The D4 Are Rock'n'RollTerrorists! Be Alert NotAlarmed!

Wed 22nd Dec, 2004 in Features

Ever had a Sake Bomb? The D4 have drunk many! What is it, you may ask? A shot of hot Sake dropped into a beer and skulled in two seconds flat. Do you think you could survive a few of those in a row? The D4 reckon they can, although I don’t know if you’d call “tickling fish”, “running around the street naked” or “jumping into hotel pools from second storey balconies” – surviving? Whatever term you choose to use, count me in because that sounds like one hell of a good time!

We all need a little more D4 in our lives, just to escape our dreary humdrum working week. Gracing us with their presence more recently where the band played Homebake in Sydney and two shows in Melbourne. So what were they doing during the two-year gap between visits from 2002 to 2004? I chatted with vocalist Dion, hoping to unlock this little mystery.

“It’s been like 2 years since we’ve been to Australia. It was good to come back with some new stuff”.

Stuff. This could mean a lot of things really. Luckily we know exactly what Dion’s stuff is - an album full of new songs.

“Yeah, it’s finished. We had to stop touring because we couldn’t write on the road?”

My first guess would be that the band recorded the new album in New Zealand, which of course was incorrect and he quickly put me on the right track.

“It was recorded in London. At a place called Jacobs, which is just outside London. We moved there at the start of the year and we lived there for four months. We wrote the whole album over there and recorded it in ten days.”

Sounds like a hoot but who paid for this little working holiday? Apparently it came out of the band’s pocket. Ouch!

“It wasn’t cheap, I’ll tell you that much, but it was great fun.”

Did you play a few gigs while you were there?

“No, we just did one show. We played at a night called Queens of Noise, which are these two girl DJs and we played at their gig. The main focus was to write songs and record them.”

The release date for the new album is March, so we have three months to wait until we hear the fruits of the D4’s working holiday. With a few working titles at the moment, it looks like the band are yet to decide on the title for their little baby. As much as I tried to pry it out of him, he didn’t want to elaborate until he was “absolutely certain” of the title. Damn!

For those of you who are fans of the D4 and own their 2002 release 6Twenty, I’m sure that your eagle eyes would have picked up on the fact that there are three covers on this album. Asking a band why they picked these particular covers is like going through someone’s underwear drawer. Exciting, intriguing and sometimes just plain frightening. No saggy, baggy, excuse of a pair of reg grundies for Dion to blush over. Each cover is a gem, as he explains.

“Pirate Love was a song we really liked and it always went down really well live. We never were originally going to put it on the album but it went down well live so we decided to do it. Invader Ace was a friend of ours’ band and it was a tribute to them because we really like them. The New Zealand song – Mysterex. We decided to put it on the record because it was a good punk anthem of the late 60s.”

The friend in fact is none other than the almighty zombie fighting, leather jacket wearing, Gods of Rock’n’Roll, Guitar Wolf. Not hard to work out really, once you pay a visit to the band’s website. The band befriended them in New Zealand, as well as paying them a visit in Japan, where they played some rock’n’roll shows together.

Back to the covers. Dion was eager to point out that there are two Australian covers on the new album.

“Savage by the Fun Things and Out Of Control by the Lime Spiders”

I asked whether he was a fan of The Stems and whether he had the chance to see them recently, perhaps in NZ. “Yeah I am. No, they didn’t but they did play a festival that we played at in New York. Little Steven’s Underground Garage Festival.”

If you are not familiar with Little Steven’s festival - it’s the cream of the garage/rock’n’roll festival circuit. The band found themselves playing alongside The Stooges, The Dictators, The Chesterfield Kings, The New York Dolls and twenty other killer acts. That’s one hell of a rock’n’roll party, not to mention terrific exposure for the band. I asked him how was the experience.

“Went down well actually. It was really good. Pretty much all the bands got 20 minutes. I think we did two songs! I think the time was cut down to 10 minutes. Actually, they were cut down to seven minutes. The stage was supposed to be a rotating stage but it broke down earlier in the day.”

Broken revolving stage or not, he knows a good thing before it kisses him goodbye and the D4 made the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity. I get the feeling that this isn’t the biggest milestone in the band’s career.

“Going to Japan [in 2000] was a big milestone because that was the first time that we had ever been overseas as a band. Playing in Spain actually, because we always wanted to play in Spain as well. I can only choose three. Can I choose four? Playing on Dave Lettermen was good. It was an experience, and recording the second record.”

Give me the crazy Spaniards over David Lettermen any day, but it’s good to see the band spreading their rock’n’roll wings. Spain has always been a hot rock’n’roll destination and I was extremely interested to see if all the crazy rumours I hear about the country are true. Let’s ask the man who knows.

“It is. They know how to pour a drink in Spain. I can tell you that much! You ask for a Jack Daniels and Coke and they won’t stop pouring the Jack Daniels until you say. It’s pretty good, hey. I like it!”

Well, we all know that the D4 like a drink or two, three, four, five, with a new single called Sake Bomb, after the band’s favourite drink. It comes with the territory. Dion’s background is quite interesting with a reputation for skipping school at fifteen to hang out with bands at a recording studio. I’d say that’s just the tip of the iceberg! I asked what his parents thought about his escapades and what drives him to be in the band.

“My parents didn’t mind. They wouldn’t have been happy if I always skipped school and never went. They always knew that I wanted to be in a band and they have always supported me so it wasn’t too much of a problem. I’ve always liked music from a young age. I’ve always wanted to travel the world so it’s a good way to do it. Umm. That’s pretty much it really.”

Girls perhaps?

“Umm, not really a driving force for me. It’s part of the job. It happens to be one of the perks but it’s not the reason why I do it.”

With the band’s run of shows coming up on The Big Day Out tour, what could the crowd expect from a D4 performance? The mind ponders, but he very quickly gives me some idea.

“The unexpected.”

Like a magic show maybe?

“Possibly. Who knows? Could be a strip show… It will be a high-energy show and they’ll expect a bunch of new songs. That’s about it really. Hopefully they’ll enjoy it.”

Maybe the D4 will be kind enough to give everyone in the crowd a Sake Bomb? Then again, it’s an all ages event so I very much doubt it. One thing I don’t doubt is that the D4 are like a rock’n’roll party. Elements of their song writing vary from 60s garage stomp to ballsy rock’n’roll. I wonder what the D4 would put on the stereo at their own party? Dion explains.

“Curtis Mayfield. James Brown. T Rex. The Rolling Stones. Stuff like that. Anything you can dance to really.”

Sounds like a ripper of a party. You can never have too many parties, especially as a teenager. I don’t know about you, but many a late weekend night was spent in front of the TV, watching RAGE. It was a right of passage for many people I know. I was curious to find out what Teenage Anthems kept him company throughout his own terrible teens?

“Umm. God. I mean, when I was little I really liked that Twisted Sister song with the kid in his room and shit, We’re Not Gonna Take It. That was kinda an anthem to me when I was a kid because that came out around the time I was getting into music. It looked pretty freaky. Probably Kiss as well. They came to New Zealand when I was pretty young and I remember seeing them on a TV show. I used to have recurring nightmares about them.”

Why? Was it the make up?

“Yeah. Gene in particular. He used to scare the shit out of me, hey. I used to have a recurring dream where they lived in my basement and I used to keep to myself and walk downstairs in my dream. They used to chase me and if I got to the top of the stairs, then they couldn’t get me. I’d always wake up at the point where I’d get to the top of the stairs, and then THEY got over the top of the stairs. That’s when I’d wake up.”

I bet Dion didn’t have a Kiss poster on his bedroom wall! One thing I do know is that I’ll be looking forward to seeing the D4 in action in January 2005. Theses boys are primed and ready to prove that the goods are worth waiting for.

The Big Day Out Shows:

Auckland:        Friday 21st January, 2005
Gold Coast:     Sunday 23rd January, 2005
Sydney:           Wednesday 26th January, 2005
Melbourne:      Sunday 30th January, 2005
Adelaide:         Friday 4th February, 2005
Perth:              Sunday, 6th February, 2005

and

Saturday January 22, The Rev, Brisbane with The Tremors and The Aampirellas
Tuesday January 25, Spectrum, Sydney with Sway and The Substitutes
Thursday January 27, Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne with The Pictures and Osterberg
Thursday February 3rd, Enigma Bar, Adelaide with Booster
Saturday February 5, Amplifier Bar, Perth with Trash Ivory and The Homicides