Duane Beer – Blase Debris – an Xperience Interview with Liam Sweeny

Duane Beer interview.

RRX: We interviewed Blasé Debris in… actually, it was one of our first interviews, in 2018, maybe, early 2019. Blasé Debris was kickin’ then, and the foot is not sore yet. How have the half-decade between then and now treated the band, and let’s skip over a certain would-famous ‘ick’ period, shall we?

DB: It’s easy to lose track of time, so, let’s see…. our album “The Gauze” came out in the summer of 2018. We also played the NYS Fair that year in near 100-degree weather. That I certainly remember. 3/5ths of that line up is still intact to this day. Myself, Charlie Monroe on bass, and Justin Birk on saxophone. At some point, we lost ex-Plaid bandmate, Bill Ketzer, on drums and got ex-Miserables bandmate, Tim Wozniuk to take over behind the kit. Patrick Ginnelly stepped aside, and Joe Dufresne filled the void. The current lineup has been together now for quite a few years.

We just recently finished tracking twenty new songs with Brandon Kapoor at Skyfall Studios in Argyle NY. The tracks are now left in his more than capable hands to do the mixing. And for the first time that I can remember, recording was a breeze. We kept all my scratch vocals and guitar tracks. Pretty much played everything live altogether and kept the majority of it. Good rooms, good mics, good players, good songs = damn good results. I am really looking forward to hearing the finished product. “The Expiration of Expectations” is what the new album will be titled, and it is without a doubt our most Blasé album yet. Meaning, “its us”, branching out, getting grounded, and playing off each others’ strengths. I like it, and maybe, just maybe, a few others will as well.

RRX: Your band bridges two very popular genres, punk and classic metal. So I tend to look at genre as a spectrum, and your band is peaking in between that concentration of metal vibe and punk vibe. But at the end of the day, the proof is in the playing, the listening. Any interesting descriptions of the band you’ve heard from listeners?

DB: Back in the “Creep Cool” and “Morfiend” (past albums) days we used to get a lot of “you sound a lot like the Misfits but with double kick and guitar solos.” Nowadays I get a lot of “I liked you guys way more than I thought I would”. I prefer that. I think we are at a point where we honestly don’t sound like anyone else.

RRX: You all formed up in 2002, and that’s twenty-one years now of being an entity. Lineups have changed. In fact you have more people that were in the band than you have people that are in the band now. That’s a lot of influence that has gone into your songs. Can you think of any interesting, long-lasting contributions from past members?

DB: Tony Sewers was a monster behind the kit. He was fast and faster, loud and louder, nuts and bolts and thunder. Karl could play the guitar like he was born with it, and still put on a hell of a show at the same time. Patrick Ginnelly taught me more about guitar and tone than anyone. And really shaped and pushed Blasé into willing and new directions whether he realized it or not. It was Patrick who taught me that a guitar player’s sound comes more from their hands than the guitar or amp. Hearing him say that totally changed my approach to playing. I rolled off the preamp significantly and get all my dynamics via my right hand. It’s a pretty awesome feeling to plug directly into a single channel amp, and with no help from any pedals go from clean to killer. That being said, having the right tools for the job sure does come in handy.

RRX: As a band that plays between the spaces of different forms of music, I imagine you swing closer to one than others as you record albums. One might be more ‘punky,’ one might be more metal, one might be like a box of Cap’n Crunch. Can you name some albums that were closer to metal, or closer to punk, or, well, Cap’n Crunch?

DB: Cap’n Crunch….I think Tony Sewers used to be in a band called Captain Crunch. All of our albums have had elements of rock, punk, and what I consider classic metal. The last thing I ever wanted to create was a one-dimensional album. I like an album to have a flow to it. What normally will take place is, I get to the point where, let’s say, we have 9 new songs written. I start to look at the big picture to fill in the gaps. Tempo wise, lyrically, and literally.  Certainly not filler tunes, but different flavors.

RRX: A lot has happened since 2002, and not talking about buzzkills, but hell, 2002 was in the aftermath of a buzzkill, 9/11. A whole generation can now drink that were borne when you laid out your first jam. Your band, as a child; how did it grow up? And since it is 21 and able to drink, where would you take it for its first drink? What kind of drink?

DB: We started out as a band that envisioned itself visually as a cross between Oliver and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Musically, somewhere between the Ramones and Wrathchild America with a bit of Bad Brains and the Misfits thrown in the mix. What we have now is, the visual aspect has been thrown out completely (anything goes). Musically, I see us as a decent cross stylistically between The Rezillos and Wrathchild, with a bit of Pop. Iggy that is. And sax, sax, and more sax…and DeBris. Now lets take this 21 year old boy called DeBris out for a drink. We are most certainly going to the Fuze Box (QE2) and ordering two red drinks (aka Alabama Slammers), a couple of Pumpkin Pie shots, and a couple of Rolling Rocks for old times sake.

RRX: You’re still playing, recently (maybe recently) at Farming Man 2023 at Indian Ladder Farms. It’s one of many festivals happening as of this writing, and Blasé Debris has been to a lot of big festivals, like the Warped Tour, SXSW and others. What could you tell us is the best thing about festivals, no matter the size, no matter where?

DB: Festivals, such as Warped and SXSW, are like “fuck yeah”, “can you believe it?”, “here we are”. These are shows that at one point may have seemed unobtainable, but you persist, and persist, and make connections along the way and there you are. Well done and congrats. That, and I like to perform for folks that may be seeing us for the first time. Festivals can offer a nice bit of diversity.

RRX: This is where you answer the question I didn’t ask. Comments? Remarks? Educate, enlighten, emote – the floor is yours.

And finally, I reached out to my bandmates and wanted to get them involved in this here interview… this is what they had to offer.

Tim Wozniuk:

Q: What other instruments do you play?

A: I play a little bass, I mean it’s small, not full sized. Charlie should try it some time. Maybe he could hit all the notes then.

Charles Monroe:

Q: Who are the top four worst members of Blasé DeBris?

A: 1. Tim. Obviously. Tim sucks.

2. Me
3. Whoever replaces Tim. Come back Tim! We miss you!
4. Duane

Q: So collectively as a five piece you are over 250 years old. Why are you still at it?

A: Because history may say our best days are behind us, but I believe our best day is yet to come. I love these guys. Even Tim.

Joe Dufresne:

Q: Why do you play music at your age?

A: Because music is everything to me. Because I still can, and will probably continue to try even when I can’t. Because I’m the kind of person who will bang on his steering wheel while stopped at a light or in traffic even though I’m not a drummer. Because music can be sad, soulful, beautiful, uplifting, comforting, loud rocking noise, or an orchestrated symphony. Because, if I had a choice, I would literally do nothing else.

Justin Birk:

Q: When was the last time you were trolled online?

A: My profile pic is of me playing sax with Blasé. Some trolls assumed I play jazz because I play sax. They said something like “Jazz: play the wrong the notes and think it sounds good.” The ironic part is that it was on a metal page, and I was playing some metal saxophone in the picture.

Thanks for reaching out to us. I’m attaching our first ever band pic along with a recent one. Cheers!