Albums of Purgatory interview Born of Fire's J. Davis

Albums of Purgatory: Firstly, what are you up to right now?

JDavis: First of all let me say that Born of fire are no longer together. I have dissolved the band. What the remaining members are doing, I have no real clue. I wish them all the best in whatever and wherever they end up.

I am however currently writing new songs for my new project "TYRANNY."  Before I left BOF I secured interest with three labels who want to release some of my music.  So we'll just see how it goes from there.

AoP: How would you have described the Born of Fire sound?

JDavis: The Born of fire sound WAS mainly billed as American Powermetal. Melodic music (somewhat progressive at times) with Powerful vocals. The music I'm writing with "Tyranny" is pretty much along the same
lines as what I was doing with BOF. Powerful and melodic with that heaviness still in there!

AoP: How did you become involved in the band?

JDavis: I became involved with BOF by answering an ad in the local paper. I called the number and the guy told me he needed a singer to record vocal tracks for an upcoming "Iron Maiden" tribute album. There was a deadline to get the tapes with new vocals into the record company so if I wanted to be on the album I had to do them that first night. So my audition was to come over and immediately start tracking the vocals.   

AoP: Can you remember your first gig (how did it go)?

JDavis: Yes, I remember my first time ever on stage... It was 1995 in front of a crowd of almost 7,000 people
on a farm in Oklahoma. I had just started singing for this band "Monument" and we somehow bullshitted our way into opening the show for "Dr. Hook" at a biker festival. (ha..ha..ha). I remember looking out over the crowd for the first time and my legs started shaking. After the first song was finished, the crowd let out this huge roar, It was incredible. I knew then, it would be all right after that and went on and did five more songs. I will remember that day for the rest of my life!

My first show with BOF was opening for Flotsam & Jetsam and Sacred Reich at a club here in Phoenix called The Mason Jar. It was a great show, a very powerful show.  There were probably two to three hundred people there. I don't know really what the venue capacity was but what ever it was, it was sold out. It was a blast!

AoP: How do you feel the Born of Fire sound had developed over the last few years?

JDavis: The BOF sound really hasn't changed that much I don't think. The sound was probably evolving into a more "Updated with the times" sound with every release.  I tried to keep the songs updated with what was going on in the world around us.

AoP: What are your favorite Born of Fire tracks?

JDavis: In The End, On The Run, and Blinded stick out as my favorites that I've written. I am proud of all the BOF tunes.

AoP: What are your favorite all time songs?

JDavis: Man...There are just so many...
Anything from the first two Ozzy Osbourne solo albums "Blizzard and Diary" Those records changed my life and got me into music to begin with.   I am also very much into Fates Warning with Ray Alder...Probably the entire "No Exit" album.

AoP: What was the first record you bought?

JDavis: Well my older brother Derek was very much into music so as I was growing up I was always getting into his record collection. I never really bought a record, I never had to. They were just given to me. I remember listening to Blue Oyster Cult, Ted Nugent, Styx, Kansas, Joe Walsh and The James Gang, Tom Petty Allman Brothers and of course Lynnard Skynnard.

AoP: What would be your dream band line-up?

JDavis: Probably, Randy Rhoads and Vivian Campbell on guitars Steve Harris on Bass and Tommy Aldrige on drums. But I would probably be so totally in awe that nothing would get done at least for the first few minutes...man that would be a dream!

AoP: What do you think of the position of metal and music in general today?

JDavis: Well people are saying that "Metal is coming back." I say it never went anywhere. Only industry support went away after the "Hair Metal" scare of the late eighties.  I'm glad to hear the more heavier songs coming back on the radio.  I am so sick of all this hip-hop crap that has been poisoning the airwaves for so long.  I think that labels are now realizing that kids these days are just as much into the heavier stuff now as we were when it all started.

AoP: Which bands in the metal scene really stand out for you at the moment?

JDavis: I really don't listen to the radio very much anymore. But I dig bands like Nevermore, Fates Warning and Faith no More.

AoP: Do you have any funny stories you can share with us about the band?

JDavis: Well I have funny stories but because of legal issues, I should probably not tell any of them...(ha...ha...ha).

AoP: And finally, what do you see in the future for Born of Fire?

JDavis: Well like I said before, I wish my former bandmates all the best in whatever or wherever they end up.  Keep an ear out for my new group "Tyranny".  I should have a release out by the end of 2002.