By Andrew Bansal
One band that’s truly breaking new ground in the realm of modern heavy music is Boston, Massachussetts based group Revocation. Led by guitarist/vocalist Dave Davidson, the band blends old-school thrash with modern metal elements, along with jazzy, progressive parts intertwined in their compositions. On stage they have an enormous sound and presence, as was evident during their highly impressive performance at this year’s Summer Slaughter which came through Los Angeles last Saturday July 20th at the House Of Blues Sunset Strip. Shortly after their set, I caught up with Dave to talk about the tour, the new self-titled album (out on Relapse Records August 2nd), music theory, gear and more. Check out the conversation below and do not miss them on Summer Slaughter!
That was a kickass set, man. Good to see you again!
Thank you, man! Good to see you as well!
So, this tour started out last night in San Francisco and today is the second show. How’s everything so far? At this point it’s pretty much about getting into the thick of things, right?
Yeah, at the first show you’ve always got to work the kinks out, get a vibe for the whole thing. Ten bands is a lot to deal with in terms of the changeover and all that kind of stuff. But, I think tonight we had a blast! So we’re looking forward to getting in full swing and really going for it.
I’m glad LA didn’t get the first show of the tour then.
(Laughs) Yeah, it’s hard when you do your first chunk of shows on the West Coast in San Francisco and LA. It’s intimidating and you want to bring your A-game, but I think we had good vibe tonight on stage so I’m excited for the rest of the tour.
Your fourth album is coming out on August 2nd. For people who haven’t heard anything from it yet, what have you have done differently this time as compared to before?
I think we’ve just gotten better as songwriters. Our sound is getting more and more cohesive. I think it’s our heaviest and most pissed-off record till date, for sure. It’s pretty dark. On ‘Chaos Of Forms’ I think we did a lot of experimentation. I mean, experimentation is always going to be part of our sound, but this new one is a little bit more like the recent EP we put out, called ‘Teratogenesis’. We sort of reigned the experimentation back a bit in favor of more straightforward but still technical songs.
One thing that interested me when I first heard about the album was it being self-titled. Usually a band self-titles their first album, and not the fourth. What was the reason for it? Do you think it’s pretty much because it’s the best representation of your band at this point?
Exactly. At this moment in time, in 2013, this is sort of the best representation of the Revocation sound. It’s a sound that’s constantly evolving. The other reason was, we went through a lineup change. We got a new bass player. But I think the lineup as it stands right now is really, really solid and the best incarnation of the band that we’ve had. So for all those reasons it felt like we’re really firing on all cylinders and it just made sense to self-title the new album.
Talking of Summer Slaughter, it started out as a full-on death metal festival but now it has opened up a lot and now we have this kind of lineup. Your music is thrashy as well as modern, so I think you’re a perfect fit for this lineup and for the festival. I saw thrashers in the crowd, and of course there’s the modern metal following. So that’s pretty cool.
Thanks! Yeah, it’s a diverse bill. Luckily we have enough of a diverse sound that we can kind of fit with different fans. If you only come out for Cattle Decapitation or Aeon, there are parts of our set that can work for you. If you’re more into the progressive side of stuff, I think our set can also work for you. So, hopefully we can make some new fans on this tour, given the fact that it’s such a diverse bill.
As for your own musicianship, you’ve been a music student since the very beginning. Has that allowed you to bring even non-metal elements into Revocation’s sound? I think I can hear it when I listen closely to what you’re doing.
Yeah I try to. I’m a big fan of jazz and I studied it at Berklee. In some of the solos, there’s a little bit of an effort to bring in some of that flavor whether it’s phrasing or different chromatic passing tones. Obviously at the end of the day we’re a metal band, but even subconsciously, the more you know those non-metal elements, the more they creep in. It’s like when you learn a new word, all of a sudden you find yourself using it in conversation. It’s the same thing in music theory. The more you learn, the goal is to let it seep in there and have it be there so it’s a subconscious thing. You’re not thinking about it, but it sort of pops up here and there.
In terms of your stage gear, is it the same as what you use in the studio? I was curious because specially on a tour like this you don’t have much time for changeover.
It’s kind of the same thing. We’ve really fallen in love with the EVH amps that we’ve been using for a couple of years now and certainly on tour. On our EP and for this new album, we used the EVHs. So essentially, our live sound is the same as the studio. I mean, obviously there’s compression and there might be a pedal or something like that in front of an amp to give it a little bit more of a different definition, but that’s more of a call from the producer side and the mixing side. For me I really like this amp. Use it in the studio and whatever you need to get the best sound out of it, go for it. The guitars we’re using live are also the same as the studio. Although it would be nice to have a studio guitar that never gets used on tour as it gets beat up and by the end of the tour I’m missing screws and parts from it.
Would you consider something like that in the future, having different guitars for studio and tour?
Yeah, I would love to have just one guitar that’s for the studio alone. But, one step at a time (laughs).
You’ve been getting noticed more and more for your guitar playing skills in the scene. But have you gotten into teaching at all?
I went to an arts high school and as soon as I graduated, they asked me back there to teach guitar during my first year of college. So I’ve been teaching for a while now but recently it’s been picking up a little bit more, thankfully. I’ve been doing a lot of stuff online. A lot of those websites like BandHappy and Jam Play are the new thing, but I also teach in person. With all these different angels I try and make a little bit of money here and there when I’m not on tour. But beyond the money thing, I really love to teach. I enjoy it. Every student’s different, whether it’s age range or background. So it’s cool to hopefully make breakthroughs with students and have them go, ‘Oh! I didn’t get that before but after I sat for a week it makes sense to me.’ So it’s really rewarding.
I have final question for you, and it has to do with the shred guitar element in your music. I feel that shred guitar is cool but some musicians overdo it. They are too flashy and it’s a bit of a turnoff. What’s your opinion on the genre?
I think you have to have balance, just like in anything really. Like, I love spicy food but if it’s all heat and you don’t get any flavor it sort of ruins the taste. So it’s good if you can manage to combine the shred elements, the more flashy parts of your playing with good songwriting and a balance between technicality and simplicity. You can have it on 10 the whole time and you might be playing the craziest shit ever, but it might sound the same after a while to the listener. Whereas if you can mix it up and have a dynamic contrast between straightforward parts and parts where you really let it rip, the flashy parts stick out that much more and are tasty at the same time.
Related: [Gig Review] Summer Slaughter Rolls Through West Hollywood’s House Of Blues
Links:
facebook.com/Revocation
twitter.com/Revocation
youtube.com/OfficialRevocation
Remaining Tour Dates:
7/24/2013 Diamond Ballroom – Oklahoma City, OK
7/26/2013 House of Blues – Dallas, TX
7/27/2013 House of Blues – Houston, TX
7/29/2013 House of Blues – Lake Buena Vista, FL
7/30/2013 The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
7/31/2013 Old City Courtyard – Knoxville, TN
8/01/2013 House of Blues – Myrtle Beach, SC
8/02/2013 The Filmore Silver Springs – Silver Springs, MD
8/03/2013 The Palladium – Worcester, MA
8/04/2013 The Trocadero – Philadelphia, PA
8/07/2013 Best Buy Theater – New York, NY
8/08/2013 Sound Academy – Toronto, ON
8/09/2013 Metropolis – Montreal, QC
8/10/2013 Upstate Concert Hall – Clifton Park, NY
8/11/2013 The Majestic Theatre – Detroit, MI
8/12/2013 House of Blues – Chicago, IL
8/13/2013 The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
8/14/2013 Station 4 – St. Paul, MN
8/16/2013 Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
8/16/2013 Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
8/17/2013 The Complex – Salt Lake City, UT
8/19/2013 Snowbox Sodo – Seattle, WA
8/20/2013 Roseland Ballroom – Portland, OR