THE HIGHWIRE DAZE INTERVIEWS

Updated: 11/02/00

As heavy metal is making a massive comeback all over the world, bands that got a raw deal with the onset of grunge and rap are returning with a vengeance. One of these groups is Babylon AD, who are releasing a brand new album of tunes entitled American Blitzkrieg. Apocalypse Records is their own label, and it seems to be the way to go for these guys. Read on to catch the lowdown on this band who can still kick your butt with their heavy music!

Highwire Daze: Tell me about the new album American Blitzkrieg and how long it took you to record it.

Derek Davis: It took us a little over a year to record. We worked on the material for a couple of years and then basically, just fine-tuned it till we thought we had the necessary stuff to put on the record.

HD: Was it difficult producing yourself and everyone else in the band?

Derek: Not really. We'd been doing demo tapes like that for years. And I happen to have a recording studio in my house. It took a little bit longer than we expected, but that's because we weren't in a major recording studio having to pay 200 dollars an hour. We could basically do it at our leisure.

HD: When you released your live album, how much of this new one was done?

Derek: Well it wasn't done, but we were working on the material at the time.

HD: How does the new one compare to the earlier, classic Babylon AD recordings?

Derek: For us, it's just the next step. Our second album was different from our first album, and this album is a little bit different than the second one. I basically put the lyrics and the melodies over the top of what the music is - the musical pieces that Dan, Ron and Eric who is now writing in the band. They might give me 15 to 20 pieces of music to listen to over a year's time. I'll listen to everything and try to grab the best parts of what I think might make a good song.

HD: Where do you get the ideas for some of your lyrics?

Derek: Oh, man, just general experiences you are going through at the time or mindsets. A lot of times, the lyrics kind of come with what the music feels like. That's how I write most of the lyrics. I just sit and think about what kind of subject matter I want to write about when the music is playing. Maybe I'll put the headphones on and listen to the music three or four times and then something will come to me. I'll just close my eyes and try to hypnotize myself while trying to get into the song.

HD: What song on the album did you film your video for and how did that go?

Derek: American Blitzkrieg, the title track. It went great. We're really happy with the video. For us, it was probably the best video experience we've done out of the other five videos that we did. It just came out great and we're really happy with it.

HD: So what has made you decide not to release your albums on a major label.

Derek: Well, that really wasn't a conscious decision here or there. It was just us doing what we wanted to do with no one telling us what to do. Being on a major label, you're kind of constricted to what they want you to say and what they want you to sound like. You're just a packaged candy bar basically. And we just wanted to have full 100 percent complete control - we didn't want to have nobody else screw with us. We have our own recording studio and we have a pretty good, half ass knowledge of the music business - so we figured we could do it on our own.

HD: Do you think that you may want to be on a major or indie label again one day?

Derek: Yeah, there's no doubt that a major label or a major independent label would help, but the only way we'd want to do something like that is maybe with a licensing deal or something. All the music is already done. Or if we do a new one, we have a recording studio, so it would be more beneficial to us to take a big chunk -- basically keep all of that money instead of having to pay it back to the record company. Basically, the record company is a big giant bank and you're borrowing off your 12 or 14 percent or whatever they are going to give you.

HD: What do you know now about the recording industry that you didn't know back then?

Derek: That it takes a lot of record sales to recoup and to keep a record deal. Because nine out of ten bands that get a record deal, there's only one of them that get their record out. And then nine out of ten of those don't even recoup what they paid for with the record. The record business is a pretty tough business - and it's all run by accountants and lawyers - the two things that most musicians hate in life and like to kick their ass! Cuz they're not musicians - they don't know what an artist has to go through. All they know is how many record sales they think they can do - and they're gonna do it anyway they can to market you. They don't really care about you as a person.

HD: With Apocalypse Records being your own label, I was wondering if you had any other bands signed as well?

Derek: No. We've got a couple of acts that we've talked to over the last three or four months. Right now, we're just trying to concentrate on everything we do. We just went to radio last week, so we're trying to get the radio stations to play us. Sinking in the Sand is our first single and we're really pushing that. It's pretty tough man, when you're doing your own record label; it's the same thing as making the record. You have 100 percent complete control but then again you don't have as much funding as a major label. Right now, we're just trying to concentrate on us. I'm not sure how much we're gonna get into working with other bands unless our record takes off and it's beneficial to us. I mean, I wouldn't want to sign somebody else up and then say, "Okay, we're taking fifty percent." It just wouldn't be fair.

HD: Do you have any trouble with distribution at all?

Derek: Not really. We've got Select-O-Hits as our distributor and we're working on a few things overseas.

HD: What do you think of the current state of metal music today?

Derek: I like a lot of it. Some of it I don't care for of course, and some of it I do. I like bands like Godsmack and Monster Magnet and stuff like that. But I'm not into the rap metal - I just don't consider that rock. And maybe it's just from being from the old school - I like Aerosmith and AC/DC and sh*t like that. And anything that has a bombastic kind of grind to it. But I don't go for anything that has rap because that doesn't have any kind of melody and I just can't get into it.

HD: Do you like any death metal or black metal?

Derek: No, I never got into that. The hardest stuff I like is Metallica.

HD: Do you like Slipknot?

Derek: You know, I haven't heard anything that they've done. All I know is that it's six or seven guys and they have a lot of masks on. And I don't go for that either man. I don't even know if I'd listen to the record, because that sh*t just turned me off when somebody's got to hide behind something. I just don't get into it.

HD: Back to Babylon AD. When you look back at your first two albums, what do you think of them now?

Derek: At the time, when we did the first record, I wasn't too happy with the production. Years later, going back and listening to it - it sounds pretty f*cking good. I always thought the second record was produced a little bit better - and years later I go back and I find out that I was wrong. I think the first one has a little bit more punch to it. But the first album has some good songs and the second one has some good songs.

HD: What can expect from a live Babylon AD show nowadays?

Derek: We still kick ass man! We go up there and act like we're in a f*cking brawl. Anybody that's seen us lately can attest that when we get up there onstage, we f*cking kick ass. I can't stand bands that just kind of stand around there onstage and play their music. Most of our stuff has a lot of angst in it. I always feel like fighting right after I get offstage.

HD: Has that ever gotten you in trouble?

Derek: Quite a few times!

HD: On the new CD, you have this hysterical picture of Hitler. I wanted you to describe it to the readers…

Derek: It's like a big dartboard with a bomb going up his ass. That's actually gotten us in trouble over in Europe - in Germany. I couldn't believe it, but it's actually gotten a lot of people offended over there. I'm serious! Some of the places won't carry it because it has that (picture). I'm like, "So what's going on? What your telling me is that there's still a lot of fascist over there? A lot of Hitler Nazi youth generation over there?" It's just a joke anyway! The record's called American Blitzkrieg, it's got an atom bomb on the back of it - and on the record it's got a picture of Hitler with a bomb going up his ass on the dartboard. It's all in fun man and some people take it too f*cking literally.

HD: What do you think is the lamest musical trend today?

Derek: That's hard, because there's a lot of lame sh*t. It's gotta be this N'Sync, f*cking Backstreet Boy, Britney Spears stuff. In a way, it's kind of good - cuz I've got a six-year-old kid. He likes all that sh*t. I was thinking about this yesterday, because he was listening to some Britney Spears and says, "Oooooh daddy, I love her!" At the same time I'm thinking, "I can't believe it," yet at the same time I'm saying to myself, "You know, that's good and wholesome for little kids!" So maybe there is a place for it. What's kind of funny is I had seen this magazine - maybe it was Source or Rolling Stone or something - one of those boy bands were on there and they had tattoos and chains on, and they looked like they were gonna kick your ass! And I'm just looking at it laughing, saying, "Are you f*cking kidding me?" All their music and lyrics are made from some guy in Sweden and all they've gotta do is lip-synch the sh*t and play the part of superstar. It's the same old shit - here today and gone tomorrow.

HD: Have you ever had to go into a record store and buy one these records for your kid.

Derek: No. Nope, not me. Naw, I'd do it if he wanted me to, but no.

HD: So who's better - Britney Spears or Christina Aguliara?

Derek: I don't like either one of em, but I'd rather screw Britney Spears I guess.

HD: What are the future plans for Babylon AD? What's next for you guys?

Derek: Well, we're gonna try to work this album out over the next eight months to a year, and then we're gonna start working on another one and just keep it going. We already have a few new songs in the can.

HD: And the last questions - do you have messages for Babylon AD fans?

Derek: I just want to thank all the fans who stayed with us throughout the years and make sure everybody keeps in touch with us by checking out our website, which is babylonad.com. And leave us some messages on our message board. It's pretty fun to read the messages - about once a week I'll check in on them. It's pretty cool to know that there's people, like out in Japan that are still rocking to Babylon AD. It's what keeps is goin'! Without the fans, there'd be no point in making another record.