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DEAD SOUL TRIBE BAND PAGE
 DEAD SOUL TRIBE
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CURRENT NAME
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Dead Soul Tribe | |
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FORMER NAMES
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ORIGIN
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Austria | |
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STATUS
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Active | |
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FORMED IN
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LABEL
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InsideOut Music | |
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GENRE
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Progressive metal | |
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STYLE
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LYRICAL THEME
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| BAND ADDED | 2005-09-30, 00:00 | |
| LAST UPDATE | 2009-01-14, 21:13 | |
Biography | Band members | Discography | Shows | Forum
| Band biography |
Devon Graves is the alter ego of Buddy Lackey, the former singer of the US metal band, Psychotic Waltz. And with the change of name Devon has brought about both a musical and a personal transition. Not so fundamental that you can't recognize the thread running through his life as an artiste, but rather one which underlines the singer/guitarist's huge creative versatility. In Dead Soul Tribe he has built up a band in which he can realize his ideas as a songwriter, singer and instrumentalist more definitively and purely than ever before. He says, "Even though I'm still very proud of the albums I did with Psychotic Waltz, Dead Soul Tribe is more purely me. My music comes from within. I can hear it in full detail before I even know how to play it. With the guitar in my hands, and the RECORD button at my fingertips I get to act as the medium between my ideas and your ears."
His words apply especially to songs such as the opener, ´Powertrip`, ´The Haunted`, ´Once`, ´Empty` and the final song, ´...Into The Spiral Cathedral`, in which Graves varies between hymn-like arrangements, beautiful little acoustic parts, atmospheric compositions and powerful, far-reaching prog metal. The album was produced and mixed in Graves's own ´Dead Soul Temple` Studio in Vienna. "This was the first album I ever got to produce. That is an important part of capturing that sound that is in your head. Other producers can't hear what is in your imagination, nor can other band members for that matter. Apart from recording Adels drums, I was able to capture the vibe I was looking for in complete solitude. Like the art of Zen-No talking, all action."
His new band, Dead Soul Tribe, features drummer Adel Moustafa, a very capable young musician with Austrian and Egyptian parents. When Graves met him, Adel didn't even have his own drumkit. But the fabulous reputation enjoyed by the boy was underlined during the first practice session. "A rock band is only as good as its drummer," Graves says, stressing the importance of the rhythm section. "And apart from that", he adds, grinning, "Adel is a great looking guy. Amazing to watch when he is playing. To me, a rock bands visual presence can be as important as its sound. This was a considerable component on which I wanted to build this band. I'm not talking about `pretty boys`, I'm talking about people who have a strong presence on stage, or just standing together. Some bands can affect you just by the sight of them. When their look is as intense as their sound, The whole thing hits so much harder."
Moustafa is accompanied by Roland Ivenz, a very notorious bass player due to his massive dreadlocks and his experience in an Austrian punk band. It was from there that he brought rhythm guitarist Volker Wilschko - again with dreadlocks - with him, to share the guitar parts with the head of the band. Graves himself sings, plays lead guitar, adds his own hard-kicking riffs and, in the manner of Psychotic Waltz, also adds several interesting flute parts. Even experts in the field may not know that Graves is an excellent guitarist in addition to his qualities as composer, singer and flutist. "I was a guitarist long before I was a singer, before I was even in high school the guitar was the consuming passion of my life" he explains. "I'm not one of these guitar heroes who can play a million notes a minute, so my talents weren't in much demand in the early Nineties, when Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert and Joe Satriani were the big names of the day. I play more of an old school style-I'm a big fan of Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. My strengths are more in "feeling". I play to express emotions, not to demonstrate techniques."
Devon Graves' voice, puts a special stamp on all the songs of the album. "My voice sounds a lot more natural than it used to," is the way he characterizes his vocal evolution. "With Psychotic Waltz I was doing a lot of "searching", Mostly doing impressions of one influence or another. In the end, my voice never sounded like I wanted it to be. But now, I have learned to just relax and let the voice take its own shape. Doing that, the sound that comes out of my mouth is the same that it sounds in my head. Finally I can listen to my work with real satisfaction."
It's a satisfaction that he had to fight for long and hard because Graves can look back on a pretty hard time with huge personal problems. "I think they were the two most painful years of my life. I think that it made good subject matter for many of the songs because these are problems that everyone has or will face in their lives to one point or another. Maybe these are songs that people can really understand and actually feel in a real and powerful way. Believe me, I was close to suicide many times during those years. A crushing place of loneliness and desperation where there seems no way out. Like being locked in a room with no doors and no light. I learned that there is one way out: Time. Now life has changed for me and I am happy again, actually I am finding the best days of my life. I think this is something important to share with people, especially if they are in such a hurting way as I was."
Graves is hoping to do just that in a more personal manner from Summer 2002 at Dead Soul Tribe concerts. Because he wants to get back onto the stage as quickly as possible. "Playing in concert is when I am really alive. Nothing I've experienced in life can match that rush of magic and energy exchanged between a rock band and its audience. You can't explain it. It's just a feeling of jumping out of your flesh and standing taller and wider than your own soul. We've already given a few shows, for example at the ´Monsters Of Metal` in Vienna. A lot of fans came up to me after the show and complimented us not only on the music, but also on the bands strong visual presence."
For eleven years to-the-day Devon Graves (a.k.a. Buddy Lackey) was the frontman of the San Diego based band, Psychotic Waltz. Their debut album, "A Social Grace" was described by many representatives of the press as a "work of the century" when it was released in 1991. In the same year Psychotic Waltz played at the legendary Dynamo Festival in Eindhoven/Holland, and released their very strong "Into The Everflow" two years later. Lackey used the involuntary break in the band's activities, caused by guitarist Dan Rock's broken arm (and other body parts), to produce his solo album, "The Strange Mind Of Buddy Lackey". When Rock's arm was mended, Psychotic Waltz continued in their winning vein with "Mosquito". A few subsequent line-up changes in the band followed. "Bleeding" was the last album with Lackey as singer. His announcement in September 1997 that he was leaving the band came as a surprise. "I felt I needed to leave the band" he explains, looking back without anger. "I wanted to take the battle out of making music, the negotiations, the debates, the compromises. I also wanted to take back what I have given up from my own dream of what I wanted to be in order to fit into Psychotic Waltz. In setting aside my guitar I set aside the other half of me." When asked 'what about the old fans of Psychotic' Graves replies "Anyone that liked the albums I did with Psychotic Waltz should be able to get right into Dead Soul Tribe. Those that weren't all that keen on Psychotic should really give Dead Soul Tribe a try." So it's a call to every soul - dead or alive ....
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