Albums of Purgatory interview Deep Under Dirt's guitarists Brian Harshaw & Brian Theodore
Albums of Purgatory: Firstly, what are you up to right now?
BH: We just finished our first CD, an EP called "Beneath the Surface." Now that we have that behind us we are concentrating on playing live and writing new material. Since we are a band that plays original material, it has been difficult to play extended sets with what we currently have written. We have broken our own rule of not playing cover songs and learned a few, more as a tribute to the bands that influence us than as set filler.
We are also looking at dozens of opportunities that have presented themselves to us over the past few months. These are things like providing our songs for television/movies soundtracks, hooking up with management companies, booking agents, Internet radio, and more things I can’t think off the top of my head right now. It’s amazing how many opportunities present themselves by using the Internet to promote the band.
AoP: How would you describe the Deep Under Dirt sound?
BH: Our sound is really evolving. The early material that was written with a smaller group of us is more chord-based and is very fast. I would say that our "new" sound is more groove oriented, slower and heavier. We have a good thing going where the bass and guitar play a rhythm clean while the lead guitar colors the melody. Just when that hooks you, we hit you in the face with a wall of pounding distortion!
Since we have a wide span in the ages of band members, we have the older guys bringing in more of a classic hard rock/metal style and the younger guys bringing in the more modern, heavier styles. One thing that is great is that we all are into progressive rock to a certain degree, and while we are not a progressive metal band, you can definitely hear the influence in our playing.
BT: I always seem to look at it as the fine line separating old school and new school metal, interspersed with the vast and varying influences each one of us brings into the equation. So, we're either a hybrid or a mongrel, whichever way you choose to look at it.
AoP: How did you get involved with the band in 2001?
BH: I started writing songs and then starting thinking about putting a new band together in 2000. I met Brian Theodore through musician.com in April of 2001 and we started jamming and working on songs. We posted ads online for other musicians and found Stephen Phillips (vocals) in August of 2001. By the beginning of 2002, we still had not found the right drummer or bassist. It was a real struggle and I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to make a go of it.
AoP: How difficult was it at first when you struggled to find a bassist and drummer?
BT: It was quite frustrating, really. I was getting too used to playing along with the freaking drum machine!
BH: Like I mentioned before, I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to move things forward. In December of 2001, I was frustrated to the point of almost giving up. Persistence does pay off though and within a couple of months, the lineup was complete. Matt Loria (drums) and Todd Baker (bass) are both awesome musicians and bring a lot of energy, experience, and talent into the band. We have a great chemistry, even though we see things differently at times. The ability for us come together musically is a beautiful thing – something I have rarely experienced in my music career. The whole is definitely larger than the parts in this band.
AoP: Can you remember your first gig (how did it go)?
BT: Apart from a broken string midway through the set, I thought it went well. We turned more than a few heads that night.
BH: It was a battle of the bands at a local metal club. In fact it was April 6, 2002. Matt had only been in the band two weeks and Todd not much longer! Nobody except our friends, wives, and girlfriends were in the stage area when we went on. By the end of our set, I would say that almost everybody in the bar and game area had come into the hall to watch. It was a killer response for the first gig. We had a major meltdown in the middle of one of our songs due to poor sound from the monitors (could not hear anybody else) and it was a tricky song as well. I think right after that happened is when Brian Theodore broke a string. Lots went wrong, but we kind of just ended the song and nobody really seemed to notice! I have it on video and can’t stand to watch it.
BT: I share that sentiment. I still have that initial meltdown lurking in the corner of my mind every time we're on stage. But like Brian mentioned, nobody really seemed to notice that meltdown, I guess most of them just assumed that was how the song went. And Todd saved the day with one of his psychedelic bass solos while the rest of us got our nerves (and strings) back together. Anyways, meltdown aside, that gig was a watershed moment for the band as a whole. The moment we ripped into the opening chords of "My Fear" and saw the reaction we were getting, we knew we were on to something real good.
AoP: What are your favorite Deep Under Dirt tracks?
BT: My all time favorite is Black Circles. I see it as a crossroad between the earlier stuff we'd written and the new sound we've evolved into over the last 6 months. It's weird, in a way that the song is immensely much more heavier and deeper than the sum of all its parts, almost like it has a life of its own independent of the 5 of us.
BH: I would have to agree, Black Circles bridges that gap between the old style and our newer style. We used some interesting minor power chord structures in the early songs that we are now moving away from. Black Circles is the last song to have that type of structure in it, but only briefly in the chorus. Our latest song, Down, is really kick ass though and demonstrates where we are going. We have a couple of new songs in the works that build on that style – groove oriented, dropped tunings, and very heavy. Brian and I worked on one a bit the other night that I think will blow people away, really creepy and heavy.
AoP: What are your favorite all time songs or albums?
BT: "Still Life" by Iron Maiden, from the album "Piece of Mind", which is also my all-time favorite album. Other albums would include all the Ozzy-era Sabbath albums and the earlier Metallica ones, although the post-Black albums are beginning to grow on me.
BH: My favorite all time albums are Metallica "Master of Puppets", Alice in Chains "Dirt", Rush "Hemispheres", and Black Sabbath "Masters of Reality." As far as songs go, "Into the Void" by Sabbath, "Tribal Confessions" by Voivod, and "Battery" by Metallica. I also really like a song by Alice in Chains called "Godsmack" from the "Dirt" album. It’s a strange song but really cool, one that has to grow on you.
AoP: What was the first record you bought?
BT: Some bootlegged compilation of songs by the 1985 Grammy Award winners.
BH: I think it was Aerosmith "Toys in the Attic."
AoP: What would be your dream band line-up?
BT: Ozzy on vocals, Dave Murray (Iron Maiden) on guitars, Kim Thayil (Soundgarden) on guitars, Cliff Burton (Metallica) on bass and Neil Peart (Rush) on drums. It'll probably be a catastrophic mix, but hey....
BH: I would think that a killer band would be Maynard from Tool on vocals, Geezer Butler from Sabbath on bass, Neil Peart from Rush on drums, James Hetfield from Metallica on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, and Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains on lead guitar.
AoP: What do you think of the position of metal and music in general today?
BT: Metal's gonna make a BIG comeback...it's beginning to creep into mainstream once again and I predict it will displace all that cheap, disposable, shallow crap that's out there at the moment. The world's a pretty fucked up place these days and all that festering anger, frustration and desperation needs an outlet and metal's gonna fill the gaping hole that contemporary pop culture and music seem not to be addressing.
BH: I agree with Brian, metal never goes away, but is on the verge of getting even bigger. Between hip-hop and metal, there is nothing of substance in music today. I don’t like rap, but it is making a statement for a huge part of society. Bands like Creed and Puddle of Mud are making heavy music that is accessible to the masses and that’s not a bad thing. If people can get into heavy music through those types of bands, they may be willing to dig a bit deeper and check out Godsmack, Tool, or System of a Down. Of course, once they turn onto those types of bands, they may open up to even heavier bands like Down or Soulfly.
AoP: Which other bands in the scene really stand out for you at the moment?
BT: I have to go with System of a Down. Those guys have the heaviest, in-your-face sound out there while maintaining a beautifully melodic edge. And their lyrics are brutally honest.
BH: I agree that SOAD is one of the best bands out right now. I also really like Down with Rex and Phil from Pantera. The best active band though has to be Tool, those guys are heavy, progressive, and are pushing metal into new directions. They have a lot of emotion in their songs as well, something missing from a lot of bands today.
AoP: Do you have any funny stories about the band you can share with us?
BH: I guess the only thing that I can think of is when we played our first gig. We were loading up our gear out of the studio and I set the toms outside and said something like, "don’t forget to get these drums." We were at the show and supposed to go on in about 30-45 minutes and Matt realized that we were missing part of his kit! We were already nervous and this was something that we didn’t need. We rushed back to the studio and got back barely in time!
AoP: Finally, what do you see in the future for Deep Under Dirt?
BT: Co-Headlining Ozzfest with the God himself! Seriously, I see 5 guys out having fun. Wherever the chips may fall, so be it...we'll still be having fun.
BH: We are a hard working band, so if something good happens, it will be greatly appreciated. Getting our music out to as many people as possible is what we are trying to do now, whether it be online, a CD, or live. I see us just continuing to write our songs, develop our style, and having fun. That’s what this band was originally based on -- having a good time, relieving stress from our everyday lives, and having a creative outlet. If that’s all we ever achieve, we can call ourselves successful. So far I think we have accomplished that goal.