Of God and Science Interview

Last week, I got to interview some of the members from "Of God and Science" about their new record, Black Rabbit. The members that were present included Jeremy Fine (Bass), Mike Gonzales (Guitar) and Demarcus Sumter (Drums).

(Mike Gonzales)      (Demarcus Sumter)

(On Peas)
Demarcus: I don't eat that shit.
Jeremy: How can you not love peas dude?
D: I used to eat the shit out of em... If it's straight up in the stalk, I can do that.

So, Julian pretty much plays everything? 
J: Julian came into this band years ago and he brought a lot of color to our sound... He took our songs and said hey, how about some piano, how about some banjo, how about some pedal steel, and he sings like an angel you know what I mean? Where as Matt does all the song writing, Julian compliments all that song writing with a plethora of things that he can do musically.... Julian's the kind of guy that can pick up anything.

You said Matt writes all your songs, do you write the music together?
J: When it comes to song writing, Matt comes in and he has and idea in his head... He'll be like; here's the drum part, here's the bass part, here's some guitar parts, we all have our way of playing and so certain little things change and then the sound becomes bigger and sorta blossoms in a way from there.

You guys recorded Black Rabbit at Matt's place? Is that right? 
J: We call it endsinZ studio. Yeah, that's where all the tracking was done.

You guys mixed and mastered somewhere else?
J: We hired a guy from Austin, his name is Eric Wofford and he runs a studio called Cacophony Recorders and he works with some really kick-ass bands that we know and we love from the Austin scene. Julian just kinda called him up and said, 'hey man we'd love for you to do our record because we love the bands that you're doing, what's the deal?' And the guy was affordable, and the guy was communicative. That was more then we got from some other studios and everything was done through FTP.
Demarcus: I feel like the craziest thing about it is... the way that the album feels... is like some type of crazy country gone awry... When people hear it they're like, 'You guys like The Beatles and Pink Floyd a lot don't you?'
J: "We wear our influences on our sleeve, but doesn't every band? Every band you listen to sounds like somebody, you know what I mean?"
D: We have our own space and it's beautiful, it's beautiful space and he actually helped bring it out with the way he did the mastering.
J: When we sent the mixes out... I was expecting the mixes to comeback like a cleaner, sharper feel, with a lot of stereo space of what we already had... He took our sound and he manipulated it, he added effects, he made executive producer-like decisions and made it sound the way he wanted it to sound... and when he sent them back they were different songs. The first time I heard it, I was like man, there's sauce everywhere! It's beautiful. We sent him some pancakes and he sent them back with butter and syrup all over them.

(Jeremy Fine)

What about your connection to Austin? Did any of you live out there?
J: I did, yeah, I lived there for two years.

Have you guys played out there?
J: Yeah, many times. We haven't played in this line-up. These guys have been on board for less than a year... Before then we went out there and we played SXSW, private parties and little side-festivals...We put together a Detach Records' Party which was a huge success. We had some kick-ass bands play...We've only done that one time because it was tremendously expensive... It's a beautiful city and the mentality there is prime for music and what we do. And everybody's willing to listen and that's cool.


What about Detach Records, You said you're all part owner?
J: When it comes to ownership... the ownership is kinda weird... It's a co-op label, where bands come in and they collectively kinda do their things but the Detach name and all that stuff is owned basically between me Matt and Julian and my brother Jason who lives in Austin, he's one of the founders of the label as well. And I should add Matt Dickens in there, who is the main guy from the Mindy set... Those are really the main contributors to the Detach Records thing... It's a co-op label, it's a collaborative thing, it's a community - it's a family...
D: Yeah, just making it basically... where if somebody needs something we all have each others back.
J: That's right. We share contacts, we share couches, we share everything...
D: Food and Booze.
J: We share a community... And it's not just music, it's artists as well. It's visual artists, it's animators, it's video editors, all kinds of different arts.
D: This whole thing is: between himself [Jeremy] working in television and us having so many friends that are in film... on top of meeting the most talented people who could ever touch a paint brush to a canvas - It's just that type of love.
J: Maybe someday we'll all make some money at it. If not, whatever.
D: Tshhh... I just want a Cheeseburger.

What is the Black Rabbit metaphor? 
J: The Black Rabbit is a concept that Matt came up with on his own, and I don't know where in his brain it comes from but every human on the planet has a black rabbit inside of him somewhere... It goes back to the whole 'are we born good or are we born evil?' But that's why on the cover of the album you have a black rabbit wearing a white rabbit's suit. We're all walking around this earth with a facade, a suit that maybe is different than what's inside our hearts. It's those people who can make the difference between what they are on the outside and what they are on the inside as close together as possible, those are genuine people. The video, at the end, where you see the black rabbits come in, they represent the darkness inside all of us that can sometimes take over. No matter what decision you make in life... You're giving up something else. It's like opportunity cost in the business world... Whatever you choose, you're choosing against something else, so, that's kinda the idea behind the Black Rabbit. No matter what decision you make in life: you choose to go to school, you choose to play rock and roll, you choose to do drugs, you choose to go to church, it doesn't matter. Whatever you choose, you're giving up something else.
D: Just do drugs in church.

Mike have you lived here (Albuquerque) for a while?
Mike: Yeah, born and raised, playing in random bands since high school.

What other groups have you been involved with?
M: Indoor Living, Paradigm, Good Company. Everywhere from pop-punk to hip-hop.

What kinda guitar do you play?
M: Two Mexican Strats.

You have some kind of electronic equipment on stage with you sometimes?
M: Yeah, a Midi Keyboard.

What kind of keyboard is it?
M: It's a Korg
R: What are you running?
J: We're running organs and pianos; it really depends on the song.
R: What program do you have on your laptop?
J: Logic


Are you guys road ready right now? 
J: Absolutely man.
R: What do you travel in?
J: In my van... It's a 1996 Chevy Imperial van... We have a trailer as well... If we go to Denver and back, we'll play video games in the van because we're going to Denver and back.
R: You have a TV in the van?
J: Yeah... It's not like we got like a 50 inch plasma or anything.


Thanks for reading and supporting this awesome band. Check out a show or buy their stuff.
Of God and Science Website
Detach Records Homepage