You guys look a little familiar. Haven’t I seen you in another band or something?
We have been telling our followers that SLIDE was eaten by zombies. Following the aftermath, we arose from the dead as Dime Store Zombies. But for the sake of branding and standing out in search engines, we made an informed decision to change the band name SLIDE to Dime Store Zombies. Even though we owned the trademark on the name “SLIDE”, we found that there were four other bands named SLIDE worldwide. The name SLIDE became a search engine and internet storefront nightmare. Our listeners were confused as to where to find and identify us. Try googling SLIDE and you will see what we mean. It was a great learning experience in that you need to make your band name as unique as possible, otherwise you can get lost real quick in cyberspace. Lesson learned.
Dime Store Zombies seems to be a very unusual name. Where did that come from?
The name was taken from two of our tracks: Political Zombie and Dime Store Queer. On a personal level, the name DSZ is a subtle “nod” to James’ father who was a CEO for J.J. Newberry’s (one of the original Dime Stores back in the day.) James’ father worked closely with Meshulam Riklis who was formally married to singer/actress Pia Zadora. Ricklis owned J.J. Newberrys/McCrory company which consisted of multiple retail Five and Dime stores. Sadly, James’ father passed away of cancer at the young age of 54. However, on a broader level, I think you might say the name DSZ can be viewed as social commentary regarding consumerism and how it is played out in our culture today.
I see a few familiar titles on the new CD and a few new ones. How do you feel the newer ones stack up to the older ones? Are the older songs re-recorded/remixed/rearranged in any ways?
The older songs were completely re-recorded and remixed from the ground up. We modernized some of the older tracks with new instrumentation (ie: mandolins, accordions, trumpet, acoustic guitar).Vocal melodies were changed in some of the older tracks as well and new lyrics were added in various places. For example, the track “Auto Tune Massacre” had a major facelift. So did “January” where we added a banjo and changed the melody line and lyrics in the chorus. Perhaps the biggest change occurred with our track “Faceless”. It sounds nothing like SLIDE’s version of Faceless. We view “Faceless” as a completely brand new track. We love the real trumpet that was utilized in that track. It’s interesting putting the older SLIDE tracks side by side with the re-vamped DSZ tracks. Obviously, we are much more happier with the DSZ versions, and that’s the versions you will hear at our live shows. As far as the newer tracks are concerned, I think we matured in our song writing. We gravitated toward adding additional instruments and really emphasized layering background vocal melodies as well. It’s not just a cheap re-hash of older material. The listener really is getting a brand new listening experience. There are five new tracks, and six older tracks. Each of the older tracks went through some major structural changes. As a result, everything was re-recorded, and we even worked with a fantastic new engineer in a new studio.
I believe that I heard some different instruments on a few tracks? How did your sound expand or change with the name change?
We brought in some guest musicians on a few of the tracks. As our song writing matured, we felt it was necessary. Plus, we love collaborating with other musicians who play other kinds of instrumentation. It also served an additional purpose in that it helped to differentiate our DSZ sound from that of SLIDE. It’s safe to say we will continue doing this kind of writing with any future material.
Tell us a bit about the new video, “Political Zombies.” What was it like creating that video? I believe there are a few more coming soon correct?
Creating the video of Political Zombie was a fantastic experience. James Preston sought out input from the entire band and proceeded to story board the entire video. We approached the video with the idea of a political satire in mind complete with zombie Presidents and showcasing back room deals. We also wanted to infuse humor into the video. We think we succeeded in making a great 1st video. The response has been terrific. People tell us all the time that they can’t help but laugh when they see some of the things we did with the story line. We also plan to release a “making of- behind the scenes” for the Political Zombie video. We had one scary moment when we were shooting the scene of drummer Mike Baker inside the shopping cart. James was pushing him in the shopping cart across stage and the cart went over the edge with Mike in it. Luckily, he escaped with only a few cuts and bruises. We also have 2 additional videos on deck. Next up will be an all animated music video for “Faceless” which pokes fun of personal drama that can occur as a result of using Facebook. Very funny stuff. That should release in late Sept. of 2013. After that, the band will travel to Telluride, Colorado where we will shoot “San Juan Skyway” at an elevation of about 9500 feet.
Is the horror/zombie theme (song titles, lyrics, intro to “fangs”, etc) intentional because of the name change, or something that just happened?
Yes, the horror/zombie theme is intentional and it does has something to do with the name change. However, not everything we write has or will have horror themes attached to it. San Juan Skyway and Fallen Angel are examples of non-horror themed songs. The track “Fangs” would still have been recorded even if we had kept the name SLIDE. Some of the most famous songs ever written have come about from personal horrific experiences. In other words, horror in and of itself can be very subjective. For example, sad songs are usually written out of personal tragedy of some kind. What’s interesting is how society and the media around us is so focused on apocalyptic themes. TV shows, movies, and the country’s current mood seem to be wrapped around these kinds of themes. By the way, we are not on a mission to glorify tragedy or end time themes. But I do think you can write songs within the context of certain themes with the goal of maintaining some kind of relevancy. And I promise, we are the happiest goofballs you could ever meet. Come hang with us sometime and we’ll take you to Disneyland for the day lol.
Why write so much about relational problems and the problems that occur on social media?
Because I believe that a lot of people (not everyone) who are on a spiritual quest have some degree of unresolved issues. Issues they are afraid to deal with on a spiritual and personal level. And as a result of not being honest with themselves (or to their higher authority)they end up becoming judgmental and unforgiving to others who might not share the same beliefs. Look, we are all human. Broken, and hopefully striving to be noble responsible people. But we need to put down our i-phones and start talking in real time to each other. People need to be heard. And yes, we need more tactile stimulation. People want us to listen to them, but we have become so self-absorbed. Perhaps DSZ writes about relational and social media problems as a way to get people to think, especially if the subject matter is uncomfortable or questionable. We are also quite aware that not all people are going to agree with everything we have to say. And were ok with that.
So to the fan that is listening to your lyrics and thinks “I need to change how I treat people” – what would you recommend? Or if they are facing this kind of treatment – how can they deal with it?
Start by being honest with yourself. Do a self-inventory. Ask others who are close to you to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Look it over, review it with someone you trust. Maybe start to meet one on one with a person you respect as a way of making those positive changes for yourself. Who we choose to spend the majority of our time with influences who we become. Make a choice to spend the majority of your time surrounded by people who bring value to your life. And don’t forget to pass the torch and become a role model for someone who may be in need of the same thing.
What can we expect from Dime Store Zombies in the future?
We do feel like we finally found our footing in terms of style, but there is always room for steady growth. We continually strive to do our best. We would love to tour outside our home turf of California. Hopefully you will see more releases and more videos from us. The music market is overly saturated these days, so it makes it especially difficult to break through certain barriers. We do appreciate people’s emails and love to hear from those who have followed us over the years.
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