Life's No Longer a Drag
When his life started spinning out of control via alcohol and drugs, Superdrag frontman John Davis cried out to God—and found a dramatic answer to his emptiness.
by Andy Argyrakis | posted 4/04/2005
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If The Beach Boys and The Replacements merged their sounds, you'd get something that sounds like Superdrag, the secular rock group that released four albums and had a 1996 hit single with "Sucked Out." MTV championed the band, Conan O'Brien had them on his late show, and they sold out concerts everywhere. But the rise to fame took its toll on singer John Davis, who turned to drug and alcohol use, eventually spiraling out of control with his addictions. One day at rock bottom, Davis reached out for something greater than himself—and met God, leading to a conversion experience and his decision to leave Superdrag and go solo. Davis shared his story with us, as we talked about his new self-titled debut on Rambler Records.
How did Superdrag stand out when it first got started?
John Davis It was around 1992 in Knoxville and there were an awful lot of little Rage Against the Machines and Smashing Pumpkins Jr.'s running around. No one really wanted to sound like the Beatles or Badfinger, so I'd say that was what made Superdrag different from a lot of the others around.
Did that different approach get you the deal with Elektra?
Davis We were actually signed during that early to mid-90s wave when pretty much anyone with a fuzz box could've gotten signed. It wasn't like we were the greatest band in the world—we hadn't even been together for two years—but record deals in general were pretty hot and heavy. We did a lot of showcases and bidding wars were going on. We just started to tour as much as we could and a lot of labels took notice. We wound up going with Elektra because they were a cool label known for the likes of The Stooges and MC5. Granted that was back around 1969, but still they were making a point of not just signing the most formulaic bands out there.
What was your attitude like when the band started, and what turned you to so many destructive habits?
Davis When the first record came out I was 21, still pretty young. I didn't know a whole lot about nothing. I knew how to play guitar, but not a whole lot about life. After a while of playing shows, scoring a single and getting so wrapped up in your band, the world around you gets pretty small. I sort of shifted into living in my own little world, moving from a van to a tour bus, then getting a crew and eventually not having to lift a finger. The flipside is that leaves you with an awful lot of free time, and being in a band can really enable you to become an alcoholic. I have an obsessive/addictive personality, so it wasn't that hard to find trouble. It's sort of like that in this business, where people are gonna indulge in erratic behavior and it's going to be accepted. If you act crazy, you're going to get high fives backstage and after years and years it becomes part of the show.
At what point did you hit rock bottom?
John (left) in his days with Superdrag
Davis In the rare instance when I go back and listen to our last record [2002's Last Call For Vitriol], I hear a guy who was really fed up, which makes sense because we were right in the middle of making that record when I went haywire. There was one day in particular when I was driving down the Interstate and all of a sudden I felt the impact of a lightning bolt, cannon ball and having a safe dropped on me all at the same time, metaphysically speaking of course.
What prompted the range of emotions?
Davis The Holy Spirit. I didn't really see anything out of ordinary at first but then I started feeling real uncomfortable, kind of like when your foot falls asleep and then when you stand up on it, you feel all sorts of pins and needles. If my being convicted at that point was like a car's speedometer, it was like I went from zero to 100 instantly. I started talking to God and asked the Lord to tell me something or show me something.
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