It’s Friday
night and Est.1987 are heading down to one of our favourite venues- Sheffield
Corporation for the “Evil Tiger Vulture Tour”. Yep, Norma Jean are back on the
road and have brought some great bands along for the ride; The Chariot,
Admirals Arms and lastly Dead and Divine, who we hung out with to chat all
things… music, Dr. Zeus and paying comic book bills!
Having recently finished a UK support slot with Heart In Hand, Dead and Divine [D&D], the Burlington “post-hardcore” five-piece are back on UK shores enjoying the warmer climate. To me and you, it is freezing outside, but to these guys, used to temperatures well into the minuses, “This is nothing!” laughs lead singer Matt Tobin. And they are certainly warming things up here in the Corporation tonight.
Lead singer Matt Tobin ventures into the crowd |
D&D’s
live show certainly sets the venue in motion and gets the crowd suitably riled,
ready to continue well into the evening. “Asphyxia Fiend” from the band’s new,
and some may say heaviest album to date; “Antimacy”, opens proceedings. I think
it was less “Let’s try and make a heavy record” and more “let’s make a record
and not care and do what we want”, Matt opens up to us. He continues, “The longer
we’re together we focus on trying to write stuff that we’re happy with and not
always going “hopefully our existing fans like it”.” And their integrity has
firmly paid off if the crowd reaction is anything to go by. Concentrating
mainly on songs from the newest release, the fans and newer followers are won
over and truly believe in what D&D have to offer.
Back in 2003 D&D were forged
and it has been work, work, work, from day one! “What Really Happened At
Lover's Lane”, the band’s first release, saw them enter the Canadian Billboard
Top 200 and it has been upwards from then on. But the band stay firmly grounded,
as guitarist Chris LeMasters admits; “success for me is just if I can continue
to play music for as long as I want to.” The band love being out on the road
touring and put this passion and determination into their performance this
evening. After chants of “tequila, tequila, tequila” from both on and off stage,
Matt bounds up and down; high energy, high impact as he breaks into “You're
so damn good at making it hurt so bad”, the opening lines of album title track
“Antimacy”. Harder opening vocals are blended with smoother, melodic undertones
as the song reaches the chorus; the crowd against the barrier singing back line
for line.
Guitarist Chris LeMasters |
Chatting to Matt post-show he opens up to us about the
importance he places on lyricism within D&D’s music. His band mates joke that
his influences derive from “Dr Zeus and Robert Munsch”; but on a serious note
Matt says, “I take a
lot of pride in the lyrics, for sure, because I feel like a lot of people don’t
anymore and throw what they want over heavy music.” And in terms of how he
developed as a lyricist and who influenced him;
“ I
wouldn’t say so much poets, just a lot of music that I grew up listening to,
and that I still listen to, I just consider poets in the way that they wrote
their lyrics. Like, if you were to read the songs by themselves, the words,
there was more to it than just text book, standard, radio crap lyrics. They had
a lot of integrity and meaning behind them and that’s always been my approach.
”
Antimacy, the latest record |
Chris even
calls him a “lyrical miracle”! D&D have always done their own thing. Kellan
Lindsay [bass] jokes that now “everyone wants to be a DJ”, but D&D have
worked extremely hard and are one of the handful of great bands to emerge from
the dying Toronto
scene. Tonight at the Corporation they take things back a few years or so,
showcasing a couple of older songs, “Chemical
Valley ” and the powerful “Like
Wolves”. D&D are tight, assertive and unwavering; you never know what is
going to happen next. Throughout the set Matt teases the crowd, clambering on
the barrier and then leaps back on stage; he in unrelenting and captivating. More
than just heavy beats and enslaving lyrics, D&D are a band that aren’t
afraid of hard work, both in their live show and behind the scenes.
Dead and Divine on stage in Sheffield |
In the
beginning D&D took the DIY approach, booking their own tours, handling
their own merch and this has made them resilient, well informed on the nature
of the industry and stands their longevity in good stead. However, Matt
discloses that “It can be a double edged sword sometimes because we’re so used
to doing everything ourselves it’s hard for us to let people in.” But, the band
have learnt “to let other people handle things”, admitting “We find we can have
a better head on our shoulders knowing that we started doing everything
ourselves.” From the beginning of D&D Matt used his artistic skills to
design the band’s merchandise and has continued to do so even now, and also been
commissioned to do the same for other bands; “that’s what I do when I’m home to
pay the bills” he laughs, “all those bills that I have; my phone bill,
cigarette bill, comic book bill…”
Other bands
should take a leaf out of D&D’s book and their strong work ethic which
backs up their talent. Nine years on from when they first started, do they
think it’s harder to break into the industry now? “No, I do not! It’s way too
f*****g easy”, announces Chris. He goes on;
Matt Tobin on stage |
Matt agrees
that the work ethic of newer bands has gone; “we played shows for two years for
free, like three times a week, just to do it. It makes me stoked that we did
it. It may come off as bitter but it’s just the truth.” Chris tells stories of
playing for “absolutely nothing- eating out of cans and sleeping in parking
lots, for like three years.” He goes on; “bands don’t do that anymore! They get
thrown on a tour doing a thousand capacity rooms, on a bus- done. That’s why
you see those bands fail because they never appreciate all the bad; as soon as
things get a little hairy, they’re out.”
Matt in the crowd |
Ending the
set here tonight with “It Sleeps In Bliss” D&D prove that they’re a band
who have never ‘sold out’ to the industry, aren’t scared to go with their
hearts and essentially will never be one of those bands that will bail as soon
as the road gets a little bumpy. As Matt launches himself over the barrier, mic
stand and all, he ends the set from within the crowd drumming up a circle pit in
the process. The audience respectfully pat him on the back as their set closes,
D&D have done their job here tonight!