Depswa |
The seeds that eventually blossomed as Depswa were first planted in a Modesto, California progressive instrumental trio called Carcinogen, which was formed by current Depswa front man Jeremy Penick. In the mid-90s the band evolved, adding a new bassist and moving in a more song-oriented direction, with Penick assuming lead vocal responsibilities. At the end of the decade, the band relocated to L.A., Penick's friend, guitarist Dan Noonan, joined, and the group's formative transformation to Depswa -- a South American word for "faith healer" -- was underway. The band released a four-song EP, Faithless, in 2000, and toured relentlessly.
After some more personnel changes in 2001 -- two band members were added -- Depswa had reached its current lineup: Penick on lead vocals, Noonan on guitar, Ryan Burchfield on bass and vocals, James Mills on guitar and vocals, and Gordon Heckaman on drums and samples. That combination seemed to click, as the band signed with Geffen Records, and their debut major-label album, Two Angels and a Dream, is slated to be released next month. In the interim Depswa and embarked on their first nationwide tour, supporting acts such as Mudvayne and TapRoot.
Recently, StarPolish's Chris Mugno spoke to Jeremy Penick to discuss the band's success, their signing with Geffen, and opening for Mudvayne.
NOTE: To check out music from their upcoming album and see their video, just click this link : Depswa
STARPOLISH: How long has Depswa been together?
PENICK: Depswa has been Depswa for about 5 years.
STARPOLISH: How did the band form? Was everyone friends, or did you meet through classifieds?
PENICK: Yeah, we are all friends. Me and Ryan, the bass player, played in a band previously called Carcinogen, and then we moved to L.A. because I knew a mutual friend that I played in a band with before. He name was Dan Noonan, who is our guitar player now. So he helped us out by relocating, because we were all from Northern California and we relocated to Southern California. We were a three-piece years back, then getting Dan turned us into a four piece, with two guitarists. It was me playing guitar and singing, [Dan] playing guitar and Ryan playing bass. Back then we had another drummer, and he helped us relocate, and we started writing our new material and everything started changing. So we decided to change our name from Carcinogen to Depswa.
STARPOLISH: And who came up with the name?
PENICK: I think one of us was watching the movie Medicine Man and it was mentioned once on the movie. The word actually means "medicine man" or "healer." We thought it was really neat. It has no stigma; nobody knows what it means unless you heard it from us before or whatever. It doesn't have anything attached to it -- like if your band name was Garbage, you wouldn't know that is was a chick singer. You would think it was a punk band or something, you know? Anyways, we can just shape the music around the name instead of the name shaping us to begin with.
STARPOLISH: How do you describe Depswa's music?
PENICK: It goes, it kind of mixes. Obviously we are rock, but we incorporate a lot of different emotions. Some people have said that I have a sort of R&B inflection on my voice in some little ways, and it just goes from one extreme to the other. We never really tried to be in a certain genre. We just sort of went for what we were feeling.
STARPOLISH: After the changes in lineup, because I know that you have gone through a few different members in the band, do you feel that the current membership is solidified, that these guys are the ones that are here to stay?
PENICK: Oh definitely. Gordon, our new drummer, he's an amazing drummer... and an amazing friend. It just upped the band's rhythm section completely when he joined up. His creativity is just phenomenal. James, who had taken my spot as guitar, he just kind of freed me to be just a vocalist. He's an amazing guitar player and it just really adds to the energy on stage.
STARPOLISH: Do you feel a bit naked now not playing while you're singing?
PENICK: Yeah, sometimes. It's real different, but you know what -- for me, I just wanted to convey the music with my vocals as perfect as possible most of the time. To be able to reach out to people and connect with the crowd, which I couldn't do when I was hiding behind the guitar. You know what I mean? I couldn't jump out into the crowd and meet all of these people while I was singing. It's really important to me, because the people are the ones that are going to help us to get anywhere we are going to go.
STARPOLISH: How did you guys get hooked up with Geffen Records?
PENICK: We were just throwing around our CDs, just passing them out like we always did. One of them was passed to Jenn [Littleton], A&R at Geffen, and she loved it. At that time, Corey, from Slipknot, had liked our stuff and he wanted to sign us also. So, everybody started getting things on the ball once they knew a couple of people were involved.
STARPOLISH: And I guess there was a big fight over who was getting you?
PENICK: There wasn't a huge fight -- it was more that we had to make a couple of decisions that were going to reflect the rest of our career. To be honest, we really wanted to go with Corey cause he was a great friend of ours and he really supported us and everything, but Geffen was really stable and they offered everything that we could ever want.
two angels and a dream |
STARPOLISH: How do you about the indie versus major dispute, as far as artistic freedom and so forth? Is one better than the other? Is one worse?
PENICK: I think it goes both ways in different situations. In every situation you've got to try to keep the integrity of your music as the reason of why they signed you in the first place. You always have to fight for that, I believe.
STARPOLISH: I hear what you are saying, but obviously tour support is greater when you are dealing with a major, right?
PENICK: Very true. With a major you actually get the chance to play in front of more people, but that isn't always true in all cases. If we were on an indie label, we probably would have pushed aside a lot and other bands from other labels would have got on the tours we would have been on. It's really hard to say.
STARPOLISH: Does being on a major allow you to have more freedom and more say to what is going on, or is that more controlled by the manager or the record company?
PENICK: No. We control everything as much as possible. I think that they are really confident in our ideas and our visions and everything. That is one thing that we wanted to make sure of before we got into it -- that we were going to have that artistic freedom, and that they were not going to try to change us and make us look like something that we weren't. We have a strong management that really believes in us, and so if there ever were a problem, it would be a fight to the death.
STARPOLISH: I think some bands will take on management just to have management, and they regret it down the road.
PENICK: No, I think that's the worst thing that any band can do is to just take on management to say that they have manager, because you are putting yourself in a possibly vulnerable situation. You'll be signing away things just to have that say.
STARPOLISH: What is he name of the management company you are with?
PENICK: Anger Management.
STARPOLISH: Are they friends or just business associates?
PENICK: Oh yeah, we're great friends.
STARPOLISH: I know it is important for the manager to believe in the band and the music, or else it just doesn't work out the way it should work out.
PENICK: Exactly. Our management is behind us 110%. They're also Mudvayne's management, so you can see how we've been hooked up with those guys, and they have become real good friends of ours. So we feel like a brotherhood because we're all helping each other.
STARPOLISH: Who chose the first single -- you, the label or a combination of both?
PENICK: It kind of chose itself. It had that thing where everybody was like, "Wow!" and they instantly liked it. So we figured, "Hey, that's good then." Everybody kind of agreed on it. It may not be [anyone's] favorite song, but we knew that it was the best song to get people's attention.
STARPOLISH: How have the crowds been treating you thus far on the tour?
PENICK: Really good. When we first started with Mudvayne, we were like, [They're] Mudvayne's crowd -- they have to be hard-core fans, but we had such a good experience with them that we feel like we could tour with anyone. They're hardcore fans, meaning they are loyal fans.
STARPOLISH: Gaining experience with people you play with is really important.
PENICK:Yeah, I think it is awesome. What I always say is that we try to convey truth and emotion, so we don't just try to go through the motions, you know what I mean? We feel and really get into everything that we do.
STARPOLISH: Have you learned anything from the more experienced bands you've toured with?
PENICK: We've learned to have a lot of confidence in ourselves, and how to conduct ourselves, and how to really just up the show. We try to up everything and give people their money's worth.
STARPOLISH: Is Depswa looking forward to going out on Ozzfest? It's going to be a crazy lineup.
PENICK: It's funny -- years ago I used to say, Man it would just be my ultimate dream to be on Ozzfest.Now it's coming true and it's really, really cool -- it's like a big dream come true. [But] we're not going to die off just because one of these dreams was met -- we have to achieve higher goals.
STARPOLISH: So, then -- what's the next goal?
PENICK: The next goal is to just keep rocking and making ourselves better and better. To try to convey what we are all about even more intensely.
STARPOLISH: How does a band like Depswa prepare to go out on tours like this? Do you guys do any specific things, like getting into shape or even more practicing?
PENICK: Oh yeah. After recording we all gained a lot of weight. We all went on diets because we wanted to get into that mind frame; kind of like a fighter, you know? We have to be in the best shape and mind-frame as possible. We try to keep it positive.
STARPOLISH: I was looking through your site and I was reading the journal portion of the site, which is great -- not a lot of bands actually have that, or if they do, much of it isn't worth reading. It seems from your posts that you're meeting a ton of new people, and winning over new fans, every show you play.
PENICK: We don't take any of this for granted. One thing I know about this band is that we are all down-to-earth people -- we're not in it to be rock stars. To be honest, it's about the love for music and the appreciation for these people who show their appreciation towards us. Many bands have said that, and now I know why. These people are the ones who bring you where you're going -- or [get you] where you're at. So it's not you entirely -- it's the people who come to see you, the people who put their hard-earned money out.
STARPOLISH: How do you communicate with the people and fans that you've met and gained during the recent touring?
PENICK: [From] a lot of posts on the website. I'll go in there and find the messages that I think are really from the heart from some of these people, and I'll always answer whatever I can when I can get to a computer. We'll offer anything we can -- as long as we have it.
STARPOLISH: So the Internet is a useful and resourceful communication tool for you guys? It seems like you do a lot with technological devices.
PENICK: Definitely. It wouldn't be the same [without it], I don't think. Now it is just everywhere.
STARPOLISH: On another topic, it seems as if maintaining originality plays an important role for the band.
PENICK: To be honest, I never really thought of it when we were writing this material, but I've heard it over and over again of how we have our own style. I think that we are pretty original -- at least I hope that we are. We definitely don't steal riffs. We don't take anything from our influences, material-wise or anything. If we have influences, it more or less spawns an emotion or feeling that we go off of instead of a guitar chord or guitar progression or anything like that.
STARPOLISH: So who are some of your influences, personally speaking?
PENICK: I have so many. When I was younger -- and even now -- I listen to 70s bands like The Eagles, Chicago, Supertramp and ELO, all of those old bands because they are just great songwriters. I listen to everything. I love Slayer. I like a little bit of everything. To be honest, I'm not prejudice towards any style of music -- I just like what I like. I love Radiohead -- I listen to a lot of Radiohead -- and Jeff Buckley. I've been listening to some Coldplay lately. And just yesterday I bought the Best of Heart. Now I have all of those songs that I remember.
STARPOLISH: How would a new band make it in today's music industry? Do you have any advice or hints to help them out?
PENICK: Our motto has always been that we have to keep the mind frame of trying to work twice as hard as you think you have to. You are only going to get half as far, even if you work twice as hard, unless you get lucky. So it's a combination of hard work and determination. It's all of that, and being yourself -- not being afraid of who you are on the inside. For example, years ago I was honestly very shy with my regular singing voice. I knew I had a singing voice, but I never really used it because back then I was fiercely into bands like Fear Factory and Death, the very heavy bands. I came to terms with myself. For one thing, I am not them -- I am who I am, and as long as I am true to myself it seems to be more rewarding. And everyone in my band kind of feels the same way.
