DEVIL'S ISLAND featuring Death On Fire
Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil's Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It's not your average desert island and we'll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.
This week when we arrived at Devil's Island we find Death On Fire sat on the beach. The island is far from their home, so how did they end up here and how did they cope with life on Devil's Island?
Find out now...
Welcome to The Razors'e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don't worry about it's name I'm sure it's not as bad as that would suggest.
So you're marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn't live without. Which album did you each chose and why?
Kyle: Mine would totally be Rain Dogs by Tom Waits. It's weird and vibey and soundscapey and downright nasty in spots. Tom is one of my all-time favorite songwriters and listening to him always puts me in a creative mood. He's one of those writers who makes you want to write. I feel like if I'm stuck on Devil's Island, I should at least get some good songs out of the experience.
Tim: I would probably say Scenes From a Memory. It has a bit of everything on it and is a great musical journey. IMO it is also the last good Dream Theater album so....
Just behind that palm tree is a shack for each of you to stay in, with enough space for you to put up a poster on the wall of one album cover. What album cover do you each chose?
Kyle: I was going to try and be funny saying The White Album by the Beatles because I enjoyed its complex use of colour. But in reality I think I'd probably put up a poster of the cover from Millennium Summer by Streetlamps for Spotlights. They're an indie band out of Fort Wayne that one of my old bands used to share the bill a lot with. Super cool dudes and great music. Jason from that band has a great studio that runs mainly on an old 2-inch tape machine. Ultra fun atmosphere for recording. Anyways...for that album they got permission to use an old photograph from the 60s (I think) where the artist took one photo of a model wearing headphones and sunglasses staring into bright lights and superimposed that over this photo of the sun in a red sky. Words don't totally capture it of course but it's extremely evocative of a kind of retro-future feel and I always liked it as an art piece into itself.
Tim: Blessed Are The Sick by Morbid Angel. It is an awesome album cover and a beautiful piece of art. I love this album sonically but the artwork is probably one of my all time favourite covers.
There's also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What's your tipple of choice?
Kyle: A good stout. Maybe New Holland Brewing's oatmeal one called “The Poet.” Delicious.
Tim: Water. I don’t want to dehydrate and die.
Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you each managed to salvage one item of band merch. What’s the merch and for what band?
Kyle: Probably my Severed Headshop tee. I feel like I always end up wearing that shirt more on stage than any other. Those dudes kick some serious ass and I've really missed playing shows with them this past year with everything being shut down. SH guys if you're reading this: I miss seeing y'all and can't wait to get back on the road together sometime soon!
Tim: I agree with Kyle but if I have to choose a different shirt I would go with my Atheist shirt. It is the only non black merch I own and I feel like in a desert a red shirt might be preferable.
You’re sat on the island thinking “I’m stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity”… who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?
Kyle: Easy. My wife, Erin. Probably sounds like a cop-out answer, but I don't care. I love my band mates and we get along really well, like we enjoy hanging out even outside of band stuff. But if it comes down a choice between hanging on a desert island with them or with Erin? No contest. She's my best friend. Deserted space away from people except my wife AND there's good beer and some Tom Waits? Sounds pretty close to heaven for me. Sign me up!
Tim: Always my wife and kids. They are the reason I do most of what I do. I am a pretty boring for the most part so the band or my family are my top choices with my family first.
There's a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?
Kyle: Nick Cave, Idiot Prayer, live at the Alexandra Palace 2020. It's just Nick Cave alone with a piano in this big empty hall, released in response to The Bad Seeds' pandemic-cancelled tour. I love their full-band stuff and really respect Cave as an artist. The whole performance is haunting, but the version of “Waiting for You” gives me chills every time. It's so powerful. The isolation and world-grief that a lot of us felt during the covid lockdowns permeates Cave's delivery of that piece. I feel like this performance could provide some catharsis while being stuck on a lonely island in the middle of nowhere, just waiting to be rescued.
Tim: Pantera, Anthrax, Sebastian Bach. This was during the Southern Trendkill tour and it was my first show ever. Every band was at the top of their game and bringing the heat. The whole show was amazing and is still my top all time show. I got to see some of my favourite bands play my favourite songs. They are all legends.
You're getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?
Kyle: I feel like I'd send it off to Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden because he's also a pilot. He'd at least know who to get in contact with for a proper search and rescue mission. Hell, he'd probably head it up himself if IM isn't touring at the time, that sounds like the type of guy he is.
Tim: most bands seem pretty unreliable so we might be in trouble. I would probably echo Kyles sentiments here. Bruce Dickinson is the only licensed pilot I know of and hopefully he appreciates the level of Maiden worship we have enough to save us from the tiny hell of a desert island.
You've been stuck here for a while and food supplies are running low. There's only one thing for it... which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?
Kyle: I think this would come down to either me or Tim just because of sheer volume (I don't think Sam would provide a very prolonged amount of sustenance for three people). My vote is for Tim, obviously because I don't really relish the idea of being eaten. But also because I think he has the most muscle mass out of the group. He played rugby for a really long time and still does the power-lifting thing. More muscle = more red meat to go around.
Tim: I would probably say Aren. He plays bass and that feels expendable?
Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?
Kyle: Leonard Cohen. When I first started seriously getting into songwriting he was one of the handful of artists that I did a deep dive on, and was the most influential of that initial group of heroes by far.
I admire and respect his honesty in his songs and his poetry. His willingness to be open about the struggles that go along with the creative process. His understanding that even the most mundane or monstrous or profane or grotesque things can become sacred if you catch it in the right light.
I look up to how he didn't shy away from ageing. How he continued to make art his entire life, not just when he was in the favourable graces of the popular elite. How he continued to grow and learn and change throughout his life, and how this came through in his work.
I love how the last record he made before he died was one of his best. How he took all his years of experience and skill and craft and channeled them into one final masterpiece. You Want it Darker is like getting to sit in on someone's last confession. Naked and raw humanity. Nothing left to prove, just a final song or two to share.
I hope I can be an artist like that some day.
Tim: Dave Mustaine. The writing style and approach he has with Megadeth have probably had the most influence on how I approach music. Also, he seems like he might be a bit of a dick so he is easier to kill and eat meaning Aren can live another week or so.
