Interview by Alan Burdett
“Don’t be naughty, be good, do this, do that, be safe!” It seems the Labour party want to bring up a country of Puritans. Where have all the real rebels gone?! Especially at a time when we need them more than ever before! Why is there a lack of artists and celebrities setting an example and raising their middle fingers at this flagless, sexless PC nation?
The simple answer would be that it’s ‘safe’ and easier to just keep your mouth shut. Danger seems to be a bad word at the moment in this country, there’s so much to rebel against but everyone is too scared to stand up. Most of the artists are placing their allegiance to all the ‘stop the knives’ and ‘stop the ASBO youth’ campaigns because it is the current trend. I’d say it’s true to say most, if not all the rock rebels are in the USA and they are generally the older artists which is a shame.
There are too many restrictive laws in this country, it seems like all the freedoms and possibilities are being squeezed out of us and we’re all being forced into a cattle-cage where we can simply just exist on a level which isn’t detrimental to our ‘beloved’ dictatorship. We need to make a stand, make people open their eyes and step up. Ok, let’s say something controversial, the reason there is an increase in youth disorder is not because it’s something new, it has always been there, it’s just reported more to make a political statement and draw peoples attentions away from the real problems. The youth are rebelling for the simple reason that they are the only people who realise there is absolutely nothing in this country that is worthwhile.
I wouldn’t say there is a lack of artists or celebrities, I mean look at Pete Doherty, Amy Winehouse, Kate Moss and even Naomi Campbell’s recent controversy. Yeah they’re old faces, but a prime example of how rebels get bad press, but bad press is good press, it means people are talking about you.
Dom, we need you to scream and punch your way onto the ‘celebrity’ scene as unfortunately for us that’s all the masses seem to care about and listen to. This country needs some controversy, any chance of a 10 in a bed sex orgy with your band mates? Will you be our next stomach pumping, smack, crack, and punk nightmare to be plastered across Heat Magazine and upset mums across the globe?
[laughs] Sounds like a good weekend to me. Seriously though, I wouldn’t share my 10 in a bed orgy with anyone! Breaking into a ‘celebrity’ scene is quite hard unless you have big tits and blonde hair (even if they’re fake). It is true that we need some pure controversy, but it depends on what level. I haven’t got a problem being seen as a drunkard, drug-fuelled low-life who upsets the moral majority, but by the same token I want people to listen to what I say. It would actually be an honour to appear in Heat for waking up in a pool of vomit next to some starlet, mainly because so many people read the pointless crap they spit out. That is the saddest part of our society, the majority are more concerned about the lives of celebrities over that facts of war and poverty. People like to feel superior to those who have what they secretly desire, which is why everyone is so quick to put down those who have it.
Judas Inferno is being released by the Net label Ekleipsi in September. Why have you done a cover of ‘Chasing Cars’? It is a good cover but somehow seems out of character; did ‘a love in your life’ play a part in your decision to include it on the EP and make it in the first place?
We’d planned to cover it for sometime before we actually got round to doing it. When I suggested it for this EP, it was agreed it was something both M** and I needed to do at that moment. They wanted a song to dedicate to their latest ‘flame’, and I was affected by the lyrics – the whole question of having someone who would just be there regardless of what anyone says. Was it for a love in my life? It became that in the end, namely because I didn’t want to cover the song which was suggested by M** for my ‘love’, so we just gave it a joint dedication. I did feel a little hollow when I showed my boyfriend at the time and he almost cried, but it gave him something to believe in I guess.
I like the fact it seems out of character with the rest of Judas Inferno, you have all this anger and self-pity on the EP and then there’s this ‘love’ song in the middle. It’s like a beacon of hope that in all the mess that was going on inside my head at that time there was one person who I could rely on to be there for me, and just sit and not need anything from me. Then when you look back at the track order you can see the truth behind it all, in that context it is nothing but placing hope in someone else when you feel you have nothing. I think the track ‘Lost’ sums up the whole of Judas Inferno. I needed to be someone else instead of me and being with that person helped me be that. I think it’s interesting to note that both people we dedicated the song to left our lives within weeks of each other, and both M** and I went on to be with people who free truly comfortable with.
It seems fair to say that Judas Inferno was a solo project. What can we expect from the second album? An industrial Rock band collaboration or a synth-pop solo project?
Judas Inferno captures a moment of my life. The emotion captured as it happened. All the anger and self-hatred you hear in the lyrics is true. Think of it as the end of a trilogy started in Self Degraded Suicide. That’s why I chose the title for it. The final burning of the phoenix in the flames before the re-birth. That whole period of my life was marred with broken relationships and a quest to find not just myself but my place in the world. Although M** and Jorge were involved along the way, RDI‘s releases have been pretty much solo projects, but without their support they wouldn’t have come about.
Our second full length album is definitely a collaboration of every part of the RDI collective. We’ve been working on it since late 2006, so it has definitely been a long term project for us and we’ve finally recorded all the parts and it’s into the mixing stage. It was nice because we haven’t been working to deadlines, just entering the studio when we could and just taking our time defining the album’s sound. It most certainly is not a synth-pop record this time round. It’s RDI firing on all cylinders, it’s more political, more critical of society, yet still maintains the personal vulnerability that makes RDI what it is. RDI is constantly evolving and although we know what defines us at our core we’re always trying to push the boundaries of what we do and not be limited into producing the same music again and again.
In my eyes it’s your vocals that give RDI that addictive and moving element. It’s what I and many other fans look forward to hearing most; we wait to see how you’ve changed and developed and what they reveal. Do you have any plans to get back into the studio and record any new vocals? To add to this question will we get to see Dom sing live in the near future?
Although I wouldn’t say it was just my vocals that defines RDI, but they certainly give us a unique sound, our marmite ‘love it, hate it’. I did read once someone saying that ‘it is the singer that makes this addictive like it’s a drug’, and it’s always nice to be referred to as a drug. With each RDI release the vocals improve and I add new aspects to it, none more so than in the material for our second album where they have to compete with a lot of different aspects. At the moment there isn’t any plans for me to get into the studio again to record, but I never rule out the possibility of it. The next vocals you’ll hear will be on the album and possibly a few more covers – we’ve got a few of those planned.
As for the live work I love it, there isn’t any plans for the next few months. I love performing live, it gives the music so much more character and variation, a different lease of life, which is why I’m glad RDI is so versatile, we can just walk on stage with an acoustic guitar and still be ourselves. There are plans for a live show being formulated and I just gave a hint towards what it may be. Until then my lips are sealed.
Is it still your main goal to produce music for your fans?
RDI’s goal is always to make music for our fans but we are not governed by that solely. Our music is for anyone. Musical integrity is always down to the band, and we will always be pushing our sound forward and not getting comfortable in one style. Hopefully our fan’s respect us enough to follow our journey and remain a part of the RDI army. We are truly grateful to all those who support us.
I like the soundtrack tracks you did for Infection. Granted it is a short film, what are your thoughts on it?
It had its charm. We were asked to provide some music so we did, and I am not the sort of person to judge someone’s ability based on one output. They made a short based upon what the resources they had. If everyone was judged on their beginnings we’d all be pretty fucked. I wish them all the best in what they do in the future.
You’re in a lift, Tommy Lee, Marilyn Manson and Pamela Anderson walk in and they all ask the same question simultaneously: ‘What do you want most out of life above all else?’ You have 20 seconds to answer before they all depart at the next floor… No cheating! I control this lift!
A threesome with Tommy and Pamela, Manson can hold the camera. No, seriously. I want to open minds and make them think differently. To be an influence on someone’s life without actually physically meeting them. To connect with another soul and make them realise they are not alone, or that things can get better.
Same question, different faces. You’re in a lift, God walks in and asks the question: ‘What do you want most out of life above all else?’ You have 20 seconds to answer before he/she/it departs at the next floor.
Daddy you know this, I want your job because I’d do it so much better. [laughs]
The Devil May Care was conducted in August 2008 exclusively for www.reddevilincident.com. The copyright in this interview belongs to The Red Devil Incident.