Interview with Darkc3ll – Industrial Rock ‘n’ Rollers Darkc3ll from Brisbane are recording their new album. Metal-Roos spoke to singer Jesse Dracman.
Metal-Roos: How long have Darkc3ll been together for?
The band has been together just for two years. Darkc3ll is predominantly Postmortem Matt and myself – we initiated it as a studio project and we wrote and recorded what became “Reboot:Repeat“. And yeah, next came an opportunity up to support Combi Christ in the USA and thought what a great chance to teats out the material live and support one of our favourite artist. Looking back since then, it’s been a awesome ride.
Metal-Roos: How would you describe Darkc3ll’s music?
Gotta be careful my choice of words here… in a nutshell… unrelenting, industrial awesomeness… no, to be honest, we’re the kind of band that make hate sound fun. That’s what a music critic once wrote about us and it kinda stuck, you know. We have recently started being given the tag of a modern day KISS. I take that as a huge compliment. What better way to be compared to than one of my favourite bands? Well, I’ll take that rather than be compared to 20 bands that sound all the same.
Metal-Roos: What about your image… to me I can see the KISS influence but can see more of a Rob Zombie feel going on?
We’re the type of band that’s not shy to admit that we have influences. People would tell us that we sound like other bands and we’re like, yeah, you know what we do and do you know why? Because we’re the type of band that likes to celebrate the bands that made us want to play music. So to come to the image: It has been an evolution, an amalgamation of all of our heros. It felt right… let the image be as loud as the music. So for us the music has alway taken the front of the equation and the theatrics and image is secondary.
Metal-Roos: I have seen of Facebook updates on the new album. How is it progressing?
Yeah, it’s awesome. Can’t get enough of it! Don’t get me wrong, we love playing live on stage but we absolutely love being in the studio. It’s a sanctuary for us where we get new ideas. We play around with them and we have a great vibe. Yeah, it’s coming along really well. The album’s pretty much written, so we’re in the process of recording the tracks now.
Metal-Roos: What about a title for the album… anything yet or still too early?
There are ideas but nothing concrete yet. So basically the title will come when the tracks come to life. Right now we have a pretty good idea on the direction. All I can say about the album in the moment is that it’s gonna be high energy step up for us.
Metal-Roos: What was your Soundwave experience like?
Man, to put it into one word: surreal. The whole experience, you know, for us it was our Rocky Balboa moment – getting that one shot of a lifetime to get out there and step into the ring with a slot of bands we have looked up to for a long time. To gain the respect of these band is phenomenal. When we played in Brisbane, Phil Anselmo from Pantera was on the side of the stage checking us out, loving it. The guys from Living Colour became friends and big fans. Rob Zombie and the guys from Korn, they all got curious so came to have a look. We bonded with a lot of these bands, yeah, so a pretty surreal experience.
Metal-Roos: I saw Duff McKagen at Soundwave when Alice in Chains were playing and was awestruck…
It’s pretty cool, you know, like you would be backstage and all of these guys would be walking around and the fact that they treat you like normal people… well, they are normal people but have an interesting career. It’s the small things like I’d be walking around and someone would come up to me and ask how my day’s going. I’d be sitting down to breakfast with the guys from Five Finger Deathpunch just shooting the shit. It gave me a good insight into things… it really cemented that this is what we want to do – as long as we get to create the music we love and get to play in front of an audience, no matter how big or small, we will take it.
Metal-Roos: At Soundwave I saw Darkc3ll play a Nine Inch Nails cover. Are they one of your musical influences?
The intention of playing a cover was completely by accident. It’s one of those things we would always joke about playing around in the jam room. It soon became a reality for us and we found NIN a huge influence on us. For anyone who loves industrial music, they will cite Nine In Nails as an influence or at least say something good about them. For us Head like a Hole was just an anthem for a new generation. For us we honoured that. Every time we get to play it it’s an absolute pleasure and the audience loves it as well.
Metal-Roos: If you had the choice to open for any band who would you choose?
Ah, that’s a good one, well. We would love to open for Marilyn Manson. We have been privileged to open for Wednesday 13 and Rob Zombie and some of our favourite bands already but if we could add Manson to that equation, it would be phenomenal.
Metal-Roos: What was it like to see the video for “Death of Rock’n’Roll” on channel V?
Mate, I shit myself it was really cool! It’s one thing seeing your clip on YouTube but to see the channel V logo in the corner and seeing it on air… it was a really cool feeling. Days like that you get to know that the hard work pays off. It’s the little moments like that that make it worthwhile.
Metal-Roos: What about working with Dan Jensen (Darklight Productions) on the project?
He’s an absolute maniac – a true gem. He has the mind of a mad scientist and is pleasure to work with. We have worked with him on a couple of occasions now. He’s definitely on the rise as a filmography talent. He previously was a finalist in a short film festival and he is definitely one of the good guys to work with/for.
Metal-Roos: Where do you see Darkc3ll heading in the future?
Onwards and upwards, I say. We’re like a juggernaut at the moment… there’s no signs of us slowing down. It’s a very exciting time – like a high powered freight train heading at a hundred miles an hour. We’re looking towards the future making more records, touring a lot more and having as much fun while we are doing it.
Metal-Roos: I would like to say a huge thanks, Jesse, for your time and wish Darkc3ll all the best for the new album with many more to come… and more tours and more hell raising.
Interview Date: 2014-06-15
Interviewer: Adrian ‘Dren’ Barham
