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Interview with Devon Graves
By Tommy Hash
Devon Graves Interview:
Devon Graves is one of the most interesting musicians/performers I have ever spoken
to. He has clearly the most down to earth attitude when it comes to everything from
his music all the way to his political beliefs, not to mention the road he has taken
to find success in within the abundance of his personal happiness.
Coming off the heals of his current band, Dead Soul Tribe’s “A Murder of Crows”
Devon explained to me his passion for making this record, his evolution as a
musician and producer, and what really is the influence for the albums concept,
which surprisingly contrasts the records dark tone.
TH: I asked him where the whole concept for “A Murder of Crows” came from, and what
influenced him musically and lyrically in general and Graves said:
DG: Lyrically it is not much of a departure from what he has always been doing
(referring to Psychotic Waltz), I have been doing this for eleven years, lyrically
it really has to do with being happy and finding inner peace. The result of your
success is happiness, joy, and contentment. And this is what I am trying to say is
that this feeling that we all are searching for, we are carrying with us every step
of the way, and the only thing that is an obstacle between us and this feeling, is
the obstacle that we face there. Some people have this feeling that they cannot be
happy until they have their law degree and become this important lawyer, business
owner, or become wealthy, and do you know anybody who is rich enough, or a
millionaire that is not trying to make more money. People look past all their
material possessions, and forget that they exist and that they are alive and that
this is beyond immeasurable value compared to anything that anybody can possibly
achieve.
TH: He then spoke about how the happiness comes from within, and all egos must be
put aside, at times.
DG: If you are some famous person and you are within nature, with nobody around, who
are you; you are no one but yourself. I am alone and that is where I am confronted
with what life really is.
TH: I asked him about the meaning in his music and mentioned that there really was
no movement going on in popular music today and I mentioned that there really is no
substance in most commercial music regardless of the fact that there is war going
on, and I kind of elaborated on what he felt would be a positive kick for metal and
progressive rock to be more popular in the U.S.
TH: Where do you see metal going in the U.S.?
DG: Well I have been kind of out of touch with what other people are doing, but I
realize that you can see a big trend going, and I can see that you can be afforded
these things, either they avoid the issues, or they agree with them, just enough to
make people chit chat, giving parents a reason to hate a particular artist and kids
a reason to love them.
TH: Do you think that it is caused by the record industry creating those images?
DG: I think the record industry does have a lot to do with that and I am not part of
that whole game.
TH: You have seen over the years recording technology change throughout the years
with the whole digital revolution, the emergence of Pro-Tools and so forth, how has
that affected your evolution as a producer?
 DG: I am very into this stuff, I record on a Mac G4, I used to use tape recorders
and stuff so I know how good I have it now. I feel sorry for anybody that gets into
recording that is young, because they are going to get into the computer recording
right away, and they won’t know how easy they have it, and if they want to know what
I am taking about; compare writing with a pen, or even a typewriter, to writing with
a word processor, it’s the same sort of thing. Basically what I do with music is I
use basic standard old school rock instruments, not too much electronics, all
organic instruments, with really good microphones, and then I record it into the G4,
and it stays all software from there. And that has made a huge difference.
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