Journalist Anabel DFlux caught up with Kriz D.K., the drummer of Deadstar Assembly on the day of their newest album release, “Blame It on the Devil”. The two chatted about the album’s creation, concepts, and upcoming plans. The new album is out now, be sure to pick it up!
Thank you very much for talking with me today, how are you?
I am doing very well, thank you. How about yourself?
Good! Your new album, “Blame It on the Devil”, just released. Tell me about the concept and creative process for this album.
This album was a long time in the making for us. The last album came out in 2010, so we’ve had a few years where we really, kind of, refined the sound and the process around how we were recording. My singer, Dearborn, had purchased a bunch of gear and we built our home studio and we’ve been locked away in there for the last couple of years. It’s been nice to have the luxury of being able to record without financial or time limits. We are very happy with the outcome of “Blame It on the Devil”.
I hear a lot of good versus evil themes, was that the inspiration for this project?
Yeah, there actually are- it’s actually the running theme throughout the album. Originally, the album was going to be entitled “Adorned in Thorns”, which is the name of one of the tracks on the CD. But, as we progressed and got closer to the release, “Blame It on the Devil” felt a little more appropriate. As you can tell with the cover art too, there is a lot about the dichotomy of ‘good versus evil’ on the cover. The puppet represents the choice that someone has as to what kind of decisions they want to make and how they can determine their own future.
Who did the album artwork?
We do everything in-house, so Dearborn also did the album artwork as well.
Oh, wow, that’s amazing!
He’s very talented at what he does.
I love how the lyric video incorporated the album artwork as well, that was a pretty cool touch.
Yes, that was very cool! That was something that our label wound up, and we are happy with the outcome of that.
Tell me about the single “Amulet”, what does this song mean to you?
“Amulet” was the last track written for the album, actually. We are all very happy with how it turned out. We kind of knew right away that it was meant to be the lead single for the album. Quite honestly, I don’t know if it really has any personal meaning for me, but it is definitely one my favorite songs on the album. It has a great hook in the chorus, and it’s very heavy, and I think it’s a prime example of where we want to be musically.
Any music video plans? Touring plans?
Yeah! We actually have a few things in the works right now. Nothing that we can announce at this point, but we are fielding some tour offers and we kind of have an outline of how we want to release singles and videos throughout the next year.
Deadstar Assembly’s sound is larger than life, almost cinematic in the new album. I’ve genuinely played through the CD on a loop and enjoyed every minute. How have fans responded to the release thus far? I know it’s newly released, but, I’m sure they’re saying something!
All of the feedback we’ve gotten has been very positive. The album just came out today, but we’ve gotten a lot of love from the fans, and we are very pleased with that. We are hoping that it will continue to grow. Sonically, we are definitely very happy with how the album turned out and I think that is really coming across with how people are responding to it.
The production is top-notch too.
Thank you! Like I said, we recorded everything in-house, but we were working with kind-of a co-producer in Los Angeles- sending things back and forth- and then the mastering for the album is based in LA as well. He does a lot of soundtracks and cinematic work. That really has an influence on how the music sounded as well.
“Blame It On The Devil” Album Promo Video
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Which sound means the most to you?
Hmm… I would have to say that “Amulet” is a great song musically, that’s the style that I want the band to be playing right now. “Adorned in Thorns” is kind of the anthem for the album, and that was the one song that I had a big part of contributing to musically during the writing process. That was very important for me as well.
Finally, what’s next for Deadstar Assembly?
Now that the album is finally out, just trying to nail down some touring plans. We want to spend most of 2015 playing as much as possible. We would really love to break into some new markets that we haven’t been into before. We are hoping that we can get something going in Europe and Australia, those are places that seem like there is a big demand and that we just haven’t had the chance to go to yet, so, we are hoping things work out.
Sounds awesome- Thank you so much!
You’re very welcome!
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By: Anabel DFlux, RockRevolt PhotoJournalist
