No Rest For The Wicked

Here’s a scenario: Editor emails writer. Editor asks writer to get interview with band. Writer agrees, contacts band member. Band member and writer play email and AIM tag for days. Writer proposes date and time. Writer waits patiently for response. Band member falls off the face of the planet.

4 am, Wednesday morning, approximately one month later. Band member pops up on AIM, messages Writer in a drunken haze, says “Hey, I’m drunk, let’s do this interview now.” Writer is shocked. Writer is stunned. Writer is half asleep with absolutely no questions prepared. So what is Writer to do?

Light a cigarette and do the fucking interview, of course. Journalism ain’t for the weak.

But maybe journalism isn’t even the right word. Possibly every journalistic rule on the books was broken during this interview. Instead of simply firing off a round of questions from the dividing line, I engaged in an actual, honest to God conversation with Jesse Keeler of Toronto’s latest post-punk onslaughts, Death From Above and Femme Fatale. Nowhere in this interview will you find any real, concrete mention of musical influences or the meaning behind either band name. No overabundance of information about previous tours or recent releases. Hell, there’s only a fleeting mention of Death From Above and Femme Fatale’s future plans. For better or worse, it’s pretty much just a conversation between a very ambitious, fairly drunk musician and a sleepy writer with no list of questions to refer to if the discussion goes dry. Bad journalism? Yeah, maybe. An interesting, somewhat surprising, possibly sloppy glimpse into what makes one musician’s wheels turn? Most definitely.

Interview conducted via AIM by Mollie Wells. Pictures provided by Paul Rentler.

Name: Jesse Keeler
Bands: Death From Above, Femme Fatale

Bettawreckonize: Give me a brief history of Death From Above. How did you guys start playing together?

Jesse: Sebastian [Granger, of Death From Above and Femme Fatale] and I lived in the same house, and we had a lot of time on our hands. We would hang out on the beach for hours, and then since there was some gear in our basement from our other band, Femme Fatale, we just started playing. I wired up all the amps together into one super amp, and that sound was the beginning. It started out with a drum machine, and that got boring fast, so Seb started playing drums and singing.

BW: Did you guys know what kind of sound you were going for, or was it totally random?

JK: We were listening to a lot of rap at the time. I was dee-jaying, like, classic disco and funk at this big club, and I just wanted to make music that was straight ahead. So much 4/4 music got us going, I guess. We just played a lot, and the sound developed from that. Like, originally we thought we would be like a new wave band. But that just isn’t how it worked out.

BW: Did the start of Death From Above cause any rifts in Femme Fatale? Is it difficult to balance the two bands, especially since they’re doing so well?

JK: Actually, no one has asked us that before. It did cause a bit of a rift with some members, but we ignored that. It was, like, so different but not essentially that different. Femme Fatale, in many ways, is more accessible than Death From Above, it just doesn’t come across like that. If that makes no sense, please bear in mind that I’ve drank some weird Italian juice that tasted like lemon scented Mr. Clean and it went to my head. Also, I just had a friendly argument with some guy from Germany about Canada’s healthcare system. He didn’t believe that it sucked.

BW: Well, how exactly do you think that Femme Fatale is more accessible than Death From Above?

JK: In a weird twist of fate, music like Femme Fatale actually has a chance in the mainstream right now. People at major labels are interested, and you best believe that I will bite that hook if it comes.

BW: So it’s accessible because of it’s inaccessibility?

JK: No, I think it’s just that the music industry is desperate to make the kids happy, and they will try anything. Even music that is for the most part about guns and murder.

BW: Well, guns and murder sell, you know? And sex.

JK: I guess so. Not usually packaged in this way. I make music for myself and the people I know. It’s always a surprise for me when people outside my camp understand it. And, for the record, surprise doesn’t mean good or bad, it’s just a shock.

BW: It’s a nice feeling to know that people you wouldn’t normally expect to get it DO get it. Sometimes, at least.

JK: Yeah. I’m always afraid of being misinterpreted. I accept that it’s an unavoidable fact when you’re in my position, but that doesn’t mean I like it.

BW: Weren’t some people having problems with some Death From Above lyrics? Something about the use of the term “coke whore”?

JK: Yeah. But fuck, we all know at least one coke whore. Male or female. I don’t want to have a retarded baby, so I don’t fuck stupid hos. And, for the record, I’ll be married to my amazing girlfriend in 9 more months. So, in many ways it’s a non-issue for me. But I still think it’s important to pass on to the kids. “Kids, don’t fuck sluts who suck dick for drugs.” You’d think it would go without saying, but there are lots of people who don’t get it.

BW: Very true. It’s a good message for the kids, just packaged in a different way. There’s a lot of room for misinterpretation there. People tend to refuse that any rock band might be imparting something helpful.

JK: Well, most rock bands aren’t. I don’t want or expect to change anyone or anything. But I know that I like hearing shit I already agree with. If someone’s mores are strengthened by knowing that they aren’t alone in their thinking then I can feel that much better about doing it.

BW: That was very well articulated. It’s actually a theme that I find more and more common in bands I’ve talked to, people tending to work along the lines of almost not wanting their listeners to feel alone in their way of thinking.

JK: Femme Fatale is about what I think, and I have always thought that the ideas were too fucked up to share with anyone. But I’m going to put the lyrics in the newest record, because so many kids sing along at the shows, but I know they aren’t singing the right lyrics. I learned through talking to fans that there are a lot of them that feel like I do. So I feel like I’m making records for them as much as for myself. Really I just record music so I can hear it in my car. And in my bathroom when I’m showering.

BW: Do you listen to your own records?

JK: I make records so that I can listen to them. I basically write anthems for myself. Like, every song is “I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night” by Kiss, but for me. Just because no one has written a song that is about my life that I can really relate to. Other than Nas and Mobb Deep. Not always, but more than I can say for any rock musician. It’s like there is no rock for people like me, so I just fill that void myself. Because I have about 2500 records right now, and I don’t get what I need out of any of them.

BW: What do you mean by “people like me”? Is there a definition, or does it defy that?

JK: I guess it’s not hard to describe. I have lived the life typical of people from my neighborhoods. Never good in school. Trying to balance my own sense of right and wrong with financial needs and wants. I’ve done enough shit to keep me in jail for lifetimes. And now, as I’m older, I feel like a soldier getting over the war. You know what I’m saying? It’s like I want to do things better, but I can avoid being what I was for so long.

My whole life I have tried to do things right, but it’s, like, my nature to be so opportunist. I’ve robbed so many people, in a variety of ways. I won’t list the shit I’ve done, because no one needs any new ideas. It’s just a bizarre internal struggle when you decide to do things the right way. When you’ve killed once, it’s that much easier to do it again. I could go on for awhile with this one, so I’ll just leave it at that.

BW: Do you think that being part of these bands, having success in that world is a way of “doing things right”? Does it double as both catharsis and good deed?

JK: I wouldn’t go that far. To a large extent, it’s like I’m using the music (with Femme Fatale anyway) to deal with all the ideas that I’m trying to avoid. It’s like living them out on record so I can feel like they are out of the way. With Death From Above it’s just luck that Sebastien shares so many of my feelings about things and writes lyrics that I am always proud to have my name associated with. So I suppose that yes, it makes me feel good to know I’m doing something I’m totally comfortable with.

BW: So Femme Fatale, in a way, represents your past. But you don’t write lyrics for Death From Above, right? Does it still somehow almost manage to signify your present or future?

JK: Yes and yes. Femme Fatale is, like, how I continue to live out all my desires. Seb writes lyrics I always seem to agree with in every way. Sometimes the content is light, but other times it’s more serious. It’s amazing to be in a band with someone so close to your own heart on the things you actually care about. I’m sure we disagree on a lot of issues, but they aren’t important enough to ever discuss.

BW: I think that’s part of Death From Above’s charm, though. Some of the content is fairly serious, but it’s still taken on with a fairly ironic tone, you know? Does that sound pretentious?

JK: No, not at all. Irony is a dying art form.

BW: What I mean is that it’s like comic relief. Getting close to a tough subject, but keeping the heaviness at an arm’s length.

JK: You have to joke about the things you can’t deal with. If you don’t, you will lose it. Ice-T once said “You can’t ask Stephen King to write a horror movie with a happy ending. The ending is supposed to be horrible.” I feel that in the same way we are very realistic with the subject matter. Whether it’s about our serious view that you shouldn’t have sex with someone you wouldn’t be comfortable having a baby with or if it’s about our friends fucking up their lives. We don’t make light of anything or over dramatize, either. At least, we try not to. P.S. We love babies. P.P.S. Humans are supposed to reproduce, you’re an animal, get over it.

BW: To take the questioning to a drier place: Is the next Death From Above record going to be on Sound Virus?

JK: Well, that isn’t the driest place you could go right now. I don’t want to say anything about this. It’s all up in the air. Either way, everyone will know about our next record. And so far, it sounds pretty fucking awesome. In many ways, I think I would be more critical of it than anyone.

BW: Which is actually funny, because you said that you listen to your music frequently. Do you tend to critique it?

JK: After 15 or so years of recording, I can’t listen to music without my brain tearing it apart into its separate pieces. Like, if I notice that a song has a cowbell track that I think isn’t EQ’d right, I can’t hear anything else but that fucking cowbell every time I hear that song from now on. It’s a curse.

BW: That’s a fucking awful feeling. I’ve often wondered if there’s any possible way to listen to your music with an objective ear. I’m always very curious to hear what other people are hearing, I think that’s the case with most musicians.

JK: The key is to release a record, wait about four years and then listen to it, just once through. Then put it away. That’s the only way I can do it, and even then it’s a struggle.

So yo, my girl is asleep, and I have too much shit to do tomorrow. Do you have a final question? You know I’m in Manhattan right now, don’t you?

BW: No, what are you doing in the states?

JK: Just hanging out at my friend’s house, causing shit. Americans are so conservative, it’s mind blowing. No offense.

BW: None taken. What’s in the works for Death From Above and Femme Fatale? Records, tours?

K: The new Death From Above record will be out as soon as we straighten out some shit. The new Femme Fatale will be out this summer, for sure.

BW: Which label is the Femme Fatale record going to be on?

JK: Ache. It WILL be on Ache, for sure.

BW: Fantastic. Any tours?

JK: Death From Above is doing 20 dates in September and October, none in America I don’t think. We will be down there on a separate thing, I guess. We are dealing with a lot of business shit right now and recording. So that’s really top priority until it’s all straightened out.

BW: Talking shop and making records. That’s the life.

JK: We just say “taking it to the top.”

BW: Yeah, that’s a Canadian thing.

JK: Yes! ALL THE WAY UP!

More information about Death From Above and Femme Fatale can be found atwww.deathdeathdeath.cjb.net, www.femmefatale.cjb.net, and www.acherecords.com