Tuesday, February 20, 2007

John Davis Interview


John Davis is probably known to most of you as the singer of Superdrag. For those of you who don't know, Superdrag had some major airplay with their songs "Sucked Out" and "Destination Ursa Major" in the 90's and have maintained quite a loyal following even after the band disbanded a few years ago. For those Superdrag fans out there wanting more, they have a b-sides album, "Changing Tires On The Road To Ruin" out in April.


After Superdrag, John Davis put out a self-titled album that not only rocked, but shows more of His Soulful & Spiritual side. With a good band backing Him, a new album recorded, and an ever present Faith, we asked John a few questions. Even in type, you can just feel how nice and passionate He is. Don't take my word for it, keep reading:




We hear there is a new album recorded. Could you give us some insight as to the direction of for the newer material? ; When might we see the new record?

J: Well, there are actually a couple of unmastered album tracks posted on MySpace (www.myspace.com/johndavis) at the moment---those would probably give people a pretty good ballpark idea of what the record’s like. Some of the music has been compared to Superdrag; I’m getting a lot more of that than I did with the previous record. I wouldn’t necessarily say the record rocks more than Superdrag, but it’s definitely faster and more aggressive in spots than anything we did. I think the SST Records-era influences (Black Flag, Husker Du, Descendents, Dinosaur Jr., et al) really rose to the top during the writing process for this album. Those bands were some of the biggest inspirations for me as a young songwriter—they still are. I expect to be able to get the record out this summer.



Who is in your band for live shows?

J: Yogi Watts (drums) and Ethan Luck (bass) from Demon Hunter. When we’re able to do a two-guitar configuration, Ethan switches to guitar and Josiah Holland from The Lonely Hearts plays bass. I feel very fortunate to have those three dudes helping me out. You couldn’t ask for a more solid line-up. Yogi also played all the drums on the new record. In two days, he just absolutely killed it.



Many people know of your past work in Superdrag. How would you describe your music now to a long time Superdrag fan?

J: I would say this record picks up where "In The Valley Of Dying Stars" left off, but with a totally outspoken Gospel message. This was the first opportunity I had to work on music with ("In The Valley…" co-producer) Nick Raskulinecz since 2000, but the first day we went in and got to work that gap completely disappeared. It was really exciting. So, that’s a pretty easy parallel to drawback to our previous work. I guess it’s safe to assume that if you like Superdrag and you don’t mind hearing someone profess faith in God through music, then this album’s for you.



Faith seems to be a tremendous part of your music. Would you care to share or expand more on that?

J: I think what it ultimately comes down (to) is wanting to take what you feel is the very best thing you have to offer as a human being and give it back to God. It’s His anyway. I still just open my heart and whatever’s in there comes out, like before, so the process never really changed but it was my heart that changed. I hope God never stops changing it, until the day we’ll meet face-to-face.



What are you currently listening to? Any bands that we should be taking note of?

J: Ha---to be perfectly honest, I can’t stop listening to Dr. Dre right now. Doc, if you’re reading this, and you need more musicians to work on Detox, holler at your boy.



Thank you very much, is there anything else that you would like to add?

J:
Not really, just keep an eye out for the new album, hit me up on MySpace (www.myspace.com/johndavis ), y’all take care of yourselves, love your neighbors as you do yourselves. That’s God’s word.


http://www.myspace.com/johndavis

http://www.johndavismusic.com

http://www.superdrag.com

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