prodigious output of solo project lo-fi garage rock that echoed the sounds emanating from the dive bars of NYC 20 years ago, Mississippi native John Barret’s Bass Drum of Death are now a live performance and touring juggernaught. Since forming in 2008, and releasing their debut EP Stain Stick Skin on the tastemaking Fat Possum Records; the band’s touring lineup has evolved from Barrett solo playing a bass drum and guitar to the searing, raw live experience they deliver with a drums and two guitar attack these days.
Latest album, last year’s Just Business, has seen the band take massive steps in the scope and scale of their sound, with the claustrophobic fits of their earlier releases now amplified into a reverb soaked widescreen panorama, with Barrett positioned as the evangelist preacher leading a schizophrenic sermon that takes musical cues from The Hives to The Buzzcocks, The White Stripes to The Only Ones with the odd genuflection to The Cramps thrown in for good measure.
Locally, while garnering many fans with triple j support for their early releases, the band’s fanbase is diverse, with many discovering BDoD through the use of their songs on computer games such as Grand Theft Auto, and in the soundtracks to Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and The Vampire Diaries to name but a few. An incandescent live experience, however, is their forte – don’t miss the chance to catch these shows.
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