Coming off a year long hiatus, Demasiado returned to headline the Casbah in early September. Jon, Damon, Eric and Wade spent an hour with us before their show, hopping fences and jumping into recycle bins.
Damon, Wade, Jon & Eric - Photo by Jon Foster
Sezio: What was it like being back at the Casbah?
Jon: Being back at The Casbah was magical… surreal, when looking back on it. To be able to play those songs after 8 months of dormancy was the most rewarding feeling I have ever had. Music is such a beautiful drug and the only one that emits sheer beauty and elegance from the pit of your soul. Having said that, I was about as “high” as you can get that night. It was the best feeling I have ever had on stage. And there are many more of those to come. This is just the beginning - A birth of something very innate in all four of us. Music is our lives and Demasiado is our baby.
Demasiado @ The Casbah (09/12/2008) - Photos by Sophie Partridge
SZ: How does the Vegas scene compare to San Diego?
Jon: To simply be back home in San Diego was yet another treat (especially since we got to play a show in my hometown of Poway the night before the Casbah). San Diego’s music scene is incredible. You think of bands like The North Atlantic, Sirhan Sirhan, Three Mile Pilot, Rocket, Inch, Earthless, No Knife, Lucy’s Fur Coat, Drive Like Jehu, Hostile Comb-Over, Qu’est-ce Que C’est, Grand Ole Party… The list goes on and on and on. Having a stellar and influential music scene is not just about the bands that started there but also about the people that come out to see local shows in said city. From the politeness and pin-drop attention you get from the listeners at Lestat’s, to the rowdy dance parties that used to go down at the Tower Bar, to the punk rock shoulder-bumping done at the Zombie Lounge (R.I.P), to all the swarms of kids that pack the Epicenter and Che Café, and to the house party/homecoming vibe you get when you walk into the Casbah, this scene is largely what it is today due to the people in this city. The people that live here in San Diego are as passionate about music as the ones here that created it. This feeling does not exist in most places and we should all be thankful for our scene.
Photo by Jon Foster
SZ: How did the music for Demasiado come together?
Jon: In 2005 I was living in Hollywood at a flop house with a very interesting group of people (that we refer to as “Pop-eratic Dingbats” in the song Dances With Boots). It was the first time that I moved away from San Diego and I was hungry... for something. I was mailed a CD that would change my life. It was from Damon – 22 songs that he had written and recorded – drums, bass, guitar. Everything but vocals. He told me that if I wanted to, I could sing on it – anything. No rules. No presuppositions. No expectations. He gave me the best and most important opportunity of my life, a blank slate to paint on. This is how the songs that we play now came about. Driving around in my car (R.I.P.) or sitting next to a boom box with a tall can chain smoking, this music that he had written became the catalyst for every thought I had ever had in my brain, and every ounce of passion that ran through my veins. It was everything I had ever wanted. And I am eternally grateful for him and the music he created.
After recording the first batch of songs in random bathrooms and closets on a 4-Track (The Hurt Factory, Mosquito Breath, Vator Down, and Dances With Boots), we decided that it was time to assemble the proper musicians to execute these feelings that Damon and I shared - LIVE. Three years later you have the group of individuals that is Demasiado: myself, Damon, Eric Shefstad and Wade Youman. We are Demasiado and we have just begun to scrape the surface of creativity that can be channeled through the four of us.
Photo by Jon Foster
SZ: Wade, what drew you to joining Demasiado?
Wade: 1. The Skilful administration of certain narcotics. 2. The way I could feel John using his voice to manifest stellar and cosmic energies or "celestial beings" not of this world. 3. Love is the law
SZ: Damon, How did you and Wade meet back in the day?
Damon: I met Wade on tour with my old band (Fenix TX). Us and Unwritten Law toured with Blink 182 a bunch of years ago. I think the first time I actually talked to him was in New Orleans after a few days on that tour. Us and UL went to some weird bar and drank a lot of tequila and I started telling him what a great drummer he was and that I thought I played like him. (he hits way harder than I do though) He was always awesome to watch. I started using a Zil-Bell cause he had one. Then a couple of days later, he beat up some guy in our backstage room for pissing all over the toilet and telling Scott Russo "fuck you" when he told him to clean it up. I remember it because he had a huge smile on his face the whole time he was tossing the guy around the room.
Photo by Jon Foster
SZ: Whats up next for Demasiado?
Jon: We are about to finish our album at Sushifish. Matt Reynolds is unbelievable! We love him very much and he has helped us a great deal in the last couple years.
After that - brunches, luncheons, think groups, ribbon cuttings, Eric is going to sing The Star-Spangled Banner in a Papa Smurf costume and we’re going to put it up on youtube...
Demasiado plays Friday, November 7th @ the Casbah