|
|
 |
Dios Malos.
 The
first time I call neo-psychedelic pop group Dios Malos, they
are busy sound checking for their show, supporting the Twilight
Singers in Philadelphia. "Sorry, soundcheck got pushed back,"
says agitated bassist JP Caballero.
When I eventually get back to them an hour later, they are a little more chilled out, drinking beers out in their tour van - although singer/guitarist Joel Morales is a little annoyed at some of the 'lame' bands they have to play with.
"Ah they're not lame, actually the singer [former Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli], he's cool," says Morales. "But everyone else is kinda old and they have these weird attitudes. They're playing at a shitty place called the North Star Bar, in Philadelphia which is already a shithole and they're acting like they're playing some kind of arena and giving us this heartache. Not letting us set up properly and giving us a one bottle of water and two beer tickets." However they are looking forward to the next day's CMJ showcase gig in New York. "We have friends in New York so that's all that matters to me at the moment, just getting there and hanging out."
With their mellow, experimental pop, Dios Malos represent a sound much at odds with the polished sheen of most music out there now. "Exactly. We're definitely not in vogue," agrees Morales. He references a few of the band's influences, mainly in terms of the experimental styles of artists as diverse as Beck, Neil Young, and T-Rex. However, most write ups of the band talk about a connection with The Beach Boys. "That's mainly our fault because we're from the same hometown," he says, referring to the Hawthorne Heights area that also spawned Black Flag. "But musically we don't have that much in common as far as instrumentation or vocals or anything. Their influence is more of an artistic influence, in terms of how they would experiment."
On reflection, the amount the band has accomplished this year since the release of their self titled debut surprises Morales. Even the fact that he's talking to an Australian writer about his record makes Joel feel very lucky, he says. "It's kind of surreal. The most surreal week we've had is when we went to the England for the first time to play some shows with The Shins. We come home and then play a show with Morrissey in LA, and then play Coachella the week after that. A month before that we put out our first record. That's pretty amazing, we're pretty lucky."
You also know you're getting somewhere when an aging metal singer, namely Ronnie James Dio, sues you to change your band name; until a few weeks ago, the band was named simply Dios. Morales is more than a little miffed about the whole episode. "I guess it was good publicity for us, although I'd rather just have our old name back. It was just such a pain in the ass because that dude wouldn't accept any name that we would give him. Our web page is wearedios.com so we thought 'ok, we'll just change our name to We Are Dios,' but he wouldn't accept that. He wouldn't accept D.I.O.S. as an acronym, he wouldn't accept We Are Not Dios, or We Are Not Ronnie James Dio, he wouldn't accept anything. He had all the resources in the world, he could threaten to sue us because we're just this small band, and he's just this old, irrelevant musician who has all this cash because he had the opportunity to play with Black Sabbath, and that's about it - and he fucked that up too. But yeah, it was just bullshit. That was like the 25th or 30th name that we came up with that they would accept. As soon as I make any kind of money in the lottery, I'm gonna sue that bastard and we'll get our old name back."
All of this bitterness may make Morales sound like a bit of a curmudgeon, but along with the rest of the band, he actually has a great sense of humour. The proof is in the album's liner notes and on the band's hilarious website, which is really worth a visit. Keyboardist Jimmy Cabeza DeVaca does the website himself, says Morales. "It's way better than trying to do something professional that just looks cheesy and stupid. I'd rather it just be what we can actually do. It's good and it's fun."
Eddie Chan
 |
'Dios Malos' is out now through Inertia.
|
|
|
The latest issue
available now!
|
