Rocker Des Rocs will release new album To Hell and Back on Friday, June 12.
We sat down with Des Rocs mastermind Danny Rocco to find out about the album.
The album title is To Hell and Back – was there a specific moment in your life or career that made you feel like you’d truly been to hell and back, or is it more of a cumulative feeling?
It is definitely a cumulative feeling. It is the culmination of my entire life journey and my life’s work. Of really surviving and living like a cock roach in the streets of NYC tryin to breathe life into this crazy rock n roll dream.
You describe the record as ‘the culmination of everything I’ve ever done.’ After years of grinding in New York’s music scene, what does it feel like to finally have that moment captured on wax?
It is always a beautiful feeling closing the chapter on a body of work. I take it all in for a moment and celebrate the accomplishment, but then I really get right to thinking about what I want to create next.
You’ve said this album is for “the fighters, the dreamers and the survivors.” Did you write it as one of those people, or were you writing it to them?
Both. I can only write what I know, so I am just writing and sharing my lived experience. For it to be able to help other people is also an amazing gift and I certainly hope it can.
The opener When the Love is Gone kicks off with a hip-hop-influenced intro before launching into a full rock sound. How intentional was that genre blending, and does it reflect where you see rock ‘n’ roll heading?
There is never an intention to blend anything. Nothing like that it is pre-meditated. It’s just the natural work flow. I pull from a lot of disparate elements and combine it all into some weird Des Rocs stew. That’s just who I am.
Tracks like Sing Me Back to Sleep are deeply relatable lyrically. How personal are the lyrics on this album – are you comfortable with fans knowing exactly where those words came from?
The lyrics are tremendously personal. I always love playing with this duality of creating things that are over the top, and burying a deeply personal sentiment underneath at all. I always prefer not to give very exact meanings to me. I find the beauty of art and music is derived from the interpretation of the audience, and I never want to rob the listener of that opportunity.
Working with Joe Chicarelli, who has produced the likes of The White Stripes and The Strokes, must have been a significant moment. What did he bring to the record that you couldn’t have achieved alone?
He helmed a very different way of recording. Historically I’ve done everything in isolation and played most of the instruments myself in a very DIY fashion.
For this one we wanted to capture the raw energy of the live band and challenge ourselves to create something that could really stick out sonically in this modern landscape. He brought a level of sonic expertise and taste to that process that very few ever could. He was also a trusted outside ear who helped cull 40 songs into a much shorter list.
What’s the one thing you want a listener to feel the moment the album finishes?
I want them to feel nourished. Like a similar feeling you may have when you leave one of our shows. I liken it to the end of yoga when you just lay on the floor and let it all sink in. Some kinda musical version of that. I want you to feel like you’ve just been on a wild journey that leaves you both immensely satisfied and wanting just a little more. I want you to have experienced a range of emotions that draws an extra degree of power from the very fact that it was dynamic and different.
We always end with some random questions. How many tattoos do you have and which has the most meaning?
I do not have one single tattoo.
You could have written any one song in history, which would it have been and why?
Another One Bites the Dust. Because it’s just something I would wanna write.
Would you rather live without music or live without the internet?
I wish I didn’t have internet even without this choice.
Picture credit: Jimmy Fontaine