Fear, Emptiness, Decibel: SubRosa Star in the Latest Converse X Decibel
Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…
The best part about music journalism is getting the opportunity to discuss art with the creative minds you respect the most. The worst part is when the creative minds you respect the most turn out to be pompous assholes.
The last two SubRosa albums, 2011’s No Help for the Mighty Ones and last year’s More Constant Than the Gods, were so fucking heavy, impassioned, hypnotizing and special to me, I was a little nervous about interviewing frontwoman Rebecca Vernon for a dB profile upon the latter’s release. Mostly because I didn’t want to come off like a slobbering, unprofessional imbecile (my Achilles heel in most conversations—what can I say?), but partially because, dude, it would really suck if she were pretentious or obnoxious. It would change my perspective on her music, lame as that is of me (the art should stand alone, right?) I know, I know: boo-hoo. That’s the price you pay for access to interesting people.
This is all a very long-winded preface to the probably-not-so-big reveal that it turns out Vernon and her band are not only in my wheelhouse musically, but culturally. They could’ve used their Converse X Decibel video for anything: Derp, there sure are a lot of Mormons out here. Instead they talk about the value of literature as a lyrical influence, dog-earing used books, and intra-band bonding through playing Scrabble. These are all things that I—as well as I would imagine any person with a soul/brain/heart—fucking love, and I know it’s all in the service of advertorial copy, but the more people that espouse these values in any context, the better. Protect those triple-word score boxes, try to use all seven letters, be sure you can define those two-letter words, and enjoy the video.
The June 2014 issue of Decibel features GWAR, Goatwhore, Devil You Know, and an awesome Iron Reagan flexi disc, and can be purchased here… but if you don’t just get a full subscription, karma will bitch slap you by letting you meet your favorite metal musician, only to learn that he or she is a real d-bag.
