Desert Session: Johnny Siera of The Death Set
Okay, so it’s probably not an ideal way to spend a day, but it sure does sound rock and roll. Johnny Siera, of Gold Coast-via-Brooklyn punktronica band The Death Set is hanging out in the middle of the desert- with a flat tyre-but “apart from that, everything’s fine”.
Having toured with the likes of Japanther, Girl Talk, Bonde Do Role and Spank Rock, The Death Set are well on their way to taking the world by storm, to coin a cliché. Their intention, if any, is to bring back the old-fashioned punk show. The dirty sweat and grime one would’ve revelled in, circa 1970, but now, is all but lost. “I guess from the get-go we wanted to be a touring band. I read stories of Black Flag and stuff and I kinda believed that working hard on touring always affected the music you were making, which is why we moved to the States. We grew up on the gold coast and toured with this awesome Brooklyn band called Japanther, and it was inspirational to see that kind of DIY aesthetic. Lyrically, I think most of the songs we write, especially the ones I write, are about what’s in my own head rather than external stuff, the battle in my head every day rather than the external battles, more personal lyrics than political”
“Aesthetically, were influenced by bands like Lightning Bolt, footage of bands playing in warehouses on the floor, it was inspirational, anything from old punk rock and hip hop to electro, it’s a literal cluster fuck of those three genres really”. I tell Johnny about the less than decadent but wholly intense warehouse parties Melbourne has to offer and he concurs that that is the scene, the one I should be watching. Will do.
So whaddya do on the road then, Johnny, apart from puncture your van's tyres on cacti? “Drink a lot of vodka (laughs). We just hang out, eat, skateboarding, it’s pretty much like playing a show and getting in the van and then playing another show. Museums, galleries, were all pretty chilled”.
Having heard the frenetic, thumping fuzz of TDS, I ask Johnny what one can expect from a stage show, if we ever in Niigata or Edinburgh; “I think first and foremost is the energy” Johnny replies in his ever-so-slight American accent, “the most fun shows are the ones with 100 or 200 kids in small space and everyone spazzing out like maniacs, it has positivity, there’s no macho hardcore energy. I hate that. It’s a real positive fun energy, and there’s a sense of community, when were playing shows it’s awesome to see people singing along”.
So where’s the music industry going these days, son? “It’s an interesting time, there are networks of people that are becoming more organized on grass roots levels, you can be quite a successful band without reaching that major label corporate level, there’s more power coming to the bands, you don’t have to be a puppet for the labels any more. Though the Internet has been the number one factor in musical change recently”.
And with that, like some Lizard King or cowboy drifter, Johnny waltzes off into the sizzling American desert, off to another glittering, burning rock show. NB: This interview was not conducted under the influence of LSD.
