Interviews, just like bands, can be so boring.
So predictable! They don't surprise me with their uncreative questions and answers. I have
to say that also my interviews can be so mediocre. But not this one, in my opinion. But
what else can you expect? Dust Eater Dogs is an unpredictable band with a creative mixture
of styles such as hardcore, funkrock and rock and roll. And vocalist Benny Majabacka of
this Finnish quartet was clearly willing to put in some originality. This interview is a
must-check-out for sure.
Recently you released the single King Kong Fist
through Little Rose Productions. Personally I think it's a real rock 'n roll with a raw
Dust Eater Dogs twist to it. How would you like to describe the sound of the band?
Benny: The new album that is now recorded is going to be called Oil. The single gives a
little bit hint what it's going to be like, but the album is far better, better sound,
groove attitude etc...Personally I'm not satisfied at all with the single, we produced it
ourselves and you can hear it. The new sound is live, raw, shitty rock 'n roll sound with
some punk, hardcore and country influences. We call the style Hardrock 'n roll. It's all
about energy and close to the earth rock...
It's interesting that you mention that you're not satisfied with the
single.
The inlay of King Kong Fist states however that the single was produced by
Naa Myan Ling, or is that the same as "self-produced"?
Benny: Yep, Naa Myan Ling is Thai language and means monkeyface, it's basically me and
Sebastian (band's manager, mpo). We didn't want to have our names as a producer in
something that we think sucks, if we are willing to have some work in the future...But
still, the single is worth buying...
The weird thing is that you released an album called Motor which
didn't have a titletrack. Now you have a single, King Kong Fist, but it doesn't contain
the song King Kong Fist. What's on the disc is the song Motor which could have been the
titletrack for the first album. The inlay says King Kong Fist isn't on it because "It
sucked so bad". Is this the kind of Dust Eater Dogs humor?
Benny: To start from the beginning, we released an EP called Thunderleg. I think that even
the song wasn't written at the time. So we decided to keep on
that line, name the releases with something to come in the future. That will hopefully
keep up some interest. The song King Kong Fist is an excellent song, but the recording
failed. We didn't use a metronome, so it was impossible to have the Jewish harp sections
in it because it wasn't tight. It will be re-recorded in the future.
We don't know such a thing as humor. We are just fed up with traditional
ways of doing things. But sometimes we think we are very funny.
As a cool thing you've added a video for Motor. What made you decide
to
add a video?
Benny: To fill up the space with something. A friend wanted to shoot a video,
that's about it.
You once suggested that there was possibility of a remix by Jimi
Tenor of the song Thunderleg to appear on the single. As there's no such remix I wonder
how that went.
Benny: This is something I'm still pissed off with. Can you believe, Day -Glo Records
destroyed our original master reels with Thunderleg in it. They recorded some Swedish punk
over it. NO hard feelings, but it's gone for ever. Shit, man! There were great plans for
the remix single.
You have no hard feelings but at the same time
you're pissed off?
Benny: Yea, it's kinda pity and makes me sad but that's what happened and it
can't be taken back. And everyone makes mistakes, so it's a thing to be accepted. I'm not
really pissed off with anything, just pretending to be, because you usually are after
these kind of things. I try not to worry too much.
There's a mystery to be cleared up. Last year the news came Dust
Eater Dogs had decided to quit. In December you told me that the reason for that were hard
times. Can you explain more about that and why you decided to restart the band later on?
Benny: Can't remember too clearly what happened at that stage. It was Harri who left the
band unofficially, and we all were having really hard times in our
personal lives and with the vision of DED. But you may believe that it was quite hard for
me. I took it quite seriously, but we managed to solve all the problems. That is one of
the reasons we've been taking it easily lately. And, two weeks ago Harri was ready to
leave the band again, but we managed to survive again. The things behind this are quite
complex things, basically connected to the vision. But now, we're strong and united and
we'll keep on going for the next 20 years, that's for sure.We love each other and there
has never been personal problems amongst us.
This is still vague to me. What is really the vision of the band and
how did that bring you into conflict?
Benny: OK.When we first started off we played clubs and the secular scene. That was our
vision in the beginning. After a while a Christian promoter started to sell our concerts
and we ended up playing Christian shows only. It got really boring after a while because
Finland is such a small country and the scene becomes really familiar too soon. When we
had put out the album (Motor) we played about every weekend. We got fed up with our songs
and it tasted like crap. So we didn't see much reason to keep on playing. Well, we
tried to go back to our original things but we had kind of lost the first childish
enthusiasm. We talked it over many times, and came up to a conclusion that DED is now more
like a ministry, not for fun. Of course it can be fun as well. So we had a different
approach to the thing and we weren't after the same hype anymore. There were also problems
with my leadership. I tried to avoid responsibility and after long sessions of discussions
it was great to see that we all have now found our roles in the group. And playing is fun
again.
One other thing is with Harri. He is very talented singer and songwriter, but he doesn't
like DED stuff too much. So he wants to have more channels to do his own music. But
nowadays we don't play too often and everything is quite fine. We take care of our
relationships by having nights out with the guys, bowling or sauna or whatever, so the
problems can't grow too big because we share them now all the time.
We have also learned a lot about visions. They can die and change. One
important thing is that if you are willing to have one, state it out clearly enough that
it doesn't get confusing.
On the website I read a story about a show with
Sentenced. Is that the kind of thing you would like to do more?
Benny: Well, the main point in our ministry is not to cause problems or
hassle. This is the goal. Fact is, that they often arise. But we like to do things that
are not obvious and that force people to think and choose their sides. Sometimes these
kind of things are really challenging because you know that the audience is being touched
somehow. We would like to do more warm up shows, but not necessarily with heavy metal
bands, because the music itself is so far from our stuff and the metalheads are really not
into our style.
Twice Harri wanted to leave the band, you said. How steady is the
line-up then?
Benny: Steady as a rock. Funky as a frog. Hectic as a hog.
Hectic as a hog is something I can see as Harri wanted to leave
again just two weeks ago. Why do you want to keep him in the band while he doesn't like
the band's music too much? It almost seems like he's not allowed to move on!
Benny: Harri and we are the best friends, and he's been there from the beginning, we don't
want him to leave. If he wants to do so, that's ok but it'll be hard to replace crazy
Harri. DED is not a band that can change members. We are strongly bound together. DED is a
family. And even though Harri is not a big fan of rock 'n roll, he still finds it so good
fun to jam with us, and that groove that we nowadays got can't be found anywhere else. I
believe it's a God given groove. And like most musicians, you just love to play, it
doesn't matter what the style is, you don't have like to listen to it, but playing itself
is the thing.
Okay, Harri, can you give us a little bit more
insight into your motivations to either leave Dust Eater Dogs or to stay?
Harri: Well, DED has been together for years. I think in that time you're allowed to have
some problems and it's not so big deal if I sometimes think about leaving the band. I
never really left anywhere. Sometimes problems get way too big and then you just think
that maybe it's time to move on. But like
marriage, you just can't run away. We talked about these bad curves and now we can drive
straight ahead again. FULL STEAM ON. I have this love and hate relationship with DED.
Sometimes it's the dream come true, sometimes it's just hard work and frustration. But
that's life man!!! DED lives forever and Harri is always complaining and whining and
leaving the band... But these brothers love me anyway and I love them so that's it, we
pull the same rope.
And what are the problems, I hear you ask. Well, this band is just one thing in this short
life. I have to make up my mind how to live it. Where to put my time. How to handle my
lovely wife and so on. The band is not the most important
thing in my life and that makes me unsure about how much time to give it. And of course I
have my own music interests, but it's too much work to start something new and I'm not so
much into it now. And last but not least, our vision was lost and it made everything
meaningless and a waste of time. Some
problems are personal and doesn't belong to anybody. We have good stuff for
an excellent soap opera, don't you think?
Benny: For me, I don't listen to this kind of music nowadays, hardly any heavy music, I
find it boring. But playing it is different. Hardrock 'n roll and hardcore are the best
things to play live.
You keep amazing me Benny! You play heavy music but you don't listen
to this kind of music. What kind of music is not boring then, what's the thing you're
into?
Benny: Well, I listen to all kinds of music, the only criterion is that
it should be good. My favorites lately have been Morphine, J.J. Johansson, Sixteen
Horsepower and Imani Coppola. From the harder edge I'm crazy about Clutch, I'm a true fan
of them. I'm really into old country music as well, Jim Reeves and Johnny Horton
etceteras. Also some hiphop stuff makes me groove. From Sweden there are good bands coming
out, Refused and Lok.
Harri: I'm into everything that makes me feel something. I'm melancholic and that makes me
very "feelish". If you know what I mean. I don't care about styles but about the
music. There must be something real and it must come from the soul, deep down. Then
it's good ----- if it doesn't suck!!! I don't listen much. Do you?
You also switched from Day Glo Records to Little Rose
Productions/Bullroser
Records from your homecountry, Finland. How were your experiences with Day Glo and what is
the exact deal with Bullroser?
Benny: With Bullroser it's kind of a publication and distribution deal. We wanted to stay
indie for a little while, but I think we start to look for a bigger
label soon. With Day-Glo, they wanted us to play in Sweden and in Europe but we didn't
want to, and that was the beginning of the mess. We are still
friends with the folks in Day-Glo, but at this moment we're not working together. I like
it indie, problems only come with money.
Why didn't you want to play elsewhere in Europe at that time?
Benny: We are not ambitious, we hate this rock star thing and don't like too much
attention. Actually, if this band was our only job, there wouldn't be any problems. But
because we have studying and other stuff to do, we can't put too much effort into it right
now. But we're planning that after a year we try it a little while full time and look how
far we can get. I believe that there are no limits, if it's Gods plan.
As you mentioned earlier there will be a new album. Can you tell
more about it?
Benny: The album will be titled Oil and it's the best thing we've done. I'm really
exited about it. There is a good rock 'n roll vibe going on and banjos and horns
etceteras. It's about feelings and little things in life, about weakness and strengths,
not dealing with deep theological subjects as the earlier one. Lots of friends will be
showing up on the album.
Let me guess: Jacks Of All Trades! You did guest
vocals on their album so it seems predictable to me. Can you tell more about appearances
on the CD, who's gonna do the producing and when it will be released?
Benny: Yep, J Blast will be there, and Michael Wildside from Hallowed and a couple of
guitarists and whole Minus SF will be there as well in one song. Plus some other not so
interesting ones.
The producer is Mikko Oinonen. He has done quite a lot of productions in
Finland and he plays bass in a band called Bass 'n Helen. He's really cool, we
are more than satisfied with him.
And when will it be out?
Benny: I'm not sure when the album will be released. The final mixing happens
next week, and the cover art is now under designing. But we hope to find a label to
release it, so it might take a little while.
Isn't it sure then that you're releasing it
through Bullroser? Or do you have other plans with it?
Harri: I have no idea. I just play and complain.
Benny: Can't tell you too much about that yet. It's up to our manager
and to God. I wouldn't mind signing up to a big label today, but don't now how I feel
tomorrow.
I found out you're gonna play in Belgium at the
Maanrock Festival in
August. How did you manage to get to play there and are you gonna do more shows in these
parts of Europe now?
Benny: Next summer we'll probably be playing in Europe. The Maanrock will also be next
summer, not this one. That has been a misunderstanding. |
