At last weekend’s East Coast Music Awards held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island’s favourite heavy metal sons Death Valley Driver found themselves on the winning end of the Loud Recording of the Year Award for last year’s superb effort Graveyard Dead.
Death Valley Driver vocalist Dan Hodgson spoke with The MusicNerd Chronicles earlier this week about their award win as well as what the group has in store for later this year:
As cliché as it is for bands to say how great it is to be nominated for an award, let alone win one, were you guys truly surprised at winning the Loud Recording of the Year Award?
I think winning the award was extra special just because of the other bands that were nominated alongside of us. We are all such great friends, there wasn’t an “us vs. them” kind of mentality at all. Heavy metal bands seem to have to scratch so hard for any piece of the pie but because the heavy metal scene in the Maritimes is so close knit, the award seems like a victory for all of us.
Do you see the award as helping give Death Valley Driver “credibility” with those who might not have given the band a second look?
I think the award definitely helps in terms of recognition in this part of the country, especially when it comes to getting on festivals or applying for funding. Regardless however, if a band wins an award, it is still up to them to find those ways to get ahead. We know fully well that the award is not going to throw open every door that stands in our way but that’s alright. It is still something nice to be able to add to our resume.
You guys are currently in the process of recording some new music with Colin Buchanan from Paper Lions. What inspired the band to want to work with Colin?
With these new songs, we weren’t necessarily looking for help to become a heavier band but rather were looking to bring different influences to the table. The songs are still heavy and have the same aggression as our other material but we wanted Colin’s insight on crafting the songs a little more. Colin is a great songwriter and has an incredible ear for that kind of thing. So many heavy metal albums these days sound super compressed and almost robotic but from the moment we started working with Colin, he immediately got what we were looking to do with these new songs.