Tonight at the Lexington the Quietus and our friends at the Stool Pigeon are hosting Deathcrush, Arabrot and Kellermensch in a bill of pure fury. Last weekend, John and I saw the former play two stunning sets at the By:Larm Festival (read John’s review) and tonight, they’re ready to give London a righteous wallop with the Nordic shoe. We sent them some questions about the gig, and how they feel about what’s starting to seem like a somewhat steep rise. So, Deathcrush, what can we expect? "We don’t expect much from anyone but ourselves really. You never know what you are going to get from an audience when you go on stage. We go forth with the same sort of ‘no tomorrow’ no matter, and letting go for me is a necessity. Probably my safest bet for a show is that I won’t be thinking much the next hour or so. I guess you could easily be put off if people are just standing there staring, but everyone shows what they feel to a different degree. Really, music should make you react in one way or another- so when we play you’re on our turf so to speak, and we won’t necessarily respect your comfort zone.
That’s good to hear. You seem to have had a pretty meteoric rise in a short space of time – playing at SXSW, being chosen for the Ja Ja Ja showcase etc. Is it slightly daunting and overwhelming? Are you having to do a lot of ‘learning on the job’, so to speak?
DC: Of course. We giggle and slap each other a lot these days. But we’ve all worked with bands – our own and others – in different ways in the past and we are utilising that experience. What’s new is that all the effort we’re putting into it is paying off in a very direct and speedy way. We play a show, and get a new one. We try different ways of reminding people to come see us live, and they actually do. It’s all about the music, but we still often spend hours a day working on the workings, so to speak. Hopefully it’ll help us free up time to play more music in the long run. In the end it’s our music that will make it possible anyway.
Why do you think you’ve caused so much of a buzz?
DC: Maybe because people are sick of taking themselves too seriously, and we make them forget about it for a while? At least people say and do the most random things when – and after – they see us live. We may have some of the same influences as other bands that have recieved attention in Norway in latter years but we don’t sound much like them, I don’t think. And I’m not trying to set us apart here, I’m just saying we didn’t start out with a goal to learn how to do what our heroes are doing and then make something of it. Idols are idols for a reason, but there are many ways to honor the past without getting stuck in it. Teaching it a lesson for example.
You were also recently handpicked by Sleigh Bells to support them on their European tour. How did that come about?
DC: We didn’t even know we were doing that first support job in Oslo five hours before. There had been talk about it, but at 3pm the same day we didn’t really expect to try to get someone to come cover our shifts.
Musically, Sleigh Bells and Deathcrush just clicked. Combining their controlled distortion and pretty vocals with our gritty feedbacks and ramblings is ridiculously complimentary! The dynamics of our shows turned out great. We hadn’t seen them before that night at Blå, but became instant fans. I think it comes down to us having sorta the same mentality. We just express it in different ways.
On tour it was confirmed they’re as great people as we thought they were. And funny! Most of their crew are old friends, so really it felt like a road trip. And not only did they work to get us on tour with them, they shared everything with us.
Bonding backstage over Van Halen before a show, inviting us on board their nightliner for dates in Europe.. I think my dad fainted when I called him about it. When I tell him we watched Wayne’s World I and II, and that Derek’s fantastic wall of Marshall amps were our back drop I think he’ll weep.
But I do have a feeling we would have clicked if we’d met them under other circumstances too. I guess they share a lot of our convictions and "guilty" pleasures. Playing in front of each other right away just sped things up.
