Charm City Devils came blazing out of the gates from Baltimore, MD in 2007. They caught the ear of Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, who signed them and took them out on the second installment of his Crüe Fest in 2009. Then, their cover of “Man of Constant Sorrow” caught the ear of people worldwide and brought the band a ton of unexpected exposure and fans on every continent.
The band continues to surge forward on their musical journey with the release of their third album entitled Battles. The guys allow some different influences to shine brighter this time out as this new album is seasoned with a more bluesy rock sound than in the past. With a new album and a new record label, Charm City Devils continue to prove that they embody what rock and roll is all about.
I had the opportunity to sit down with lead singer John Allen before a show in Wilmington, NC recently to discuss the new album, touring and binge-watching television shows.
Interview With John Allen – Charm City Devils
By: Johnny Price, Lead Senior Journalist
Hi John! I really loved Sins. I have to tell you that when I first listened to Battles, I definitely picked up on a bluesy, old rock type of feel that I really haven’t heard from you guys in the past. Did you guys approach the making of this record any differently?
John Allen: No, I really don’t think that we approached it any differently. I do think that we may have let our roots come out a little more on this one than in the past. We did let the bluesy tracks make the record as opposed to pushing them to the side like we’ve done in the past. You know, that’s kind of where we came from; I love the blues.
You guys stuck with Skidd Mills on the mixing and producing duties. What made you decide to use him again?
Skidd is a really super talented guy, as well as an amazing producer, mixer and musician. He’s a great guitar player as well and I’ve co-written a bunch of things with him. He’s the man who really put together the “Man of Constant Sorrow” arrangement that everyone heard from us. What we were going to do was actually a double-time version of what it ended up being, but he cut it in half. He slowed it down and gave it that eerie, dark kind of vibe with all of those backwards delays. We’ve had our biggest success to date with him, so it was an easy decision to use him again. You know, to go back to what you were saying earlier, I went back and listened to Battles recently for the first time probably since we recorded it. I also went back and listened to Sins and I have to agree with you. I really like this record better; I think it sounds better actually and we did it in less time. I think it feels more natural, it feels more like the band; a lot of it sounds like we got in a room and just knocked it out.
For those who don’t know, you guys went to that cover tune pool again and this time you took on the iconic Johnny Cash’s tune “God’s Gonna Cut You Down.”
Our bass player Anthony (Arambula) suggested that one to us. I really like the sentiment behind the song and I thought it was a great choice. I didn’t listen to the Cash version too much because I didn’t want to be polluted to it and worry about copying it too much. You know, I actually went back and listened to Etta James’ version which is just her singing a cappella and I built my version around that. I knew a bunch of people had covered this song, kind of like “Man of Constant Sorrow.” You know, ignorance is bliss because, as I’ve said in other interviews before, if I had known how many people had covered that song, then I probably wouldn’t have done it. Everyone from Bob Dylan to Rod Stewart had recorded their version of it, but I only knew of the bluegrass version from the movie Oh Brother Where Art Though.
One big change on this record is that you’re on a new label, The End Records/Warner ADA. How did that come about?
It came about from a friend of mine who works for ADA. He sent the label some of the demos of the record and they thought it was cool. He told me to send him everything that we had on the new record because he was going to be meeting with the label. I thought ‘oh shit’ and I locked myself in my studio and ended up giving him everything that I could. I think I ended up giving him six tracks, he played it for the owner of the label and the guy flipped. Well, with that type of enthusiasm, we decided that we had to go there. It was a great decision and they’re a really good bunch of people.
Your latest single “Karma” has been getting a really good reaction at radio. Have you guys talked about a video for this one yet?
Charm City Devils – Karma’s A Bitch
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Yeah, but concept wise, what I wanted to do is going to be so cost prohibited that I don’t know if we’ll be able to. I’m thinking that it might just be another performance video.
Well, unless you have any rich fans out there who may want to help out.
Yeah, or maybe any film students who want to do something cheap.
CCD (L-R): Nick Kay (Guitar), John Allen (Vocals), Jason Heiser (Drums), Vic Karrera (Guitar), Anthony Arambula (Bass)You guys have been doing this for about eight years now. What would you say the toughest part of it is?
For me personally right now, it’s a lack of sleep which makes it hard to sing. I really want to be at my best for people and give them the best show I possibly can. There’s also a lot of boredom of sitting in a vehicle and driving for hours. It’s an awesome hour that you’re up on that stage, but the other 23 can be a little daunting.
I had a social media question from Chris on Instagram and she wants to know: What do you guys do in your down time?
I guess I don’t really have any hobbies any more. If I could this year, I would love to go snowboarding, which would be awesome. If I’m not down in the studio recording, then I’m taking care of my kids.
So, you’re not a Netflix kind of guy? Do you ever binge-watch anything?
I guess I’m still pretty old school when it comes to that. I watch episodes of Vikings when they come on the air. I also look forward to Game of Thrones; if there was one show that I might binge watch, that’s the one.
I have another great question from social media and it’s from Kenny in North Carolina: It’s really refreshing to see you guys keep your original lineup intact, especially with so many bands have so much turn-over. How do you make that happen?
It’s really tough and frankly I’m surprised that we’ve made it this far. You know, everyone has families and the touring aspect just keeps getting tougher and tougher. We’ve been out a good portion of the year so far in support of this album and we were out two years supporting the last one. I’m just so lucky because it was 2007-2008 when this lineup formed. I feel really blessed and lucky to have these same guys with me. The oddity is that we all really do get along and I’ve never been in a band that gets together as well as we do; we really are like brothers.
Charm City Devils – Shots (Official Music Video)
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You may not always like your brother, but you always love them.
You know Anthony and Vic really are brothers. I told them that they need to get into a knife fight soon to get us some press; they just like each other too much.
Who would you site as someone who has influenced you whether in or out of the music industry?
As far as music goes, they’re all over the map. Growing up, our next door neighbors played music and that’s probably why I started playing. You know, there’s something about hearing “Smoke on the Water” through the walls as a kid. A big influence of mine would have to be our guitarist Nick (Kay). He did real estate before he joined the band, rehabbing old houses, and he built it into a really big business because back then, the market was really jumping. He was a self-made guy and, lucky for us, the real estate bubble burst. He had some free time, so I told him to come out and learn some of our songs. I was playing guitar at the time on stage very badly, so I told him to learn a few songs. Then, I just said ‘fuck it’ and I told him to learn our whole set and I could just lay my guitar down and run around like a fool. He’s definitely an inspiration and he’s my best friend. I haven’t really thought about that before; that was really a good question.
What a great note to end on. Thanks John for taking the time to talk to us again. Do you have any closing words for the readers?
Good talking to you too, man. I hope everyone checks out Battles, if they haven’t already, and please request “Karma” at Octane and your local radio stations.
