DE3RA was formed in 2017 in Nashville, TN, when three of its founding members came together with the shared idea of telling stories through the prism of psychedelia and harmony.
Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band:
Haydn - Drums, Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals
Rob - Guitar, Banjo, Vocals
Kevin - Bass, Electronics/AV Wizardry
Layton - Drums, Guitars, Synths, Harmonica, Vocals
(All contribute to the creative/writing process)
For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to (DE3RA)?
Haydn & Layton - Denisovan
Rob & Layton - The Modern Royals, Robert Sieben’s Sidecar Sazerac
Kevin - Scub Duger, Dread Stripe
How long has the band been around?
We have all been playing together for a long time, but DE3RA, itself, has been a band since 2017.
What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?
Our name comes from a friend of ours’ mother. He lived and worked with the founding members of this group and was somewhat of a challenge to deal with, so to speak. So, when it came time to name the band, we decided to name it after his mother, as a slight to him.
We would like to add that after he moved out, and we all moved on, our friendship with him was renewed, and there are no hard feelings at all. He is a good person, and is a good friend to all of us.
When we first started we were ‘Debra,’ but trying to get that spelling cleared on social media was a bit of a challenge, since there are so many people named that. So, we opted to swap the B for a 3 and we have been DE3RA ever since.
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
Rob, Layton, and Haydn write most of the songs, while Kevin always has creative input.
Our songs range in theme of topic, but they are always featuring some surreal or psychedelic elements (whether it’s the lyrics, song structure, timbre, or all of the above).
The topics will certainly change over time as our experiences and inspirations evolve.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
The Bands that are currently inspiring us include (but are not limited too): All Them Witches, Hiatus Kaiyote, Black Sabbath, Fiona Apple,‘68, Tame Imala, Howlin’ Wolf, Merle Haggard… This list could seriously go on and on.
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
Haydn - Radiohead
Rob - Bob Dylan
Kevin - Led Zeppelin
Layton - The Beatles
We realize that these are pretty generic answers, but we were all fairly young when we decided to start playing music and start bands. The classics were what initially inspired us as youngsters.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, etc …
We just like to get together to hang out and maybe have a couple of drinks before we play. There is no real ‘routine’ per se.
What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
We all think that the highlight, so far, is definitely our first ever music video that just dropped on the 25th of September. We had an excellent team of folks who brought our song, Billy Black, to life in a totally brilliant and new way and we are extremely excited with how it turned out.
Check it out!
We would also like to add that we were scheduled to play our first show at a place called ‘Mercy Lounge’ here in Nashville, which is one of the premiere venues in town, but that fell through when COVID came storming through. We were pretty stoked about this, and it is our hope that once things settle back into somewhat normalcy, this opportunity will present itself again.
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Of the classics:
We would have loved to tour with the original Black Sabbath, The Doors, Jethro Tull, or The Band (this list could also go on and on…) . All of these bands are sources of inspiration to us. Who wouldn't want to go on tour with their heroes?
As far as contemporary artists:
We think that we would pair nicely with All them Witches. We are probably not as heavy as they are, in general, though we can get pretty heavy at times, but we just think that the overall tones and aesthetics would blend well.
Some others are:
Radio Moscow, ‘68, Camp Howard, Oginalii, Dead Meadow, King Buffalo, Elder… There are just so many good bands out there that we would love to play with. This is a tough question.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We would just like to add that we hope everyone is staying safe out there. These are definitely some strange times, but we are trying to focus on the positive things in our lives and we hope other folks do the same.
Thanks, again, for giving us a sounding board!
We are honored to be included!
-Rob, Haydn, Layton, Kevin