13 QUESTIONS WITH DAN NOONAN OF DEPSWA

I was contacted by DEPSWA's publicist about two months ago, asking if I'd like to interview these guys. I knew they were a featured act on the second stage at OZZFEST, but shortly after that, the band lost the gig. I finally got their disc, Two Angels And A Dream, and I loved it...so I figured I'd throw them some dopey questions. Guitarist Dan Noonan stepped up to the plate when it was time to field the goofiness. It went a little something like this:

SteveC: You guys held a slot on the second stage at OZZFEST (a gig that requires a label/band to cough up a nice chunk of change to be part of, or so we've heard) for a brief period this summer, but were then removed from the tour. The popular rumor is that you weren't selling enough records, so Geffen yanked all of your tour support. Is that accurate? If not, what really happened with Ozzfest?

Dan Noonan: Yea…Ozzfest was amazing! We had a blast and were pretty disappointed about going home, but shit happens. As for the reason we pulled off, yea it did have to do with finances…but we were definitely not “pulled” from the tour by Ozzfest or our Label. It was our decision and one that we hated to have to make. We can’t really dive into the nitty gritty of what happened because our attorney has instructed us not to, but as of right now, we are still on Geffen. I know this answer doesn’t fully answer your question, but I assure you, as soon as I can let people know what really happened I’ll let you know. I’ve never been one to side-step a question, and I hate to have to do it now, but that’s what I’ve been told I have to do.

SC: Depswa has graduated from cargo van touring to luxury bus touring. Was there an upgrade in road ass as well? (scale of 1- 10... 10 being model material, and 1 being someone who you wouldn't fuck with a stolen dick) If so, which member of Depswa enjoyed the most groupie love?

DN: Seeing as though most of us have girlfriends, this question isn’t really one we could answer literally. But if we didn’t have girlfriends, I would probably say that the move to a bus definitely upped the caliber of girls we could have potentially had from a 3-4 level to a 8-9 range. I’d say 10, but 10s probably don’t need to bus hop!

I’d probably say that because James was the single guy in the band…he probably benefited the most.

SC: Does (lead singer) Jeremy Penick ever get mistaken for Michael Chiklis, from TV's "The Shield" or "The Commish"? If you locked the two of them in a room with aluminum bats to fight to the death, who do you think would win? (yes, we realize that you might not know Michael Chiklis personally, or how well he can fight for that matter, but take your best guess)

DN: That’s funny! We always hear that Jeremy looks like that guy. Jeremy has even said that he tripped out when he saw that guy and admits it looks like him.

If Jeremy was pissed-off, I’d throw a couple hundred down on him to win. However, for anyone that doesn’t know Jeremy…it’s nearly impossible to get him fired-up. He’s probably the nicest, most humble, down-to-earth person I know. SO, instead of fighting, he’d probably sit down with the guy and talk about music or something. Jeremy is always happy to talk to people and is very sincere whenever he has a conversation with you. I don’t know…Maybe they’d play a game of baseball? If it were me…I’d kick both their asses! (Just Kidding Jeremy!)

SC: Since being signed to a major label, what has been your most enjoyable experience performing live?

DN: Every single day at Ozzfest! It was amazing to play for so many people that were just there for the music. That was definitely a rush. If I were to pick just one. I’d say that playing at the Ozzfest in L.A. was the best for me. It was definitely cool to play at home and to be onstage instead of in the crowd for once.

SC: OK, Now which show was comparable to having your pubic hairs torn out with a rusty pliers?

DN: Ouch! I’d say that we’ve honestly never had one that bad…Maybe when we played with Danzig? We were support, so we got to see the opening bands get tormented and heckled by these devil-locked Danzig die-hards most of the night. It was sad, because one of the bands was really good. They were called Unida (ex. Kyuss Vocalist). So, we weren’t expecting the crowd to be too into it. But we threw down as hard as we could and some people were into it, but others just stared blankly. Some people shouted shit, but whatever. As long as we do our best and even if only 1 person in the crowd liked us, at least we left with more fans than we started with.

SC: A lot of new bands claim to be in favor of file-sharing services or internet downloading, but when you consider that the mass-downloading of music may in part be responsible for newer acts not getting the money they need to sustain themselves.

DN: I am torn on this issue. I think file-sharing can be a benefit for lower level bands that not many people have heard of and for new bands as well. For instance if I went to a show and saw a band that sounded good. I might download a song or two to check them out. If I like it and buy the album, that’s how it should go. People that go and download full CDs really do hurt emerging artists though.

On the other hand, I feel it is also somewhat the industry’s fault for charging so much for CDs in stores. I mean…$17 isn’t chump change. Recently, I’ve heard that Universal actually was going to lower the wholesale price of their artists’ CDs by like 30% or something like that and put a cap of $12-13 on the retail price in stores. That’s pretty cool…and it’s a sign that the Labels are starting to understand that there are forces at work that are affecting album sales outside of the bands themselves.

Back to File-sharing….All I can say is that people need to be responsible and understand that they could potentially hurt the bands they like if they don’t buy their CDs. If I like a band and want them to stick around to make more albums…I’m more-than-willing to reach into my pocket to support them.

SC: Your Geffen debut was produced by Howard Benson, and engineered by Mike Plotnikoff, so there was no shortage of power-hitters on your side when you made this disc. If you had to guess, which record executive(s) did you or your fellow band members neglect to give head to when trying to secure a financial future for Depswa?

DN: We don’t set aside our integrity to get places. Maybe that’s one of our biggest faults, but whatever. At least we can wake up in the morning proud of the album we made and know that we didn’t compromise ourselves in anyway to try to achieve success.

I can honestly say that things could and should have been done differently, but we have to play with the cards that have been dealt to us. I do feel that our album release date being pushed back and the fact that we had no radio push from the label really hurt us. But, we’ll tread on and we’re not going anywhere. This band is here to stay no matter what.

SC: In your bio, you guys state that intially, you used to throw away songs that you thought the public wasn't going to like, but that eventually you began writing songs that YOU guys liked. Considering the public isn't exactly scooping up millions of your CDs, it's safe to assume that you're still not penning for the masses. Do you see your philosophy changing at all to compensate for better sales?

DN: We are all proud of the CD we made and we didn’t compromise our tastes in creating it. If we were to do so, that would be humiliating. If we were to create music because we thought it is what the masses would like and it was something we didn’t enjoy…That would truly be selling out.

Maybe our Bio wasn’t clear. We didn’t throw away songs we thought the public wasn’t going to like. It was more that initially, when we were an aggressive metal band, we threw away songs that we liked but thought our die-hard metal fans might not appreciate. Instead we decided that we needed to create music that we were proud of and enjoyed…we couldn’t just limit ourselves because we thought our fans might not accept the change. In the end, I think a lot of our original fans respected the change and still like the music. I feel in essence we grew musically and broadened the range of people that might migrate to our music without giving up the fans we had initially.

As for record sales…That is a touchy subject. In order for a band to be successful in the eyes of the industry, several things need to happen. That would be radio, publicity, live shows, distribution, etc. Considering that a lot of the elements, that are needed to get to be a so-called “Success” in the eyes of the major-label music industry, are lacking. I feel that we are doing fairly well in what we’ve accomplished to date.

We are selling pretty consistently every week. That to me is awesome. It shows me that our CD is selling by word-of-mouth since we’re not on tour anymore. Look at it this way…For us to sell 10,000+ albums in less than 3 months with almost no radio is pretty amazing. In addition, although we’ve had great tours, our album wasn’t available in stores until after the previous tours ended. So, the people that might have wanted to buy our album right after seeing us with Mudvayne, Evanescence or Cold couldn’t find it.

Our album actually didn’t hit shelves until we were off tour and still 3 weeks or so before Ozzfest. Seeing as how we were playing with 20 other great bands on Ozzfest, the fact that we sold as many CDs as we did is pretty amazing.

SC: You guys have toured in a cramped van, so you guys are not strangers to one another's odors. Which member of Depswa would you feel the least offended (odor-wise) if you had to snuggle with him for the night, and which one of you guys could knock a buzzard off a shit-wagon?

DN: Not that I would, but probably Ryan. As long as I didn’t have to kiss him (His breath can get pretty bad). Jeremy and I have the killer armpits and Gordon smells like smoke. James just sweats a lot.

SC: Hypothetical situation: A startup label offers Depswa an obscene amount of money (and by 'obscene', I mean MILLIONS of tax-free dollars to record, live off, and pay off program directors nationwide) to release the band's next disc, none of which you will be obligated to recoup if the disc lays a turd sales-wise. The only catch is this: The contract you'll be offered clearly states that the band MUST perform in a band-exclusive orgy (no chicks; just you guys) to be videotaped and released in tandem with the new disc. Do you take the offer and give your cohorts some dumper love, or do you tell this wealthy bunch of freaks to piss off?

DN: I think that we tell them to piss off. Mainly because we all have very small penises and we wouldn’t want to see them on video. Oh…that and the fact that we’re not really into guys. How about a million to have sex with myself? Oh nevermind…I do that for free.

SC: Does being in a band carry any clout with the ladies yet? I mean, if you're at a club/ bar / 12-step meeting/ etc, does the line "Say baby, I'm in DEPSWA. Wanna go tea baggin'?" work better than oh, say... fanning yourself with a wad of hundred dollar bills when trying to attract a gal?

DN: I have to say that being in a band does carry a little clout…but unfortunately, having a girlfriend, I’ve never had the opportunity to use it. I do get a lot of free drinks and get into shows for free though!

SC: Ever get hit with a flying projectile from an audience member? If so, how'd you react?

DN: For some reason no one ever throws stuff or yells stuff at me? Ryan has been hit though and gets a little flustered. He usually just flips the person off and talks smack to them until they are stoked that someone actually paid some attention to them. I would probably just kill them!

SC: Rock shows have a tendency to produce aggressive, if not violent behavior. What's the most fucked up confrontation, brawl, beating, and/or fisticuffs you witnessed while slugging it out on stage with Depswa?

DN: I wasn’t there, but I heard about a show Jeremy and Ryan played on New Years eve several years ago before I joined the band. Some guy sprayed a fire extinguisher off and the crowd got pissed and it turned into a full-out brawl. Jeremy and Ryan had to jump off the stage to help keep some guy from getting beaten to death. Apparently he had a brick or something thrown at his head and I think someone got stabbed? Whatever happened, I guess it turned out to be a bloody mess. Sounded like my kind of party…too bad I missed it!



(...and WE are also sorry we missed it, because there's nothing like a good fight between drunkards. Well, maybe a fight between rabid dogs that are strapped with dynamite. Yeah, that would be fun too.

Much thanks to Dan for being cool with all of the stupid questions, and thanks to Alan at M80 for hooking up the interview.) CLICK HERE FOR THE DEPSWA WEBSITE

CLICK HERE FOR THEIR DEBUT DISC, 'TWO ANGELS AND A DREAM'