Tweet

Comments (0)

 1 of 3

There probably aren't too many alternative rock bands coming out of Russellville, Arkansas, but you gotta start somewhere—and Deas Vail is a nice place to start.

Even though they've been around a few years and have recorded several albums, Deas Vail—most of whom met at Arkansas Tech in Russellville—has just gotten a little more famous in recent months following a tour with the hugely popular Owl City, soon to be followed by a slot on Copeland's farewell tour and then some gigs on the Vans Warped Tour this summer. Combine that with an stellar new album, Birds & Cages—their first with Mono vs. Stereo, the label created by members of Relient K—and this band is poised to take off.

The band's name is a loose blend of Latin and French, translated "humble servant." We caught up with founders Wes and Laura Blaylock, the husband-wife duo who make up the core of the band, before an Owl City show in Madison, Wisconsin, recently.

Wes Blaylock

How would you describe your music?

Wes: I don't know how to compare our band to other bands. I hope that it's honest music. I hope that it's music that feels like it's written with thought, and by somebody that cares about what's being performed and what the words are meaning.

Laura: I feel like our music is very organic, energetic, full of life and who we are. It kind of fills up the space. I don't really know so many music terms to use as far as describing it, because it just is what it is.

You feel like you're creating something new and different?

Wes: It just depends on the listener. I wouldn't assume that we were that original or that we're that genius or that we're doing something that's never been done before.

Laura: Right. There's always influences.

Wes: But at the same time we definitely do our best to continue to grow, to not write the same song over and over again. We don't want our next record to sound like Birds & Cages. We want it to be recognizable that it's Deas Vail, but we want to continue to be experimental and grow.

Speaking of Birds & Cages, any particular themes on the album?

Wes: Each song tackles different aspects of stages that I've been through in the past couple of years. Since our last album, my parents went through a divorce and Laura and I got married—one marriage falling apart and another coming together at the same time. It was an emotional rollercoaster. That raises a lot of questions, and forces you to really think about love—and in a spiritual sense as well. So the record is questioning God and questioning our purpose.

Is it cathartic for you to write poetry and songs when you're wrestling with stuff?

Wes: It is for me. Sometimes I start writing lyrics and they don't necessarily make sense until the end because it's very … Well, it's just a peaceful way for me to express and deal with things, to feel like I'm exercising or working things out on that creative side. It's nice to be able to just let it flow out and not necessarily have a plan, just to let whatever happens happen, and then make sense of it afterwards. Sometimes that's very therapeutic.

Does it feel like venting?

Wes: Sometimes. "Sunlight" on Birds & Cages was one of those songs that kind of felt like venting.

Laura, are you part of the lyric writing process?

Laura: No.

Wes: She is, in that she checks and balances.

Laura: I do not write lyrics. I'm a terrible poet. But we all do our best to put in as much input as we can.

next page... |  1 of 3