A Dozen Furies
'Abstraction Unleashed!'
Let’s be honest: Texas is kind of a snooze these days. Steve Nash doesn’t whip his rock locks around Dallas any more, not even an extended Pee-Wee tap dance could’ve saved The Alamo, and South by Southwest isn’t exactly going all out to discover the next Slayer.
That said, Texas is a source of immeasurable pride for those who were born and bred there, including the young shredders of A Dozen Furies. Guitarist Marc Serrano can’t really explain it—in fact, he almost blasphemously cops to preferring the architecture and historical sweep of the northeast—but he sure as hell knows how to embrace it.
Ever since junior high, ADF have been busting ass hopping from band to band in their incestuous Dallas sub-scene, one of which, Ethynol, housed all five Furies at one time or another. After splitting from his last band Serrano found himself back at square one, hanging out at home, twiddling his thumbs, and waiting for his next chance to bring the noise.
Unsurprisingly, he got back in touch with old buddies and collaborators Joey Turner and Mike Miller; they started writing songs with just two guitars and drums, which, while kicking substantially more ass than prior youthful efforts, lacked the must-have ingredients of bass and vocals.
Luckily, they just happened to be jamming in multi-instrumentalist friend Keith Reber’s home studio, and they just happened to know one of the most versatile, off-the-chain frontmen in town, Bucky Garrett. His melodic Mike Patton croon often careens without warning into a blistering death howl, supplying an edge that more than matches the compositional schizophrenia on ADF’s debut full-length A Concept From Fire, an explosive collection of propulsive metalcore harmonies, visceral death-derived change-ups, and memorable, gripping hooks that refuse to pander.
Chatting recently with ADF's bass player Keith Reber, I first wondered whY was the time right to now unleash A Concept From Fire on the general
public? "We felt that we needed to be in front of the Ozzfest crowd all
summer. We wanted to show everyone what A Dozen Furies are all about.
Releasing the album before Ozzfest would have been premature."
Where does the bands name originate from anyway? "Mike
came up with the name a couple years back and again the band agreed it
was catchy and a bit different from current band names, so it stuck."
And, while we're on the subject of revealing things, is it true
that you guys once considered having a female in the line-up?! "No, No, No ... Marc is the closest one to girl! Well then yes actually we did
consider it and she is still doing well!"
With ADF having become the highest selling band of any of 2005's
second stage acts at Ozzfest's FYE tent, what luxuries has that now
afforded you? "A couple new cars. I know personally my bank account
is full at the moment. No, but really the biggest "luxuries" that we
received were the gratification knowing that we were doing that well in
sales at Ozzfest."
Was it always to be called 'A Concept From Fire' "No, we came
up with the name last minute. It was a song title from a while back
and it struck the whole band as catchy so we decided to make it the
album title."
If I had a signed copy of your 5-song EP 'Rip the Stars Down' and
placed it on EBay, would I make enough money to pay off the mortgage on
my house?! "Only if you buy one of the 2-3 million dollar homes!"
Have you a funny (or inspirational!) story to tell of just one of
your musical encounters among the many journeys that you have taken
thus far? "I will go with inspirational, I'm not sure you get our humor if I told you a funny story. My father has done a lot for me over the
years with music and being my personal inspiration, so this year I
brought him a signed Gibson SG signed by the original Black Sabbath. I
feel like he deserved a gift that no one else could have given him and
that he could relate to at the same time."
What cheesy '80s song would you love to cover today if asked ...
and why?! "Probably something by Prince, everyone would pick a hair
band, but if you want to go cheesy why not go with Prince, 'Little Red
Corvette' or 'Pussy Control.' It doesn't get cheesier than that!"
If there were just 3 words that described ADF's music, what would
they be? "Powerful, Catchy, Brutal."
I like Penguins, ... do you?! "I prefer field mice, but I'm sure
penguins are cute too!"
Finally, if you were asked to record a song for charity, and had
to choose 3 other musicians to aid you in the project (but no one from
your band!), who would they be, what instruments would they play, and
what would the title of the NEW song be?! "Hmmm ... that's a good one ... I would choose R. Kelly, Paul McCartney and Bono. R. Kelly would play the rap, Bono would sing and Paul would play the piano and last I would play the triangle and the song would rock everyone broke! The song would be called, 'Raise The Roof Off.' So watch the charts for this one!"
Interviewed by Russell A. Trunk
www.ADozenFuries.com
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