Dredg – Interview

Riding in the van with Dredg on their way to Milwaukee. Drew speaks.

Do you like the Midwest?

It’s nice, we’ve been here before. It’s good because they have ears you know.

How did Dredg start?

We’ve been playing together for eight years. We started because we didn’t really have much else to do. It all grew from there until we started writing songs and it all came together.

Has the music changed over the course of eight years?

It has evolved. We used to be heavier like Sepultura. With art you don’t want to create the same thing. As we grew up we got past our heavy stage. It wasn’t comfortable being angry all the time. It slowly evolved from heavier to what we sound like now.

What is the songwriting process?

For this album we were in the palm desert for five months and wrote together every day.

I read you recorded at the Skywalker Ranch.

We recorded for a week and a half there. They have a really big room there. So everything we wanted to record in a big room we did there. It was great being there because we weren’t around anything. We could walk outside and there were lakes and turkeys and shit like that.

Did you spend a lot of time layering the tracks?

We did some of it live and then would occasionally go back over things, but it only took us two months to record it.

What do you hear from fans at shows?

They pretty much give us their gratitude. I do get some questions about the album how we came up with the stuff. I think they just want to know more about us because we didn’t put much up on the website and we kind of keep our information quiet because that is how we are. Their initial thought is that we are something weird coming from who knows where, but when they meet us they realize that we are just four normal guys.

It does keep a level of mystery when you have no information on the site or anywhere on top of that the music is pretty mysterious.

I think being mysterious is good. I think there is so much stuff out there and after you get so much information you just run dry.

Did you do the paintings that appear on the website?

I do all those.

They are awesome.

Thanks.

Oil paintings?

They are all acrylic.

Did you go to school for it?

I have been drawing all my life. I went to San Diego State for a few years and took some art classes. My high school art teacher was tremendous and helped me a lot.

Are you an art fan or did you just adopt a style?

I am a huge art fan. It’s what my life is all about, its what I live for. I really just pull things from everyday life. We bring the paintings on stage when we play.

Do you paint or just draw on the road?

I usually draw on the road, but when I get home I draw pretty much nonstop because I don’t get much time.

What are the shows like?

We are playing to smaller crowds, some nights there are only twenty-five people. One night we played at a bowling alley and there were a couple hundred. But its fun because its cool to see people enjoying our music. Besides you don’t want to see a band for the first time in an arena.

Do you jam on stage?

Most the songs stay true, but we do improv sometimes. No show has ever been the same. Most of the time the songs stay the same. We do link the songs together and that is different. The drummer never plays the same show twice, maybe his brain is fried or maybe he doesn’t even remember what he did on the album. (We both laugh)

Being together for eight years and just getting signed last year, did it ever get discouraging?

Not really. We’ve only been really serious about it four years ago. But we always enjoyed playing no matter what happened. I never thought of it as a real job. We were going to school during the same time.

+ charlie craine