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Q1 Could you tell us how do you start O'Death? How do you meet with the band members?
Well we met in college at suny purchase where gabe and I were studying film. We were playing a show of solo music and david was there and was very taken with the music. He asked if I wanted to start a goth country band and I didnt know what that meant but I liked the idea of it. I was into a lot of old music at the time like Charley Patton and Dock Boggs in particular and we wanted to see how that sort of sound would work with a band arrangement. It evolved from there. Bob joined the band while in school as well and Newman came along about a year or so into the project.
Q2 What is your songwriting process like?
We're open to any source of inspiration for a song and we workshop that song till we all feel like the song is working. Sometimes I'll come up with an idea sometimes gabe will sometimes Bob will. Gabe and I will usually work seperately before introducing anything to the band. |
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Q3 How is it going touring so far? Any great experiences?
This is a great tour for us. Murder By Death are awesome people and we like their fans alot. We played sold out shows in Chicago and NYC and are doing really well everywhere we're hitting up. The whole thing is great and its hard to reflect on it since we're in the midst of it now, but I like how the weathers getting warmer.
Q4 Which venue do you feel the best to play your music? Any favorite venues?
We had a great time playing Bowery Ballroom. The sound was perfect. New York crowds are our favorite to play to really. But we also really like art spaces and more diy spaces around the country. We also really like crammed dive bars where everything sounds distorted. We like to play in basements too. Our songs sound different to us in different spaces and I love feeling like a song can mean something different depending on where we're playing. |
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Q11 Would you like to add anything for the fans?
We have a new album coming out soon and its really great. I want you to hear it. |
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Six guys, maybe three shirts between them, take to the stage. There's a banjo, a fiddle, a drum set littered with gas cans, chains, and broken cymbals. Then they all start howling, stomping; it's an anachronistic jug band party in a junkyard with sing-along hooks and weathered vocals from another time. Their fans, an ever-expanding congregation, sing along and follow the band with an almost religious fervor, and as vocalist Greg Jamie's eyes roll back into his head there's a sense that something almost sinisterly spiritual has overtaken everyone in the room. This is the world of O'Death.
Originally formed in 2003 while the members attended SUNY Purchase, the band – with Jamie on guitar and vocals, Gabe Darling on banjo, David Rogers-Berry on drums, Jesse Newman on bass, and Bob Pycior on fiddle – self-released their first album in 2004. They quickly took to the task of stirring up a wholly original scene of NY musicians with their reverently twisted take on Americana filtered through a wealth of musical influences as divergent as Bill Monroe, Prince, Dock Boggs, Neil Young, The Microphones, and The Misfits via a series of the shows the now defunct Apocalypse Lounge. As they gathered the songs for their second LP, Head Home, the band perfected their mesmerizing and riotous stage presence and took to turning their share of heads across the country, playing over 100 shows in 2006, and gracing the stage alongside acts including Battles, Dr. Dog, Art Brut, The Big Sleep, Langhorne Slim, and Old Time Relijun.
O'Death
Greg Jamie - Vocals, Guitar
Gabe Darling - Backing vocals, ukulele, guitar, banjo, piano
David Rogers-Berry - Drums
Bob Pycior - Fiddle, guitar, piano
Jesse Newman - Bass
Dan Sager - Trombone, euphonium, keys |
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Down to Rest
-Head Home-
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Q5 What were your childhood aspirations?
To be able to work in a creative medium. Art and film and music were passions of mine for a long time and this is it. This is it for me.
Q6 Do you have any mentors and if so, who are they?
No mentors really. My dad is a great guy. Both of my parents.
Q7 What do you usually do before the show starts?
Drink Nervously. Sit around. Drink.
Q8 if you were to collaborate with another musician, who would it be?
I'd like to sing a duet with Dolly Parton. That would be fine.
Q9 Music to live by
Bob Dylan's desire, Neil Young's everyone knows this is nowhere, Bonnie Prince Billy's I see a darkness and other albums. |
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Q10 Favorite cocktail and where to drink it?
I've become very partial to gin and tonics but I'm a wimper drinker than most in this band. I always love whiskey. |
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All the World
-Head Home-
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