Devastate Joins the World Around Roster

Ladies and gentlemen, mammals and mutants, we’d like to introduce one of our 2010 Draft Picks: the Las Vegas rap terrorist, Devastate. Before we drop his debut on World Around, the Zero EP, we rented out a boardroom at the Mandalay Bay for a signing ceremony and recorded interview.

Dr. Quandary: What are the influences who have shaped your vision, your music, your weltanschauung?

Devastate: Let’s start this bad boy off with a cliche…. Every day life. In this beautiful, macabre and entertaining world, its damn near impossible to not be influenced one way or another. I don’t think its about what influences my music though, I think its more about what adds fuel to that metaphorical fire.

These ideas are going to be thought, these emotions are going to be felt, right? Right. The interesting part is what grabs the abstract, molds it and then hammers it into something tangible.

Days in front of the radio got my feet wet. The desire to mimick what i was hearing put me on the diving board. The fact that my parents loathed my efforts, well… Hell, that gave me the balls to front flip into this metaphorical pool.

Hundreds of human beings have inspired me. Musicians, philosophers, authors, mythical heros and friends. They’ve all inspired me to take certain steps. They all gave me the tools to grow, but the primary goal is to feel the joy that kind in front of the radio was drenched in.

Thirtyseven: What’s the concept and sound behind the Zero EP? Did you pull a fast one on us?

Devastate: Hands down the toughest question to answer. I started Zero knowing I wanted to do an EP, but without any expectations, I’m not even quite sure if I had a goal. I had TWO beats, ONE unused verse and a few people who wanted me to get off of my lazy ass. That one unused verse turned into a compliment from a peer, which turned into some confidence. Four months later I was sitting on a finished product.

Thematically, I would say the album is dark. It was written during a troubling four month span. These songs convey those emotions.

I was lucky enough to have some talented bastards on this record. Their efforts humbled me. Way to make me look like an amatuer, guys.

Thirtyseven: You’ve been on the road a lot in the past three years — what are the most important life lessons you’ve learned though touring?

Devastate: Simple, stay sharp, unpredictable, depressed(other people may call this unsatisfied) and 100% adaptable. Satisfaction is a burdon.. complancency is a beast that will rip your liver out, and shove it up your ass. The road has taught me to keep things in motion, and keep altering your game plan.

When it comes to doing shows, specifically, I like to do whatever I possibly can to keep myself nervous. To be comfortable is to be unprepared. I enjoy the excitement that comes with remaining off-balance. I feel as though fans can cut open a performance and sense when a performer feels like he’s engaged in a redundant task. My job as the idiot on stage is to avoid that stigma by any means necessary.

Let’s recap… keep yourself interested, and your fans will follow. Idle time is, without a doubt, Lucifer.

Dr. Quandary: What is your favorite track you’ve ever done?

Devastate: Truth be told, I find it difficult to place too much pride in any of my songs. Pride hampers evolution. I don’t, by any stretch of the imagination, wipe my hands clean of songs after completion, but I also don’t like to dwell on them too long.

There are songs that I’m HAPPIER with than others. The two songs that come to mind are both songs from a project I will be unveiling later on in this career. The reason being that even prior to their completion, the construction alone of these songs were a catharsis in it of itself. Both songs were very intimidating concepts. So daunting in fact that I didn’t even begin working on them until at least 3 years after they were thought up. The attempts to create these songs represented growth and the beheading of cowardice. They also ran the gamut from frustrating to fun. Oh, so much frustration. Oh, so much fun.

I didn’t really answer your question did I?

Let’s just go ahead and say that my current favorite is Night Ferry to Dieppe.

…AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS. We’re not entirely sure what he was talking about, either. That’s the beauty of working with serious artist types: nobody’s faking in this asylum. You’ll be hearing a lot from Devastate very shortly.