Delta Spirit, Zurich, Switzerland, 4-9-09… from Andrew spearman blake on Vimeo.

It started off at the bar in the hotel. I was having a beer when the band began to roll in one by one, each ordering the only beer the bar offered. Shortly after we had all gathered, we roamed the streets of Zurich, Switzerland, until we reached a whiskey bar that we talked about earlier. Through ritzy glass doors across glimmering polished tiles, down stairs and through doors, we finally arrived at a hidden gem in Zurich. The menu held over 450 types of whiskey… we indulged. The night rolled along gracefully while each person engaged in sporadic conversation from one to another. Brandon and I talked for awhile about the state of music today and “making the hits,” and all that that entailed. We spoke of bands and how their albums were produced, mixed and reviewed. What I took from each member is that none of them are willing to sell out on any aspect of their music solely to get a “hit.”  How their album is mixed and mastered and the style and quality of their songs, must be true to what they believe.

Each man looked tired from being on the road since January. Matt, Kelly, Brandon, Sean, Jon… even Olly, their epic European tour manager, were all ready for home.  Most of them had girls back home just waiting for them to return from the road. Most of them kept their iPhones close by in case their girls called or sent a text. The road can be a lonely place, they say.

I caught Delta Spirit in San Luis Obispo two years ago when they were pushing their first EP. April 9th was the first time I had heard them play live since then. I can confidently say two years of touring and one album later, the band has only became tighter, both personally and on stage.  Brandon said, “As trite as it sounds, we really are a band of brothers,” giving praise to each of his band mates.

The tour ends in a day or two. They are all looking forward to a month off. Each person will fly back to America and drift to their respective homes to recover from a whirlwind of work, life, and dream. Once recuperated, they will record their new album. Matt says it is time. He says they have played these songs for so long, in so many places, for so many people… it’s time to share what life has showed them these past two years.

Delta Spirit… a new age band in a new age. Check ‘em out.

Delta Spirit’s latest album, Ode to Sunshine, is out now on Rounder.

Since forming in Brooklyn in 2001, The Damnwells’ have lead a dynamic existence to say the least. After recording its first album in a Manhattan mini-storage, the band was signed and dropped by a major label (as chronicled in the documentary Golden Days), released the acclaimed Air Stereo and toured extensively-both as a headliner and opening for some big draws like Cheap Trick and The Dixie Chicks. The Damnwells released their third full-length, One Last Century, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, via free digital download.

Through it all, Singer-Songwriter Alex Dezen has been at The Damnwells’ center. He told us about creating and releasing One last Century on his own terms.

The Goodish: How was your mindset different going into this record?
Dezen: I didn’t want to worry about anything except making the record. I didn’t want to wonder if the record label would like it. I didn’t want to put any pressure on it. I had these songs and I just wanted to make a record. So, we went to Oxford (Mississippi) to record a bunch of tracks at a friend’s studio and just kind of kept it real, one or two takes for a song-just tried not to take ourselves so seriously. We worked hard and tried to make a record that reflected where I was, which is not where I am now and not where I was before.

When I went in to make Air Stereo I knew what I wanted it to sound like; I knew that I wanted it to be big and bold. But, I’m not sure if I wanted it to be big and bold because that’s what the people around me said they wanted. It’s hard to balance those things. But, there is not a song on this record that I don’t love. I think every song on this record sounds exactly the way it should-occupies the perfect amount of space. Some of the songs on Air Stereo took up too much space; some didn’t take up enough.

The Goodish: And you’re giving the album away for free. Where can people find the album and why did you choose to release it this way?
Dezen: We partnered with Paste Magazine, which is a really great music entertainment magazine. They’re offering it for free download from their Web site, so you literally just go to pastemagazine.com/thedamnwells and download the record.

And why? I’ve been thinking about this for so long-pondering the idea of giving away a record. I just want people to hear this music. I don’t want them to have to check the contents of their wallets to see if they have enough. There are other things people can buy-they can come to the shows and buy t-shirts. There are also licensing opportunities for writers and people who make music, and other ways to create income. Having to sell records-sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t.

Right now in my life I don’t want people to have to bother entering into this contractual agreement with a third party to get this music that I made, and anything, anything that gets in the way of that-it’s got to go. Especially for this record, I just wanted to get this music out there.

I didn’t want to have to go through the whole process of waiting six months for the record label to find a slot for it on its release schedule, and I didn’t want to have to wait for the long and tired set up that record labels go through before a record comes out.

I’m hoping that this will bring the music to people who previously didn’t want to hear it, or just thought it was part of the noise. I don’t think this is part of the noise-I think this is good, so I just want people to hear it.

When you work so hard on something, sometimes it’s better to just give it away. I think people have this false idea that the harder you work on something the more that it should be worth. It’s really the work that you put into it, the labor that is wonderful. That’s why you do it, for the process of being able to sit down and make songs or do whatever you do. So at the end of the day when it’s done, how do you put a price tag on that? It’s priceless, so I’m not even going to bother, I’m just going to give it away.

The Goodish: And the band has had some line-up changes recently?
Dezen: Yeah, Steve and Dave left the band in 2006 and 2007. We’re all on good terms and we’re all very friendly, it just came to a certain point where Steve’s priorities changed, and for the better. He needed to get to his family and take care of his life-and Dave too. I think we were all just a little burnt out at the time. After what we’ve been through, at least from our perspective, it was a miracle that we were standing, that we were even alive.

It got to a certain point where we were like, “We gave this our best shot. Maybe we’ll come back to it in a couple years, but we’re going to have to go our separate ways. Then I thought to myself, “I don’t really want to go my separate way, I’m just me.” Ted wanted to keep playing too. We obviously can’t tour like before-we were playing 150 to 200 shows a year-but, I still want to make records and play shows. I see no reason why I shouldn’t. It just seems like there’s still an audience and there are people who want to hear the music so I’ll keep making it.

The Goodish: Will you be touring in support of the album?
Dezen: We’re going to play a few scattered shows. We’re playing in New York in April, Boston and Arlington, Va. in July, and I expect there will be more dates over the summer. We’re going to South By Southwest and playing a party or two in March. We’re going to do what we can because I have a job, my wife has a job, and this is not everything we do, I feel like you set your ships out to sea and make sure you’re on the one that gets to shore first.. You know, if this record winds up reaching a lot of people then maybe we’ll go out and perform for those people.

Interview by Andrew Blake

Links:
Download One Last Century at Paste.
The Damnwells Official Site
The Damnwells on MySpace

And don’t forget the bonus track via Burgo’s Blog:
The Damnwells – “One Last Century”