Interview: DSTVV
Meet the "industrial grungegaze" band who named their most recent release after Molly Soda.
Molly Soda is a Tumblr sensation and, now, also the name of a new EP from San Francisco-based 'industrial grungegaze' band DSTVV. We recently spoke with Molly Soda for Oyster #101 so therefore couldn't pass up the chance to have a chat with DSTVV member Joel Cusumano (who is himself a bit of a Tumblr celebrity). The Molly Soda EP features guest vocals by pop punk lo-fi melodist KEEL HER, and the cassette marks the first release from Teen Witch's record label (we also featured Teen Witch in #101!).
Ingrid Kesa: Hi! So why did you decide to name your EP after Molly Soda?
Joel Cusumano: It was a pretty organic and natural process really. I guess I had Molly Soda on the mind because I spend way too much time on Tumblr and she's, like, this ubiquitous force on there. I always thought she'd be perfect as the subject for a song. Then I was messing around in my practice space and I wrote the riff for what became 'Molly Soda', and it was way different and heavier than anything I was writing for the band I was in at the time. DSTVV didn't exist at that time. I just went ahead and wrote the song and the lyrics and then I wrote another one, and pretty soon I realized I wanted to make whatever these songs were into a band. I took the queue from the attitude of 'Molly Soda' and have made the personality of the lyrics to be like half-jaded, half-reverent odes to the internet and alternative culture.
OK — let's talk about the internet then! Have you ever been on Chat Roulette?
Yes, but I'm kind of shy and I get embarrassed and sign off immediately. The only memorable time I can think of was when my friends and I were on it and some 12-year-old kid was chatting with us and he held his dad's handgun up to his video camera and we were like, 'DUDE PUT THAT AWAY, NOT COOL NOT FOR 12-YEAR-OLDS!'
Crazy shit. I usually just see a lot of genitals. Favourite website right now?
megacycles.tumblr.com
What was the last thing you watched on YouTube?
Oh god, my friend just IM'd me a second ago with a video from America's Got Talent of these trained dogs doing cartwheels and conga lines and Sharon Osborne is flipping out over it so I guess, yeah, that's the last thing I watched.
Speaking of trained dogs doing cartwheels, if your music was an animal, what would it be?
It would probably be a tapir — a tapir wearing sunglasses and a jetpack.
What's the funnest show you've ever played?
Wow... So in college my old power-pop-punk band Missouri Sex Offenders (sadly I am not making that name up) somehow conned our way into opening for Andrew WK — a personal hero of mine — when he came to our town. It was the greatest night of our young lives!
Who, in your opinion, is the voice of our generation?
Well if it's not Gary Busey then I don't want to know who it is…
It's Halloween, I have to ask — have you ever used a Ouija board?
Yes and I summoned two ghosts, one ghoul and three demons.
Follow DSTVV on Tumblr and like them on Facebook. Also see Molly Soda's Top 10 ASOS picks for Oyster.
Introduction: Julian Rifkin
Interview: Ingrid Kesa
