Fuck It<\/em>\u00a0(SB\u00c4M Records), where stepping back into the studio for DFL is simply a matter of plugging in to find that same live energy. Despite holding onto riffs and sonic bits for years, the studio process is never forced or overanalyzed. Structure follows pure instinct. As guitarist Monty Messex explains, \u201cI usually start with a riff\u2026 I\u2019ll mess around and slap the song together.\u201d<\/p>\nChoruses often surface first, with vocalist Tom \u201cCrazy Tom\u201d Davis constructing verses around that framework. \u201cWe don\u2019t really talk about how things should come together,\u201d Messex adds. \u201cIt usually just works out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The process extends directly into the tracking itself. \u201cWe record all our songs live, for the most part,\u201d Messex explains. \u201cWe sometimes add vocals and guitar leads, but we don\u2019t overthink things. We just want our recordings to capture a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
That immediacy carries through into the gear pieces of choice for the band. Messex still relies on the same white Les Paul Jr. he has played since the Grand Royal era, paired with a Mesa Boogie Mark II combo amp whose tone has become inseparable from the band\u2019s identity. \u201cThe guitar has a \u201860s slim neck that I love and a P-90 pickup on the bridge that gets a growl when combined with my Mesa Boogie,\u201d Messex notes.<\/p>\n
Even in-studio imperfections are treated as assets rather than mistakes. \u201cThe Boogie also gets this live feedback and [stray] radio stations,\u201d he explains, \u201cwhich just adds to the live nature of our recording.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rather than treating sonic interference or bleed as contamination, DFL allows it to breathe inside the music. The unintended ambient noise becomes part of the historical musical document \u2014 a raw signal captured in real time. \u00a0For DFL, this refusal to overcorrect extends beyond recording technique. That loud, living feedback reflects a relationship to time shaped by pure persistence \u2014 a continuity of approach that reasserts itself whenever the band plays.<\/p>\n
Messex points to the track \u201cSecond Chances\u201d as the emotional center of the record. \u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of second and third and fourth chances in life,\u201d he reflects. \u201cRespect for the people we\u2019ve lost along the way, and grateful for the life I have today. Fuck it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In that light, the roughness of their recordings is a physical record of the experience. The bleed, the feedback, and the volatile immediacy remain because they refuse to compromise the truth for a cleaner mix. The imperfections are exactly what make the history audible. Ultimately, what survives the decades for DFL is the signal: fast attacks that are sharp, intense, and unmistakably alive whenever they plug in.<\/p>\n
Photo Courtesy of Earshot Media<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n