DAVID J
& The Night Crickets by Andy Argyrakis
Born of Authenticity
M
an of many bands , David J , is no stranger to iconic songwriting and inventive bass parts , dating all the way back to post-punk / gothic architects Bauhaus , continuing with alternative rockers Love And Rockets and now starting an entirely new chapter fronting the Night Crickets , all while juggling a slew of solo and passion projects . Along with Victor DeLorenzo ( Violent Femmes ) and multi-instrumentalist / artist Darwin Meiners , the latter super group of sorts just released a vinyl of their highly raved about debut , “ A Free Society ,” which boasts a kaleidoscopic of constantly compelling psychedelic and art rock experimentation . In a revealing Zoom conversation , the influential artist explained the entire pandemic-sculpted project , touched on each of those other classic bands ( one of which may have even sparked the idea for Blue Man Group ), a lifetime of loving Chicago and hopes to someday bring the Night Crickets to town .
IE : How did you initially connect with Victor and Darwin to get this new group off the ground ? David J : The seeds of this were sewn at Coachella when the Violent Femmes were playing there . Darwin and I were in the audience for that gig and feeling rather privileged to be there . I ’ ve always been a big fan of Violent Femmes and same with Darwin . Then afterwards , Darwin was milling around backstage and he happened to bump into Victor . They struck up a conversation , hit it off and then they exchanged emails . During the course of the email conversation that followed , this idea came up . Actually , it was Darwin that pitched it to Victor . “ How about us collaborating on something ?” Victor thought that was a good idea , but he said , “ how about asking David if he wants to be involved in this ?” So they did and I didn ’ t hesitate . I said , “ let ’ s give it a trial , try two tracks and see how it goes .” Those two tracks just clicked straight away , so we were off and rolling . Then we ended up making an album .
IE : What ’ s the meaning behind the album ’ s title , A Free Society ? David J : The track is actually a list of potential band names . We were trying to think of a name for the band , so all of us pithed in with ideas and I had this list written out . I was in the studio . We had some instrumental music and I wanted to come up with a vocal . I just glanced down this list and I saw it not as a list of poten tial band names , but as a kind of surreali poem , if you will , with all these names juxt posed and making a story . I thought , “ what if just add a word here and a word there ?” I lin it , I kind of make it cohesive and “ A Fre Society ” was simply one of the potential ban names . I did the vocal really spontaneousl which is kind of the M-O for this band . Once got the idea , I said , “ I don ’ t want to think abou it . I just want to do it .” The first take is what yo hear and I ’ m just reciting that list , but the afterwards , it was a case of listening to it an coming back to your own subconscious revel tion , which is an interesting phenomenon I ’ v encountered over the years . Even when yo write something consciously , you might thin you ’ re writing about a particular thing , bu then later on , once you ’ re afforded perspectiv through distance and time , you see it as mean ing something else .
IE : Are there any themes that run throughou the record ? David J : Well , again , not that we set out to voic these themes and ideas , but because we were i the pandemic plague times , I mean that was s much at the forefront of our consciousnes That came out and it runs through the who record as concepts . That ’ s pretty much the abid ing theme , then it goes into all different areas would just pick up on something I read in newspaper or a little article online . It was in m immediate consciousness and I ’ d just feed off o that , kind of like a collage or montage reall bringing disparate elements together , litt snippets here and there . That ties in with th whole process of also the remote , three-wa collaboration , putting all these disparate el ments together to make a solid piece of work
IE : How would you describe the sounds t those who haven ’ t heard it yet ? David J : Looking at it , again , from the perspe tive of objective distance , I hear all sorts o influences in there . I hear kind of motor Krautrock rhythms . I hear a bit of dub , avan garde , experimental , The Beatles , a lot o melody , definitely some jazz touches , especia ly from Victor , so it ’ s a real mélange , a ver eclectic mixing of the cauldron there .
IE : No matter the band , solo or passion pro ect , can you recall any standout shows you ’ v
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