09/12/2021
As promised, an interview with DJ Fernandez of Southern Fury!
Hitman: We are a day away (December 10th) for the release of your new CD, “Brand New Boots V2”. Right off the bat, the name for this release came from?
DJ: Thanks, Hitman. I'm glad to be here. "Brand New Boots V2", because the record was like a brand new pair of boots for everyone involved in it. Everything about it is brand spankin' new. Our new approach to recording, the feel, all the vocals, the guitar parts, the drum and bass performances, the studio, Nashville, man its all new and its locked and loaded in "V2". The "V2" stands for double victory and the name of our new dance. (laughing) No seriously... we released it during peak Covid last year, (bad move) so we took it down fast before anyone knew and waited until things got a little better. We fooled with the mix a little, remastered it and put it back up for release. However, much to our surprise, when setting the new release date, we were informed that we couldn't use the same name. So we added the "V2" and set it for release this Friday Dec 10, 2021. So there ya' have the real true story, of how "Brand New Boots V2" got its name.
Hitman: With the band’s relocation to Nashville, quite some time ago, have there been any changes in the band’s lineup?
DJ: Yes. Everyone on the record is new to the lineup. Jeff Fleury on Bass, and his lines are incredible. Everything he does is artistic and grooves. Give him a closer listen and you'll see. He's one of the best in the genre. Then there's Kurt Olson on drums. He's a monster, he's spot on the beat and he worked miracles with what we handed him. These songs are not the norm and most drummers would say; "What do you want me to do with this? That's unconventional or unorthodox or something like that". Not Kurt, no way, if the song turns hard right, stops suddenly, then speeds up and takes a hard left turn, he's right there ready for the next unorthodox thing I may have come up with. He's a great drummer. Also Kurt is the youngest member of the band, so he has plenty of fuel left in the tank. That brings me to "Hey Man", that's what Jeff and I like to call Ron Miller, because he always answers the phone that way. Just a bit of inside humor for your readers. Ron is playing lead guitar on the record and is for real, one of the best guitarists I've ever heard and I've heard a lot of great ones. He can hold his own with any of the legends before him and that can be verified by listening to what he did on the new album. It's all great stuff and you'll know it when you hear him play. I could go on and on about how good these guys are but I'll let you, your readers, and listeners around the world be the judge!
Hitman: The songwriting is mostly you?
DJ: Yes again, you're two for two! You're on a roll here... (laughing)
Hitman: The opening track, “Thoughts are Things”, I’m sensing, you may be writing about yourself? Personal challenges you may have undertaken?
DJ: Kind of preaching some of my personal belief system in "Thoughts are Things". I know that we all move toward what we think about all day. If they are good things, then good things seem to happen and if they are bad things, then bad things seem to happen. We create things with our thoughts. So yeah, it's personal and it's true for every human on the planet. Its what makes us different from animals. We all have the same creative thought processes. Animals do not, they're instinctive. I believe God created us this way, so that we could all have what we believed in. I believe we create our own destiny with our thoughts.
Hitman: “Fool for the Money”, again, a lesson learned? To take it a step further…how much of your personal life is either inspired in the writing of all the songs, or is intertwined in the lyrics?
DJ: No, "Fool for the Money" was written for a very good friend. He was a part time pro gambler and always amazed me at a roulette' table. He'd walk out of the casino sometimes with $15 to $20K. It was unbelievable! He has since laid down the chips and retired from it all, but it was exciting to watch him play. The other songs I'd say are about 50/50, some are and some are not directly related to my life. Some are personal but most are what I feel the listener would like to hear and have no personal connection.
Hitman: No doubt you were influenced by Ronnie Van Zant, and sounds like a touch of Blackfoot, perhaps some Molly Hatchet?
DJ: Yes absolutely. I'm a huge fan of all of them! I always loved the way Ronnie stalked the stage with the mic stand and his lyrics were so very good. Imagine what he could have written over the years, if he had survived that crash. One can only wonder. He was a huge influence on my writing. Molly Hatchet was one my absolute favorites though. Danny Joe (DJ) Brown was my favorite lead vocalist, his gravel was amazing and no easy feat to pull off. As a young Southern Fury front man, I used to sing all the Hatchet tunes and I could hang with him. (laughing) I can still do it for about 15 minutes. Nah... that was his thing and he nailed it. Give it a try sometime. Try singing that way for minute or two and you'll see what I'm sayin'.
Blackfoot and Rickey we're also favorites of mine coming up. That band blew the roof off and the drive they had with those guitars, like Hatchet, guitar Heaven! So, yeah they were big influences in my songwriting direction and you'll hear some of that on "Brand New Boots V2".
Hitman: At what point did you say to yourself, "time for another CD”, or were these songs you had been composing, and stockpiling for years?
DJ: As soon as we set up shop in Nashville, at the end of 2011. However, that record never made it across the finish line because we ran out of cash. So we just went back to the wood shed and kept trying to get the right combo of players. Unlike what most would think, Nashville is not a band town. It's a ME town, full of performers at the top of their game. Solo performers, studio performers, pit performers, hired guns for the road, all wanting paid today. They're all here, but very few are interested in the rough terrain of being an all-in band member because nothing's for certain. You don't make anything until the job is done and there's no guarantees with that at all. Ya' just got to believe and have faith in what you're doing, with no hope of getting paid until it releases and then maybe they'll be a pay day and that's a huge ask around here. See... that requires an us attitude to build a great band, so it took 8 years of persistency to get it done. To answer the second part of your question. One song "Repo Man" was grandfathered in from the old stock but we added a lot to it on this album, and all of the others were written after 2011.
Hitman: Any plans for a tour, or getting back into venues in your area in 2022?
DJ: Yes, and we can't wait to get back on stage. There are many inquiring minds beginning to contact us about that. So, we'll see how it all works out, but yeah you can plan on some new show dates. If your readers visit our site, "southernfurymusic.com" and join our mailing list, we'll be sure to keep them posted on live show dates coming in 2022.
Hitman: How much did Covid-19 affect the band, maybe physically, and of course not being able to get out there?
DJ: More than you could possibly imagine. Jeff got it first, but he plowed right through it. He's an animal like that. Actually, Ron got it too, but that was after we finished tracking. Yeah, it really screwed with timing of the initial release. Everything was a mess, dates, schedules, and deadlines gone wild. Quite the pressure cooker! We did the majority of it during the worst time of Covid. We even had to make isolation tents to finish tracking everything. It sucked, but it was a trying time for everyone. It was the single largest challenge we ever faced in producing an album. Making "BNB V2" was the most difficult record of all them. What is it, that they say? You only get out of it what you put into it. Well we put an insane amount of effort into it, so we'll have to see if the saying holds true.
Hitman: With some of the southern rock bands getting older, seeing the passing of members, do you feel an obligation to keep this genre of music going?
DJ: Yes absolutely, and we're all getting older and there's loss everywhere and its sad. To go beyond the passing of many great performers, it seems the fans' demand to keep it alive is not like it once was. I was just having this conversation with John Galvin of Molly Hatchet. There was much more of an obligation to writing new southern rock music, when fans were demanding more and eating it up. It just feels different out there, today. I'm not saying that it is different, but it feels that way. It feels like most of our genre's Baby Boomer Fans, are paying a little less attention to new southern rock being released and more on health care and retirement and understandably so. (laughing) However, I will always southern rock until the day I'm on the other side of the grass. What else is there to do when you get old and grey? Thinking back on it now... Everyone that I can remember from my younger days, would talk about when they'd retire and how they'd have all the time in the world to just kick back, open a cold one, listen to some good southern rock music and enjoy life. So we should be seeing a huge uptake wave of activity from all of them now, because those retirement days have arrived. (laughing) Nothing better! That living my brother, that's living life to its fullest.
Hitman: What’s YOUR favorite track on this release?
DJ: It hard to say. I like them all. I'll go with "First Class Limousine" but I really dig "Like a Movie" too and then there's "Fool for the Money". Sorry but I can't pick just one, Hitman.
Hitman: What is something I didn’t ask about, that you want to make sure our readers know?
DJ: Sure Hitman and Thank you.
We have a great pre release sale going on now, for anyone who wants to pick up a copy of "Brand New Boots V2". The physical CDs' ship out Friday. So, if your readers need some inexpensive gifts this year there that rock, then there is no better time to get them. The CD is only $11.99 now and that also comes with a digital download version of the album. The digital version of it is also on sale for $5.99. We'll appreciate your support of it. The sale ends on release day.
One more thing that I feel is very important for your readers to hear. Please support the bands of the genre! Buy an album. Buy a t-shirt. Show the world you want to keep Southern Rock alive. Support it and it will thrive. Don't and it will die. It's not rocket science, it takes cash money. Southern Rock Fans everywhere need to invest a little again to keep it alive... buy the music and the merch that southern rock bands make to survive. Streaming a band's music from a firehose music platform, doesn't help pay band bills. This record production stuff is extremely expensive. If you don't get the support of many it's a no win situation and we all lose. The old guard doesn't need any help, its been there for decades. It's the smaller, unsung, independent southern rock act that really needs your support. That's what I feel needs to happen and a lot more of it needs to happen now. That's all it would take to make southern rock music thrive again! It worked in the 70's for Skynyrd and it will work again today. The Fans make the rules and call all the shots. No Fandom, No genre'. Sad but true folks, sad but true! So, make some noise, blow the roof off the place supporting all southern rock bands and show the southern rocking youth of the world, how it gets done!
Hitman: DJ, thanks for your time, much success with the CD!~
DJ: Thank you, Hitman. Its always a pleasure and thanks to all Southern Fried Magazine readers. Y’all rock
